Going inward is one of the hardest things we will ever do, despite how simple and helpful it may seem. There are many reasons for this, and most of them come from past teachings.
One of the most pervasive is that our generation was taught that being idle meant you were unproductive. We were encouraged to be extremely productive as we entered adulthood in a world that was getting faster and faster.
At least that's what we were told. The harder we worked and the more we gave up, the faster we would get ahead. But this idea of constant activity went beyond the workplace.
There have never been as many leisure activities available to us as there are now. Many members of our generation worked just as hard as they played.
The media's constant noise and influence are another issue. When we weren't hard at work, taking care of our families, or having fun, we were watching what the media showed us.