Too Much Stimulation
Lindon's Keyboard - Too Much Stimulation
Our world has evolved to the point where the average life is filled with so much stimulation that our senses are rarely allowed to stand down. In addition there are so many things demanding our attention we scarcely have time to do nothing. The "stress" that so many people lament about is not caused by any single job, economic situation or relationship. Stimulus floods our senses everywhere we go. To our brain it's a barrage of information that we must try to keep track of. Eventually it overwhelms us and we break down, usually blaming a single element of our life, never seeing that it's the process of over stimulation that is wearing us down.
The simple solution would be to slow down and put ourselves in an environment where we can relax, rejuvenate and recreate . Ah, but that's not so easy. We have so many things we must do, experience, achieve, see, prove and avoid that we operate constantly with motivation of "have to" or should. It is difficult to relax when our days are filled with a list of obligations and an environment that comes at us like a swarm of gnats on a summer evening. We inevitably get overloaded to the point where our attitude, health and awareness begin to deteriorate. At this point we begin unraveling the progress we worked so hard to achieve.
What is behind this drive to fill our life in such a way? Often it's caused by a relentlessness to fill our life with things we think we need. I've heard Rick Itzkowich say how he can't imagine a person with a short time to live, looking back on their life and regretting not having spent more time at the office, or wishing they had gotten all the things on their to-do list done. But think about it, what drives your agenda each day when you look to see what you will be doing? Besides the demands we place upon ourselves, the pace of life around us also affects us. It's like a swift moving current that moves us along at it's pace regardless of our interest.
The solution to avoiding becoming a casualty of our society and a victim of stress, over stimulation and fatigue, is hidden in the choices we make. Within the choices we make each day we need to maintain a golden thread of purpose. This purpose must touch the heart of what makes us happy. There is far more to do then you will ever have time for, and there is far more to have then you would ever know what to do with, (let alone where to put it.) Therefore you must make choices constantly and these choices, if directed by a carefully thought out purpose, will allow you to avoid the seduction of all the tantalizing options available to us.
Having a clear purpose will not be sufficient; we must also understand our fears and ourselves. If we don't have an understanding of ourselves we can become sidetracked as our hearts’ desires become subordinate to feelings of fear, anger, futility, or resentment. We are all vulnerable to certain issues and when they are inflamed they can dominate our thoughts and dictate our attitude. To rise above this we must know our issues and ourselves well enough to avoid what we can, and deal effectively with those issues we cannot avoid.
The clearer you are about what you can do with your life to make it exceptional the easier it is to pursue it amid the chaos around you. The more you understand and prepare yourself the greater chance you have to avoid a life dictated by fear, resentment, anger, and futility. While these may not be simple challenges, it is my opinion that they are both exciting to pursue and extremely beneficial.
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