The Importance Of Embracing Your Individuality In The Times We're Living.

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 I feel that I'm one of those people that were fortunate enough to grow up during the era that I did. Being that I'm what you would call an "80s Baby", I, along with other people from that era can say that we grew up in quite an interesting time. Not saying that any other eras of time weren't interesting or unique, but those of us that grew up in the 80s and 90s have a perspective that not everyone can say. We grew up in an era that was considered to be before the Internet became what it today, but we also grew up in the Internet era as well. It's interesting due to the fact that we were at the cusp of the age of the Internet. Now everyone may not entirely agree with my assessment of the generation that I grew up in, and that's okay. I just remember growing up in a time where the average kid actually played outside with their neighbors and friends as opposed to looking at a screen most of the day. Again, I have nothing against the generation of the Internet by saying what I've said. Times are constantly changing, and we have to change and adapt right along with them. Some of you may be wondering why I did that entire spill over the generations and eras that various people have grown up in. The main reason for my bringing this up is because the Internet era is the main outlet for how the world at large sees itself. I can't speak for anyone else, but it seems that the idea of embracing our individuality in this age we're in has quickly vanished. I dare say that now more than ever is a time where we need to be embracing who we are. 

Hey, how are you all doing out there? This is your boy Brad H. back on the blogosphere once again, and I would again like to welcome everyone to another installment of
'Brad H.'s Perspective'! This is an hub that I use to give my personal perspective on a topic that has been on my mind as of late. The aim is to use the topic at hand to hopefully give us some hope and encouragement in these uncertain times that we're living in. I would like to thank you all that are joining me for another installment! So for my soapbox section on this edition, I want to get into some sports talk. So the NFL playoffs are quickly winding down as we only have four teams left. We have the Kansas City Chiefs and Buffalo Bills from the AFC left. On the NFC side, we have the Green Bay Packers and Tampa Bay Buccaneers. I think that these are all quality games that will be featured. So can the Buffalo Bills pull off the upset over the defending champion Chiefs? If Patrick Mahomes is healthy and recovered from his injury last week, I don't see it happening. I predict the Chiefs will win if Mahomes is healthy. As for Green Bay and Tampa Bay, I really don't know who to go with. I see this as a toss up, but if I had to lean towards only one, I would pick the Buccaneers. Kinda hard to go against Tom Brady. I don't care for either of these two teams, but I think that is going to be the game to watch. I pretty much have no stake since my team didn't even make the playoffs, so all I hope for is some good games. We'll see how it all plays out this weekend. Now that I've gotten on my soapbox for a bit, lets go ahead and get into this week's topic on embracing our individuality. 

Now I talked in the opening about the Internet and how it has had progressively throughout the course of time has had a gigantic impact on how so many of us view our lives. This of course doesn't apply to everyone, because though it is highly rare in this day and age, there are people that don't even use the Internet. That's besides the point due to the fact that everyone has their own opinion on the Internet. However, there is one word that I can think of when it comes to the Internet, and even the media at large when it comes to influencing us as people. The word that I'm pondering on of right now is "narrative"! Everyone knows that the news and media in general has always been the biggest influences when it comes to pushing a narrative. I personally feel that the Internet hasn't always been part of the narrative driving force that influences our thoughts, but as with pretty much everything else in life, the way the Internet has been used over the course of years has changed. I once viewed it solely as a source of connecting with others and obtaining information that could not be accessed instantly. That aspect of the Internet does still exist, but probably the biggest reason as to why so many people use the Internet deals with the social media aspect. The way that social media has expanded over the years has become one of the largest influences on individuality and how we view ourselves relative to our peers. 

Now that I've addressed the topic of the Internet at length, I want to get more into how it has a place in our lives when it comes to individuality. From my own perspective based on what I see regular online via social media apps, etc, most people seemingly are influenced by what others are saying and doing. Now I hope no one takes offense to me saying that. Quite frankly, I myself am not immune to this. I know that I have personally fallen victim to this myself, so it is definitely understandable. While I feel that there is nothing wrong with being influenced by what we see via the television and Internet if done in a healthy form of consumption, we don't want to be people that lose sight of our own beliefs that make us individuals. Too many of us have lost sight of who we are from the amount of consumption of media and social media. From my perspective, you can tell a lot about what a person thinks about a certain topic based on what and who that person is paying attention to. There are so many of that want to be liked by others so much that we're willing to change our viewpoints to what the masses think is the popular viewpoint to adopt. Now we're all individuals regardless of whether we follow what the masses do, but coming across people that are truly confident in their beliefs and who they are has nearly become a thing of the past. 

So now that I've gotten into a few areas as to where and why we as individuals have lost our sense of individuality when it comes to how we think, why exactly is it important for us to embrace our individuality? Well from my personal perspective, I believe embracing our individuality is important because there is an inner peace that comes with a person staying true to who they really are. I believe that a person that doesn't think for themselves and is easily influenced will never totally be at peace within themselves. I know that there's a lot of bullying and shaming that goes on within our society when it comes to how people choose to live their lives. However, going along with the crowd just to get along and be accepted can also be a form of bullying; internal bullying. I believe that a person that isn't being totally honest with themselves with who they are are contributing to the greater problem when it comes to being an individual. In a world where the average person can be easily coerced by others so easily, I believe that we need more people that are willing to be themselves. There's a famous quote that goes something along the lines of: "A lion isn't concerned with the opinions of sheep." I believe that when a person truly embraces who they are as an individual, then that is when that person has elevated to the status of a lion. This is why I believe that it is of importance for us to embrace who we are as individuals. 

Well that is all I got for this installment of 'Brad H.'s Perspective' folks! I hope you all found this both enjoyable and something that you can relate to. Thank you once again to all of you that stopped by. I truly appreciate those of you that do so! I hope the new year has been treating you all well so far. If any of you have any comments or feedback that you'd like to contribute, you can feel free to do so in the comment box. You can also find me on Twitter @BradrickH. Well I hope you all enjoy the rest of your weekend, and I hope everyone has a positive week ahead. Brad H., out!

©2021 Bradrick H. All Rights Reserved.

The Importance Of Not Being Overly Consumed With Just One Thing.

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We all know that our lives can become a true juggling act when it comes to balancing the many aspects of life. When we think of a juggler when it comes to the literal sense of what it means, they are known for their ability to balance several activities at one time. However, even the best of jugglers can overload themselves to the point where everything they're juggling will come crashing down. I bring all of this up because a common theme that I've addressed throughout the years via this blog is the importance of having balance in our lives. Being able to maintain an even keel when it comes to managing our lives is essential if we're aiming to keep our minds right. That said, none of us are perfect to the point where we're able to maintain this way of discipline all the time. There are going to be moments in our lives where we become neurotic about certain things. These are the moments where we find ourselves being over consumed with one particular aspect of life. While there is nothing wrong with being focused on a specific task when it is necessary to do so, being neurotic about something can have dangerous side effects if not properly put into context. This is why I believe it is of importance to not become overly consumed with just one aspect of life. 

HAPPY 2021 FOLKS! This is Brad H. back once more for the first edition of 'Brad H.'s Perspective' of the new year! I hope that you all are having a solid and healthy start to begin 2021! So for anyone that may be a first time reader here with this post, this is a platform I use to give my perspective on a topic that I think would be beneficial towards helping us stay motivated. If it is indeed your first time here, I would like to say welcome to you. For anyone that is a recurring visitor here, thank you once again for joining me. So for my soapbox to begin this topic, I just want to give a brief update on how I plan on handling the topics for this year. As of right now, the format will be staying the same. However, with so many things happening last year that caused me to have to skip weeks that I would normally post on, I'm going to be a little more lax towards posting. So for now the format of posting every other week will stand, but if there is something that happens that causes me to skip a week, then the following week will be the one where I post. I know most of you may not care much about that, but I feel the need to be transparent for those of you that are used to coming here. So now that I have addressed that, lets go ahead and get more into the importance of not being overly consumed with just one thing.

Now when it comes to the idea of not being so consumed with just one thing, there can be many ways that we can break down this topic. First off, when I make reference to "one thing", some of you may wonder what does this refer to? From my perspective, the one thing that we're using as a reference point for this topic can be anything that consumes to your mind to a level where it becomes  unhealthy. Now I will attest that I truly understand how difficult it can be to not engage in doing this. We all have moments in our lives where something bothers or worries us to the point that we're unable to think about anything else. Just thinking of an example of how this applies to my life, and I'm sure some of you can relate to the following. I remember during my college days have to give a 10 minute end of semester presentation that would determine if I passed the course. In the weeks leading up to having to do the presentation, I was constantly thinking of and asking myself how I would do? How would it look to the other students? Would the teacher accept my performance? These questions and the constant worry made it difficult for me to sleep or concentrate on other things. Again, this is just a personal example, but I think you all get the gist of where I'm coming from in addressing this example. 

 

Now that I've given an example of what it means to be overly consumed with only one thing, I want to get into how this can affect us mentally. I talked in the opening about how life is a juggling act when it comes to maintain various aspects of our lives. While juggling too much as I alluded to is something that needs to be avoided, managing a few things at a time is much more healthier for us than focusing too hard on one thing. When you are consumed with one thing dominating your life and your mind, you tend to lose sight on being in the present moment. Now I'm no psychologist, but I do personally believe that living this way too much is what helps create anxiety in our lives. Again, please do not take this as being medical advice. This is just something that I've noticed in my own personal life. Think back to the example that I gave about the end of semester presentation that I had to give. All of those questions that I mentioned asking myself were robbing me of being in the present moment. Not only that, being too consumed with how I would do took away joy from me because I was so worried about something that had yet to even happen. Again, a bit of worry and focus can be good under certain situations, but being too consumed with them is not good from my perspective.  

One life to live! No, I'm not talking about the soap opera that is so well known. I'm speaking in a literal sense in saying that we only get one life to live. This ultimately is the main theme of why I feel that it is of importance to not be over consumed with just one thing. From my perspective, when we're consumed too much with just one aspect of life, we are depriving ourselves of being able to live a healthy life mentally. I talked earlier about how things like worry can create anxiety and rob us of joy and inner peace, right? All of these potential bad habits do not benefit us when it comes to living our lives. If you find that you're always worried and anxious about anything in particular when it comes to life, you're probably not going to be a happy individual. I know it may sound like a broken record to many of you, but always keep in mind that we only get one shot at the plate of life. It is up to us to try and make the best of the circumstances that we're given. Being too consumed with anything, regardless of what it may be detaches us from living fully. Always keep in mind that stress and anxiety are okay and natural when experienced sparingly. Over consumption is where things start to get potential bad for us. 

So that's all I got for this first installment of 'Brad H.'s Perspective' for 2021! I hope that you all were able to gain some meaning and understanding from this. I also hope that it was beneficial to some of you in your lives. If any of you have any questions or concerns with this topic, or any of the other topics that I have covered, please feel free to drop a comment. You can also hit me up on Twitter at the handle @BradrickH if you'd like. I hope you all are having a good year so far. We don't know what this year is going to bring, so I guess all we can do is take things one day at a time. Stay safe everyone, and I'll see you all on the next topic! 

©2020 Bradrick H. All Rights Reserved.