Even with the best intentions, there are bound to be distractions that take you (me) away from doing the important stuff. The stuff that matters. The lure of the internet and all of it’s infinity of answers to every possible need or problem I can come up with is definitely a level one distraction. The amount of information that is accessible to us at the click of a button would have blown our minds 15 years ago. I think it is an amazing gift we have been given to be so connected – albeit virtually – with what is going on all around the world, however I also think that it has made us lazy. We have become dependent on finding the answers we seek outside of ourselves, through Google, or Bing or whatever your search engine of choice is.
I was trying to remember the name of a movie, that movie* with Kevin Spacey where he telling a tall tale yet was the mastermind behind the heist, and the overwhelming instinct was to “google it”, instead of using my brain and searching my memories for the title that was filed somewhere in the filing cabinet in the corner of my mind. As we habitually Google the cause of our headaches, the best way to terminate someone, how to get your kid to help with chores, are we losing the ability to find the answers we seek inside us?
The work that has to be done is to build the muscle of self knowledge. How? By listening to the gut, and trusting your instincts. I can certainly find as many answers as there are opinions on the great world wide web, but ultimately the best answer for me is always going to be the one that sounds true. So go ahead and Google if you think you need it, but wake up to the fact that for every “best solution” there is and equally valid opposite solution out there. You have the answer already, you are just looking for verification. Start practicing being confident in your gut, and looking less for the quick answer. This is just one more road to becoming more self aware, which for me is the journey of my life. Getting to know me.
“Inner guidance is heard like soft music in the night by those who have learned to listen.”
― Vernon Howard