Out Of The Deep End

Filling up on excess never quite quenches the thirst. Finding ourselves in constant need of one thing or another is simply a distraction from ourselves and the life we have built around us. Slowing down long enough to see ourselves as we are and understand the decisions we have made that brought us to where we are now is a sometimes painful journey. It feels easier to dumb the pain down with excess. This excess can be any number of things. It can be television, computer games, YouTube, social media, reading, hanging out with friends nonstop, junk food, exercise, alcohol, drugs, you get the idea. They are just things to fill up our time and take our attention away from ourselves. When we become brave enough to ask the important questions, this is when our world undergoes the biggest shift. Until we are able to see these things, we cannot change them. Once they are brought to the light through slowing down, we can look closely at them, examine them, and come to a clear decision about them, instead of simply repeating them. This is far more difficult to accomplish when we are in constant excess. Personally, I like to put my phone down when I am out somewhere. Especially if I feel uncomfortable in the place where I’m at. I like to look around and see everything and everyone in my environment, doing this helps me to slow down. When I interact directly with my environment, I am more likely to see myself and my own actions clearly. When I am directly interacting with others ( in a healthy way) it is far more likely that I will have the capacity to reflect upon it later in the day, in a way that I would not have done had I been in excess.

There are countless people that want to grow in this way, but are stuck in excess instead. Beginning by putting the phone down more and more often is a good start. From there, you will be clearer to discover the other things that are in excess in your life and then address them. Just like Neo in The Matrix movies, you will eventually discover that by unplugging and taking time to learn and interact in a healthy way, you will become capable of things you never dreamed possible.

~Janice M. Burke

Image by 7inchs