I cannot count the amount of times I've heard someone passionately rant about the issues with the government. With social media now a day, you really can't get away from the posts, statuses, videos, pictures and articles. Everyone complains about different things. So many people want to see a difference. We can feel that the world around us is ready for a positive transformation and it's frustrating to sit back and watch the government control how we live as a society especially if we don't agree with the system that is being applied. But how can we not be angry? We have no control. The only control we have is that special moment when we get a chance to vote for a new master and hope that they will save us. So we pressure each other to VOTE because we have rights! Then we sit back and we watch our society morph a little bit, then go back to feeling powerless and waiting for yet another change... and the cycle continues.
The thing is, we consider issues and opinions about the government as a very "grown up" topic. We often tell children that we are engaging in "grown up" talk when we're discussing these issues. But the truth is, the act of this, at it's core, is far from "grown up". That may be a huge shot to your ego but the fact is complaining about authority figures is something children do. A five year old refusing to be happy because the rules of their house aren't to their liking is something we would consider childish behavior. A group of teens whining to each other about how terrible their parents are is something we would look at as immature and ignorant. It's something we did as children though, and at that time, our opinions and feelings around the situation felt very important and very valid and we believed that they deserved respect.
So wouldn't it make sense that once we grew up and moved away from our parent's care into a world where we no longer live under the authority of them that we would project those same "childish" authority-blaming traditions onto to something else... I don't know let's say The Government? I'm not saying that your points are not correct. Let me put it this way, although a child can claim they are incapable of happiness because they've had their iPhone taken away, it's clear to us that if they picked themselves up and played with the earth around them that they could turn their own world around. Yes, they've had something that belongs to them taken away, out of their control. Does that seem fair? No. They could spend all day sitting on the couch inside blaming their unhappiness on the situation OR they can stand up and make a choice, if this is issue seems that important to them, they can:
A. Reason with their parent to get it back
B. Earn money to buy a new one
C. Gather up their pals and wave picket signs outside their parent's house about the unfairness of the situation
Which are all great ideas to achieve the goal of getting what they want in order to make them happy.
If one of strategies worked then great! They got what they felt they deserved and they feel accomplished!
In the case, that they have zero control. Their parent is especially strict and determined to deprive the child of an iPhone.
The child in this case has these three options:
A. Complain about the situation. Result - sadness and powerlessness
B. Keep fighting. Result - Strain and defeat
C. Go play outside. Result - Who knows?
The need for power is one of the most common issues we have with the government. In our society, money is where we believe the power comes from. The higher ups suck the common folk dry for the need to feel powerful through having immense amounts of money. We feel like victims of their control much like the child whose iPhone is taken from them. We blame their need for power for the problems in our society.
How can they take so much and ignore our cries? It's their fault for all the problems in our world. This blame strategy never got us anywhere as children and will not take us anywhere as adults either. Is it really someone else's need for power that suffocates us or is it ours? Our desire to have power. But what's wrong with wanting to have power over our own lives? Well, maybe we need to change our view on what power looks like. If power looks like deciding what outcome you need to feel happy and being able to get it then if you end up in a situation like The iPhone deprived child, you are incapable of having power unless someone else gives it to you which in turn gives them power over you which is the opposite of what you really want, right? YOU want to have power over your life. But if you KNOW there is definitely no way of getting that outcome that you want. Are you doomed to powerlessness? If the definition of having power comes from having control over something of value to you like an iPhone or money or the rules of your society, but you are unable to have control over it at the time then you are unhappy and you are powerless. But if that in which you place value on is something that you always have guaranteed control over then how can you ever become powerless? The answer is: You can't! So what is something that you have guaranteed control over at all times.
You.
Place the value in yourself. You always have control over who you are and what YOU do in the world to make a difference. You may not be in the ideal situation but that still does not remove your control of how you deal with it. If your value is placed in yourself then you can never become powerless. You always have the option to make a move, you always have the option to give, you always have the option to try, to change, to devote your own daily lifestyle to what ever you believe in. You may not have control over receiving more money but you do have control over if that homeless man across the street does. You may not have control over the entire education system but you have control over how you treat children, you may not have control over all the depressed people in the world but you have muscles in your face and if you use them just right you can form a smile. You may not have control over the government's ways. But if that fact makes you unhappy then you are placing your value in something other than yourself because you always have control over your own ways. Place you value in the right place. Take your power back.
Take control over you.
Stop blaming the government. By Skye Johnson
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