We live in a fast paced world, where no one has time for anything or anyone anymore. We frantically race from one activity to the next.
We’re inundated and overwhelmed with sensory stimuli. Our brains have to contend with way too much environmental input, and filters out most of what it’s confronted with.
Many have forgotten how to slow down and “digest”. Or maybe they’ve never learned.
We’re way too impatient. If something’s longer than a sound byte, we’re bored.
People get bored way too easily. Trained by our TV remote control, we “channel-surf” our way through the day.
We have societal A.D.H.D.
Take reading, for example. Most people won’t even get this far in this article because it’s already “too long”.
Really??
Which reminds me, people don’t actually read anymore. They scan and skim.
They gulp instead of savor.
How can a writer or thinker ever develop an argument or perspective or story if people “click away” after reading only five words?
When I was a kid, I developed the reputation in my family of being a lightning-fast eater. So at the dinner table, I was done in a flash. My mom would work hard to make a nice meal, and I would devour it in two minutes. Ah, the wonders of a growing boy.
My parents would say that I “inhaled” my food.
I had to learn to slow down, to chew, and to swallow.
That’s a good metaphor. Slow down enough to chew and to swallow your “food”.
And then digest.
What’s YOUR “food”?
Of course, the people who need to hear this have already clicked away. That’s OK, you can tell them.
And then you can get busy with not being busy.
Take time to think, and to think deeply.
Wrestle with complexity.
Challenge yourself.
Go beyond living only on the surface of life.
Dive down deeper. There’s more for you to see.
Don’t cheat yourself of experiencing the richness of life by always eating the low hanging fruit. Reach higher.
The fruit is sweeter up there.
So, slow down, think, read, digest, dive deeper, reach higher.
Simple 😉