Let’s face it, convenience is our most prized possession. It consumes our every thought, decision, and path we take. Living things share the survival mechanism of saving energy to conserve calories so life can sustain. Obviously a vital skill when we were killing everything we ate, building our shelter and shepherding the beasts that feed and clothe us. We’ve done things that way longer than we haven’t. We’ve only recently needed memberships to planet fitness so we don’t eat our heart into failure. We’ve made things so easy on ourselves it’s killing us. We’ve made things so convenient we don’t struggle enough to sustain life in our natural state.
We need artificial forms of resistance, in climate controlled venues, with noise canceling listening devices so we can continue to drive thru and consume meat and bread at lightning speeds so we can get to our exhibitions of comparing our offspring faster.
In Sam Quinones Dream Land, The Tale of America’s Opiate Epidemic he reports it’s no coincidence the rise of the heroin crisis coincided with America’s obsession with excess. “The morphine molecule exerts an analogous brainwashing on humans, pushing them to act contrary to their self interests in pursuit of the molecule. Addicts betray loved ones, steal, live under freeways in harsh weather and run similarly horrific risks to use the molecule.” (The Molecule, Dream Land). This haunting insight makes way too much sense. Quinones goes on to say America’s excess of “good stuff” is the very trait that contaminated it.
Our brains demand more of what makes it comfortable. All good when the majority of stimuli available only offer hardship and strain, ie. The western frontier in the 19th century. But fast forward to a time where to look someone in the face and say what we mean, or just send a text so we don’t have to deal with social discomfort is a real daily choice. Where else is there to go from here but the molecule that promises permanent pleasure. We’ve been told things shouldn’t be hard, and we said Amen. It’s easy to judge the junky on the street. But what would we see if we looked in the mirror. Do we realize the pacifier in our pockets called smart phones and and our obsession with being entertained is killing us. Do we realize every time we let that uncomfortable but essential conversation with our spouse give way to silence and scrolling, we slice another relational artery wide open to bleed out. That moment when our little leaguers check to see if we ‘saw that catch,” and find we were nose deep in a facebook battle, do we realize we have left his crave for affirmation go malnourished. No bother, he’ll just be looking for it everywhere, with everyone for the rest of his life.
Did people have time to question their worth when they were making, hunting, building everything they have. I am not the authority in this domain. Maybe these issues just went undiagnosed. Maybe fear, and anxiety have always been there, we just dealt with them differently. To be scared didn’t mean we shouldn’t, it was just a catalyst that made us more aware and improved our performance.
Our chemical way of processing struggle and effort has not changed. Our options to endure such struggles have. It was when the ratio of healthy toil and healthy fear got out of whack, we got fat, sad and bored. Is there a remedy to any of this or are we all destined for motorized chairs and straws pumping liquid food into our swollen bodies like that scene in WalE. Deep stuff Disney. At Manchild we believe the solution starts with struggling on purpose. Put your self in natural states of strain. What does that mean? Physically put yourself in situations that make your brain fire in ancient ways. Pursue physical labor. Socially, pursue deep relationships. The kind where it’s safe to say more than surface superficial responses. The kind of relationships that can weather a tough conversation, a strong disagreement or a differing point of view. Mentally make yourself lock in. Daniel Kahneman won the Nobel Peace Price for behavioral economics because he discovered, people try to create mental shortcuts to save brain power. The problem is, much of those short cuts lack perspective, empathy and compassion. Why? Because it’s easier. It takes more energy to realize the plight of someone else and be moved enough to do something about it. It’s more convenient to distract ourselves. Like drowning a squeaky car belt out with the radio, we bury our heads in ballgames and chain restaurants to avoid seeing the pain of our neighbor
To create something demanding deep thought and focus are portals to the version of man God created, the one in His own image. Look at your choices today, and ask yourself why you want it that way. If the answer is because it’s easier and not because it’s right, you’re killing yourself.