Posted on February 7th, 2021
The downside of the hyperconnected world is we are constantly bombarded with available activities, endless stimuli to act on something. The so-called 'free contents' are embedded with ads. And you know all ads comes with one thingācall to action.
Yesterday, I posted Ten signs of hurry sickness. to diagnose ourselves, whether we are suffering from hurry sickness or not. Misliving is the future of hurry sickness. The way we mislive is when the distraction swayed our lives into oblivion. We ended up never did anything genuine or meaningful.
As a religious person myself, misliving means I will miss my God-given purpose in this life. I will fail to embark on the journey He set upon my life. It's a pull-and-push of direction and misdirection.
What are the distractions that we need to worry about?
Unhealthy online presence.
You have to commit a time to sign out, then live. The abundance of information could backfire if you don't know how to handle it. One mental model that I have in mind is this: the human mind cannot exist as a vacuum. It will be filled either with good or with evil. It can never be empty.
Unhealthy planning
I know, I know.. Planning is everything. We need to mitigate risk, blah blah blah. It is not wrong, but all I ask is this: make room for emergent, serendipitous events. There is a truth in mindfulness movement: just be. In the now. Live well. Ask yourself:
What does today bring?
How can I, instead of being puzzled by 'how to live a fulfilling live?', starts with 'how can I make this day a fulfilling day?'
If you measure your life with certainty, you create vulnerabilities. When a slight of things go south, you crumble. You can't live in the future. Make the most out of today. Carpe Diem.
Unhealthy expectation
You won't have a perfect like. No matter how hard you try. Slow your thoughts down and read this slowly: things. will. go. wrong.
Be flexible. You have a plan, now you need to adapt. React to what happens, rethink your strategy, try a different approach. Don't expect what you plan to be 100% smooth-sailing. Be consistent, but also flexible.
Book Recommendation The Horoscope by Jean de La Fontaine