Seven years late

“The more you multitask, the less deliberative you become; the less able to think and reason out a problem. What we’re doing when we multitask is learning to be skillful at a superficial level.” — The Shallows: What the Internet Is Doing to Our Brains by Nicholas Carr

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My dear daughter makes it no secret that as a young woman she became addicted to Adderall. But thankfully she courageously fought back and freed herself from the addiction.

It was a happy day for the Kemp family.

Recently a seven-year-old post on her Facebook homepage came up where she had celebrated her victory. She decided to re-post it.

Well, that started a firestorm. People piled on congratulating her for her recent victory and encouraged her to not give up. Others were taken aback and even shocked that she had hidden this addiction from them.

But virtually none of them noticed that the post was seven years old! All their encouragement, advice, and angst, was seven years late.

There is a huge difference between browsing and perceiving.

Going out on the town looking for casual connections is far different than seeking a mate for life.

Sampling different religions or philosophies to see which one “works” for you is far different than seeking for the truth no matter the consequences or changes that discovering that truth will require.

Dabbling in a few enterprises and casual interests is far different than the agony and hard work of discovering your true purpose in life and developing the skills to excel in that calling.

Surfing social media, trying to scratch an itch, satisfying your curiosity, wiling away the hours looking for a quick wow…these can entertain you but they will not sustain you if you hope to do more than live a shallow life.

The ONE THING for today: So how do you know you’re on the right path towards truly gaining knowledge and achieving something of substance and sustainability? One key factor is, you know you are on the right path when what you seek will require you to think deeply.