I’ve been noticing of late that almost everyone seems to be searching for short-term fixes for potentially permanent problems. I find that to some extent, I am prey to this foolish process as well. It seems that if we could just step back and see things as they really are, then we might be able to commit to finding a real solution. But even when we know that a real solution is possible with patience and fortitude, we choose to let it go in exchange it for a quick fix. It’s so much easier to look for quick results, even when they are superficial and temporary. I find that I personally seem to give up not only the real solution, but also a number of quick fixes. I am slow to act. I am indecisive. I am fearful. And perhaps, I find some sick comfort in being miserable.
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Meta
you sounded like a buddhist monk for the first half of the paragraph.
you know, I’d have to agree with you there.
(References to an antecdote pages before about riding roller coasters) Some thoughts in an excerpt from my book Unveiling the Hood :
“…Abstract feelings – do they surpass physical feelings? The physical nature of being scared – does that compare with the awe I experienced at the park? In order to fully understand such concepts, we must take ourselves outside of the humanistic box. Instead of performing actions without purpose, we need to step back and contemplate our movements. We have the ability to go through time in our minds, to analyze things which are not in front of us, and to view objects without seeing them. Not only do we possess this ability to gather data from almost nothing physical, but we are also able to block out information sources intentionally. For example, suppose you decide to call friends over to play cards. While you are playing, you decide to keep the television turned on. There are several auditory and visual sources of information feeding into your mind from the television, the cards, and your friends. With all of these information channels tapping your mind, you are still able to block out those sounds and sights which are unimportant. This human skill, as well as the others previously mentioned, provides the basis for abstract reasoning. But do we, in general, voluntarily think about things which are abstract? Do we collectively analyze the things we see everyday and try to figure out their meanings? It is no surprise that many people complain everyday about how they are stuck in a dead-end job living in a dead-end world. They complain how everyone in the world is out to get them. They complain about the weather and paying bills. They even complain about good things that happen. With them, every single moment and syllable is an effort. All that they can understand is what their eyes can see and noses can smell. Thus, their lives are limited, struggling within a space barely large enough for breath to be drawn. It’s like being encased in an unbreakable box. Love does not enter, it does not leave. It sits in the box and grows cold. People inside are clouded by this limitation and don’t understand the capabilities of dreams; they would just rather be dumb ornaments. You can quickly identify this kind of person if he or she ever utters the typical dead-end statement “I don’t ask why, I just do what I’m told.”
In reality, though, everyone creates his or her own box – the size is the only variable. We decide our very own limitations, and thus our course of daily life is bound to those constraints. Actually, to make an analogy, it is quite similar to living on a roller coaster, if you think about it. Imagine spending 24 hours on a roller coaster without being allowed to get off it. It doesn’t matter how many ups and downs and turns and flips you do on it because you really aren’t getting anywhere. Plus, you don’t even have control over your own movement. There is some park worker who hits a button to make the coaster move at the speed he chooses. You have no control, and you have no way to escape the redundancy. Now project this kind of feeling into your current mindset. Despite all of the dynamic events and twists life throws you, do you ever have the feeling that you aren’t achieving your full potential, as if you are lacking that one little boost to set you free? Or are you repetitious, always moving along the same path, always moving for the same purpose, always being bound to your tracks?…”