Popular Culture Will Always Lead You Away From a Meaningful Life

I like sports. I grew up playing and watching sports, like soccer, hockey and football. College football is my favourite now.

If you like sports like me, you have probably noticed a change, that began subtly but now it's in your face.

What am I referring to?

Sports betting.

There was a time when if you wanted to gamble, you had to drive to a casino, to play the slots.

Now you can download an app.

We have pro athletes and Hollywood celebrities peddling these sites as fun and entertaining. Sounds harmless right? Maybe. Maybe not.

They are taking a real toll on people, especially young men.

Emergency room visits are skyrocketing due to the overwhelm of addictive behaviours including suicidal tendencies, mental health complications and the abuse of alcohol and drugs.

Fun & entertaining?

I don't believe it.

A few weeks ago, I saw a commercial promoting a betting site. The very next commercial was for an addiction recovery centre...the next commercial.

Virtually every sports program has a dedicated segment to sports betting. Panels will give you the inside scoop, the latest injury reports and a host of other details so you and I can make the best educated bets.

How thoughtful. But I will pass; and I hope you will too.

Think I'm overreacting? Maybe. But I don't think so.

Pop culture will tell you, you deserve to have fun. You work hard. Let your hair down. Live a little. (I had a client many years ago tell his wife in my office, he just lost their house to gambling).

It's fun until it's not.

There's More

We are inundated with ideas that will do more harm than good

Care About Things That Don't Really Matter

I could apply this to so many things...even sports themselves. As much as I like sports, whether our favourite team wins or loses doesn't really matter in the end does it? But I see the celebrating of wins and the devastation of loses and it just doesn't make sense to me.

The world went crazy for the World Cup this summer. I love soccer, but there's more to life than winning a game...even a world cup game.

Now this week is the President's Cup; a golf competition between Americans and an "international" team. I love golf, but this tournament and the Ryder Cup seem to reduce what is normally a sport filled with sportsmanship to what appears to be a mob mentality on the part of the fans. Sometimes the players cross the line as well (in my humble opinion) I never watch.

I get cheering on your favourite teams. I do the same thing. But their success or failure doesn't impact my own. Or yours.

Buy More Than You Need

It amazes me how many storage units there are; and they seem to be growing. I see new ones all the time.

Now to be fair, I'm a bit of a "neat freak" and prefer a minimalist approach to my surroundings. Clutter actually raises my anxiety. But do we really need so much stuff that we need and pay for a storage unit offsite?

I get the value for someone in transition who needs a temporary place, but is it possible that if we have a storage unit that we just have too much?

Saint Basil, the 4th century monk said, "The bread in your cupboard belongs to the hungry; the coat unused in your closet belongs to the one who needs it..."

An extreme position? Maybe. But I can't imagine what he would say today.

Most advertising is telling you you need more to be happy.

Drive More Than You Need

I saw a commercial the other day of a group of 20-somethings going away for a camping weekend. They were heading to the great outdoors and they looked like they were having a great time. I'm not a camper, but I agree that it looked like a great time. But the commercial was for a new car. Apparently the success of the weekend really hinged on them travelling in a new vehicle.

One problem.

The average car payment in Canada is north of $900 for a new car; for a used car it's still $600 a month.

That's crazy!

And of course many families have more than 1 car. I really don't know how people do it.

No wonder they were camping. With car payments like that, what else could they do?

Pop culture tells us we need the newest and best to enjoy life.

The reality is, all these messages that culture sends us...

• Spend more than you have
• Care about things that don't matter
• Buy more than you need
• Drive more than you need

Are ways of getting something from you. It appears they have your best interest at heart, but in the end, they don't. They really just want your money; and sometimes that comes at an additional cost to your health and relationships.

Popular culture wants some thing from you; it doesn't want what's best for you; and it will most certainly lead you away from a meaningful life.

More on this topic next week.

Until then - Dan