Patience killing shorts

There was a time when the internet and smartphones hadn’t invaded lives. It was the time when we couldn’t get everything just by moving our fingertips on the mobile screen. That was an age where people need not to depend on gadgets to kill their loneliness. There were days like that too when our ancestors could spend hours upon hours being completely calm even by doing nothing. All in all, it was an era when humankind lived their life as it was. 

Since the age of cognitive revolution till today, man has invented various technologies aimed to make life more easier and well facilitated. Almost all the discoveries obviously made our life more facilitated and simplified too but we can’t ignore the fact that these discoveries are also pushing our life towards complexity.

The day when the government of Nepal declared to ban TikTok, a short video application, in Nepal, shorts on YouTube, reels on Facebook and Instagram started to become more popular and gain remarkable attention. With the continuous information and entertainment available at our fingertips, it’s easy to become addicted to the instant gratification provided by these short videos. Not only have people’s consumption of time on the internet been increased by the rise of this new media form, it is directly hitting our attention span too. Despite the many benefits offered by these shorts, it also makes us more and more impatient at the same time. In fact, these short form videos are gradually shortening our focus and concentration power. They are weakening our stability day by day.

Our life today is built around a fast paced, technologically dominant society. As a reflection, each morning starts with shorts and reels on the mobile screen, which has developed a need for immediate results in us. Now we have reached a point where we want everything at the click of a button or swipe of a finger. We have become so impatient that we need all the things instantly like instant coffee. We can’t even wait for a couple of seconds without skipping the ad while watching YouTube videos. It is said, Amazon would lose an estimated $1.6bn a year if its home page loaded one second more slowly. If we get stuck in a traffic jam for a minute, our stress level easily reaches its peak. Reading books or listening to a long playlist, or just trying to learn a new skill is comparatively more difficult than it used to be. Even a cup of tea takes ten minutes to be ready but we need a life solution in the snap of a finger. This expectation for instant results has penetrated into our relationships with family, friends and loved ones. 

In China, there is a type of bamboo tree that needs to be watered every single day without fail. When that seed is planted, initially there is no growth and nothing appears to come out of the ground for the first five years. But there are experienced people who have faith and patience on that tree so they keep watering. In the fifth year within six weeks this particular tree grows to around eighty feet tall. This bamboo tree proves that everything has its own pace of time. It's not that we always get immediate results for what we do. Babies are also not born the day parents bond nor does a chick hatch out from the egg in a day. In our daily lives too things like losing weight, professional success or overcoming personal failure need time. Even Thomas Alva Edison could not have invented the electric light bulb if he did not have patience and perseverance. KFC is world famous today only because Colonel Sanders did not lose patience even after his recipe was rejected one thousand and nine times.

According to Yogic science patience is one of the greatest virtues which is directly related to the overall well being of humankind. It is so powerful and capable to totally transform everyone in their best form if practiced properly and consciously. A person with patience can be happy and calm even in suffering or frustration. He can gain the capacity to accept or tolerate delay, trouble without getting angry or upset.

Today is the age of Information and Technology and we too are not far away from this. No matter how hard we try, we cannot remain completely untouched by its influence. But at least we can stay away from the demerits of mobile and the short form contents on it. Or at least we can improve our patience and perseverance power by doing some meditation techniques. For this we can keep staring at abstract painting for hours. We can go through a special method called ‘Tratak’ to develop the concentration power on us. Likewise we can add ‘Pranayam’ to our daily routine. And most importantly adopt the pace of nature and make yourself habitual on it.