So, someone asks why we continue to carry out repetitive destructive
behaviour even when we are pretty well informed about the negative
effects this behaviour can have on our lives and especially when we know
this behaviour can compromise our health. My reply ...
Sadly, in today’s society, many people choose to turn away from “reality” as it is. Too much knowledge can be just as dangerous as not enough.
Unfortunately, it’s human nature to switch off to what we don’t want to hear because it’s too painful or because we don’t want to accept it as a truth or because, in some cases, the bad things become our comfort. We feel safe with them and as damaging as they are, we don’t want to let go of them. Nor do we wish to deprive ourselves of them because we’d feel cheated of something or, perhaps, neglected.
In today’s society, everything has become so readily available and so easily obtainable that we don’t like to deny ourselves anything. Maybe the blame here should lay with clever media marketing techniques that make people believe they’re inferior if something is lacking in their lives. It’s become common practice to look at what we don’t have instead of appreciating, and be grateful, for what we do have.
Having a society of content, grateful people doesn’t make good economics. Only people who feel they aren’t adequate enough will seek happiness and comfort in “things” outside themselves. It’s a subtle form of manipulation, and control, to get people to buy things and to behave in certain ways.
When I say “things” it could be anything that creates a temporary illusion of happiness. Temporary is the key word here, and this is why so many people continue with repetitive destructive behaviour in search of another fleeting moment of happiness.
Lasting happiness can only come from within. It can never be found outside one’s own self and nothing, and no-one, can ever be responsible for the creation of it. Yet, we continue to pass up on this responsibility and seek comfort elsewhere; like food. Its aromas and flavours remind us of people, places, events. It could be anything from a full Sunday roast with loving granny and grandpa, with whom we felt safe and loved, to an ice-cream on the pier, as a child, when the family was having a blissful day out. For a child, there are no cares in the world, no responsibilities. Everything is easy. There are no life decisions to be made.
Hence, the repetition of destructive behaviour that takes us back, consciously or unconsciously, to a carefree time in our life makes us escape for a while from the harsh reality of being an adult. I’m not saying that every case is the same because every individual is unique but it’s definitely something to consider.
Treat yourselves kindly dear ones. One global love
Sadly, in today’s society, many people choose to turn away from “reality” as it is. Too much knowledge can be just as dangerous as not enough.
Unfortunately, it’s human nature to switch off to what we don’t want to hear because it’s too painful or because we don’t want to accept it as a truth or because, in some cases, the bad things become our comfort. We feel safe with them and as damaging as they are, we don’t want to let go of them. Nor do we wish to deprive ourselves of them because we’d feel cheated of something or, perhaps, neglected.
In today’s society, everything has become so readily available and so easily obtainable that we don’t like to deny ourselves anything. Maybe the blame here should lay with clever media marketing techniques that make people believe they’re inferior if something is lacking in their lives. It’s become common practice to look at what we don’t have instead of appreciating, and be grateful, for what we do have.
Having a society of content, grateful people doesn’t make good economics. Only people who feel they aren’t adequate enough will seek happiness and comfort in “things” outside themselves. It’s a subtle form of manipulation, and control, to get people to buy things and to behave in certain ways.
When I say “things” it could be anything that creates a temporary illusion of happiness. Temporary is the key word here, and this is why so many people continue with repetitive destructive behaviour in search of another fleeting moment of happiness.
Lasting happiness can only come from within. It can never be found outside one’s own self and nothing, and no-one, can ever be responsible for the creation of it. Yet, we continue to pass up on this responsibility and seek comfort elsewhere; like food. Its aromas and flavours remind us of people, places, events. It could be anything from a full Sunday roast with loving granny and grandpa, with whom we felt safe and loved, to an ice-cream on the pier, as a child, when the family was having a blissful day out. For a child, there are no cares in the world, no responsibilities. Everything is easy. There are no life decisions to be made.
Hence, the repetition of destructive behaviour that takes us back, consciously or unconsciously, to a carefree time in our life makes us escape for a while from the harsh reality of being an adult. I’m not saying that every case is the same because every individual is unique but it’s definitely something to consider.
Treat yourselves kindly dear ones. One global love
