What Is the Real Story?

If we are asked what we ideally want from life, our answers will include terms like happiness, good health, financial security, a close family, meaningful relationships, a satisfying and secure job and an abiding faith in a loving Creator. Of course, we could expand this list considerably.

I don’t think I would receive push back when I assert that there exists significant contradictions about just how effectively we are reaching the goals we’ve set for ourselves.

For example, in the last month, I read a national poll concluding that over 70% of people are satisfied with their jobs. Yet, over 60% of these same people plan to look for a new position in the next year. Other recent polls state that over 80% of employees feel their employer doesn’t value them as individuals.

When it comes to health statistics, the situation can get really confusing. The medical community expresses optimism with advances in medical treatments, and it is undeniable that we are living longer. Yet diabetes and obesity are growing rampantly. These two conditions are associated with increased levels of fear and disappointment in life. We have almost 50% of our children living in poverty. More people than ever are entering nursing homes at earlier ages.

Finally, as a society we appear particularly fractured. For the first time ever we face a presidential election where the two front-running opposing candidate are disliked and mistrusted by electorate in their own parties. Disagreement about solutions to pressing national problems is particularly combative.

I would suggest that we have a particularly distorted perspective of what we face as individuals and as a society at this moment in our history. Like the story of the frog swimming happily in pot of water heating on the stove until the frog happily cooks to death in the boiling water. We live in what seems like a relatively rational set of circumstances at first, and over time imbalances and stresses build so gradually to a crushing level and we never see it coming. We are cooking to death in our own lack of self-awareness.

There are important solutions to these problems, but first you must be willing to jump out of the water before it starts to boil. We’ll bring you more information and greater insights over the coming weeks.

Tom Searcy