TGIM: A&Ox3

Welcome back to TGIM! In medicine, we often have to assess and report how alert and oriented someone is, aptly abbreviated A&O. We quantify how alert and oriented a patient is by determining if they can answer what their name is, where they are, and what month it is. If they can answer those three questions right, then they are determined to be A&Ox3. Hopefully you’re keeping up on your medicine crash course.
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You may be quite unimpressed by our standards, but spend a few days in a hospital and you too would realize how easy it is to lose track of time.
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It made me think of recently what we should consider A&Ox3 should be for the rest of us fortunate not to be bedbound in the hospital. Maybe we would have to raise the standard a bit and we would have to prove we’re oriented by more than just our names and our locations.
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Some questions we could ask to assess awareness are when was the last time you were hungry? What does hunger feel like? How would you describe feeling tired? How do you try to calm your thoughts when they start racing? All of these questions are things we don’t consider often but reflect how well we can communicate between our body and brain.
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Lack of awareness is becoming an increasing issue in society. It’s at the root of the increase in the obesity epidemic, social media usage, and the growing political polarization. If people took a little bit more time to do introspection with questions like this, I think these problems would be quelled, at least to some degree.
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First, we’ll take the increasing obesity epidemic. Obesity is largely a result of a lack of communication between body and brain. So many clients I’ve worked with who are not obese but struggle with eating can’t even truly describe what hunger feels like. When was the last time you truly let yourself be hungry? Let yourself experience the sensation of it. We’re so busy and distracted it becomes incredibly difficult to distinguish the mental cues from the physical ones. Can you identify a craving versus hunger?

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Next is rampant social media usage. Social media is the epitome of distraction. It is so wholly absorbent that people become completely inundated, unaware of the real world. It is designed to deliver small dopamine surges, just enough to grab the user’s attention, and implore a swipe for another piece of content. It’s unnerving seeing the way others and myself can get so drawn in, completely ignorant of how time passes. It begets the urge to find these small dopamine surges. And awareness requires the ability to withstand the lack thereof. Like an atrophying muscle, awareness withers away to a weak limb, unhelpful and unable to be used.

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Finally, there is the growing polarization of politics. They say schools aren’t teaching kids properly, but these news channels don’t teach adults how to think. Both sides of the political spectrum are unaware of how distant from the truth these newscasters speak, with such conviction and hate. The ability to be aware is the ability to think, to analyze, to criticize what you hear and not just accept it at face value. Maybe the scariest of all is the lack of awareness that change requires both sides to work together, and that demonizing beliefs will only amount to a losing, dramatic story for everyone.

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Society is filled with people seeking distractions in food, TV, their phones, even working out, alcohol, the gym; anything to get their minds off of, well, themselves and their own thoughts. But once you get past the initial discomfort, awareness is the key to happiness. It’s the key to success, the key to change, the key to a fulfilled life.
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So check in on those questions. What does it feel like to be hungry? What does it feel like to be stressed? How can you calm your thoughts down? Spend some time inside your own head, you might be pleasantly surprised at what’s inside.

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If you found some value in this, please share it with a friend you think would enjoy it! And let me know if you’d like to be added to get TGIM. Or visit https://walshwellness.weebly.com/ for older editions and if you’d like to subscribe.

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This week, my podcast recommendation is from Motivation with Brendon Burchard, “The Secret to Being Healthy & Successful.” If you ever feel like you need a pick-me-up for motivation, Brendon is your guy.
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With that, have a wonderful week everyone!
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Until next time,

Shannon