Around the time when Prometheus had first given man fire, he was entrapped on a rocky peak of the Caucasus, when he had a visitor who revealed herself as Io beneath her form of illusion.
Io was constantly running from gods and goddesses in a changed form from the god Zeus. This was a tale of deception, love, anxiety and illusion of character.
What can we learn from the myth of Io & Prometheus? And how does it relate to our daily lives?
Our daily actions often arise at a subconscious level, built around our ego.
Our ego is a mental construct and a projection of how we see ourselves within the world around us. It is shaped by our upbringing, media influence, how we interact with others and more.
This leads us to chase happiness at a fast pace, creating concepts such as the ‘rat race,’ and the illusion of ‘money solving all.’ This process often results in our days being riddled with underlying anxieties that gnaw away at us.
In the same manner as Io in the myth, when did you last sit still? When did you last feel calm and comfortable in silence and your own true self, free from external distraction? Â
How do we identify ourselves?
To give an example, our ego may identify beauty as our prime driver.
However, as we grow older, our ego will be challenged as the process of ageing will likely cause a ‘decline’ in our image of our own beauty, and who we believe we are will suffer as a result. Our ego will defend itself when threatened and may take actions based on impulse, which may not be in the interest of our health, such as extreme dieting or plastic surgery.
In reality, this focus on beauty is just a personal projection and not our true self. Beauty does not define you as an individual.
In the story of Io we learn about jealousy over beauty and anxiety caused by running from who we believe we are.
Can we change the fast-paced nature of life?
We can look at life in terms of ‘domains.’
Money can be regarded as one life domain and choosing to follow money for happiness over all else has been scientifically proven to actually result in little increase to our overall happiness. We should instead focus on more than one life domain with equal efforts. Physical health and social connections are just two of many other examples of life domains.
Hedonic wellbeing is indulgence in short-term pleasures, which tend to be what many of us follow. For example, impulsive actions to solve problems with quick fixes, such as an alcoholic drink to dissolve stress after a difficult day at work, or impulsive shopping.
If we’ve had a challenging day and we identify ourselves within our ego make-up as having to be beautiful then we are likely to buy clothing to make ourselves feel better.
If we can become more aware of our own ego’s image of our self and realise that this is merely a construct of our mind, and not actual reality, then we can begin to understand what short-term pleasures we might be indulging in that might be causing us harm, and instead take actions that are truly better for our wellbeing.
A common example of this might be someone who over-identifies with a self-image related to their career, such as being a hard worker – always willing to go the extra mile. In this scenario the person is likely to work longer hours, take fewer breaks and generally prioritise work over their health and relationships.
“Between stimulus and response there is a space.”
Viktor Frankl
How can we create more inner peace and choose actions that will benefit us?
- Whenever you feel happy, make a list of what needs and values have been met. Needs can range from physical – food, water, sunlight; mental – social connection, being valued as important in a group setting; spiritual – being present in nature, experiencing meaning in life and more.
- When you feel unhappy make a list of what needs and values are not being met.
- Learn to separate deeper needs and values from egotistical needs and values, such as the need to exercise for health, instead of exercise to ‘look good on Instagram.’
- Practice mindfulness-based meditation and learn to see your thoughts simply as momentary things that float by; not that define you.
- Follow this concept from Viktor Frankl who wrote: “between stimulus and response there is a space.” We have the opportunity to choose our own actions rather than reacting immediately.
Once we begin to understand what the true source of our needs and values are, and we also detach ourselves from the mindset patterns of our ego, we can then begin to live a life that is grounded and take action based on what is truly best for us.
Wishing you health and wellbeing.
David Chorlton
Founder of Meaningful Paths
