Beruflich Dokumente
Kultur Dokumente
“Overwhelmed”
By
Dennis W. Lid
We have arrived! We have reached the point of no return. I first noticed it about twenty
years ago while on an international airline flight from Tokyo to Chicago. The stewardess
couldn’t make change for a ten dollar bill for the purchase of an item. She couldn’t find the
correct change, so I wasn’t able to buy the item. That’s when the real problem dawned on me.
Systems and the people working and living within those systems are beginning to break down
and are becoming overwhelmed to the point of being unable to resolve the issues confronting
them. This inability to solve the problem has numerous causes and consequences . . . and it’s just
getting worse with the passage of time. Life in general is faster paced, more stressful, seemingly
out of control and more overwhelming. Take a look around and note the reasons for being
overwhelmed, the consequences and results that follow, where it leads to and what we can do
about it.
Have you noticed lately that folks don’t seem to be watching out for one another anymore?
The “me, me, me” syndrome, egoism, and egocentrism dominate our culture and society at large.
Materialism, nihilism, narcissism and atheism are on the rise. There is an overemphasis on self
and things, and an insufficient emphasis on the intangibles such as values and virtues. The idea
of sacrifice has been totally lost on society and the individual. Immediate gratification and self-
preservation are the order of the day. There is an unwillingness to compromise, discuss problems
and arrive at equitable and amenable solutions for all concerned. Witness the adverse actions of
individuals and groups, the number of dysfunctional families, note the preponderance of
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divorces, and observe the inability of presidential, congressional and judicial representatives to
deviate from partisan politics and come to agreement on national and international issues of the
day to solve the nation’s real problems. They, too, have become overwhelmed by the immensity
The results and consequences of being overwhelmed run the gamut of possibility. Individuals
are reduced to impotence, frustration, anger or rage. This is evidenced by an increase in violence
and the seeking of vengeance by individuals and groups worldwide. “I can’t take it anymore”
becomes a common individual complaint. Observe the impatience of people waiting in line for
sales or service, their rudeness to one another in general, their displays of discourtesy while
driving to the extreme of road rage, their sublime inconsiderateness even while at play as
witnessed by the person trying to preempt another player from using a specific slot machine by
asking that player the inane question, “Are you playing this machine?” and the inability of
insufficient clergymen to attend to the individual spiritual needs of their parishioners because of
time constraints and a dearth of vocations to the religious life. Even nations reach their zenith of
tolerance, patience and diplomacy with one another in an effort to resolve their differences,
thereafter resorting to force, commonly known as the violence of war, in all of its many forms.
The earth itself rebels when it reaches its limit of tolerating abuse. Witness the extent of
High tech devices such as the computer, robots and the like have added to the chaos through
the elimination of members of the work force. These labor and time-saving devices have
actually added to the workload of those employees who remain. After the introduction of
computers, automation and other high tech components to a company or organization, most of
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the employees who are retained are overworked and underpaid. Employers and employees have
lost their sense of loyalty to one another as well. This, in turn, results in careless workmanship,
shoddy products, poor service, indifference and tarnished reputations for all concerned. Add to
all this the advent of critical systems going awry. The electricity goes off, the power grid is
overloaded, the supply of gasoline runs out, or there are other malfunctions in one’s life that
ought not to occur. Then what happens? Without manual backup systems and people who know
how to fix what goes wrong, or how to use the backup systems, everything comes to a standstill.
Systems fail; things stop working; people are stymied. Everything comes to a grinding halt. And
where has all this led? It has led to the ultimate state of being overwhelmed. What, then, is the
Perhaps there is no solution, or it may lie beyond our capability. Past abuses inflicted on one
another, our organizations, systems and the world have created a self-sustaining momentum that
has taken on a life of its own and may well be unstoppable. We can only really take certain
precautions and initiate limited positive actions to address the problem - the chaos. Self-
preservation demands that we seek to resolve what we can for the sake of our sanity and the
preservation of the human race. The secular oriented person can take refuge in the
“compartments of the mind,” their internal reflection zones, for serenity and stress relief. Yoga is
a common practice that invokes peace of mind amidst the chaos. Those who are religiously
oriented may turn to prayer, their Lord and His promise of eternal life for the peace and
tranquility they seek. Both types of people can benefit from doing the best they can under the
circumstances to maintain internal peace, though externally things are falling apart. Let all else
that cannot be controlled pass away. One can’t do anything to change those things that one lets
pass on by. Keep life simple in general. Finally, do that which does not come naturally but
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which is the only effective and complete solution to the problem and all the chaos: Love
yourself, your neighbor and your God. Just do it! Love before it’s too late. This is not an
apocalyptic decree or sentence. It is the solution to the problem and the end of chaos.
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