Project Happiness Articles — detox

From an evolutionary perspective, we know that we have not experienced any meaningful genetic mutations from our Sapiens ancestors who roamed the planet some 70,000 years ago. Yet our culture and lifestyle are completely different now. Then, we used to be hunter-gatherers. We walked anywhere from 7km to 18km a day [1], we ate a balanced, healthy diet of whatever was available in one place – from fruits to edible roots, plants, and the odd animal – and we slept through the night.

Eventually, things began to slip through the cracks. They were minor, at first. A missed meeting here, a late deadline there, but as things began to add up it cost me many of the things I had taken for granted in my life. I lost relationships, friends, even my job. Sadly, none of that was enough to convince me to stop. I believed it was all replaceable, and that there were other factors besides my drinking that was to blame. It wasn’t until I woke up in the hospital after a night downtown, with no recollection of what happened, that I was forced to take a good, long look at myself. It was hard, but for the first time, I was able...

Anger is a signal that something is not right - maybe a boundary has been violated, maybe you feel you are being prevented from getting something you really want; perhaps you have been hurt so much that you cannot take it anymore, maybe you feel appalled or helpless about some circumstances or situation right now.

Stress is a faithful friend. It doesn’t discriminate and it will never leave you. Its regular, intense presence will weigh down on you, instigate early onset aging, damage your immune system and lead to mental fragility. At the very heart of your responsiveness to stress lies the hormone Cortisol, which is simultaneously essential for self-preservation and the bane of your existence. But why is everyone so riled up about a meager hormone?

The definition of Overwhelm: “feeling completely overcome in mind or emotion.” Maybe we have too much on our plate, maybe the to-do list is ridiculously long, maybe we’ve packed on too many “shoulds” in there. We stress about feeling stressed! But with overwhelm, there’s also the feeling of lack of control, and lack of clarity – we’re going to address those with two strategies to help you move forward.

Who am I to preach? I spend a minimum of eight hours in front of my computer screen when I’m at work, and a couple of hours extra on my phone and in front of the TV when I get home. However, I’m well aware of the bad influence this has on my health, so I try to give my brain the opportunity to rest. It’s what digital detox is all about.