SLOW DOWN & CHALLENGE THE BEAST

There are those of you who,because of time constraints, prefer to listen than to read, and that is OK. The idea here is the receipt of information regardless of the medium through which it is received and consumed. Here is the audio link to episode 2 of my podcast, Minding Your Mind.

By the way, and ironically, I wrote this article to mostly benefit those who have real, selfimposed or imagined work/life time constraints.

It is insane out there, but you already know this. I do not remember if I heard it said or if I read it on a poster somewhere: “Stop the world, I want to jump off”.

I can imagine many people still feel this way today. For some, the world is out of control and spinning too fast. Don’t worry though, the person who flew by you going ninety miles an hour will be there at the next light. You know who I’m talking about. There was a time it might have been me—not this time though. I am here writing about that guy, and about how not to be that guy.

Still, it does not stop there. I saw an Ad about some electronic service that said, “If you’re not 50% faster, it’s because you’re 50% slower”. Where does it stop, at 1000% faster?

Well recently, and since the first edition, I saw another Ad that gave me the answer. It says, “Your tomorrow starts today”. Really! This is even faster that breaking the sound barrier. This is Life lived faster than the speed of Now, don’t you think?

Yes, I know and realize that it is impossible to live that fast, and that the Ad is not meant to be taken literally. Still, these are market tested words designed to capture the imagination and, in an insidious way, they work.

Unfortunately, there appears to be no slowing down any time soon, if ever. Still, I hope so. But I do not think it will happen unless there is a definite shift in the human psyche.

Modernity can be unrelenting, as you can see. It is so much so, that we are fast approaching mindlessness at a time when we most need to be more mindful of our own “Presence”; of our own “Being” in the “Now”.

At some point, we have to become aware and take control, because it is true. Today, we’re constantly distracted and moving so fast we keep missing the Present. We need to slow down so our minds can see reality for what it is, and not what we wish it to be.

Check this out. The other day I ran into a friend of mine and said, “Hey, what’s up? How are you doing”? He answered with the single default word we hear and use so often. You know the word: “Fine”!

What’s sad, is that it is not an unusual greeting. There seem to be no time for an old-fashioned chat, in person or even over the phone, since now the phone is used more and more for texting than talking.

Are we really so distracted and in a hurry, or is it that we’re always running late? Either way, it appears as though we’re living past each other,and why is that?

I believe it’s about being conditioned by modernity or, as I call it, The Beast. We had been distracted with chasing the tail of this beast, as it moved into the future with speeds that have since left the Joneses eating Silicon dust. The race to keep up with the latest advances in technology has us moving so much faster, and most of the time, for no good reason.

Here are two questions you may want to ask your Self and answer: Just how fast do I want to go? Just how fast do I need to go … to live?

As far as I know, the velocity of everything that is already fast continues to increase, and this could be a real sign that the Beast may never slow down. So, it is up to you to start.

Today, trying to keep up with the Beast is an increasingly fast-moving proposition. It’s like trying to catch a greased pig. Just when you thought you grabbed it, it slips away, and the chase continues. There is a new version of the latest tech device, and you still have not learned all there is to know about the one you have.

Me? I choose to wait until the pig is a little older, slower, easier to catch, and cheaper to buy. Yes, I may not have the latest tech device, but the one I have does the job.

Still, it is not only about the speed of technology. The Beast, in other ways, has us addicted and distracted.

I am sure you have noticed that, over the years, businesses have been advertising the coming of all the major holidays earlier and earlier every year. Christmas, for example, comes to mind. Now sadly, this is the norm and it is simply another frightening reminder of just how in control and insatiable the Beast is.

Don’t you get the sense that it’s more about buying “Things” than about family and family Life? I do. If there was ever a Grinch, there you have it.

I dare say that we’re addicted to the trappings of Modernity, and the addiction is so powerful that enrollment into consumer credit counseling “rehabs” is big business.

Yes, as a nation, we need to rehabilitate ourselves because being conditioned as we are, we consume so much of everything there is, and this can’t be good. Make no mistake, Modernity does not suggest Moderation. Instead, its powerful influences suggest hyper-consumption and behavior modification.

For example, nourishing ourselves is now more of a social event than a means of survival. Too often we eat just to eat and not because we’re hungry but because it is “time” to eat.

You don’t believe me? See if this is familiar. After a night sound asleep, we break fast . By the way, breaking an overnight fast is something we “do", not something we “eat”.

Anyway, then there is the snack before lunch "time", then lunch, then the late-afternoon snack, the appetizer before dinner "time", then dinner, and then there is dessert.

Be honest here for a moment. Can you really be hungry the following day if what you are doing is eating just to eat, and not because, perhaps, you are following a dietary guideline? Obesity anyone?

It is just as bad when we buy even when we do not have a need for a “thing”. Then, when we buy the “thing”, we get a receipt (lure) that offers a huge discount if we buy another “thing” by a date certain, and after which the discount expires.

I can imagine a fish being teased with bait and then hooked. We have become as insatiable as the Beast suggests we be. We have become “Thing-addicts”. Junkies anyone?

Still talking about being hooked and addicted, the Beast already has legions of addicts and, like me, you’re probably one of them. However, I believe the greatest number is among children and young people. They are easily hooked by lures, like video games that are as virtual as you can get, and social media, like Facebook, Snapchat, Instagram, and Twitter, just to name a few.

The Beast keeps presenting new and more insidious lures that only disguise the effect of the addiction. It is the constant bait-and-switch that keeps us addicted so much so that disconnecting is virtually impossible. Of course, this only keeps us constantly distracted.

Here is a quote: Life is a continuous sharing of human emotions. It’s OK to like things, just don’t ever love them. It’s OK to love one another, always do - WG

Here is something else that I am almost sure you can relate to, and that I should feel guilty about, and don’t. It is one of the many other addictions to Modernity. If there is a rehab program for this kind of addiction, perhaps I should enroll.

Anyway, it’s upwards of ninety degrees outside, I set the thermostat to sixty seven degrees and get into bed and under a comforter. Now, a comforter is a quilt used as bed covering, but I use it to cover my body to keep warm.

Mind you, I do this knowing that I have absolute control of the temperature in my house and that I could otherwise set the thermostat to 72 degrees and cover myself with a sheet. I would be just as warm and save energy and money all at the same time. Spoiled brat anyone? Yes, me.

It all goes to show just how powerful the Beast can be and why reevaluating our relationships with modern creature comforts, I believe, is a healthy idea.

Former President Bush once said that we are addicted to oil, and it is true. However, the whole truth is that we are addicted to almost everything that modernity offers, and much of it requires the use of oil.

If it seems that I am treading on Modernity, I am not. As you can see, I too enjoy creature comforts. However, what concerns me is the relationship we have with those comforts and how we become conditioned by the powerful and insidious suggestions that trap us in those relationships.

I hear you, yes. Breaking up is hard to do even when we know it’s for the best. But, how do we break up with Modernity? We don’t. We don’t have to. It’s more about control than it is about elimination. Besides, breaking up would take a lot of energy and time—energy and time better used to develop a present sense of “being” and being in control. It is, I believe, the best way to regulate the stressfulness of Modernity.

It also helps to be able to slow down and hear ourselves breathe, to reflect on our own “being,” and to STOP, for a moment from time to time to be mindful of our own presence in the Now. Otherwise, we continue to behave as though there is no time for “Now” ,when “Now” is all the time there is, and all the time we have to live.

Here is another reason we need to control our preoccupation with modernity and being modern. I believe we have all become just a little crazy, and in an abnormal way, “crazy” has become a coping mechanism that gives us an artificial sense of normalcy. It makes me wonder if this “crazy” makes us see nightmares as ordinary dreams and reality only as vivid imaginations of our own present existence. I wonder.

Still, Modernity can be a hungry and relentless beast. It chews us up and spits us out all the time, and we let it. We’re stressed out in ways it seems we cannot escape because we are so addicted, distracted, too busy going nowhere in a hurry, trying to keep up, and at the end of the day, it feels like our bodies just “log off” instead of “shutting down”. It’s a small wonder we complain we’re so exhausted.

It seems we’re also conditioned to behave like drug addicts chasing the feel of the first High and never being able to capture it—it’s crazy! Yet, I like to think we still have the option to choose not to chase the next greased pig, or are we helplessly addicted to Modernity,which is it?

We came from Modernity as being a problem-solving proposition to one of need and convenience. Then, as Modernity advanced (as the Beast grew bigger, faster, and hungrier), we went from convenience and choice to speed and choice. Speed and choice, mixed with insidiously persuasive suggestions called Ads, has made the waters between needs and wants to become brackish.

The Beast is at home in these waters. “Come on in. The water is just fine”, says the Beast. Unfortunately, because of the strong currents of speed, addiction, and distraction, we drift away from a calmer and more natural Life; a Life that is ours to choose.

Instead, we live captive by the speed and control of modernity and connectivity. Seemingly all of a sudden, we are all wirelessly connected and constantly in touch with someone or something even when we don’t want to be. But when we lose connection, panic sets in. Ever had your phone or computer broken, stolen, or lost? Then, you know what I am talking about.

We need to slow down, and I believe it would help if we would only disconnect more often and for longer periods of time. However, simply disconnecting your devices is not helpful without turning off your thinking about them while they’re off—otherwise, what’s the point?

Here is a challenge that can yield benefits only you can experience and describe for yourself. There is no “one size fits all”. However, it all fits in one mind, an open mind.

Start by disconnecting for three minutes a day during the workweek. Find where you can be alone and in a quiet place if that’s available to you. Of course, you can do this with someone else, and I recommend that you do. Keep in mind, though, that those three minutes must be intentionally set aside. They can’t be just a happenstance of free time that somehow became available.

The challenge is to be purposeful about the selection of the three minutes to do two specific things. The first, of course, is to be purposefully intent on disconnecting and the second is to be mindfully aware of that intention, being as you are and as everything is without judgment for the duration: just you, your breath, and your thoughts.

Use this time to notice your breathing and anything you may be feeling and sensing. This is the basis of Mindfulness Meditation, and unlike other teachings about meditation, 30 minutes is not required. However, if you find that you are not able to set aside three minutes a day at the office, then set aside 15 minutes during the weekend.

The idea here is to defy the Beast and take back control if only for three minutes a day, fifteen minutes on the weekends, or one day out of the year. Think of it as “escaping” from a reality manufactured by the Beast and or weaning yourself from its milk (influence).

Just in case you’re thinking about it, sleeping does not count as disconnecting. It has to be a mindful and “intentional” disconnect. Over time, and with regular practice, you will notice a calmer and less stressed “You”. You will notice that it is easier to slow down and simply “be”.

Living along, go for a stroll, preferably with someone else. Have an old-fashioned chat about how you’re doing. Read a book, write, paint some art, or play a board game. Whatever you choose to do … just find your pace, your own pace.

By the way, there is already a national disconnect-day: it’s called National Day of Unplugging. Join in!

How about this, I’m sure you’ve heard the phrase, “Hurry up and wait”. Now it’s “Hurry up and what are you waiting for”? A better question is; where are you going in such a hurry?

Here are a few other questions you may not have had to answer before. When was the last time you were not running late or in a hurry? Were you going to class, work, or were you going home after? Were you going to drop off the kids at school or daycare or pick them up? When last were you able to enjoy your lunch without care about what time it was?

I’m sure you can think of many more questions that could be asked. However, here is the ultimate question. It is the question I strongly urge you to be mindful about before you answer.

Is “being” in a hurry or running late, something beyond your control? Barring events like traffic, inclement weather or an emergency, just to name the usual suspects, a sincere and introspective answer is likely to be an emphatic, No! Because, we do have control. It’s just that we allow ourselves to drift in the brackish waters of modernity.

Keep in mind that when we try to keep up, only because the Beast suggests we do, we sacrifice the present living moment … forever. Unfortunately, too often we fall for it.

I hope by now we can agree that it is time to slow down; that we should go slowly into that Midday.

Even so, I don’t see this (slowing down) happening faster than the Beast would allow, having us under its influence. It keeps grabbing our attention with ads calling us back again and again for the latest fix.

Who is in control here? If you agree that life is mostly about the choices we make, then we should choose to be in control. You decide how fast you want to go, or how fast you need to go … to live.

You know that I enjoy modern creature comforts like anyone else, and I realize that slowing down may be easier said than done. But difficult is not necessarily impossible. You can slow down, but the question is: Do you really want to?

Now slowing down will also require a shift in awareness with respect to how your life is changed chasing the tail of the Beast. Take a moment to reflect on this.

As I said before, it’s not about eliminating the Beast. That’s not going to happen, nor is it necessary. I am talking about being mindful and in control as we choose how we want to live while in the belly of the Beast.

Also, realize that whether we’re trying to keep up or not, we will not be able to do all we want or need to do even if we lived a thousand years. There will always be things left undone.

Still … tomorrow is not going to get here any sooner than it will. But this is not to say that we should not leave for tomorrow what we can do today. This sound like something the Beast would say. This kind of thinking is what has people saying there are not enough hours in a day to do all they need or want to do.

Come on, let’s be real here. If you can’t get it all done today, how are you going to get it all done tomorrow with the same number of hours?

Again, there are going to be things left undone regardless of how much you do or how long you live. Things like unread emails left in your inbox, for example. I’m sure you can think of many other instances.

In the end however, the basic reality is that, we do not run out of Time … we simply run out of Life.

Nike says, “Just do it.” I’m telling you: “Just do it now … Live Now”.

Unfortunately, there seems to be little effort to slow down and pay attention long enough to actually experience our own “being” in the Now. Consequently, we keep missing the Present.

Here is another quote: Now is that constant instant between the past and the future, and that it is the only time we live and the only time we can do something about almost anything - WG

Now … is always a good time to start thinking about taking control and slowing down.

These are times when we most need to be mindful of our own “being” in the present as we are and as everything is without judgment.

We need to come back to “being” present within ourselves and with each other in all the ways and for all the reasons that make us Human.

We need to be less preoccupied with modernity and more mindful about “being” in the present.

Fortunately for me, I had heard about Dr. Jon Kabat-Zinn and his work on the practice of Mindfulness Meditation. His timeless classic, Full Catastrophe Living inspired me. I started practicing regularly with a group led by Dr. Gus Castellanos, and I’m here to tell you, I’m now less distracted, more mindful about “being” in the present, more in control, and able to pace myself better.

What would this be like for you? Think about it.

It is the result of taking time out to be in a quiet place, to be still and alone; just you, your breath, and your thoughts. Of course, I encourage you to join a group as well, it’s extra beneficial. Remember the three-minute challenge I posed earlier.

Now … there is a fresh conversation in my head about my life and yours too. After all, we’re all in this together. It’s about always being mindful of our own presence in the Now—at least to the extent we are able to control speed, addictions, and distractions. But, of course, this comes with regular Mindfulness practice.

Still … being mindful, slowing down, and being in control remains a challenge because the distractions are many, the speeds continue to increase, and the influences are strong and deeply embedded in our psyche.

The Beast is no joke. It has a very tight grip on us. My hope is that by the time you’re done reading, you will have already started thinking about loosening that grip.

Keep in mind that life is about people being here for one another and that Love, Compassion, Forgiveness, and Happiness are not devices of Modernity. These are attributes of our own natural Humanness.

We need to slow down to a pace where we can hear ourselves breathing calmly while being as we are and as everything is.

We need to slow down and pay attention to what “is” about ourselves, those we love, and the world, and not what we would like or wish them to be.

So here is what I strrongly encourage you to do. Start a new day tomorrow, a new life, a Mindful life with a fresh perspective, and don’t just to wake up and smell the coffee, but slow down and taste life one sip at a time.

It's Now O' Clock. Cheers!!

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