The world seems to come at us faster now than ever before. The byproduct of automation and technology is speediness and a glut of media. Information bombards our awareness at alarming rates. It is easy to get caught in the perpetual forward lean of life rushing from one event to the next not seeing its effect on us. With so much coming our way it easy to feel walloped from left and right, all the while losing contact with our true selves, and drifting further from our intentions. We falsely begin to see the world as working against us because we are unable to harness it effectively.
By packing our lives with distractions we drain our energy and lose our focus. We allow ourselves to get trapped in mindlessly unaware habitual patterns, dulling ourselves, and sapping our energy. Our world begins to be consumed in the form of entertainment, food, our desires, and buying the things we think we should have.
We stuff our uneasiness with treats rather than uncover what lurks beneath desire without constant acquisition. Perpetual need for consumption is like an addict stuck on its fix, the media junkie scraping the bottom of the barrel for entertainment to counteract their incessant chronic boredom. People also get their energy sapped by jealousy and greed. Want is an animal that left unexamined will roil in your belly deciding your future from behind the scenes.
And so, like an injured patient needing medical assistance we need to respond to these challenges. Where do we go? Do we rush outside for help? The danger of finding your answers wholly from an outside source is you become open to manipulation and bad information. In order to counteract the trapped experience of the Sensory Overloaded individual you need to develop the personal mastery necessary to integrate and embody external influences through the core of your being. Don’t be trapped like the hopeful executive who hires a corporate consultant who arrives with quick fixes and leaves with nobody empowered to maintain the structure he adopts.
And that takes me to the first step in response to sensory overload, which is to contact the stillness of the present moment. Take a step back and just watch your awareness for as little as a split second stem the onrushing tide of new input. Turn off all TV’s, radios, and do not take any phone calls. It is important to allow yourself to be uninterrupted when you plunge into activities. You will find inside you is an inexhaustible reservoir of energy contacted by entering through the gate of stillness. You begin to see you don’t need to go rushing outside of yourself. As you progress you will begin acting in a manner more balanced with the world around you as opposed to crashing into it.
