The Art of Whatever.

[Urban~Ninja]

My uncle was telling me of an Asian practise, or atleast i think he said Asian that is the art of letting things go or just being very apathetic towards it, well it atleast sounded like that.

He simplified it by saying that whenever something bothers you, you can just say "Whatever" or something similiar and you just get over it like that or just let the issue go with amazing ease?

anyone else familiar with the formal name or arts like this, i have lots of time on my hands so im trying to train myself in some weird things or just life skills.

[shimanotaka]

Sounds like Taoism to me. I read "The Tao of Pooh" a long time ago. It might not be the best source for info about Taoism, but some i remember some examples like "Why cut down a three, when you can sit and wait for it to fall by itself?".

EDIT: It can be the art of Zen also, which is more like "Why worry about things you can't do anything about?".

[Fred]

It could be a mangled form of taoism. You might be interested in the concept of WuWei.

[Loc]

Never really thought of this as a skill...just kinda weird.

I usually just think "whatever" about things that bother me and tend to feel better about it.

I think it's probably got something to do with how you view the World, if you think about the problem just being a waste of time, which it usually is, then what is the point of worrying over it?

Chances are the problem is nothing compared to how lucky you are to actually be alive. Then again, that kinda blends into beliefs...

Could be a problem as I've been told I am a bit too laid back but I seem to be getting through life pretty well so far. :)

Post probably doesn't make sense but whatever ;p

[PopCulturePooka]

I can whatever away a lot of problems and issues, but I know that it can make me look uncaring/arrogant on occasion. But it makes a lot of things alot easier to cope with.

Some people see me do it and say I'm merely bottling whatever issue it is up. That I'm hiding my feelings etc. They can't seem to understand that I really have just 'meh'ed the issue into a non-issue because its not worthing worrying about. Even if the issues ongoing, I can stay actively interested, but not actively bothered/caring about it.

[Stephy]

Well, "meh" and "whatever" is similar to me. It means I'm upset. I don't usually say whatever, but I doubt it'd make me feel better to say it. Seems rude to say it actually.

Similar and a little off topic:

I remember a discussion in my psychology class about how to alter your current emotion ("state of consciousness"). Learned about a person named Tony Robbins and how he said we create how we feel and we have to recognize how to fix that and we can start by little means, such as changing physical states.

Like when you're sad you frown, right? And think negative things...

Now! He says that while you're sad you should try and smile and think positive things, this in the end will send messages to your brain and send chemical responses to help you feel a little better. Now its strange to go against your natural emotions but this is just a helpful method.

So smile, no shoulders down, walk with a sense of purpose, and put happy thoughts in your mind! Counting what you are fortunate for and being happy with what you have and what you do now and seeing how you're lucky since there are less fortunate. Even changing your response to something like:

"How are you?"

"OK."
__
^
NO!
__

"How are you?"

"I am feeling fantasic!"

__
^
Right!
__

[delen]

Ew, Tony Robbins. Anyways, I just try and use logic. It works out for the best IMO.

[xtine]

Logic seems like the easy answer, but it doesn't really work when you are overflowed with emotions. Especially if you are a worrier, a paranoid person, depressed, or in some sort of mental/emotional state that doesn't really let you use logic.

It's really all about changing your mindset and perspective about things from what point you are at now. You cannot always use logic or think positive thoughts in tense situations if your mind even isn't capable of it at this point. However, I believe most people have the power to change and develop their mindset for the better (through self affirmations, self change, friends/family help, professional therapy, etc).

I'm a slightly paranoid person. I worry sometimes about really unnecessary things, and I used to worry to the point that I would get depressed and it would affect my lifestyle. But through this past year I've tried to improve myself, and it led to being more able to say 'meh' to things rather than to just worry over it. And you know what? I feel great and I have a more positive attitude (therefore friends have more fun around me) because I don't let certain things bother me into submission.

It's not even being cold or not caring, it's just realizing that certain things are better off not worrying over so much that it affects your general mood and such. You know those people that are constant worriers or just whine about everything, and you know they'd be easier to deal with if they just relaxed.

[delen]

You cannot always use logic or think positive thoughts in tense situations if your mind even isn't capable of it at this point.

Maybe you can't but it works for me! :)

[TygressVirgo]

I use to be able to shrug off a great deal of irritations and other things that one should be able to shrug off.

Now I am a raving maniac when it comes to the littlest things. I do not knwo what changed, but I sure want to get back to that state of mind.

[Riinuka]

Being laidback IS a skill for those of us who are too stress-prone to be able to relax. *laughs*

[TygressVirgo]

Being laidback IS a skill for those of us who are too stress-prone to be able to relax. *laughs*

Here here.

While trying to get back to that state, I also get to add a new little one to the mix :eyepop:

[Shamu]

I dunno, while I do get upset about some things, most of the time, I figure, they will either work themselves out or the answer to work them out will come to me and as long as I'm (or my child is not) not dead or dieing or in horrible pain, etc...then things will be ok.
I tend to be a pretty positive person most of the time and when it comes to stress, I find that meditation works really well for me. I've had years and years of therapy for panic attacks (oddly, we've never figured out the trigger for them, but I'm able to control them really well now so that I hardly ever have them anymore) and playing mental games with myself, like counting backwards and stuff seems to work. It's taken a lot of work to get to this place though. This place where I can go 'meh' at a lot of things and not sweat the small stuff, but I'm still working on it everyday. As long as I keep a positive attitude and let my natural happy-go-lucky side stay out, I can get through quite a bit of shit.
I guess on a side note, I believe that really bad things happen to people to "condition" them a certain way and while I think that it's horrible to have had bad things happen to you, the way you handle it is what matters. Like, I had a pretty crappy childhood (evil-abusive-alcoholic step-father, father that wasn't really around, mother that worked so much it was hard for her to be there for me, I went through a really rough divorce, etc...just the general crap people can go through), but I've always had an attitude of, "ok, so that really sucked, but I survived, and I'm here, what can I do to make my life better? What makes me happy?" I get so tired of people playing the victims and using things like a bad childhood, for example, to excuse their behavior. So yeah, shit happens and it's horrible and I wish it hadn't happened, but you can't change it, all you can do is keep looking forward and moving on. Sure, look back at your mistakes and others' mistakes as well, but learn from them and keep moving.
Life's too short to be unhappy and stressed all the time.
This probably didn't make a whole lot of sense and there will be some who disagree with me, but my main point is, you have control over what you think and how you feel. Do something with that. Work with it. Don't just sit on your ass and feel bad/sad about stuff.
Not sure what this has to do with the art of whatever so just ignore it if it doesn't make sense to you, but meditation is one thing that works for me when I'm trying to forget the little things that bother me >_>