Driving Ourselves Nuts

by Andrew Cromwell

Life is busy. No one argues that point. Actually, it has become one of the things we talk about just to fill the time in conversation, a lot like we talk about the weather. We shake our heads and say things like “boy this year has flown by quickly” and “will things ever slow down?” The other person just shakes their head and agrees that they are just as busy as you and their life just as hectic.

And while people are busy, I sometimes wonder if our “feeling” of being rushed all the time is made far worse by the way we are choosing to live our lives. I’m beginning to think we are driving ourselves nuts and we don’t even recognize the source of the problem.

It seems that at any moment in between the normal activities of the day, we do our best to fill the time — we pull out our phones and check facespace, email, text messages, words with friends or whatever game you’re currently playing. Instead of taking a breath, enjoying the people around us or staring blankly into space, we have trained ourselves to reach for the closest electronic device.

We are like hopped up hamsters, continually seeking for the next hit of catnip which is served up by those little blue-light emitting squares in our pockets and purses. We can’t even sit down at a meal (be it at home or at a restaurant with a friend or loved one) without pawing at our phones. We stare at them as if they hold the answer to the deep questions of the universe and ignore the people next to us.

And the more we do it, the more scattered and rushed we feel. We are training ourselves to be distracted and unsatisfied with the present. We are continually seeking for some other contact out there and we cease to be able to be content and calm right here, right now.

We are losing our ability to step back and breathe and center ourselves. Instead of looking up, we are looking down and we are losing our perspective. As a parent, I find myself complaining about how much time my kids want to spend on electronics, and then I realize that they are only doing exactly what I am doing!

So, I think it’s time we get serious about setting boundaries. It’s time we start being present in the moment.  It’s time we started turning off the devices (yes, that is possible) and enjoy the people we are with. And if we are not with people, maybe take some time to actually breathe and think without scrambling to find out what so-and-so ate for lunch today.

Maybe we’ll find we’re not as busy as we feel.