More than anything, my work is about helping people live free. As technology consumes our lives and medication replaces prayer, faith and purpose, we are becoming increasingly lonely and numb. And that is no way to live.
A couple of examples I saw today.
Lonely –
A recent article in the journal of Social Influence reports on the loneliness and isolation being ignored on Facebook can cause. To many people, if they aren’t popular on Facebook their lives can feel meaningless. That is the power of “social” media. This is especially apparent in young people, the kind you see glued to their phones. If you have let your children become addicted to their phones, remember, you are a bad parent. Period.
From the article:
“Results from both parts of the study showed that people who either weren’t posting statuses, or felt that they were receiving no feedback, said they felt “invisible.”
INVISIBLE. So sad in so many ways.
Numb –
Medication Madness – The Dark Side of Anti-Depressants
The name of this article says it all.
From the doctor in the article who is warning us about the rampant abuse of anti-depressants:
“These drugs are causing agitation, anxiety, insomnia, hostility, aggression, mania,” Dr.Breggin said. “In addition to driving the person with this amphetamine-like effect, the anti-depressants do a bit of a lobotomy. You lose your empathy. You lose your caring.”
From the pro anti-depressant doctor in the article:
“Educating your patient how to use an antidepressant, what to expect, not only the side effects, but some of the dangers, including making sure you educate either a caregiver or another family member, is really essential to prevent some of the side effects or some of the detrimental things that you might have read about in the press previously,” Jacobs added.
So, you might feel better, but you might also experience some of the “dangers”. Hmm.
I’m not anti-drug, there was a time in my life that drugs prescribed by a doctor took me off the cliff, but drugs will never replace meaning and purpose in someone’s life. Typically, show me someone who is depressed and usually it’s not pathological, it’s just someone who doesn’t like their life and isn’t willing to make the changes they need to make it better. A healthy life begins with the journey to find meaning and purpose, a desire to answer the question “Who am I?” and then do something about it.
Don’t live lonely and numb. Take a step to live free. On this beautiful spring day, I’d suggest a walk outdoors with a journal. Write out your summer bucket list – some fun, exciting things you want to do in the next few months. It might be weekly walks in the park or a trip out west, whatever the case, make them happen. A summer of adventure will go a long way toward killing isolation and loneliness.
If that is too much, call a friend you haven’t connected with in ages. Go to church on Sunday. Read a book. Just find a way to begin some forward momentum. Even the smallest step can lead us out of the loneliness and isolation that kills a soul and makes living a chore.
I believe that if you are still breathing, there is a light of life within you waiting to shine. It might just be a flicker, but it is there.
One life, live free!
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