Survival mode and play mode

[ted73104]

The opposite of survival mode is play mode. However it is so easy to be trapped in survival mode.

Although survival mode is not really a bad thing, I do believe most people would like to be able to enter play mode whenever they want to. Just thinking about why we are stuck in survival mode most of the time.

Perhaps it is because we believe there are somethings that we can't be happy without. Or maybe it is because we are in a state where we lack a lot of options, and we don't know how to change/position ourselves to gain access to those options.

I've just been realizing that the path from survival mode to play mode is more counter-intuitive than I thought. With a survivalist mindset, gaining everything a person wants doesn't necessarily guarantee happiness or satisfaction. That person might just want more of the same things, try to replicate successes or maintain their lifestyle, inevitably re-entering survival mode. Play mode is more about being in the moment.

I've been more able to enter play mode after I conciously told myself I didn't want to spend that much time swiping my phone, watching Youtube, or video gaming. I worked at my job harder without thinking about a raise, I exercised more, and I connected with people more. Previously I would only attend social events that had people I was interested in, however making myself attending random events and seeing all sorts of people seem to allow me to appreciate more types of people.

Pushing myself to the extreme via work and excercise seems to force me into a higher frequency or vibration. I don't really know how to explain it, but the more time I spend sprinting 100 meters over and over again, I seem to find the stamina to stay in a high frequency state. These all kill my cravings and urges, which makes me feel better overall.

Play mode is more like an ability, being happy with nothing.

[Hojo]

Any voice you hear in your head is survival mode. Being in play is fully immerses in dream that means you ignore your thoughts so much that they go away like the sound of your own heart. You can make the thoughts of mind go away so much that they dissapear like how you cant hear your heart all day.

Edited Thursday at 03:37 PM by Hojo

[The Renaissance Man]

14 hours ago, ted73104 said:

Just thinking about why we are stuck in survival mode most of the time.

Because it's very convenient evolutionally.

 

By the way, Maslow (the guy of the hierarchy of needs) wrote a book on this topic, it's called Toward a Psychology Of Being (it's in Leo's book list too).

Your survival mode looks like his "deficiency perception", while your play mode looks like his "Being perception".

 

He said it's just easier to satisfy the lower deficiency needs (safety, sex, love & belonging, esteem) and then naturally evolving to growth needs, rather than trying to force yourself into higher stages.

So your answer might be to lean into this survival mode and "burn some karma", so to speak, and then naturally evolve. @ted73104 You said you risk just wanting more of that. But if you lean into deficiency needs mindfully, you should be able to realize their emptiness. This is a longer-term approach.

[UnbornTao]

I’d suggest that survival isn’t just an ancillary process, it is your life. The experience you’re having right now is survival in action. For instance, consider that your very perception itself is a survival occurrence.

Sorry I'm not addressing the play part in here. Might do that at a later time.

Edited Thursday at 10:16 PM by UnbornTao