Comfort is an invisible prison. Insidiously it has come creeping up on us. This need for life to be easy. To follow the path of least resistance. And the clock keeps on ticking. Life passes by seemingly unnoticeably. One day we might wake up and wonder what the hell we have prioritized.
This has happened to me. Or it was really more of a gradual awakening. But there is one word that keeps coming back when I consider how we spend our time, energy and money. How I’ve often spent my time, energy and money. The word is “madness”. We stuff our faces with processed foods full of additives, unhealthy fats and carbs with a high GI because it tastes good. We save all year so we can spend our vacations laying on a beach drinking umbrella drinks. And we spend the rest of the money on appliances that will help us avoid doing anything that exhausts us more than necessary.
On our jobs we only work when our boss sees us. Because we see it as a bad thing to make an effort if we’re not rewarded for it or to avoid punishment. Laziness has become an ideal to strive for, even if we don’t like to name it “laziness”.
Our wallets do not decide our level of freedom either. They only decide what kind of metal our prison bars are made of. If we have little money, we take as much as possible if it’s free or cheap. If we have a lot of money, we buy luxury items. But it’s the same numbing comforts and pleasures, even if the former most of the time kill us physically a little faster.
I saw this quite long ago. I have seen it more clearly some times than others. But then I come up with these excuses: “Just this once”, “I deserve this”, “It’s been stressful and I need to relax”, “What’s wrong with enjoying life?”
But whatever comes with a literal or metaphorical hangover cannot be okay to indulge in. Not ever. No matter if the hangover comes in the form of feeling like crap or a day or two, or if it’s more of a slow process, where one’s whole life becomes like a drawn out hangover of consequences due to daily choices that numb the spirit and eats up one’s life force. Choices that have stopped being choices and have instead turned to habits and behavioral patterns.
I believe that in this case anger is quite a healthy response. Not towards ourselves, but towards a culture that preys on our lower natures. You did not do this consciously towards yourself. No one would. Our lives are very much governed by assumptions. And because of the nature of assumptions, until we are made aware of them, they are hidden in plain sight. You did this because your culture told you that it was the right thing to do and no one ever gave you the idea of questioning it.
Now the question is, do you want to feed your comfortable prison? Or do you want to use your anger to feed the flames of your passion to break free? Do you want to allow distractions and pleasures to lull you even further into sleep? Or do you want to bring conscious awareness into your life, actions and choices and wake up?
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