Our Identities- why is it reduced to average
The world is made to mould our mind, body, choices, actions and outcomes to average. When I say average, it means "less than better outcomes in life" that we realistically expect from ourselves.
How? Well if you observe carefully,
Life, as in life circumstances, situations, and our environments often, ..
In fact, always!, throws at us easy to fall for choices- pleasure disguised as quick wins! eventually getting us used to it, so we are not able to chisel our way into an ideal set of long term outcomes that are sustainable!
Why use the word sustainable? because the experiences that come as a result of our actions either elevate our life situation permanently, or present themselves as inconsequential pleasure cycles nibbling away our essential time here on Earth. And yet again, we are Never able to practically delay that gratification!..
Our mind is tricked into making choices that enable shortest distance or time travelled for pleasant outcomes, that are grossly unsustainable. Take for example our body- it suffers the consequences of ugly food and lifestyle, actions that result out of predictable choices- all in a way as if our navigation maps are always synced to remain average. Though, come to think of it, we all know what is best for us!
We think and would like to believe that choices translating to actions are made by us, but in fact, if someone is put into a similar set of external conditions would act in unison. We literally flock towards easy choices. Such high degree of predictability creates outcomes that are pretty much generalized, and in broader scheme of things that is what we call average.
Okay, being tagged as average is not bad, as long as we are happy- but over a longer period of time we no more have control on objectively defining our identity, and end up becoming a pure derivative of external conditions.
How dangerous can this get? — the more data we generate on platforms created for the masses, more predictable our actions become, unless we are conscious in the now with our choices, and actions.
Where did a data topic come from all of a sudden? our interactions on the web, attention spent in consuming content are all recorded, and is engineered further to validate the best possible way to program our minds and make us believe/buy/serve/generate interest/design better cues to make us serve grand commercial agendas!
We humans are literally programmable bunch of folks. Writing this gives me some space. phew!
Who is the culprit here?- No one!, its about the few group, who have been able to isolate themselves from the herd, for long enough, to create systems that chug out lots of money, by leveraging predictable behavior of consumers. In essence, consumers are being consumed .. 😒
Even if we do something great, but for how long! Ever thought as we progress ahead, the list of don'ts seems to get longer than do's!, and even if we are able to refrain ourselves from the easy to fall for choices for a certain length of time, eventually we are lured, reverting to mean! again!
Such forces!, acting not in our best interests!
What shall we do then? It’s time that we are absolutely in the now or present with all our mind and body- and choose better for long enough time, so it creates an Identity moat, impossible to permeate.
To understand this construct, say we are presented with multiple choices as illustrated above, once we choose, act and experience the outcome- this very outcome determines the quality of the next set of choices. Beware this is a cycle, and in these next set of choices, there are ones disguised and sugar enveloped to lure us into downward spiral- finally depriving us of a life where we become slaves of external exploitation.
A conscious journey is a happy one! Destination is just part of this long journey, that is either rewarding or taxing on us.. Be more present in this journey, reduce those fruitless taxes on attention- do not let your outcomes be programmed by grand agendas!
Steps for a formidable Identity:
- Articulate this one identity in as detailed way as possible.
- Until we gain critical mass and momentum on becoming this identity, we should keep making choices that do not seem easy or the most obvious ones.
- Be ready to feel alienated. Might seem tough- tough because we do not get to experience the usual short lived worthless pleasure cycles.
- delay that gratification!
