Dual and Non-Dual

We all have 24 hours until we breath our last, so how do we increase our capacity to accomplish more or all without sacrificing what we value, one for the other?

A lot of times we find ourselves in the mindset of sacrficing one for the other e.g. Giving up my corporate job to pursue my spiritual path versus sticking to my corporate job for my financial security instead of pursuing inner growth.

This dualistic thinking or mindset of “either + or” is very much in vogue as it is an easier way to process and handle the world compared to having a holistic mindset of “both + and”. This leads to a confrontational approach to problem-solving as compared to a complementary approach to solution-finding.

Remember Sunny, the 42 year old man with a wife and two kids? He chose an administrative post over sticking to his systems engineer post due to post-Covid recovery symptoms. Sunny settled with a 20% reduction in his salary but subsequently enjoyed an increase of family interaction time. That will be thinking in terms of a dualistic mindset.

Suppose we were to look from a holistic (non-dualistic) viewpoint, we could say that Sunny was making a choice in ensuring that he covered the areas of Financial Security, Emotional and Physical Well-Being, Meaningful Relationships, and Career and Professional Development when he was making his choices. It may be the same choice and same eventual outcome, but the mindset dictates the mental state. That mental state makes or breaks when we talk about sustainability for the long haul.

The challenge would be on how to be creative in meeting all areas simultaneously or even exceeding the existing capacity when making choices. That will require intensive research and getting off our butts to talking to people in the know.

So how do you process and make decisions? Are you dual, non-dual, or both?