The hidden costs of taking life's easy route

I'm not too sure what we should call it; some say it's magic, others manifestations, a majority call it quantum physics, and a decent amount might call it God.

One thing I know for sure is that you are what you think. I mean right down to your very core, or what the Romans call logos. The part of you that isn't lying, that isn't putting on a façade, your subconscious, the real primitive you. You have the power; you always did and still do.

"Imagination is more important than knowledge." - Albert Einstein.

I believe that mindset is everything, beyond the physical. Your mind is who you are; it's everything you are, have been, and will be. The saddening reality is that very few of us use it to its full potential.

Why is it that whenever we are bored, we'd rather release dopamine into our brains from a mindless action than serotonin from exercise?

Cultural amnesia

This says a lot about our culture right now.

Many of us forget that our brains are an organ, a part of our body that requires activity, movement, action.

Physical activity helps us think, learn, and problem-solve. Sitting at a desk is quite the opposite, a worrying oversight when evaluating our modern work environments. When one is stuck and has no ideas, go for a walk. If I'm bored, I should do the same, rather than picking up a phone and doom-scrolling. Why is this? Why do we take the path of least resistance?

"Between stimulus and response, there is a space. In that space is our power to choose our response." - Viktor E. Frankl.

I know our brains love ease, but at the same time, without doing anything, our brain deteriorates, destroying itself like sea squirts eating their own brain when they no longer need it to survive.

There is a reason people stereotypically say, "If you're depressed, go for a run, go outside." It's because, for the majority, that is all that is needed to balance our emotions.

The detriment from the path of least resistance

I used to never read, seldom pick up a book, not until I started walking to work.

"All truly great thoughts are conceived while walking." - Friedrich Nietzsche.

I used to never work out, never go to the gym, until I got a wake-up call from a blood test. This fear of mortality, or rather entropy, scared me. I used to be so active when I was younger. But as we age, get jobs, we end up using our most energy-demanding organ the most, our brain. Problem-solving, task organization, time scheduling, brain this, brain that, and all while static at a desk. If we ever get the luxury to get home, now life admin gets in the way of decompressing, going to the gym, reading a book or anything that would benefit us becomes impossible.

Instead, we take the path of least resistance and sit down on the couch and decompress.

Something that we all deserve after a long day at work.

Embracing "I am" over "I will"

So what is the fix?

How can we use our biggest asset, our brain to magically manifest, our lives into a quantum crystal utopia?

Putting our hands together and praying is one thing. Thanking everyone for the food provided on the table is another (gratitude). "We delight in the beauty of the butterfly, but rarely admit the changes it has gone through to achieve that beauty." - Maya Angelou. We need to start saying, "I am," instead of "I will." We need to start saying, "I'm a writer, I don't smoke, I go to the gym, I'm a family man." No longer will we hope, no longer will we wish.

Instead, take action, become the verb instead of fantasizing about the noun.

Our actions define us

Whatever you consider a higher power item you confide in, be it quantum physics, crystals, a cross, burning sage, a podcast, or prayer beads.

We all know at some fundamental level that we have free will and can choose love or misery. We can choose the easy path or the hard path.

"It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it." - Aristotle.

It's our actions that make us who we are. It's how we interact with the world and the people in it that define us. It's that little organ in our skull that dances with electrons and chemicals that make our personalities, our drives, our desires, our ambition. I suggest you take care of it as best you can.

And when you are mentally drained, go outside and take yourself for a walk; it's far more decompressing and relaxing than any app will ever be.