I have questions…
Why is it considered normal to eat calorie-dense, but nutritionally empty fast food on the go, and unrealistic to expect to sit down to a home-cooked meal with your family?
Why is it the norm to consume coffee and other caffeinated drinks to stay alert, while going to bed early and getting eight hours of sleep is considered lazy?
How is it that vegetating in front of the TV watching the same thing as everyone else is expected, but reading books to enrich the mind makes one nerdy or antisocial?
Currently, in America, more people are overweight than are happy in their jobs. As of 2017, over 70% of all American’s were overweight or obese. While only half of Americans report feeling overall satisfied with their job. Rather than deal with these issues, society has chosen to medicate them away with antidepressant and anti-anxiety drugs. As of 2017, 12.7%3 of the US population is on an antidepressant, up 64% from 1999. The rate of anti-anxiety medication prescriptions increased by a similar amount during the same time frame and added to the drug overdose epidemic. What this suggests to me is that emotional distress may be the rational response to an insane society.
How is it that being overweight, undernourished, overworked, under-rested, and over-medicated can be considered “normal?”
Do you want to be “normal” in that society?
The Indian philosopher, Jiddu Krishnamurti said,
It’s not a measure of health to be well adjusted to a profoundly sick society.
Wouldn’t it be more straightforward, cheaper, and healthier for everyone to address the real problems? I realize that one individual has little ability to change an entire population. But I know that one individual can improve themselves and that if they do, it will have a ripple effect on the people around them. As the German poet Johann Wolfgang von Goethe put it,
Let everyone sweep in front of his own door, and the whole world will be clean.
You don’t have to be “normal.” In fact, I suggest you don’t want to be “normal.” Be strategically abnormal. Put down the TV remote and pick up a book. Get outside and go for a walk. Make time for meals at home with your family. Those meals don’t have to be fancy affairs. Often the healthiest food is that which has gone through the least preparation. What is important is sharing that time with the people you care about.
Drink plenty of water and avoid chemical and sugar-laden drinks. If you find you need to consume caffeine to stay alert, listen to your body and give it the rest it needs. Self-care is not lazy. Instead, self-care is strategic. People who take care of their health and happiness are more productive workers and more successful in their lives. So, go to bed early and give your body the rest it needs, it might make you abnormal, but being abnormal might be the smartest thing you can be.
Come alive to what you can be, rather than do what others tell you, because who really wants to be normal in a sick society.
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