“Be present. It is the only thing that matters.” — Ways of the Peaceful Warrior
I NEARLY had a vehicular accident three years ago. Operative word: Nearly.
I was minding my business at a traffic stop when the vehicle before me decided to back up because her car was caught in the crosswalk. I then noticed her white backlights were lit indicating that she had left her car in reverse gear.
Instinctively I knew it was an accident waiting to happen. I was ready with just my senses, reflexes and an annoying horn to blast the danger away. But full disclosure and credit go to my Guardian Angels for the countless times of full protection. It is like being in tune with God’s cosmic script and being on the same page, most times.
When the lights turned green, true enough, she stepped on the gas and was doing a fast reverse headed to the front of my car. I pounded on my horn and let out the screechiest, loudest, longest honk, enough to scare the daylights out of her. And NO 3-fingered salute. It’s not something I want to give or receive in tenuous situations. Besides, my mother and the nuns who taught me will be aghast.
She braked about a hairline away from my car grille — and then froze. She didn’t know what to do and held up the lane longer. I had to hand signal her to go. The cars behind us were blasting away with their horns at being kept waiting, unaware that a chain collision that could involve them, has just been averted.
Whew! That was a close call. Imagine the hours that would have been lost never to return again if a crash did occur and you are left to tussle with insurance matters.
I don’t know whether she was a young, new driver, on the phone or just preoccupied with something. But when you are behind the wheel, it requires all of the neurons in your brains and all your senses to be engaged in just that one activity. Without it, you can do damage not only to yourself but sadly, to others as well, within your immediate physical orbit. I kept 3 car lengths as following distance until she turned left onto another street.
These are, indeed, the best of times. These are the worst of times as well. Charles Dickens could have said these words just as fittingly to apply to this crazy world we live in today.
I would like to plead the case for mindfulness for everyone at all times and in all places.
Do you feel incomplete, naked, inept and insecure when you are not tethered electronically to your cellphone or your computer? Do you feel less of a person? Take heart. You are not alone.
The advances in communication technology have created a world where we can send and receive information at breakneck speed. The thoughts, the images of anyone, from kings to paupers, from the most profound to the most profane, from the wisest to the most foolish, from the most beautiful to the most horrific, once formed, can be transmitted to billions of people around the electronically wired community.
Just like the common cold, thoughts and images “go viral…” The power of a message is now measured by the number of tweets, hits and views it gets. Many are choosing to live in virtual reality rather than in the real world believing they can safely hide behind a cloak of anonymity.
Disabuse yourself of the idea. No one remains anonymous for long. No one in the internet is sacrosanct. Everyone is fair game.
These thoughts and images go around fast just like the weather patterns that change and swirl around the globe. And just like the weather, our cultural world is being shaped by our collective thoughts within the structure and framework of the technologically wired environment we live in today.
Do we then damn technology because of the potent power it helps wield over us? Certainly NOT! It would be a big mistake to blame technology for our present woes. Just like fire and electricity and practically all of man’s tools and inventions through the ages, technology is a double-edged sword. It can enhance human life or it can destroy just as well.
The fault, dear tech user, is not in our stars but in OURSELVES. It is how we define our relationship to technology and use it in our daily lives.
We can be the boss of it. Or if we lose control, we can let ourselves be obsessed by technology and all its bells and whistles. It can wreak havoc on our souls, our persona and ultimately our lives if we use it as a tool to enable a hubristic tendency among many people today who think the world revolves around them and who then count their worthiness with the number of likes they get from their posts.
How do we know if technology has us wrapped around its little keypads? It is easy enough to self-diagnose this condition.
Observe if you cross streets and railroad tracks with your phones tethered to your ears. Note if you like taking selfies even in dangerous places. See if you become unhinged because you forgot or lost your phone. If so, break the habit. If not, you as a specie will disappear just like the dodo bird who has become so stupid that it has foolishly lost its instinct to danger.
When we are no longer mindful of our present conditions and depend on technology overly much to do the thinking for us, then we are truly in deep doodoo.
People have become so preoccupied and distracted by the mind boggling possibilities presented by multitasking that is engendered by a tech-enhanced way of life, that they tend to forget what is important and what truly matters.
How badly can it get? There are horror stories of mindless idiocy. Countless car accidents borne of texting while driving, are a testament to the tragic loss of mindfulness and by extension, common sense, among us earthlings.
Witness the number of news items about overly busy working parents, juggling balls of parenthood and a career and who forget that they have babies strapped in car seats in the back of their cars leaving them to die in the heat of the sun. It is a sad commentary that while we have all the technological aids at our disposal to make our lives better, we fail to use them appropriately.
How do we detox? Try going tech free at designated times or for long stretches of time without having to check your phone or your computer for messages that you feel compelled to respond to ASAP. As I have said in another article championing the cause of living mindfully in the moment, “Log off and enjoy your hot chocolate.”
Unless your work involves saving lives, taking a vacation from technology may prove to offer a higher quality of life. Eventually, as we learn to synch and balance our lives with our tech tool, it will be an obedient dog serving us as its master.
Think of the perks. We get to appreciate the present moment and appreciate and deeply love the people we are with right then and there. We get to “Carpe Diem” and experience JOY in real time. We get to open our eyes and our hearts to the beauty and infinite majesty of just breathing and knowing LIFE IS GOOD – so good you can feel it in your bones.
Best of all, we get to reserve the eminent right to remain ESSENTIALLY HUMAN.
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Nota Bene: Monette Adeva Maglaya is SVP of Asian Journal Publications, Inc. To send comments, e-mail [email protected]
