The Numbing of America: Excess
Doesn't Equal Fulfillment

by Amy Scholten, MPH

We've become a nation conditioned to use food, technology, alcohol, amusements, medications, materialism, workaholism and other distractions to suppress emotional pain. Being distracted or addicted is the new normal, but at what cost?

With cell phones pressed to their ears, ubiquitous downtown pedestrians wolf down their McFast meals and multi-task on their lunch breaks.

In stores surrounding traffic-laden plazas, hoards of shoppers with hungry eyes scan aisles of fat and calorie-laden synthetic "fun foods" in a search for comfort or novelty.

In parking lots and along roadways, mindless drivers talk and text their way into the bumpers of unlucky fellow motorists....or into the pathways of preoccupied college students who just twittered, tweeted and texted their way through the last lecture!

Back at home, the family is scattered in isolated corners of the house, immersed in Facebook, computer games, instant messaging and watching multiple broadcasts simultaneously on their wide screen TVs. They scan, type, skype, talk, and gorge on Doritoes all at the same time.

These are pretty typical scenes from our current American landscape where immersion in distractions has become an unquestionable way of life. But does jumping from one conditioned amusement or distraction to another lead to fulfillment?

Nothing Succeeds Like Excess...or So We Thought!

It's not that we need to throw all our distractions and conveniences out the window. Facebook, email and other technologies allow us convenience in maintaining multiple connections around the world. Tasty food adds spice to our lives. Certain medications can help us manage otherwise unmanageable situations. Why not make our difficult lives a little more comfortable? Our conveniences and comforts aren't always a bad thing...in moderation. But problems start when they turn into habitual distractions and addictions, leaving us numb, mind-controlled, programmed, and out of touch with our true emotions. Such unconscious living eventually leads to physical, mental and emotional ruin.

We increasingly bear witness to the price we pay for numbing out:

 

Food as Addiction: More than 2/3 of U.S. adults and about 1/3 of U.S. children are now overweight or obese, posing a significant health risk to themselves and a health care burden on the nation.

Money/Materialism/Status as Addiction: Sub prime mortgage disasters, economic collapse, the overwork/stress epidemic, ubiquitous greed and corruption, and increased economic disparity are all outcomes of mass addiction to power, status and materialism.

Amusements as Addiction: A culture of trivia, lack of interest in truth or matters of depth, widespread anti-intellectualism, lack of critical thinking skills, and reduced ability to focus— all hinder our ability to maintain strength on the home front and within the global economy.

And so on.

"You can do anything long
enough to escape the habit of living, until the escape becomes the habit."

David Ryan

Personal Consequences of Numbing Out: Lack of Fulfillment

On a personal level, numbing out deprives us of spiritual nourishment because it distances us from true connection with ourselves and others. We can't hear the voice within that speaks for inner balance. If we can't fully experience our pain, we can't fully experience our joy. Without full awareness, our personal and spiritual growth are stunted. Because we can't focus and contemplate, we become numb to the beauty and abundance that surrounds us and therefore feel deprived.

Our national threshold for boredom is so low that we seek constant stimulation and need greater and greater "shock value" to feel anything!!!!!

The irony is, numbing out leads to lack of fulfillment, and so we seek to further numb ourselves.

Conscious Living Equals Empowerment

Would all hell break loose if we stopped numbing ourselves so much and tried to get more comfortable with our feelings (not just those dictated as "socially acceptable")? No. Here's what I think would eventually happen:

• We would learn to see our emotions as friends who provide us with valuable information about what's working and what isn't.
  
• We would honor our inner knowing and authentic needs instead of being mindless automatons who blindly follow social programming that's destructive to our minds, bodies and spirits.
  
• We would rise up and challenge the status quo and thus have a chance at creating a healthier culture.
  
• We would slow down and taste our lives, becoming more conscious and appreciative of each beautiful moment, each simple and precious gift. As a result, we would feel more fulfilled (full and filled) and thus not so prone to addictions to food, materialism, substances, amusements and other distractions.

In short, we would be truly present to ourselves and others and thus truly empowered... and we'd create more of the same.