Are We Too Focused on Ourselves? A Reflection on Consciousness and the World

It’s a bit tough today, since waking up. Some days are like this—I skipped dinner last night, blaming a “lack of time,” and that must certainly be affecting my fatigue.

It’s also a cloudy morning, and while I can catch glimpses of sunlight in the distance from my balcony, the gray clouds ultimately take over.

I used to avoid watching the news—too much negativity, like Gad Elmaleh’s show: “Leave me alone, I have my own problems too.” But it’s a vicious cycle: we turn a blind eye to problems elsewhere because our own problems seem more important.

Of course, we can’t help others if we don’t help ourselves first. But isn’t there a middle ground? Especially when I advocate for balance—shouldn’t the same apply to our priorities?

It’s often all or nothing. Either we watch the news, it depresses us, and we stop. Or we watch it so much that we become obsessed, unable to think of anything else.

Just glancing at Le Monde,

Because we don’t care. We want tangible things, things that benefit us. Thinking about or helping someone in distress on the other side of the planet—what does that do for me? It’s always me, me, me—more of me.

Because thinking about it makes us uncomfortable. And we don’t like that. We prefer to ignore it, to say “That’s just the way it is.” That we can’t do anything about it anyway.

That the elites should be the ones to change.

And why would they? Changing would mean throwing obstacles in their own way. And, to be honest, most of us wouldn’t do it if we were in their place either.

No one becomes ultra-rich or powerful through acts of kindness and philanthropy. If that were the case, we’d all know about it.

And to be frank, even if wealth were fairly redistributed right now, and balance was momentarily achieved, the general lack of awareness among the majority would immediately tip the scales back.

The only real solution for lasting global peace and efforts to save the planet is finally allowing the masses to become more conscious.

We now understand that our brain and its well-being are key to developing awareness.

The only remaining question is simple: who actually wants to make the effort?