Posted by Raul on November 30, 2009
I’ve seen many people in my life that seems to me they are just simply waiting to die; I’m not talking about those who have a terrible, incurable sickness, but normal, healthy people that spend their days just watching TV or reading a book with no other purpose that filling in the years.
Some of this people are in retirement and think that after a lifetime of work the only reason for existence is do…NOTHING!
It really surprises me since I always though that the main reason why most people dream of reaching the day of their retirement is to have finally enough time available to do the things they enjoy the most, but never had the time before. That would sound to me like a logical thought, but when I see some people that after retirement stop all activities and just spend the days sitting in the couch in between watching TV and napping…I just don’t get it!
It seems to me that they are basically waiting to die. I always thought that the reason to be alive is to experience life itself, and after a lifetime of work, especially when there was never enough spare time for more personal activities, it’ll be the perfect time to do all the other stuff.
Some would go traveling, hiking those hidden paths, working on a hobby, golfing, fishing, collecting stamps, whatever, but something! I agree that having time to finally being able to watch some TV and especially some specific programs or movies that never had the time before is fine, but when it is the only activity day after day, month after month and having the TV set in no specific program but just turned ON, then it means just filling in the days waiting for the end; what a waste!
I can understand also that after a lifetime of work taking a couple of months just to enjoy not having any obligation, and spend the days like a continuous vacation, with no activities at all but just sleeping long hours and doing nothing the rest of the day is understandable, but I believe any normal human being would start to feel extremely bored after a couple of month of inactivity and will automatically look for some activity to spend their time, but not this people I’m talking about.
It really surprises me when I see some people in this kind of behavior. Seating in a couch, the TV set ON all day in no specific program, switching between watching and napping, all day, everyday, month after month, year after year, basically…waiting to die!
Raul
Posted by Raul on November 28, 2009
ADD Attention Deficit Disorder. It seems that everyday more and more people in the world are suffering from this already common problem.
It is not strange when we analyze the environment we live in these days. Watching TV there are so many commercials about many products offered every hour; so many channels and programs to watch that there is no physical time to see them all. We are involved in lots of activities or subjected to many elements to keep an eye on, to control.
Even when we are at a computer we are exposed to many elements that are trying to grab our attention, all at once! When we surf the internet or try to read a blog there are many flashing banners, dancing figures, moving numbers in both sides of the page, and lots of pop up windows too.
While driving a car not only we have to deal with the steering wheel and pedals to control the vehicle in the street, but now also we have stereos with lots of possibilities to control volume, balance, bass, treble, etc. and also the possibilities to play radio, CD, mp3. The car itself has now so many more features and switches, knobs and instruments to watch, and the streets have a bigger number of faster traveling vehicles that can quickly change direction without warning, forcing us to maintain an eye all around.
Just a couple of decades ago bill paying was a lot simpler than now, no cable TV, cell phone bills, internet connection, registration and insurance for several cars. Also the “machinery” at home was easier to deal with, no computers, microwaves, several TV sets, cable boxes, several phones around the house, etc.
Activities were developed at a slower pace, even going to have some fast food was a time for chatting; the only car for the family was repaired on the weekend with simple tools while talking and receiving (welcomed or not) advice from the neighbor next door.
So it is no wonder that our brains have to automatically self protect and learn to discard most of the information we are constantly receiving day and night in order to keep sanity, and because of that we learn to just “skim” over the continuous flow of information without really learning to pay close attention.
I believe this self protection mechanism becomes one of the reasons why many people, after a while, cannot keep concentration in one subject for a prolonged amount of time since the brain has become already trained to jump from one piece of information to the next as a normal procedure.
So now we have to reverse the process and learn to concentrate in one element at the time leaving the rest aside.
The most difficult part then becomes to get accustomed to change our lifestyle and leave behind the system of paying little attention to many elements, and switch to giving lots of attention to a small number of elements every time.
We have to force ourselves into a new system of going one step at the time and focusing in one element only, so we can give it the most attention without getting distracted. Only when we are finished with that task we move to the next element and give it all our attention, and so on.
It might seem a slow process at the beginning, but after getting some practice it’ll become second nature and we’ll be able to go naturally in this new procedure, and with it, reverse one of the common “sicknesses” of the actual times.
Raul
Posted by Raul on November 27, 2009
Watching a picture, just a simple picture, then imagination can be triggered to create a whole world around the lines, the colors.
Seating in front of the computer looking at the image in the screen; no movement, no sound, just the image, seated without moving, all muscles relaxed. What is it? A landscape? A vehicle? A human body?
Then the own body is left behind while the mind flies away in a trip without physical laws, where everything is possible since everything is created one sided. And new worlds can open in front of oneself, worlds that are created as needed, as traveled.
One second or twenty minutes, it’s all the same; time doesn’t exist when the mind flies away from the body. We can find the perfect place to live, the perfect situation, the perfect lover!
Images in this mind world are created from memories of an experienced physical world, so is fantasy based on reality. It is a great way to escape from moments of harsh reality to a world where situations can be perfect.
So I wonder…
A healthy relaxation technique…could become a dangerous situation when limits are stretched to a point where the connection between fantasy and reality snap from each other, and the person coming back to reality could not be the same anymore?
Just a thought.
Raul
Posted by Raul on November 25, 2009
Why it has to be that way? Why it always starts like if everything clicks to later find so many differences?
Some casual talking with brief locking eyes, little by little getting to know more about each other, feeling the heart beat faster every time a coincidence in preferences arise. Then creating excuses to meet more often, finding ways to be together: a coffee break, lunch, then maybe a movie and dinner in a quiet restaurant.
We found so many coincidences, so many things in common, we thought we found the right person and played our cards, we wanted to be together. After some encounters of great sex and laughing we thought we were made for each other. We made plans together.
But after just a couple of months sharing our lives we started to see the differences. At first little things like the kind of coffee, the way to keep stuff organized, the time of the day to tend the bed. Later bigger things like spending priorities, long term projects. To finally discover all the hidden things never told before; what was expected in bed and never received, what didn’t enjoy but accepted just to comply, so many little and big things that make us look at each other like complete strangers after a fight, after getting all the details, thoughts and feelings hidden that went out in a moment of a heated argument.
Then the decision, the departure, the tears and loneliness; back to the beginning, back to a solitary life, back to be afraid of another relationship, afraid of getting hurt again!
Memories, feelings, loneliness; is it just a cycle that repeat itself over an over again? How many times before finally finding the right one? How many times before knowing that the person at our side is the one we will grow old with? Is it just a matter of time? But how many times?
Back to a gray, flat routine kind of life. No more bright days, no more happy rain, no more laughter for stupid things, no more feeling the heart beating hard!
The end once again!
Posted by Raul on November 24, 2009
Watching TV can be very stressing.
Have you noticed how many ads about medicines are available every hour? If you listen to all they say you’ll see that you are at a high risk of heart attack, low in calcium, suffer from all sort of allergies, have pain in joints and lower back, suffer from dry eyes, etc.
I didn’t know I was a walking piece of sh…in need of so many pills to recover and prevent so many sicknesses that surrounds me like starving house flies!
The problem is that many people believe all this publicity and forget that companies are just trying to sell. Some people suffer from several problems and need medicine, true, but the majority doesn’t need them, remember, vaccination consist of giving you a controlled amount of the sickness so your body creates antibodies to self protect; if you take medicines for the smallest symptom your body is never able to create defenses.
After all medicines available here in the US life span hasn’t increased compared with other countries, by the opposite, people live longer in other places. They take fewer medicines and eat less crap!
With all that stuff of extra purified foods (check the labels) pills for everything, purified water, even cleaners that kills 99.99 % of bacteria, etc. people here is becoming less resistant to sicknesses; just try drinking water in other countries, most people from here get sick but not the locals.
Many people have become dependant on medicine to keep going and too fragile to resist foods in their original state; it is a circle, labs convince people they need their pills so they make business, people use them for no real reason, after years they become fragile, get sick more often so labs sell more medicine, get more business, like drug dealers! No wonder that medicines are also called drugs!
The truth is, eat a good variety of common foods in small amounts, drink tap water and exercise often, but real exercise, not just a brisk 30 minutes walk 3 times per week, but rather running 30 minutes everyday. You’ll be able to do the same anywhere in the world and not to get sick so easily, will save a bunch of money in medicines and “organic” foods that you wont need and as a bonus…live longer.
Raul
