First, it would be very
single-minded and ignorant of me to claim we live in an "over" world.
This would imply that everyone in the world lived the way people in western
countries do. I know for a fact the rest of the world is different, filled with
a massive variety of cultures, ways of living, vices, etc. So let it be known
that the term "over" society reflects the western cultures of America and most of Europe .
Now, onto the explanation!
We
Overanalyze everything: every system put in place,
every process at a workplace, every type of instruction, every decision made is
revised, revisited, analysed again and again.. What happened to if it's
not broke don't fix it? I'm not saying we shouldn't change, but change for the
sake of change, is ridiculous and this is what happens a lot. When people
over-analyse, they forget to move forward. Instead, it's just reinventing the
wheel.
We Overstep boundaries without knowledge. More and more people share their opinion
with the world. An opinion which is based on no knowledge or intelligence,
simply a feeling or gut response. That's fine; it's our rights as humans to
hold opinions based on whatever we want to base the opinion on. However, it's
when that opinion is shared as a FACT that is oversteps a boundary. Social
media and blogging allow people to feel important and share their unfounded
opinions. A facebook post or a blog might get shared on social media and
suddenly an average person has overstepped the boundary of common sense and is
coming off as an expert. I know you've seen people who "know" the
best essential oils to cure scarlet fever! We've all read that bananas, or
eggs, or cows milk, or (insert the most recent opinion you've heard here) are
killing us. Why do we think that having an opinion suddenly makes us medical
professionals or fitness professionals, etc.? It's actually insulting to those
of us who have studied one of these professions and actually knows what we are
talking about!
We Overshare - showing every step of every struggle you are going through is no
longer "something we don't discuss in public". Instead it is praised
and rewarded! The more feedback and "prayers" you can get from
friends on social media, the more a person tends to over-share. It's a terrible
cycle of self indulgence. But do we really want to see the rash your kid got or
hear how badly you've been treated by the same jerk again? Remember
"overstepping boundaries"? Perhaps this has grown b/c so many people
overshare in search of an answer that a professional should be giving them...
We Over-do -
we take on too much; we fall too deeply into an idea and we struggle to find
moderation. Trying to lose weight? How many diets take it to the extreme?! And
people jump on board until they either give up b/c it's too restrictive or they
haven't seen success b/c it's not actually healthy at all. Diet didn't work so
let's try exercise! But instead of saying, "I haven't worked out in year
so maybe I should take it easy". people lean towards, "Sure I'll go
to the gym 5 days a week for 2 hours each day! However, that lasts maybe 4 days
and then feeling like failure sets in and people quit. How about the
politically obsessed? Technology obsessed? Any obsession leads to over-doing it
which leads to burn out which leads to unhappiness...
We over eat -
obesity! need I say more?
We over expect - throw ourselves into a plan and expect results
immediately. No results = no satisfaction. On the flip side, we expect others
to do over and above what they are supposed to do or are capable of doing.
Expectation not met = no satisfaction. People have limits. People need time to
learn. This goes both for projects we take on and projects we oversee (hey,
another "over"!)
We over-react! - why do people jump on a bandwagon without thinking? Slow
down! Take a breath! Research and form an intelligent opinion! We also see this
when people start to get angry - it can escalate very quickly if we're not
careful.
Do you see now what I mean by living in an "Over" society?
It's gone beyond first world problems and into a whole new dimension of
over-ness. Sigh...
