Technology: Friend or Foe?
Using Technology Wisely
By Darlene Braden, CHT
My best friend these days seems to be my computer. She can play music, allow me to communicate with other people via email, help me scan the globe with an insurmountable amount of information via the WWW and to top it off she remembers everything I tell her. Her memory is amazing! In a seconds time she can retrieve any information that she has stored, even from years ago.
My other great friend is my fax machine. I can input tons of information and, sure enough, she spits out the documents perfectly in the right order, just as programmed.
My copier is a true blue buddy. Making a perfect copy of what is on the original document. How in the heck does she remember everything and copy it accurately?
In addition, my colleague “Three Way Calling” is a very necessary part of my life. She so expertly connects two human voices from anywhere in the entire world. How does she do that?
Call Waiting puts the circuits on hold and while I am on another call and keeps the connection live for my timely return.
I lie in my bed and thank my technological best friends for being so great. But I lay awake all night wondering how I can do more and keep them busy; they are so willing to work 24 hours a day! Now I have a stomachache and my head hurts. I get up to drink some warm milk and my mind races.
The next day at the psychiatrist’s office, he promptly prescribes valium and/or other anxiety medications. He treats me for depression and heavily medicates me because I can hardly keep my mind in order these days. Nothing seems to help.
One day while chatting with my Life Coach about making sense of my miserable life, he profoundly said, “You seem to be best friends with robots that have no internal intrinsic purpose, passion or feelings. They never feel bad and never have joy. And, if you have not noticed, you are not a robot! You can never keep up with your tech friends so don’t fool yourself. You need to realize that you are a human that runs the technology and it is important to understand your limits.”
Ahhh! No, I am NOT a robot! Yet I have surrounded myself with these aliens all the while thinking of them as equals and that they were assisting me in my journey towards success and happiness. My Life Coach helped me realize that my mind was limited and could process only about 5 bits of information on a conscious level at the same time. Hmm… That is much less than my beautiful computer! She can process billions of bits of information all at the same time! I realized that comparing a human mind to a computer is like comparing apples to horses.
What we suffer from is information overload; an epidemic that man himself created. In creating and using technology to run high-speed information across the globe, we sometimes forget to acknowledge that our human minds simply cannot keep up. By abusing technology we are hurting rather than helping ourselves. Technology can set us free only if we use it to get more done and spend our extra time with our families and ourselves, participating in positive activities and in service and charity. We need to balance our lives. Just because we can do more with all our technology doesn't mean we have to or that we should.
Remember to take breaks in the midday for the benefit of your body and mind. We need 8 hours of uninterrupted sleep each and every night. We need to constantly organize our minds with day planners and learn to say “No” more often. Our robot friends never need to do any of this maintenance, but we do. We need to remember to look up at the sky, count our blessings and acknowledge God. Remember that we are children of a Greater Being. After all, we are spiritual beings having a human experience; something our robots do not do.
Life is meant to be enjoyed. It is possible with technology only when we let the robots do their tasks and recognize our limitations savoring our human abilities and uniqueness.
Darlene Braden is the author of the Amazon.com Best Seller, What STOPS You? – Overcome Self-Sabotage, Personal and Professional. She works with people to take charge of their thinking and live their passion, Now!
Download Darlene's FREE eBook, Create the Life You Want using the Power of the Balanced Living Wheel.
