Strung Out On The Web
AM. PM. Lunchtime or dinner. The laptop flips open. The cellphone shines on. The useless iPad makes a use for itself. It’s back. It never went away; probably never will. You depend on it too much. It has become a part of your identity that you often wish to disconnect from. The internet.
The internet has revolutionized how we search for information; we might as well add libraries into living museums. From morning to night, we are glued to the internet in some way or form. Unless stuck on a deserted island, we cannot go a day without accessing the internet.
We use the internet more than we eat, drink and socialize. It’s our number one addiction without even realizing it. The addiction is so strong that it swiftly passes unregistered through our conscious mind straight into the vault of our unconscious mind; think of an illegal border crossing with no apprehension.
Are there withdrawal symptoms from not using the internet? Who would know, since we never stop using it in the first place! Whether for work or pleasure, we are truly tangled in a sticky web of information; some of it polluted, some of it mind-blowing. We attempt to disentangle, only to find ourselves in a stickier situation when new webpages sprinkle us with new bits of information.
Some people fall down the rabbit hole beyond the rabbit hole: porn addiction, online gambling, the dark web, hacking and crime. Do they ever resurface and see reality again? Without professional help, their judgment is too impaired. Their addiction has hijacked their reward center and capacity for logical reasoning.
Is there a solution or do we continue our daily dose of the internet as caged animals in a zoo? Can the zoo be freed and its members allowed back into the wild to experience freedom as was intended from day one of creation? The answer is certainly yes!
Curbing the internet involves willpower and a desire to make a change in your life! Discipline is your friend; without it, your fingers will remain attached to the keyboard. Diversify your life in a way that involves relying on the internet less and less: start reading books, exercising and playing sports, going out in nature, meditating and spending time with others!
Your receptors have become desensitized to the internet; you are feeding a loop that will never stop on its own. Break away and be free again.
Are you Ready? (This is Defeating Stigma Mindfully)
DSM (Defeating Stigma Mindfully) 