Not a Piece of Meat!

We all have feelings and we all have emotional states. Some are just more difficult to notice than the others, because – as humans – we have invented a number of ways to hide our feelings and keep our emotions in check. We fish, we play cards, we smoke, we sit in dark rooms or go into hidden sound-proof rooms and scream at the top of our lungs before returning to work.

This is precisely why many people prefer dealing with animals, in particular with dogs, than with other human beings. Animals don’t hide their feelings, they are straight-forward and will always display their true emotional state in one way or another. Here is a fact that – I will bet my usual million dollars – you did not know. Do you have any idea why a chameleon changes its skin color? You probably think it is to blend with its current environment and hide from its enemies? Not so, because for whatever reason, hardly any other animal likes to eat chameleons. No, no. They only change their color due to their emotional state, i.e. because of how they feel at a particular moment. As a result, there may be a thousand reasons you are witnessing a chameleon change its color – he is scared, sad, angry, happy, disgusted, surprised, ashamed… or even in love (about to mate).

But back to us, humans, and our many ways of controlling our emotions. In addition to smoking, drinking and screaming, one of us – specifically Cart T. Mill – invented the first treadmill. Also known as ‘dreadmill’, this invention has been compared to Chinese Water Torture, although most will agree that Chinese Water Torture is more entertaining. And when we resort to using a treadmill for the cardio portion of our exercise routine, we basically acknowledge that our emotional state is at an all-time low and we are ready to sentence ourselves to a truly boring time on this contraption, much like a hamster attempting to outrun the wheel.

And even here we found a way to further hide our true emotional state, and instead of looking at gradually-increasing numbers on the digital counter, we distract ourselves with watching TV. National health club chains were the first to figure out this entire train of thought, and they created huge fields upon fields of treadmills with TVs hanging above them, where we, humans, pretend to run (basically in a synchronized fashion with one another) for hours on end. Sounds like ‘The Matrix’, right?

And even in this case, the key is to find the right show to watch, something simplistic and yet uplifting enough to get you through the torture. Perhaps “Dancing With The Stars” or “America’s Got Talent”?  I am not exactly sure. But whatever you do, don’t watch the news – you may fall off the dreadmill and grow even more depressed. As for me, I am sticking with the road and the adventures it delivers each bright morning.