This topic has been brewing to a crescendo in my mind for a very long time. For many months. Actually years. I finally feel compelled to write about it.

I’ve scratched the surface of the subject a few times in my blog posts, danced around what’s been stirring within me, and even attempted to articulate some thoughts about this matter in my writings.

But now the noise in my head has grown to a deafening scream this week. Why this week? Because I’ve reached my retention limit and I’ve arrived at a tipping point. The point at which I must pour out my thoughts and feelings in words, to purge them from my heart, to see them and read them, to make sense of them, give meaning to their existence and share them with others who may relate.

In case you’re lucky enough to live in a bubble or haven’t noticed, the world has gone mad.  Right is wrong and wrong is right.  Common sense has flown the coop, nonsense is touted as good sense, and good sense is labeled as nonsense and inconsequential, while common courtesy and good manners are rare and scarce. People are blowing themselves and others into oblivion as war is waged on western civilization by an enemy that has changed the rules, weapons and strategy of battle.  Sorry I went off on a tangent! I’m not referring to this kind of insanity. I’m talking about a very different kind of crazy.

There’s a NEW addiction on the block!

This one is as serious and destructive as any chemical, substance, food, sex, shopping or other addiction because it affects its host physically, emotionally and mentally as do the others, but this new kid on the block has the capacity to crush our souls.

How do I know? I’ve felt it grip me from time to time. I’ve felt it slowly stealing my soul. I hear others express their frustration and helplessness to release themselves from it’s addictive grasp. I see its insidious negative effect on people around me. In those I love and care about, my business associates, my peers, and others with whom I’m barely acquainted, but I sense it in their posts, their blogs and their emails. So what is it?

It’s an addiction to DOING and knowing E.V.E.R.Y.T.H.I.N.G.

You may laugh, but look around. Everyone is busy and everyone complains about having “no time”.  Time is the most valuable, finite and sought-after commodity of today’s world. Time is the great equalizer. We all get the same number of hours in a day—it’s how we choose to spend it that matters. Most people say they never have enough time, yet they keep squeezing in one more activity, saying yes to one more request, one more demand and spending it on one more want!

The habit of incessant activity turns into one rush after another—the physical rush, the mental rush and the adrenaline rush—until this potent combo maxes out its hosts to the point of helplessness. The victims, do not know how to stop, they’re not ABLE to stop, even though they may want to, and even when they know it’s best for them.

Side note: If you want to stop (anything) and you can’t stop, you’re addicted. Face it. Own it!

Busy-busy-busy.  Doing-going-doing-going! It’s all about living in the never-ending rat-race. If this is you, you’re in the rat-trap. You’re the little mouse held captive in the spinning wheel. You might even be afraid to get off. You seize a chance to catch your breath, jump off the merry-go-round, sit down for 5 seconds and discover you’re still trapped!

Now you’re engulfed by guilt. You feel guilty for being still. You become restless, agitated and anxious. Your mind, so stimulated it never shuts off, and relentless in its persistence, demands you DO something! This is where the addiction compels you to cut short your restfulness and find something to do because that’s the new norm for you—in constant motion.  You must be “on.” Doing something A.L.L. the time!

Now here’s the second part of the addiction—the need to KNOW everything.

The need to be a curious busybody is insatiable. The desire to know what’s happening in the world, or in the life of your friends, your family, your business associates, and your competitors. Thanks to modern technology, you have immediate access to information on any subject, day and night, any time you want it—in the palm of your hand. On your night stand. In your car. In the middle of the night. In the bathroom! Peleeeease!!!! Seriously? I pray this isn’t you!

The seductive attraction of receiving information is on tap 24/7. Just log on and you’re lost for hours gazing at places, people and things, wandering from one browser to another, scanning post after post on social media, learning about this friend and that one, and becoming what I call a “like” freak. Like-like-like-like-like-like-like. Why?

Now add in the fear of missing out on something and you have a disastrous combination.  Fear of loss is powerful. It can capture you in a stranglehold!

What if you miss that one article that holds the secret to your success? What if a friend shares a post that reveals that one magical tip that can make a difference in your performance, or your productivity, or your personal growth or your family life? What if you miss out on something everyone else knows? What if you miss ….?

So, you pile more information on and into your already overloaded mind and you subscribe to more and more. You like more sites, more pages, sign up for more email information, blogs, success tips, health articles, videos and you join more social media!

You invite an inordinate amount of “stuff” into your life—stuff that consumes MORE of your precious time. Why? Is it ALL really necessary when you know you’re falling further and further behind because of the added distractions? 

Are you learning more and accomplishing less? In an attempt to do it all and know it all and your compulsion to miss out on nothing, you sacrifice your productivity, success and valuable time. Now you’re frustrated and feel a sense of worthlessness and hopelessness.

But there’s one more thing! It’s not just what YOU invite into your world now! There are so many portals of direct access to you that everyone and their mother is coming at you 24/7, inserting themselves into your mind, your private space, each vying voraciously for your time and attention in an attempt to consume their share of you! To steal a piece of YOU! It’s a virtual attack on YOU!

It’s complete and utter madness.  It’s constant stimulation from within and without from the invited and the uninvited. The uncontrolled input is hammering YOU. It’s controlling your output and seizing your joy.

Now your soul is crushed.

Suddenly one day you realize you have no time to just “be”, there’s no escape to a place of peace and serenity. Not even a moment to think. You’re life is not your own and you’ve done it to yourself or allowed it to happen (which is the same thing!)

If all this resonates with you, it’s time to STOP! Time to disconnect. It’s time to pull back and pull the plug.  You must crush the addiction before it crushes YOU.

Your soul needs you and YOU need your soul.

I know what you’re thinking!  “I don’t know how to disconnect!” or “I need all that stuff!” or “What? I need to stay connected!”

This is the addiction talking.

You DO know what to do and NO you DON’T need all that stuff. It’s distracting and mostly unfulfilling. You CAN shut it off!  And I’ll bet you ARE connected to real live people around you and by phone. People who love and care about you.

Be present! The greatest gift to your loved ones is your presence.

What you need is to gain back control of YOU and your life, to pay attention to YOUR world—not THE world. Shut off all the dings, beeps and demands of outsiders and mindless distractions that are competing for your attention and have no significant meaning in or to your life.

Limit who and what you allow into your world, including through the TV. Control your time on social media. Unsubscribe to all the apps, sites and email subscriptions that are superfluous to your life’s purpose. They’re choking you to death! It’s time to clean house and kick butt! Hey listen if I can do it, so can you!

Focus you attention on what matters most in your life. YOUR life!  Did you hear that? It’s your life! You don’t need to know what’s happening with everyone else, at any given minute of the day. Shut down some of the portals of direct access that are stealing your valuable time and attention. The clock of life is ticking away.

Here’s what you need most. Your soul.

Give some time to your SOUL. You’re created in God’s image. You’re a soul with a body. You were born to be creative. In order to create and fulfill your purpose, you must be able to think. To think clearly you need an uncluttered mind that can focus. That requires moments of peace and quiet where you’re still—it’s music to your soul. In moments like these, you hear the still small voice of God speaking to you, flooding you with love and peace. Your soul sings! Your soul is restored.

In this crazy world of busyness and continual distraction, do you schedule time-outs to reflect on life, to search your mind for answers, to revitalize your crushed soul?

P.S. I have personally scaled back on what I read on my devices, what I invite into my email box and I especially block out (or wisely filter) anything that would steal into my mind and crush my soul.

“For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what shall a man give in return for his soul?”  Matthew 16:26

 

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