Today's Economy - More or Less

Never thought I'd thank my parents for not letting me have everything I wanted, yet grateful I am, in retrospect. I rarely shop, couldn't care less about styles, trends or fads, and in today's economy I (oddly) find it fun to think in terms of what I can do without. This harkens back to the way I was raised and, as an adult, to my enjoyment of camping and backpacking. With a lighter load to carry, a hiker is more mobile, more agile, and more enveloped by a wonderful sense of freedom.

Most people today are held captive though, in light of an ailing economy -- by marketers trying harder than ever to make a living -- which relies essentially on transferring funds from your budget into theirs. Consumers are accustomed to having it all (or at least having what it seems everyone else has). This is much more fun than doing without, and so they mindlessly buy into the action -- the transfer of funds. If there isn't enough money, they run up their credit cards and/or work even harder to make more money. This allows everyone to maintain their comfortable-as-ever lifestyle, even though it's the marketers who are profiting, and the public that is being duped into running themselves ragged, trying to make ends meet.

I like to say: Remember, even if you win the rat race, you're still a rat.

On some jobs multi tasking is a must, but it isn't the way the brain functions at its best. On the subject of brains, imagine a brain surgeon, who has trained assistants. Why? So that (s)he can focus on the one, single, most important task at hand. A brain surgeon trying to do everything at once would demonstrate how doing more does not equal doing what's best. Lives depend on a brain surgeon not multi tasking. It's how they become successful, and make big bucks in the process. In less pressured positions, however, some of us create stress, by confusing quantity of our tasks with quality, buying into the myth that we must always and forever earn more and spend more and give more and have more.

Stress does not equal success, which is known to be harmful to our health. Some runners in the rat race are so caught up that they don't, perhaps can't, stop to view their lifestyle objectively. They either (a) don't notice they are looking older than their years, downing pills or potions to mask aches and pains, holding weight around their middle due to cortisol (stress-related), sleeping poorly, and working way too hard at relationships that should free-flow, or (b) they don't care. An ongoing stream of new purchases distracts them from the true measure of success - good health. Without it, what is life worth?

Marketing masterminds are like movie makers. Their goal is to draw others into whatever it is they're promoting, and to influence folks to buy it (or buy into it). They use with the public many of the same techniques that are used on the big screen, which means most people are being influenced continually, without even realizing it. These are the shoppers and buyers who believe they must have whatever it is that promoters are selling, and the followers who believe they must think, feel and behave in a particular way.

There are two ways to watch a movie. Most commonly people relax, mentally and emotionally melding into what is happening on the screen. A part of them knows (on a conscious level) that none of it is real, but they're willing to play along and pretend (subconsciously) to not only "buy" it, but to be right in the middle of it all. If this is you, when the bad guy has set a trap for the good guy, it's all you can do to keep from shouting, "Watch out!" When the leading lady has her heart broken, you feel it -- more or less, depending on how much of a romantic you are by nature.

The other way is to watch a movie as a professional critic would -- remain alert, intellectually noticing every detail of the production, carefully considering the storyline, analyzing techniques and evaluating results. Not as much fun, but applied to daily life, a mindset worth adopting.
Viewers are either in or out of a light state of hypnosis. When in, they are in-fluenced by the film. Its message, whether obvious or subtle, changes the way they think, feel, and perhaps even behave. When out, they walk out and get on with their life apart from the influence of some far removed money-making mogul.

Children are especially vulnerable to influence. This is why they want everything they see or hear about. They then do the best they can to influence parents to buy it for them, using techniques that, whether obvious or not, almost always work! Especially with harried parents who confuse indulgence with love. Not only are our children generally over stimulated, they're also over burdened -- by materialism. As soon as the newness of a this wears off, they move right along to wanting a that. Round and round go the laps on the well worn track.

And we wonder why everyone is so stressed out.

So what do these concepts have to do with you? Without leaving your couch, I challenge you to try staying out of societal hypnosis. Take back control of your thoughts, feelings, behavior and budget. Try thinking in terms of what you can do without. There'll be more money in your coffer when you give less of it away to marketers, and in this day and age more money can equal less stress -- which means a better health, a longer life, and a wonderful sense of freedom along the path .