Chasing rainbows
Do you chase after things that flee with the wind, or something deeper that’s anchored in the soil and can stand the test of time?
Emotions are sometimes defined as energy in motion. It comes in waves. An emotion may come suddenly and stay a while, other times it goes away as quickly as it came.
We often hear people say they seek happiness. “They’ll be happy when…” You’ll see articles on digital media which present you with “5 ways to find happiness” on a silver platter or short courses on how to be happy.
Today, I'm coming to you with a challenge. I challenge you to be aware what you feed your mind with, because the “food” you consume, will influence your mental health.
Temporary happiness
How is it that we chase happiness which is a fleeing emotion? Once you’ve found it, it evades the permanence you seek.
We see so many reward programs banks and stores offer you to give you that tiny moment’s happiness, or rather satisfaction. We became indoctrinated by digital media to be instantly gratified by the information we consume; it almost corrupted our values from kind and patient, to arrogant and spoilt.
We’re chasing rainbows by always chasing the next tier, the next standard or the next status. The problem with this mindset is that you never feel good enough and as a result, no happiness is found here.
Numbing pain means numbing joy
How is it though that we so often aren’t happy? By numbing the pain, we numb our joy, so we look for the next best thing… Happiness. We live in an amazing and beautiful world filled with so many cultures, scenery, seasons, and opportunities, yet there is a lot of pain. To numb the pain, we sometimes grab our smart phones and start scrolling on social media, which may even worsen our state of mind when we start comparing our lives to others. We forget to consider that people hardly ever post something sad happening in their lives. Other times we may switch on the TV or play XBOX as coping mechanisms for our pain.
Excessive digital media may cause changes in brain structure
Did you know that when used excessively, digital media may cause structural changes in the frontal part of the brain? This is the part of the brain which manages compassion and enables logical reasoning.
When we numb ourselves to pain, we numb ourselves to joy, happiness and logical reasoning as well, which means the intensity of happiness and joy you want to feel will need to be bigger and better than the previous time before you’ll feel it.
State of survival
When we switch off the frontal part of the brain, we switch on the survival part of our brain, which may put us in the state of being anxious, fearful, and depressed.
Mental fast food
What information do we choose to consume every day? Whatever we choose to read, watch, and listen to, determines our behaviour over the long term.
When we focus on external stimuli to make us happy, is like relying on fast foods to keep us healthy.
Happiness became a fad, something to chase after so we’ll feel better about ourselves, but true happiness is a feeling of being content with what we have and enjoying the moments we are presently in.
Marcus Aurelius once said “the happiness of your life depends upon the quality of your thoughts: therefore, guard accordingly, and take care that you entertain no notions unsuitable to virtue and reasonable nature.”
What do you choose to read and listen to? Is what you’re watching in alignment with who you are?
In closing
Do you chase after things that flee with the wind, or something deeper that’s anchored in the soil and can stand the test of time?
Image credits: Stainless Images