And that got me thinking – just how often do people do this in their everyday lives?
There’s a saying, “1st world problems,” usually accompanied by something like “using your smart phone to log onto your bank account only to see it has 0.16 pence in it” or something similar.
Or “1st world problems: Driving to the gym only to realise you forgot your headphones so now you can’t workout”.
There’s a lot of superficial problems floating around.
In the context of friendships, business, family, and relationships in general.
Superficial problems which are created, and while initially seemingly harmless, create larger, real problems for another party – rarely the party that ever creates them.
Family “can’t” meet for the holidays because of -xyz.
Maybe it’s feeling like they all have to spend time with their new “extensions” of family, rather than making an effort to get everyone together under one roof.
So a superficial problem like that causes a real problem of family disconnect and discord.
Friends stop physically hanging out with each other because of distance.
And by distance I mean laziness of getting in the car and taking that “cumbersome 30 minute to an hour drive”.
So they opt for chatting on social media instead thinking this “nourishes” the relationship, which is nothing close to what they called just a couple of decades ago “socialising”.
A superficial problem like that causes, as the Chinese say “the tea to go cold”, or the real problem of not building a healthy, real social network of non-apathetic people that are there when you need them most.
Got an education? Well, that’s great but you don’t have work experience.
No work experience? Get work experience.
Have work experience and an education? Not quite enough education, get more education.
Got more education? Now it’s too much education.
You’re overqualified, ergo not eligible for the role in fear you may “find something better”.
So you try for part-time work to keep food on the table.
Nope, sorry, try again.
Can’t get it because employers don’t want you sticking around temporarily.
So a string of superficial problems like that costs a person their human security – their dignity to live and enjoy life as a respectable human being.
No food? Go grocery shopping from your smart phone – and get it delivered.
Hungry? Cook what’s in the fridge.
Don’t wanna cook? Order out.
Don’t know what to eat? Say you’re “starving” then end up snacking.
The food you bought in the fridge goes off. Then you’ve gotta throw it away.
A superficial problem like that causes a person’s nutritional profile or daily diet to go down the tube, leading to a very real problem of long-term health issues.
Disgusted because somewhere you know you’re not really pulling your weight when it comes to your existence, which is affecting other people’s existences, through creating simple, silly, superficial problems, which turn into very real problems for other people.
Happiness is in your existence. It shouldn’t take yoga, or tea, or “woosah” or any of that other bull.
You’re not happy with yourself when you’re not being a decent human being.
You’re not happy with yourself when you know you’re creating superficial problems.
Sure you may know this – it may fester and eat away at the back of your subconscious, but you’ve grown quite comfortable with ignoring it by indulging in your little world of convenience, blowing the “news” in your head out of proportion thus justifying your actions and feelings.
I’m not saying convenience is bad – I’m simply saying indulging in too much of it can cause an absolute shit storm.
Get out of your bubble.
Realise you’re not the only one that exists in this world…
…and understand that your “superficial” problems, may very well be affecting other people’s lives on a very real, and very detrimental level, because you’re too senseless to realise it.
Think about it.
– Rego
Improve Your Lifestyle. Improve Yourself. This is Life. This is Rego’s Life.™
I’m guessing everyone had a good weekend. Let’s just jump right into it.
Musings Episode 75: Relationships…
When you think about socialising, the term can be defined in many ways, and is really a multi-purpose thing. It fits into our daily life on many levels – platonically, romantically, etc.
People socialise for several reasons – maintaining friendships, getting acquainted with new people for the sake of acquiring new friends; reinforcing/building onto romantic relationships, creating new romantic relationships; expanding social networks for business purposes; maintaining family relationships; socialising to learn new things – maybe a skill you want to develop or just for the sake of honing your current skill in the art of conversation.
When you look at the list above, it’s more than obvious that socialising is primarily used for the sake of creating or maintaining relationships throughout life in general.
So if you’re spending something as precious as time on socialising, naturally you want the experience of socialising to be one of quality – because you want the relationships you form from socialising to be of quality.
And when you think about it, relationships are something people have and have had throughout their natural lives. For some, relationships have consisted of quantity over quality, and vice versa.
Time, socialising, and relationships are all intrinsically linked to each other. Meaning time is the metaphorical money you invest at life’s “investment firm” of socialising, in the hopes to see a good return on your investment in the form of relationships.
But unlike currency, your focus on your ROI isn’t about quantity, so much as it is quality.
You may want a large social network, as the natural way of thinking is that knowing a lot of people can help you get a lot of things accomplished.
However the main caveat of that is while you may know of a lot of people, the relationships formed may not give you the strongest return on your investment.
And in this game called life, you’ve gotta learn to invest. So you get your feet wet, take a few losses in the beginning, and become wiser for the next time around.
I’ve noticed the older I get the more I prefer my social circle to be smaller.
Socialising with a lot of people is a great thing – don’t get me wrong. In socialising for friendships, romantic relationships, and even business, the more people you gain exposure to, the more you realise what type of people you want in your life.
It’s like having an essential wardrobe – everything in it complements you well, is versatile, is made with care and dedication, and you enjoy wearing everything in it.
For friendships, you want to know that your friends have your back, that they really know you – understand you, respect your time, and have your best interest at heart – in general they uplift you.
For romantic relationships, it’s the same thing, and an even bigger investment…more risks, more time. It’s one person getting to know you on an even deeper level, learning what your vulnerabilities are, learning what pushes your buttons, what makes you tick, and you coming to know the same about them.
For family, again the same thing – but probably the most taken for granted relationships of all. It’s interesting because sometimes, in people having the underlying assumption that they are family, they also assume there’s nothing left to learn about their family – which can actually make family relationships have a wider “knowledge gap” than when it comes to building friendships with people you’re just acquainted with.
For business, the game is similar but totally different at the same time. It’s an entirely different animal, a totally different investment. Not every follower is your fan, and sometimes (like many entrepreneurs know) you’ve got to keep things close to your vest.
Business relationships shouldn’t just be focused around your customer either, but all your stakeholders – everyone inside and outside an organisation. Get the wrong people who only look out for their self-interests or what’s comfortable for them, and you’ve got toxic investments ready to slowly strangle the lifeline of your company or your milestones.
Overall I like to think of quality relationships as small miracles. The human race has seen and participated in a lot (and I do mean a lot) of war…and they still do.
History has shown us that conflict has the potential to match cooperation – and vice versa…but really, relationships – the art of caring about, understanding, knowing, and working with each other – are essential to human survival; and entirely dependent on people making the effort to get to know each other on a deeper, more quality level.
Unfortunately in the past (and still today), this way of thinking has been known to be deliberately fragmented, further dividing the human race by separating each other based on a skin colour or location.
So when you think about relationships, they’re really like small miracles. Socialising is an attraction of energy, but sometimes you can have energy vampires.
Quality relationships are literally an attraction of higher energies towards each other, which can form a bond that has the potential to be unbreakable – if said energies stay at a positive, higher level.
And when you think about that and transfer it to something more “physical”, as people, we all wear different “masks”.
I wouldn’t say we act differently, but perform differently in different relationships.
You may still train hard, but you change your training, so you can tailor your performance for that particular sport, as you know different things can excel you in different ways.
And when you start thinking about relationships like sports teams and energy, you start to realise that you want players beside you who are in it to win it, but on a higher level.
You want players that know, and expect you to know, that by having your best interest at heart as well as theirs – that that thinking – pushes the whole team forward – it moves a whole team forward…and in moving a whole team forward, you can move mountains.
Think about it.
As always…
Stay awesome.
– Rego
Improve Your Lifestyle. Improve Yourself. This is Life. This is Rego’s Life.™