There is a lot to say for personal attitude and commitment in life. When we keep straight on the path, our heads down, focused on the goal, we can manage to accomplish a lot. When our lives have meaning and purpose, everything comes easier. If we start straying and getting in and out of projects, we swing high and low, up and down, we get distracted and off focus, doubt cripples in and it often ends in misery.
But sometimes we need just that. Sometimes we feel we want to swing a little at least, have a bit of an up and down as the steady-heady can get boring. We need transformation and change so periods of great focus are normally followed by moments of pause and mental and life reorganisation. It’s normal and healthy, I think.
Humans are different from other animals as we seem to be wanting more and more, and that’s what makes us humans and it is not bad, despite what some philosophical traditions and religions make us think. The need for evolution and personal growth is a lot stronger in humans. Rome wasn’t built in a day and it took a lot of desire and dedication to build it. And Rome is a great human achievement.
We crave diversity, some people more than others, it depends on personality. We need accomplishments and challenges, we also need leisure time and pleasure. We don’t need mindless TV or silly Internet media. Yet so many are addicted to that. If we lack meaning, don’t get real accomplishments or an engaging new challenge regularly enough, we are easily seduced by the instant gratification, ubiquitous empty packaged services. Made to fill the void of the purposeless and unsatisfied.
Because we live in a society were 100 things can be addictive. Psychology is used everyday to bombard us with more or less subtle messages and stimulation. And it particularly hits the bored at work population. The wandering minds.
Knowledge is power, someone once said. If you are aware of what’s happening around you, you know that sexuality is embedded in TV ads, music videos, and a lot of mass media messages, like sugar in junk food. So it’s money and the aspiration of it. So are celebrities and billionaires. When I read serious publications, I somehow find myself scrolling down to the bottom of the page where the addictive crap is packed thanks to “media company providing junky links”. I totally do it unconsciously, automatically, and with some sort of restless pleasure. Stuff that leaves me miserable and in need of a pick-me-up, a biscuit anyone?
Maybe we could do without addictions. Or, another way is to control what grabs a lot of our attention. It’s smart to get hooked on the right things.
This is what I am currently addicted to:
1 – Beans. Mostly butter beans or kidney beans cooked in olive oil, garlic and onions with tomato sauce. I just looove them and I feel great after eating beans. Maybe the phytonutrients saponin, protease inhibitors and phytosterols? Or they just fit so nicely into my minimalistic lifestyle: cheap, quick to make (if pre-boiled), nutritious and really yummy over a slice of dark rye Ryvitas.
2 – Cycling. I just can’t leave the bike alone. Since I have been using it to commute to work, I need to jump on it Saturdays and Sundays too, no matter the weather. I love dribbling the traffic, there’s something empowering to jump queues at traffic lights, asserting your higher maneuverability over slow starting, bulky cars. Speeding through London’s streets is such a pleasure, I wouldn’t swap my bike for a brand new car.
3 – Yoga. I want to do it all the time. Some weeks I am doing it every day. When I feel a bit bored or sad or down for whatever reason and I fancy cake or sex or millions of money, I semi automatically switch to craving yoga instead.
I see it as a small accomplishment, this ability to switch to a healthier form of addiction. Ideally though, we’d all have a purpose, we would all be free of weaknesses or addictions. Yeah, to be free like that all the time, we would have to be robots or live in a cave. Enlightenment anyone? Sure, maybe one day.
