Technological Distractions

When I was seventeen years old, I was in Israel, it was a dark night & we were out having beers. A hippie told me these words that stuck with me until today "every experience you go through shapes who you are & who you will become". I thought it was fascinating, even though it totally makes sense I thought it was profound & I started telling people just that. The words still ring in my ear from time to time because I've repeated it so many times.

Past, Present & Future. They all define who we are as people. We all have that one defining experience that we can remember for our entire lives. Be it wise words from an old man passing by or your first time on a roller-coaster, either way there is always that one experience that will have a lasting impression.

I'm not going to tell you that we should live in the past, just that the past may have an effect on who we become. For this reason it is important to learn from every experience for the better. Whether it was a challenging experience or a free ride, we can always learn from the experience & shape how it effects us.

It is also important to focus on the now, live in the present, not worry about the past & not worry about what what will be either. John Lennon said "Life is what happens while you're making other plans". It is important to focus in on where you are & experience it to the fullest that you can.

In today's day and age we are all photographers, sure there is joy in that but it comes with a price. Back in the 60's & 70's the young crowd at a rock concert would wave lighters back & forth, in the videos that I've seen it looks like they really had a good time. Today you would see everyone holding their phones & spinning them around so they can capture the beautiful moment & share it with friends.

We are in a phenomenal time. We are in an era where the human experience is constantly evolving & how we take it all in is very important. We are all interconnected which I think is amazing. We need to utilize this ability to bring people together, Social media is great as long as we still socialize with friends outside of cyber space.

We like to take pictures & capture moments in any and every way that technology lets us do so. It's a great thing but just keep in mind that you don't want to live out your life behind a screen. Put the phone down once in a  while & enjoy the view. Capturing an experience is an amazing thing and I don,t want to discourage that, I just want to add a reminder to live in the moment as you do so.

The future is bright! Many times we can forget why we are here, what our mission is & where we are going in life. Sometimes the stress of day to day life can be overwhelming. It doesn't mean your incompetent, it just means you are adapting to the ever evolving technological ecosystem & that you are a human being; Living in the 21st century!

Just don't loose focus. Sometimes I like to look back at my journal from years ago & see what my goals were. Some are accomplished & some are completely forgotten & gone with the wind. When planning for the future it is important to act on it and stay focused. There are so many distractions around us that we can even loose sight of what we are doing at the present time.

Did you ever walk into a room & say "What did i come in here for again?" or did you ever turn on your phone with the intent of playing some music before you realize fifteen minutes have gone by & you're in your Facebook Newsfeed? This doesn't mean you have ADD it just means that you are a victim of the marketing techniques put into the coloring of the app icons in your phone.

There are these types of distractions all the time. They can completely change your way of thinking & make us loose track of our goals. It's important first to have goals but to act on them, we need to utilize the devices we have in front of us to get us closer to that goal. Use them to your advantage, delegate to your devices instead of the other way around.

There are many distractions that can stand in the way of your making it to the future which you envision but the main thing is to operate with as much autonomy as possible. If you do things on your own accord, you will have a fulfilling life in the present & future. As for the past? There's not much we can do besides embrace the person who we are at this very moment & grow to be the best version who we are in epic human experience we call life.

Cherish where you come from, embrace who you are & shape the person who you wish to be.