Have you ever noticed how much you say the word “I” in a
day?
Start counting and you will probably be surprised (and if
you are like me.. even a little embarrassed) at how much we talk about
ourselves. I had a friend a couple weeks ago tell me that his brother is bothered
if he says the word “I” too often because it makes him feel selfish. I
reflected on this briefly but didn’t give it too much though until…..
If you are addicted
to IFLS (I F#%king Love Science for those not in the know) you may have come
across the video they posted recently about how Social Media is literally
rewiring out brains. We have now become so obsessed with talking about
ourselves that it registers in our brain the same way a drug addiction would. Even
more so, brain scans have determined that people get more of a rise out of
talking about themselves than they do listening about others. This got me
thinking about how much I talk about myself all day and makes me wonder what
kind of validation I am secretly seeking, if I seem self-centered to others and
if this is just normal human behavior…
Since the dawn of time (okay.. well at least since I have
been cognitively listening to stories from my elders about themselves…) people
have seemed to enjoy talking about well, themselves. Everyone needs to vent
every now and then about their day or likes to tell the “back in my day”
stories, but when did this become an
addiction? Has it always been? Is this some sort of crazy human evolution
happening before our eyes? Are we going to get so wrapped up in ourselves that
we stop caring about others and closing ourselves off from learning others ways
of life? So many questions, which lead me to more questions … none of which I have
an answer to yet.
With that being said, my challenge to you (and myself) is to
evaluate how much we talk about ourselves. Note how you feel when you do so.
Try to go a few days without posting something about yourself or your day on
facebook and see how that makes you feel. Anxious? Nervous? For those of us
with ADHD.. like we’re about to effing explode if we don’t get all the words
out.. right now!!! ;-)
Reflect on how you could broaden your horizons if you
listened more and “I”d less. It’s kind of a double edged sword though because
if no one is talking about themselves, how do we communicate our feelings,
hopes, dreams and fears to one another? Maybe all that is over rated as well… Really,
it’s questions for me. Questions all the way
