Only smart people will survive the zombie apocalypse, since you are on the internet reading this, let’s start this brief summary on what the internet is doing to our brains :
Your guide to mindful life is in no means a step-by-step procedure. But checklists are easy to remember, So let’s have an apocalypse survival 7 steps procedure !
You can go to a Yoga class. It’s actually helpful. But good luck with that when you are attacked by zombies ! Did I get your attention ? … good, let’s get starting with the YOLO guide:
- Observe: Notice at how kids and many adults would burst in anger when TV, Wifi and electricity Shutdown !
“Television for a child creates such a high bar of stimulus that nothing else competes. A beautiful day is absolute crap to a kid who watches tv.” Louis C.K.
Louis C.K. statement from his show ‘Hilarious’ is related very much to how we can help ourselves to enjoy mindful life that isn’t only influenced by high bar stimulus.
Kids are not enjoying life at all as ‘we used to’. It’s not really hard to realize it. They would scream if you close the TV, or unplug the internet connection, from their attention. As I was driving to downtown river walk and listening to Louis C.K. on the car radio I decided to stay in my car for a little bit and enjoy listening to him. The little bit turned into around 10 minutes. Then I realized, I’m empowered by a pair of tennis shoes, paved river walk , internet connection, ear buds and a smart phone. So I decided to continue listening to the talk and run. That was way better than just staying in the car !
Checkpoint: In order to successfully complete this stage/step, you need to be a master over stimulus that trigger your attention, not a slave to it.
2- Listen to both nature and technology, not just one of them !
In an audible article I listened to, while doing my laundry, the writer suggested that listening to music while jogging might not be the best thing to do. She mentioned that she started to enjoy nature, listening to her breath and heartbeat as she runs. And surely you could be more aware of your surroundings if you don’t have these earbuds on.
However, I totally enjoyed listening to Louis C.K this morning while jogging. His quote I first mentioned inspired me actually ! Probably, I wouldn’t have the inspiration to write anything like this if I wasn’t listening to him ( Except if an apple tree decided to drop one of its fruits over my head , then that might got me to an unprecedented Eureka moment that would make me write about it all day long ! ).
So I figured out that the point is: To listen to technology if you want to, but don’t let that blind you from noticing the falling apples of inspiration.
Checkpoint: In order to successfully complete this stage/step : When multitasking, be careful of what tasks you are doing. Listening to nature shouldn’t be impeded by multitasking using the vast amount of technologies. Nature is always richer.
3- Increase your focused attention; Don’t let high bar stimulus blind you !
A lady started her introduction in a ’dating website’ with .. “ I’m naked, don’t look .. Since I got your attention now, let’s get into business” and then she proceeded with a summary about herself. Despite that this lady is very likely to be a respectful person for herself and others, and who didn’t post any nudity photos about herself by the way, she needed to pull the attention and create such a stimulus to introduce herself to potential mates. That’s quite understandable, and might be effective for some guys. Or is it really ? I’m not really sure ! But clearly she wanted to create a high bar of stimulus that nothing else competes with.
Train your self to carefully know what stimulus to pay attention to. And what to turn off even if it was a useless squeaking wheel.
Checkpoint: In order to successfully complete this stage/step : Don’t fall for the strongest stimulus. Couple of Zombies might scream in front of you you just to lead you to run to the back where tons of them are waiting. Loudest doesn’t mean most valuable and important.
4- Understand what a mindful life means to you by embracing YOLO
Technology bridges gaps and folds distances. Though, it shouldn’t create a gap by itself between us and our mindful life.
What is mindful life
If you meditate, know how to relax, or hike you might have experienced the state of flow. Let me not get too philosophical or phycological here. But in a nutshell, let’s think about mindful life as a life that helps you be a better person. You deeply enjoy what you do with full immersion in it to the extent that you would loose feeling of time. You would feel something beyond instantaneous impulse of happiness that you get when you see the red colored notification alert with a double digit number of likes on your Facebook posts. It’s something you would not regret spending your time on after being done with. That is a mindful time.
Remember YOLO ( You Only Live Once), so you better not waste yourself on things that you aren’t mindful of.
Checkpoint: In order to successfully complete this stage/step : Identify what are those wastes and distractors of a mindful life you want to live. Are you free from cognitive dissonance that falsely justifies such useless activities for you despite their bad impact ? If so, you are ready to go.
If you like this, let me know … so I complete the guide for you. Probably these four steps are enough to start working on.
Do you want to keep reading ?
The YOLO guide to survive the apocalypse (5/7): Experience mindfulness : Remember these three words :Need, stimulus, solution.
