We are emotional creatures. We live in a world of emotional stimulation, and oftentimes OVERstimulation...

Bombarded with images our grandfathers eyes never saw, sounds they never heard, and headlines that are biased and uninformative.

Our society loves memes and cat videos, along with an assortment of crazy acts, and police chases.

Our eyes are assaulted on a minute by minute basis, and it is taking us into places we probably never meant to, or wanted to, go into.

But we do it because it's an addiction. We wouldn't call it that, but that is exactly what it is.

This is slowly killing us, and we don't even know it.

It is stealing our time, our emotions, our livelihood, and our futures.

But how is it doing this? 

Overstimulation is allowing things to enter our bodies, or minds, that cause fatigue, anxiety, stress, or even physical discomfort.

Our society has made cellphones, billboards, movies, and even newspapers, a form of entertainment that constantly attacks us from all angles.

Time and energy go into making these things, and the same is taken from us when we engage it.

So, how do we get back what our current society has stolen from us?

Be a Vulcan...🖖

Look, even as I am joking about that, in the same moment, I am being somewhat serious.

I love Star Trek, and I kinda enjoyed Voyager over the others because it was really my first taste of that universe.

Yes, growing up my brother watched TNG, but he literally FORCED me to sit and watch it with him. Obviously I rebelled and later didn't want anything to do with it.

But in 2001, I was watching the now defunct UPN, and even though I can't remember what the show was, I remember on a commercial break, they were promoting the current episode of Voyager.

It looked interesting, and I stayed for the episode, and it was really nice.

Anyway...

The Vulcan on the show was emotionless, and it was odd for me to see that. No human could pull that off, because we are too attached to our emotions.

But, later in life, as I was searching for meaning and trying to "find" myself, I started reading the bible again.

And then I reread it, and read it a 3rd time, and a 4th, until over a year and a half, I had read the entire bible, 6 times, and came to a conclusion...

Humans are simply "beasts", who live by their instincts, until they take control of their emotions.

Obviously we have higher intelligence, and mostly do have control of our emotions, except for when we don't...(looking at those who have committed crimes against others..)

Thinking about vulcans, we see that these fictional characters are at the top of the emotionless humanoid pyramid.

I don't believe this kind of thing is even close to reality with humans, and I wouldn't encourage it.

What I would say is that this kind of behavior is something similar to how we evade being emotional wrecks on a day by day basis.

But you feel fine after watching endless videos, or YouTube shorts, or movies, or whatever...

But you don't, do you? You immediately feel as if you wasted precious time, or are even wasting your potential, or even your life.

This may sound "dramatic", but saying otherwise is lying to ourselves.

We ALL are addicted to this culture, and believe it or not, as I noticed for the last year here in Mexico, people of all walks of life are staring at their screens, and barely able to make eye contact.

Even children, and especially the poor. Once they get a phone, it's over...

A few even seemed visibly upset that I took them away from their videos, when I came into their shop.

This isn't me imagining things, this is real, and a real problem.

Fixing it is as easy as remembering a few rules.

#1. Make an effort to say hello, and smile...

If you notice that the shop keeper is annoyed when you walk in, then kindly greet them with a small smile.

If you see that a family member is staring at the screen and when you ask a question, they keep looking at it and just say, "what?", kindly sit next to them and pat them on the back, or give them a hug.

If you are doing these things to others, remember that human interaction is more important than screen time...which brings me to...

#2. Don't get angry...

This is the biggest thing I see, frustration, and anger from mostly family.

Many relationships fail because of screentime. This isn't a joke.

I was literally in a relationship, and we hardly fought, but the problem was screentime, verses personal time.

She broke up with me without looking away from her phone, lying on the couch.

I packed my bags, and walked out about an hour later, and she hadn't moved. I was angry that she didn't even care enough to look me in the eye.

Anger is often the one thing I notice when it comes to this issue.

#3. Learn to detox...

It's time to step away from the screen, and doing so in increments is the easiest way.

I propose...

#A. Turn your phone off for 2 hours...

This isn't the hardest thing, because many of us have jobs that require us to leave our phones off for several hours...but this is when you are at home. Take that practice with you to spend more time with family.

#B. Turn your phone off for 8 hours...

This is a bit harder, but doable after remembering how important it is to keep relationships intact. Again, do this at home, and split the time up if needed at first, then after time, try an entire 8 hours without it.

#C. Turn your phone off for 24 hours...

Once you have made the decision to detox from social media, and other destructive addictions online, this shouldn't be too hard.

Again, break the time up, but after some time, try the entire 24 hours.

#D. 1 week without your phone...

Obviously the most difficult, but not being dependent on it by now should be a lot easier.

#E. 2 weeks without your phone...

After almost a month of taking back your time and life, this is automatic and easier than the 8 hours without your phone.

#F. 30 days...

Nothing to it by now. You almost don't even touch your phone or laptop at this point because it's not as important as the people around you.

Most of this is focused on screentime, but overcoming anything in life is like this...little by little, and by the time 30 days has passed, you will have taken back precious time and energy that you were giving to mostly negative behavior.

As is said, it takes 22 days to make or break a habit, and by day 30, is a new thing.

Even if you don't think you have a problem like this, there is always something we can improve on, and do better.

#4. Take time in the woods.

You WILL feel refreshed, and able to breathe better. It's natural therapy.

#5. Walk a foot trail.

#6. Get help from family.

This may be the most important thing. Those who notice our behavior is mostly those closest to us.

Tell them you need them to help you be more responsible with your time, and held accountable when not taken seriously.

Make a pact to hold each other accountable and stick to it.

As I said before, this is applicable with anything you may be facing. ANYTHING...

I have noticed a serious change in my behavior after letting my phone sit for 8 hours.

I am always online working, but then I need to step away. 

By September, of this year, I will be in the 30 days without the phone, and laptop, and will have stopped using 75% of apps I now use for crypto.

So, even though being like a Vulcan is not really 100% possible, we can learn a lot from that. 

Thanks for reading, and don't forget to take a few seconds to let me know your thoughts in the comments below...👇🏻