THE “INSTANTANEOUS SYNDROME”
What quickly comes to mind when you hear of these two words
"instant syndrome?” or "instant gratification?" well for me a
lot of things certainly deluge in my
head without even going for the dictionary; so here are a few illustrations
just to give a brief synopsis to aid our understanding as to what it is all
about. You see everything these days is
instant:talk about instant food we got
ourselves 2 minute noodles and instant coffee; instant marriages,instant
beauty,instant wealth, instant fame just but to mention a few. Hope from the
above examples a clear-cut picture has just been conveyed concerning what instant gratification is all about! Our generation
has fallen prey to this particular syndrome as we lack sense of direction, purpose, patience,
confidence ,love, courage and the fear of god.This all gravely led by the mantra; I WANT IT ALL AND I WANT IT NOW!!Instant gratification has its benefits at some point in our lives but in the long run there is always a hell of a price to pay.
These days in less than a minute one can take over a hundred
photos in one burst, and in just one click
and a double tap on instagram BOOM they're insta-famous just like
that,impressive right? Don't get me wrong here,l love technology and believe me
when l say technology is the best thing that has ever happened to humanity and
its forth coming meaning that it will always be a part of us, but how people
use it to watch pornographic content, commit atrocious crimes, malice,slander,
cyber bullying etc that's what gives it a bad name. And yet again in as much
technology has brought our world together; along with it has many people lost their sense
of being especially this generation. What most people forget is that behind
that pretty, sexy, perfect girl or boy
on a magazine cover there's is CEO who is advertising and pushing their business and merchandise so everything ought to be “perfect” before the world sees it,
thus the superficial editing. Then they say “a picture tell a million stories”,
l totally beg to differ on that one!A a picture of half naked or a perfect
selfie of happy looking lady cannot tell a story of a low self-esteemed young
lady, depressed and eager to be popular NO! That doesn't even count as a cry
for help but business minded people who are all about the money now swoop in to
endorse such and maximize on the opportunity to make more money for themselves;
just like that they are insta-famous and are influencers for that particular
brand(s). But the big question is, Is it REAL? So has being a celebrity become
an instantaneous thing; just with one "bubblegum" hit song often with a bunch of meaningless lyrics a
young man from the slum and squalor part of the country becomes a celebrity in
a blink of a eye unfortunately for him he relaxes and never takes time to build
a strong career from that. And like chaff his fame is blown away by the wind
just like that, and adds to the long list of “instant celebrities” who were one
hit wonders.
Pyramid schemes has
become a bait for many in the name of "instant wealth", today where are they? You will be surprised to see
that only a quarter maximized on that and got to build businesses on that and the
rest have nothing to show for it. The
reason being that most of us when we make a thousand by just investing a
dollar we tend to relax and splurge like
there's no tomorrow and think that we always gonna make more for a lifetime.
Let me give an example closer to home, sometime in 2017 if l remember correctly
there was a get rich money scheme called triple M which was rampant across
Zimbabwe and the first people to join enjoyed its full benefits but a
mistake most people made was making large profits and re-injected their money
for it to accumulate so they get richer. In no time it lost momentum as
thousands were lost and never recovered from it. My point being that there's
nothing that comes whilst laying on your back, everything is worked for and if
shortcuts are taken just know there will be a bigger price to pay now or in a
million years. Now these schemes are more advanced these days just browsing the
internet you see many pop ads on “How to get $100000 from the comfort of your
home” just by one click; very tempting
right? Am one of the people who have once fallen prey to such click baits, if
they were real l would be a millionaire right now but because there's is always a price to pay
many have been defrauded through this. This is simply because we have become a
people who are not goal oriented at all we
are too lazy and too cool to get our hands dirty in order to get the
life we desire through hard work. All we just want is to be rich no matter
what, so you see some people have resorted to joining cults or making use of
voodoo; and they see nothing wrong in offering a family member or relative as a sacrificial lamb just to attain easy
wealth. What then is going to be your legacy amidst all this instantaneous syndrome?
Alcohol and Drugs not forgetting toxic relationships together
with rampant sexual escapades have become a source of “instant happiness” for many young people. We
have no idea what true and real
happiness is and that it can only emanate from within and from the love of GOD.
There was once a meme video of young people dancing at a party with beer in
their hands that made its rounds on social media, and its text read “if only
our parents knew how happy we are when we are drunk”! Believe me when l say
that there is nothing wrong with alcohol or those who do drink it but the point am trying to convey here is that most of us
we are drinking cause we are depressed, stressed and sad and definitely not
drinking for pleasure but trying to have a glimpse of none existent happiness.
But how many can testify that the happiness they feel when drunk is always
there when they wake up the following morning? But rather wake up with an
infuriating hangover and an empty wallet or bank balance;It simply becomes a
self destructing cycle daily if not kicked to the curb. Most of us think its
“too white“ to talk to someone about
your problems whether a professional, pastor, or lecturer but we forget that
the first stage towards healing is accepting that you have a problem and then
talking about it to someone you trust then the rest rolls out as time goes on.
Heal that wound and broken heart ad get your own dose of real happiness. As for
toxic relationships am no expect but am just going to lay it out as per my
experience. What l definitely know is that you don't need a superficial model of a girlfriend or boyfriend
just to be happy; mind you not all happy “looking” couples you see when you
take stroll on the social media streets are really happy, because you would be
surprised to find out that behind that picture there's a forced smile, abused
man or woman but who cares we are just doing it for the “gram” right?
Marriage these days has certainly lost its significance as result of these “instant marriages” which are rampantly becoming a norm among-st
us. Background, character, one's ambition doesn't even count for most of us
these days; but all a girl needs to pass the qualification stage is a “sexy
figure”,”perfectly built structure”, “freaky character”,be “yellow bone” etc
and all he needs to have a relationship proposal approved is a “flashy car”,
“perfectly built up body”, a “sense of fashion” ,”financial security” etc.
These traits are dreamlike features and they only exist on campus or during the
college life, and are non existent in
the real world. Instantaneous tendencies have turned us into a people that want
to be perfectionists and before making decisions first thing that comes to mind is “What will people think or
say about it?” A guy simply proposes to you for a marriage or relationship yet
he doesn't have any traits of a man you desire but those unrealistic
features; you instantly accept as there
is no room for second guessing or thinking about it as the fear of him going to
the next damsel immediately strikes. Even the Bible tells us that all these
things are vanity, so then why not just
invest your time in knowing your partner
whilst wrapping up on school rather than taking drastic decisions that will
haunt you for the rest of your life. One thing we forget is that marriage is a
lifetime situation and if abruptly
leaped into without the knowledge of one another or love driven it will be just
another divorce statistic waiting to
happen! The greatest examples are some of our parents we don't need to look any
further.
This is one of my personal favorites ladies and gentlemen
lets make one thing clear there is NO such thing called “instant beauty”. I
know this a controversial topic to indulge into ,but l think am going to have my own fair share of the pie. With
different versions and definitions of what beauty is some of us don't know what
to believe anymore. Lately,all we chase after are not academic or life goals
only but also there's new chase towards
instantaneous beauty, sexy bodies,”perfect” skin color etc. Just by undergoing
an expensive surgery on one's body then suddenly they feel beautiful right away
magical right?. But Sis have you ever taken some time to think about that 'boob
or butt job' and bleaching you are doing right now how will it be looking in
your 60s?How many white people in history or even today you have heard that
they bleached themselves to be black? Its all about living in the moment and
being the “it” girl right? We are slowly losing ourselves in trying to become
like all these phony models we see on
magazine covers and social
media with a thousand likes and shares
to show for it. Am a very passionate person about make up and am a freelance makeup artist too, the
reason why am mentioning this is to make emphasis on my next point. MAKE-UP
DOESN'T MAKE YOU BEAUTIFUL, BUT ONLY ENHANCES WHAT'S ALREADY THERE!
What it does is to boost one's confidence and add that self esteem zing, so
there is no need to invest more money in high end cosmetics rather invest your
money in skincare products cause beneath that “cakey” sleek make up there's the real you. Never
should we forget that beauty comes in all shapes, colors and sizes and
that's what makes us all unique and
special, so take care of your body like never before and appreciate your color;
whether black,colored or white your skin is beautiful like that love and cherish it.
Are we then
just going to be a generation to be circumscribed by a legacy of
indecisiveness, intolerance for correction ,forgetting our roots and living
dangerously with no life plan?
I know l have left more questions than
answers, but this is nothing new to us thousand of books have been written and are still being
written , we are constantly being told all this by our parents. NOW its your
turn as an individual to search deeper within and you will find your truth.
Its high time we know and draw a clear
line between whats real and a fantasy! Its time to slow down and think things
through before taking drastic decisions concerning the rest of our lives. In as
much as the COVID-19 has claimed our brothers and sisters, it has managed to
shutdown an entire system no more
rushing and running trying to meet up with busy schedules, deadlines; lock down
is simply forcing us to face ourselves, its like the universe and GOD are
giving us an opportunity to recuperate and spend all the time we need on
healing ourselves and reconnecting with our families. We can do better than being a sad and sick generation with a bunch of
happy pictures. If its a business project which failed its time to rework that plan and pay
attention to detail, if its broken heart that is still sore the time is
now to recover; if your spiritual life has been lacking now ts the time to
reconnect with GOD and enhance your prayer life, this in the time to work for
the body and perfect skin you desire without cutting corners, its time to look
within yourself, find your true happiness you don't need anyone to be happy but
YOURSELF!
P.S : INSTANT GRATIFICATION WILL NEVER BE PERMANENT!!
