23rd September 2014
By Cori Maldonado
Guest Writer for Wake Up World
Distractions ‘make the world go round’ – the very busy, structured, complicated world we live in. Sometimes it’s easier to let the chaos spin out of control, rather than grab hold of or take control of situations we really can do something to change or solve.
Everything that builds up and/or gets torn down is one and the same. What I mean is, the very problems our society face are often multiplied by the short sighted solutions we’re taught or conditioned to turn to when we’re looking for answers.
Perhaps the solution is all about paying attention to what is really needed – seeing the problems through the distractions.
Scenario
A child walks into the room with one or all of the following three problems: “Mommy, I’m bored, I have a headache, I am hungry“. Now, I don’t know about you, but in the ‘average’ household I’m familiar with, the go-to solutions quite often turn out along these lines: “Go watch TV. Take an aspirin. Those meals in the freezer I got you are so easy you can heat them up yourself!”
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Meanwhile, Mom’s mind is confined to the bill pile, or frivolous entertainment, or conversation about the latest trending topic. The child’s real problems – unresolved – begin to take root, expanding into deeper internal issues. The simple ‘off the cuff’ solutions Mom suggests gives no direct attention to the child’s underlying needs, and a child is left ‘wanting’ for what he needs most at that moment; her loving one-on-one attention.
And so repeats the generational ‘programming’ of the television, the convenience foods, the endless financial woes, and the day-to-day distractions. Mom’s distraction from the real needs of the child sets the child up for a lifetime of the same – same programming, different generation!
Interrupt Your Regular Programming…
Children are the future, therefore they are a huge target for media ‘programming’ deceit, and sometimes parents are just a too busy, distracted by the expectations and demands of their own programming, to pay attention to what their children are doing and absorbing into their impressionable minds. Our moments of distraction from our real needs, in the moment, help perpetuate a culture of distraction, now passed generation after generation. For many, common solutions (if they are even sought) are often no more than yet another distraction, pushing the underlying issue off for a later, potentially negative experience. Aren’t humans odd that way?
Our world is full of duality, and since the beginning of human existence, we’ve been faced with choices. But you can’t repeat the same mistakes and expect a different result. We will never work through the issues that constantly resurfacing for us (individually and socially) simply by burying them under further distractions, or covering them up with temporary fixes.
The only way to solve problems is to be consciously present when they arise. Connect with the moment and take them on with the full force of your attention, and feeling, and solving as you go. Be the “good” you want to be in the long term, rather than the “bad” of your distraction in the moment.
Interrupt your regular programming…
Most importantly, if a young child comes to you with a problem, please take time with them to give that child what is needed from you in that moment, and pay attention to what is really going on. By focussing on their real human needs, and not spending all our time and energy on the constant distractions we are told we need, we can change the world one child at a time.
About the author:
I’ve been a part of this experience for 20 years now. I live in Wisconsin though I was born in the busy city of Chicago, Illinois. I consider myself a co-creator within creation, and send out the vibration I want to see in the world, in hopes of an improved tomorrow. Always striving for the better, each day is a given eternal lesson for me, and I like to take the time to reflect on all that I learn, and share it with my fellow creators.
You can contact me via email: [email protected]
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