Are you being held captive by the world of today?
Have you become enslaved by the systems of modern society?
An insane proportion of the population has.
The 11 signs revealed below will indicate whether you have too.
1. You Are Glued To Your TV
Screen time is not inherently bad for you, but the average person now spends an unhealthy amount of time watching TV (or rather TV shows across multiple devices). This addictive habit can prevent you from taking part in other activities – ones that involve exercise, social interaction, imagination, and learning.
TV is the easy choice; it requires little in the way of effort, planning, and commitment, but it also imprisons you on your couch. Here your mind is altered in ways you probably don’t realize through the messages you are exposed to and the generally negative sentiment they thrive on.
2. You Buy Things To Make You Feel Better
There are literally millions of companies out there who want you to buy their goods and they will do everything they can to ensure you do. Each day you are bombarded with marketing across many different channels; promotions, new products, upgrades, and the latest trends.
The result of all this is a consumer economy that depends on you to make regular purchases, and one that rewards you with positive emotions whenever you do. You have, in effect, been brainwashed into buying things, even when you don’t need them.
3. You Feel Forced To Work
No job is all sunshine and smiles, but an overwhelming majority of people now feel trapped by their work. They suffer from low levels of satisfaction that are driven down by a complete lack of fulfillment or meaning.
For these people, work is nothing more than a means to an end. It provides them a salary on which they can live and provide for their families. They have no desire to get up each morning to go to work, and they never push themselves to be the best at what they do.
Is this you? An easy way to tell is to consider your attitude to the weekend; is it what you live for or just a couple of days where you can put your feet up?
4. You Don’t Pay Attention To What’s In Your Food
Fresh food and home cooked meals have been on the decline for decades with more people choosing pre-prepared, processed options instead. You may well enjoy the convenience that this brings, but have you lost sight of what might be going into your body?
Most of the things that go into these types of product are safe – to a degree. When eaten in moderation, they are unlikely to cause any detrimental effects. Consume them multiple times a week, however, and it’s not just the high salt, sugar and fat content you have to worry about. Chemical preservatives, flavors and colors are also likely to be present, which can, in some cases, be harmful to health if exposure is prolonged and persistent.
5. You Mindlessly Consume Medication
What does your medicine cabinet look like? If it’s anything close to typical, it will contain a vast array of pills, bottles, creams and ointments, but are you 100% sure that you need them, or that they do what they say?
It’s great that there are so many treatments available for a whole host of conditions, but these are, undoubtedly, being over-used by many. And the supplement culture is only adding to the unnecessary concoction of medicines we are taking on a daily basis.
The prevalence of popping pills is so great that it may be preventing some people from following much more effective courses of treatment that involve diet, exercise, and even things like mindfulness.
6. You Check Your Phone Incessantly Throughout The Day
Does your life revolve around your phone? Do you check it more than a few times an hour? If so, you’ve become a slave to the connection it gives you.
Instant communication with others and access to an unlimited amount of information and entertainment has made the mobile phone the most utilized object in many people’s lives. In fact, overuse of a cell phone is now a recognized form of addiction.
But whenever your eyes are glued firmly to your mobile device, you are missing out on the experience of the real, tangible, and observable universe around you.
7. You Follow Mainstream News Outlets
There are few news organizations that can claim to be truly independent, so if you find yourself relying on one as your only source of information, know that you are seeing a curated and censored account of how things truly are.
These companies will often have their own agenda, not least of all making money, and this will influence what stories they run and how they are framed.
While it is difficult to have a single news outlet that covers every story from every angle, you should try to diversify where and how you learn about the events of the world.
8. You Don’t Care About The Planet
On your list of priorities in life, where would you put the environment? The most common answer is: quite low down. The systems created by modern society are so often in opposition to the protection and maintenance of the natural world that we, as individuals, get dragged along, unconsciously forming part of the problem.
We are so unconcerned about the state of the planet that we run the risk of overseeing its fatal destruction and degradation. Future generations won’t thank us if we let this happen.
9. Your Idea Of A Green Space Is A Local Park
Perhaps one of the biggest reasons that many of us feel so disconnected from nature is because we don’t really know what it looks or feels like. Our experience of wilderness is so utterly limited that we think parkland is as good as it gets.
Poor town and city planning, ever larger and more crowded mega-metropolises, and a lack of suitable education are just 3 ways in which global development has torn us away from our roots among the natural world.
10. You Don’t Know Your Neighbors’ Names
There was once a time when you’d have known every person along your street or in your apartment block by name, but those days have largely come and gone. You may give a polite smile and speak a few common courtesies, but chances are your neighbors are simply the people who live next door, rather than meaningful characters in your life.
This lack of community is only getting worse as the trust we have in others dwindles and we become more focused on our electronic relationships.
11. You Have Trouble Sleeping
The demands of the modern world and the stresses this can cause lead many to suffer from poor sleep. Several of the previous points also contribute to this insomnia, particularly the screen time, work issues, diet, and lack of exposure to a natural environment.
Sleeplessness and poor overall quality of sleep is an epidemic that seems to be on the rise and it’s made worse by the feeling that we are trapped or enslaved by our circumstances and the society we live in.
