The Fall of the Golden Age

 "As long as habit and routine dictate the pattern of living, new dimensions of the soul will not emerge."
Henry Van Dyke

     First off let me say happy New Year to everyone.  With confidence, a little faith, and perseverance, we can make this the best year ever.  I have faith in all of you.  What can we say about the years that have passed us?  Where is our society standing in 2011 and where are we heading?  It’s not the first time this has been said, but we are long passed the golden ages, the age of information, the age of knowledge, we are now trapped in the age of entertainment.  Yes, that’s right.  Facebook, reality shows, FPS games (first person shooters), Persistent Online RPG’s (World of Warcraft) and all the new trends lead toward one thing, mind-numbing entertainment, nothing else.  

     Now entertainment isn’t always a bad thing.  I’m in my 20’s and I love all that shi’t as well, but I try to stay conscious about it and not let entertainment consume me.  I try to stay discipline about it and avoid falling victim to the easily consuming habits.  Too often people fall victim to their own chemicals.  When people get that “like” on Facebook, that awesome headshot in Call of Duty, or even when Angelina breaks up with Jordan on Jersey Shore, their body releases endorphins, a chemical in the brain responsible for excitement.  Endorphins are released when a person is in intense pain, after exercise, eats spicy food, gets excited or anything of the sort.  So if we’re getting our daily dose of endorphins from that lucky headshot or a few surprise comments on your facebook status, then there’s something being neglected here.  People tend to only do as much as they have to most of the time.  You see, more often than not people are taking the lazy route and going after the short term, immediate effects, rather than building a foundation and experiencing a long term effect.  It’s simple; the return you get is in exact amount to what you put in.  Let me explain.  Say you build a website, half-ass it and then look for a big return, guess what, your return will be half-assed.  Same goes with weight loss.  Say you want to lose weight, but you want to do it quickly.  You might end up doing some drastic things like starving yourself and steady state cardio.  The outcome is you might lose weight quicker than improving your diet and doing proper resistance training, but you’re building on sand and it won’t last in the long run.  You end up losing weight quickly, but in return sacrificing a lot in health and often times than not, gaining most of that weight back and end up more miserable than before.  Now what’s the formula for this disaster?  Short term pleasure - Long term discomfort.  

     Let’s look at it the other way around.  Say you want to lose weight, you want to lose it quickly, but you’re looking to do it properly, you care about your body and go about it differently.  You change your diet, eat more frequently, add some resistance and keep a determined pace.  Now all that work will be uncomfortable in the beginning and you won’t notice anything immediately, but something great will happen over time.  Instead of being afraid of not having that quick fix and burst of endorphins, you always keep your goal in sight and end up with something greater, something more meaningful at the end.  You have pushed with hard work and discipline and persevered at the end.  Now not only do you have the biggest shot of endorphins ever, but you will continue to have it, you will continue to feel good about yourself.  What’s the formula for this success?  Short-term discomfort – long term pleasure.  You don’t like your job?  You feel miserable?  Don’t play 6 hours of Call of Duty when you get home or stay on Facebook until the early morning for some quick pleasure and then go to sleep depressed to wake up to yet another of the same old disaster the very next day.  Screw the quick fix, put down that Xbox controller or “X” out that Facebook window and open up Google, look for answers, attack your discomfort directly and build from the ground up.  

     Sooner or later, the building will crumble if you have a weak foundation.  You have to start at the bottom, look at the root of your stress, the primary cause of your agony, of all your problems.  Just like when you have a headache.  Do you take Tylenol to relieve it or do you drink some water, get some fresh air and rest to get rid of it?  Masking the pain is only a quick fix, a temporary, short term solution.  Sure it will get rid of the pain and yes if you’re at work or somewhere that requires your attention, you’ll have to mask the pain temporarily to do what you have to do, but as long as you understand that it’s not a fix, it’s just temporary relief.  You have to dig deep down and understand why you have the headache, do things to get rid of it, not hide it.  

     Mindless entertainment gets in the way of everything these days.  It’s so easy to get distracted.  Entertainment is good, but in moderation.  In 2011, we’re living in a world where entertainment is more readily available to us than information and knowledge.  This may seem harmless, but what will the future hold for us if we live in a world where it’s so easy to fall into lazy habits of thinking?  Just like any habit, it becomes an addiction and you’ll need more of it to feel that “buzz” of satisfaction, you’ll need more for your body to fire out the endorphins.  In the end, its short lived and we’re back in the same ongoing cycle, stuck in the box.  I can use examples for days, but the same formula always applies.  Short term pleasure : Long term discomfort or Short-term discomfort : long term pleasure.  In the long run, regret is worst than fear so choose wisely. Stay tuned for Monday’s new challenge.  For a mini challenge, put down your New Year resolutions in the comment section!  Take control people and have a happy new year. 

    

My New Year Resolutions

1. Become pro

2. Become lean 200lbs+ (currently 187lbs)

3. Become Strauss Master (with the ladies!)

4. Learn to Backflip

5. Find a Muse and be rich

6. Get Better, Bigger, Faster, Srtonger

7. Use internet much less

8. Be more productive with my time

9. Finish what I started

10. Become more involved in fixing the world

11. Sleep Early