Fifty Focus - Your Internal Engine Light Is On.

It hit me today as I was enjoying my morning coffee, how we have become so connected to toxic media. How the narrative is so controlled to gain our attention and to cause some kind of internal reaction. Tag lines, key words, catch phrases and descriptions, all used to pull you in. It reminds me of 80's horror movies, your mind told you to not look in the closet but you do anyway! The chainsaw comes out and "almost" everyone from the cabin dies. That is exactly what the Twenty First Century media feels like.

Those of us in our fifties have seen such a tremendous change in how information is delivered. We have seen the technology era grow in leaps and bounds. We have seen how technology has expanded and have worked tirelessly to grow right along with it. But, what has is done to us?

We are in that mid range where we have not seen a depression or a world war. We have not seen isolation nor have we ever been given the emotional tools to deal with it. We have grown during a time when the world was expanding, knowledge was astounding and the tech industry flourished. Twenty year olds were becoming billionaires while we work away making enough money to just get by. Baby Boomers still had the coping skills to work through worldwide trauma. They understood fear, change and adversity. Gen Y have the skills attached to technology. They are wired for growth and change. They understand nothing lasts forever and if you just focus you will work through it, they know with the right ambition and drive you can create and flourish.

That leaves us, Gen X.

Gen X were born during the time of computers and mass media. We were introduced to 24 hour news, access to the world at our fingertips and information overload. We went from running barefoot in a field, driving on the back of a pick up and drinking out of a garden hose to a world of instant information, access to the world on our phone and to to literally be so internally disconnected.

Many of us have a feeling of loss, a complete and utter void within, that we have literally no idea how to fill. We are programmed to push forward, keep moving and keep working. We have grown through a time where financial markets crashed and many lost retirement funds, a substantial increase in the cost of living and family homes are a very rare thing.

The world around us spins at a speed that we were never programmed to adapt to. It creates utter chaos within our internal systems, our energy systems and our emotional blueprint. Many are lost, while looking like they are in complete control. Better yet, thinking they are.

This complete imbalance within our energy field manifests into disease. We have no idea why we feel like we do and are drawn to immediate medical intervention. Our medicine cabinets are full of a pill for this and a pill for that. We know we should eat right, exercise, drink more water and the list of other lifestyle things on the "must do" agenda. However, many just don't. They wait for the heart attack or that other disease that literally forces us to stop, if we survive it. We have seen many Eastern belief systems completely Westernized for profit, with the slogan "love thyself". Yoga, meditation, Ayurvedic belief systems, are just a few examples. The Western philosophy has embraced this as the "feel good" approach to living a longer life. The expensive "vegan" Yoga mat, the packaged food or powder that guarantees a long life and sadly the massive cultural and religious appropriation, that comes along with it. It is now cool, or you feel enlightened to have a Buddha statue in your house or garden, You practice Feng Shui without fully understanding the historical and cultural meaning behind it. You have prayer beads because the gemstone will bring you immediate protection and knowledge and you wear them as a necklace and not use them during meditation and self reflection. You lack the desire to understand the meaning of these things, the cultural significance behind them and the deep spiritual connection that they have. Many think they do, however do not. So this leaves us with a void and empty feeling that we seek to fill, however never quite finding the right tool to do so.

So, what is this tool I speak of? It is not found on a shelf at Winners, or on Amazon with guaranteed three day delivery. It does not come in a "eco friendly" box. It is within you. It is your internal passion and purpose. It is what you were brought here for, but you never nourish that part of you to figure out what that is? It is your journey, your ability to nourish yourself and others and to abide by The Universal Laws and principles. We are so caught up in our own spinning and in seeking that quick fix and external solution, that we fail to see and understand that it is right here......within us.

So this loops us right back to the beginning of this post. Media, information and what we are being fed. The power of media is deep. They understand how key words, images, colors and introduction lines pull us in. They are specifically designed to capture your attention in 3 seconds and then offer that "solution" to fix you. Or the other scenario, they do not want to fix you. They want you to become so desensitized that you literally become sick.

You can find that solution within yourself. You can fill that void that you are so desperately seeking to fill, and you can find what your own individual passion and purpose is. It may just surprise you.

It is time to reset your internal engine light, nourish your soul and gather as a community to help each other, nourish each other and come back to the mentality that "it takes a village". The time is now.

-Deanna