For those of you that do not recognize what this is: it is a diagram of a typical balanced-diet (aka: the food pyramid). Scientists, dieticians, and nutritionists have jointly come to the conclusion that in order for one to stay as healthy as possible, it is necessary to follow these serving guidelines as well as involve themselves in daily exercise activities.
Perhaps it is safe to say that not many people, especially Americans, follow these suggested food servings. In fact, for a large majority, I would not be surprised to find that more sweets, meats, fats and oils are consumed than any other food group when we can clearly see that it should be quite the opposite. It is no secret that improper practices and poor food-choices quickly lead us down a road that none of us want to go.
In layman's terms:
An "inverted-pyramid" diet with no exercise at all eventually leads to this:
A "starve-myself-healthy" diet, with or without exercise quickly leads to this:
And finally, a well-balanced diet coupled with daily exercise eventually leads to this:
I hope that you get my point.
However, this is not a blog post regarding our physical well-being. I am certainly not trying to bring back memories of your junior-high P.E. teacher: permanently sweat-stained ring-collar t-shirt tucked into incredibly short shorts, ridiculously hairy legs/arms, long white socks, old school sneakers, mustache, whistle, etc. In fact, I do not wish to talk about workouts, calories, or even pedometers. Nevertheless, I have taken the time to share with you the images and ideas [above] in order to provide a visual representation of my intended thoughts [below].
Lately, I have been concerned with the intellectual well-being of myself, as well as of those around me. I fear that with each day that passes, we, as a whole, are becoming less and less "mentally-healthy." And just as we have a balanced-diet for our daily food intake, I believe that we also have a balanced-diet for our daily mental-food intake.
Below is a visual representation of how I believe our current mental-food pyramid appears to us:
(the truth can be humorous sometimes)
It was interesting (and somewhat sad) to see my results. Although I had felt like I had fully engaged myself in a "balanced diet" of intellectually-productive activities (such as studying, writing, reading, working, conversing, etc.) during most of my day, I found that I was performing more meaningless "fat-food" type ones than anything else. I had spent way more time than I thought I had: on Facebook, watching Youtube videos, texting nonsensical messages to Johnny and Scy, playing a knock-off version of Bejeweled on my phone, etc.
Even more interesting to me, perhaps, is that I would proudly claim myself as one who does not spend a lot of time on social media sites, gaming, etc. With that being said: if I found that I, being someone who is not constantly engaged in meaningless activities, had spent more time than I felt that I should have "pigging out", what does that say about people all over the world that are constantly stuck to a computer, smartphone, iPad, or television screen?
Now, I am not trying to say that I think all of these "things" are bad; in fact, the reason why I involve my own self in them is because I find them to be useful, enjoyable, educational, etc. However, the law of moderation must play an important role if we are to use them for good [in case you can't tell from this and other posts, the law of moderation is, in my opinion, one of the most essential and important lessons to be learned and practiced in this life].
Referring back to the physical well-being of humans, if we consume too much food (whether it be sweets or veggies) we do ourselves no good. If we starve ourselves of food, we do ourselves no good. But, if we balance what we eat AND exercise daily, we become capable of performing so many activities that we never could had we not disciplined ourselves. And so it is with our intellectual well-being...
If we consume too much mental-food (whether it be through actual books or through facebooks) we do ourselves no good; we become burnt-out, self-centered, and socially awkward. If we starve ourselves of mental-nutrients, we certainly do ourselves no good. But, if we balance what we read, play, watch, hear, observe AND mentally-exercise daily, we become capable of....I think you get my point.
As a pre-concluding note, I would like to expound on one thing; and that is the "mental exercise" (AKA: human interaction) that we need to involve ourselves in. Allow me to share an experience that I had:
Earlier this year, my roommates and I hosted a group of 18 year-old high school students that were interested in possibly attending the university later this fall. While I was conversing with a group of young men, I asked them, "So, what do you guys like to do for fun?" Needless to say, I was hoping/expecting them to say similar things that I enjoyed doing at that age (sports, hiking, being with friends [especially girls], traveling, etc.) so that I could relate to them better. However, they all quickly responded simultaneously, "Oh, we're gamers! All we do is play X-box and PS3." I certainly didn't judge them for that (especially since gaming has come a long way since my own high school years), but later that night I noticed something interesting that caused me to double-take.
A group of their peers (all girls) came with another hosting group to our apartment in order to socialize, watch movies, eat food, etc. I quietly observed as not one of the young men I that I had talked to earlier even attempted to speak or interact with anyone else. As bad is it may sound, I was appalled.
The point that I am trying to make with this is that: these young men, in my opinion, were consuming too much of one type of mental-food (Problem #1: lack of balancing their mental diet) and definitely were not exercising-mentally (Problem #2) their abilities to interact with human beings face-to-face.
I fear that our society today is losing 1) its love and passion for reading about, learning, and applying classic ideas such as: true freedom, moral living, thought-provoking questions, honesty, clean-natured entertainment, appropriate humor, etc. and 2) its ability to properly engage in face-to-face human interactions.
Think about it: more parents, while traveling with their children, do not put in the effort and time to talk with them or teach them new things; they simply put a DVD in to shut them up. More and more relationships originate from online services. Guys are asking girls out via text, Facebook, messenger, etc. rather than through conversation. More downloadable games are bought for mobile devices than books bought from a bookstore. More and more young adults consider a "good job opportunity" one that allows them to say "I love it because all I have to do is..." rather than taking pride in working hard, blistered hands, and having to push themselves beyond their current capabilities to complete the task at hand.
To reiterate my original idea, I worry for our intellectual well-being. I feel that we need to close our Facebook more in order to open real books. We need to stop texting and actually talk. We need work hard, rather than hardly work. We need to read classic literature and not pornographic magazines. We need to learn to garden instead of relying on Walmart to do that for us. We need to learn about our history so that we do not repeat it. We need to serve our neighbor, rather than serving ourselves. We need to learn to manage money and avoid the bondage of debt. We need to learn to live without 'things' now in order to have them in the future. We need to do all of these things if we do not wish to destroy ourselves.
Perhaps another perspective is this:
Just because I do not have desires to be a professional mechanic does not mean that I should not learn how to fix my car. Just because I do not like to read does not mean that I should never open a book. Just because I am tired and hungry does not mean that I should not stop to help that person fix their flat tire. Just because I am Caucasian does not mean that I should not learn about and celebrate Black-history. Just because I am Mormon does not mean that I should not understand others' beliefs, practices, and traditions....again, I hope that you get my point.
Do not become intellectually obese, starved, or overworked. Become, instead, intellectually balanced and I promise that your life will be full of happiness, joy, contentment, knowledge, companionship, trust, hope, gratitude, and positivity.
In short...we need to LEARN...and we must never, ever, ever, ever stop.
Here's to a well-balanced physical and intellectual diet.
Cheers.
Love your posts, keep it up!
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