Author/TjS From:Tim S/mobile/word/PDF/doc.#31rant Date: July 9, 2014 at 3:24:12 AM CDT To: Tim Stephenson Subject: •Lost• ~Drifting When we can’t figure out why we’re doing what we’re doing, or how we ended up working the job we’re working, a sense of “drift” settles in. It seems that instead of planning out our career, we just drifted along and eventually found ourselves here. Or perhaps we had a plan, but lack of follow-through and/or a few of life’s hard knocks changed it, and we just drifted along. The truth is, most of us drifted to some extent into whatever it is we’re doing. I know precious few people who planned out every step and were able to remain untouched by the chaos of living to go precisely where they wanted to go. Nonetheless, I can honestly say feeling the “drift” is an emotional trigger for feeling lost. ~Too Busy for Passion. If you’re passionate about your main job, that’s great. But for many people, their job is a means to pay the bills, not an outlet for their deeply felt passions. But if we always think we’re too busy with our jobs and other parts of our daily routines to pursue anything we’re passionate about, then feeling incredibly bland, if not lost, is inevitable. I’m a firm believer that every schedule needs some time carved away for passionate pursuits, whatever they may be (music, art, writing, movies, volunteering, etc). If you’re always too busy for passion, the proverbial “rut” awaits you. (I want no part myself) ~ I could not Locate a Purpose. Right alongside passion is the necessity of perceiving that what you do has a purpose, a meaningful reason for being.(I feel mine is for you to look at mine so you can see how good your life is. One of the side effects of the knowledge worker has been that many people work on discreet tasks that appear detached from a larger sense of purpose, and their supervisors feel no obligation to connect the dots (if they even know where all of the dots are and what they mean themselves). It’s hard to get motivated about the meaningfulness of your position when you have only a shallow sense of why what you’re doing contributes to the big picture. This may be one more reason to seek out a passionate sidebar/sidekick because it may also offer the sense of purpose you’re missing. ~ No Social Support Most of us are into social networking that offer real, substantial support? More frequently we’re socially organized around hobbies and sports. Those networks may be great for talking over the now of our pass times, but they don’t offer vital connections between people who come to rely on one another. We live our lives largely away or independent from others except for very specific needs, and this is contributing to sense of isolation— one that I feel is growing at the same time online social networks are exploding. ~Cognitive Overload. (Ha) >You may agree or disagree< This is probably the easiest on the list describe, because it affects all of us, and with increasing intensity. We simply have too much on our mental plates day-in and day-out to manage effectively. Without a quality external system for helping to manage it all, we can’t help but feel overloaded, and that contributes to a feeling of being out of sorts with the responsibilities and demands we face endlessly. Our brains didn’t evolve for nonstop information-driven, consumerism-driven, technology-laden societies, so we have to find-tools to offload our Cognitive Overload or sink. Distractions was hindering my Focus. About once a day I look at my iPhone and seriously consider throwing it into oncoming traffic. We have a ton of ways to stay “connected” at our disposal, but needing that hyper-speed connection lead me to attention fragmentation. When we can’t focus our time and energy on any one project without being distracted by our smart phones, email, news alerts, TV and everything else that’s barreling at us, then it’s natural to feel detached from the project and, quite possibly, lost about how to get it completed. We’ve got to get a grip on the distractions to get quality work accomplished; there’s simply no other way to consistently get work done and feel good about the outcomes. ~Bad Diets Fog the Mind wouldnt you agree? By now we’re all well aware that our cultural obsession with fast food is leading to an obesity epidemic, and cause health problems like diabetes, high blood pressure and coronary artery disease. But there’s also we have enough knowledge that the amount of saturated fat, and carbohydrates we’re ingesting is taking a toll on our ability to think clearly. Over time, deficits in speed of thought and memory can become major contributors to feeling lost, particularly if we look back on a time when those abilities were so much sharper than they are now. One more reason to stay away from the drive-thru and start making food at home. ~I feel The Media Creates False Expectations. We always seem to fall for whatever “perfect” and “ideal” representations are produced by ever-opportunistic media minds. Whether it’s the supermodel look, or the Nice ride everyone deserves to have waiting for them in their driveways at Christmas — pick your poison — it’s all commercialized fantasy. When you find yourself trying to measure up to the fantasy and, of course, fall far short, it’s depressing. We think, “If that’s what ‘success’ looks like, then what am I?” Note that the effect is so insidious i usually processed that question in my mind without even consciously thinking it through. We all need not do that. Over time those questions can lead to feeling lost. But they don’t have to if we can remind ourselves that “selling” is the prime mover of every commercialized fantasy we see. Without a buyer, the craftiest ploys of the seller are meaningless. Thats my 8 thoughts I came up with while laying down I my post opt. Better post it now meds got my head heavy and next shift will be here In a hour poking on me... Thanks for reading to the end, ~TjS~
Posted on: Wed, 09 Jul 2014 10:09:21 +0000