A Never Ending Cycle

Born unaware of the world around me, coddled in the arms of my mother. Problem free, but only for minutes. The child begins to cry. A natural response triggered by the frustration of it’s first problem, hunger. When that is solved then a need for warmth triggers another response.  For some people these problems don't leave so quickly. Some people live day to day just hoping to find a way to fill their stomachs. I can only sympathize with these people. I have never felt real hunger, I have always had shelter, and I have never had any major health problems. Those are real problems, problems that take over a person’s brain. My brain didn't have the unfortunate distractions others do, so did it automatically scan my privileged life and find new problems to solve? The way I see it is; as good as life sounds with no problems, it is not possible. I believe our brains will find something to combat the good no matter what your situation is. The classic yin and yang situation.  

As we grow up we automatically begin solving problems. Hunger, sleep and shelter being the first that we encounter. I was very fortunate and had a loving family that provided all the things necessary to solve these problems. When we were first born these problems controlled our world. What changed in my life once I solved these? Nothing. The minute I felt comfortable with my solutions for these problems my mind instantly spun. Like pulling the lever of a penny slot. With the pull of the leaver my brain spun and landed on new problems. Being young and having little, my brain struggled to come up with any real problems. Desire to have friends and fun was all it could muster. These problems are not nearly as important to my survival but when I look back I think just as many tears were shed over these social needs as my hunger.

With the idea of the penny slot spinning in my mind, I began to look out into the world. Center stage I see the media and religion battling it out. Relentlessly refusing to give any ground or see the others perspective. I begin to think that maybe I am the only one with this slot machine in my head. Am I too focused on myself? Maybe, or is it the fact that these people have pulled the lever so many times and kept getting more and more comfortable that the only problems their coin slot could manage to pull up, is the problems of other people. Things like, who another person loves, the color of another persons skin or even what another person worships or does not worship. As I watch this battle ensue a few questions come to my head.  As our lives become more comfortable do our brains have some unknown desire to find something to call a problem? Is this why "Millennials"  have become the generation of anxiety and depression? Have our lives become so comfortable that the only problems our brains could find were ones it created inside of itself? 

I can only speak from my perspective. I believe the more simple a life the happier you can be. Obviously I love my life in America. We are given so many ways to learn and grow but, does having so much give American's a mass quantity of problems as well? It may be a case of "grass is greener on the other side", but doesn't going back in time to a life where your only problems were eating, sleeping and having shelter sound kind of nice? Yes living that simply in our current world would be extremely difficult, but if it could stop your coin slot by sacrificing some comforts for a few less but more complex problems would you? I think I would. Everyone that I have spoken with about visiting a third world country have said something very similar. They tell me stories of genuine, happy and loving people. I don't want to come across naive and pretend that they chose their circumstances. For a lot of people it was what they were born into. That being said; I do think there is a lot we could learn from striping life down to the necessitates. If we lived this way would it make our world a little less hostile and competitive? I don't plan on selling my apartment and moving to the wilderness but there must be a middle ground right? If we try to simplify our lives, I think we would be surprised how frequent the slot machine would jam.