For as long as we’ve been around, most of us have been told what to do. Of course, in some families, it happens more directly. You know the stereotype. Parents literally tell you what to do, whether you like it or not. But for the large majority of people — it’s not as direct. In fact, it’s more subtle, hence, its danger.
As you probably know by now, we’re always influenced by our surroundings. There is no need to go into subliminals and psychology. Something as simple as spending some time with someone is enough for us to pick up their ways, and start acting as if we were them the next day.
Add billboards, advertising, books, music, movies, propaganda, and so on to the mix. And you have an idea about what to expect.
This openness to influences is what we should pay more attention to.
What is it that we pursue? Well, that which we give the most attention to. If you’re always on Instagram, you may feel like your life sucks because you’re not an influencer. If you’re always on YouTube, you may feel like you failed because you’re unable to live in perfect homes or travel around the world at will.
What if you’re not a social media person? Well, your community must put money or academic accomplishments on a pedestal, and that may make you feel insecure about yourself because no matter how hard you try — you just can’t come to like either.
Isn’t it strange? A person who doesn’t seem to be interested in money looks like a clown to most people. How is that even possible?! You can picture such people’s faces while they’re experiencing hundreds of glitches in an instant. It’s funny, isn’t it?
Of course, we need money in this world. This is simple logic. But the way money becomes the focal point in our reasoning makes us heavily biased. An example would be that of a person thinking about leaving a job because of her boss’s excesses. The worries, the anxiety, and so on. Or how some people lower their standards as long as money is on the table.
This all shows a handicapped mind. One that overthinks. And because it has turned money into everything — it can’t conceive of alternative ways to deal with its problems. It can’t be spontaneous. It can’t relax, let loose, and create some empty space for something new to come in. We never know after all!
You see, we have built such rigid views about life. The world has been telling us so many things, and on and on, it went on reinforcing what we already believe in.
Our minds are presently so full of information and concepts that we’re close to being machines. Am I joking? Not at all. Look at the world as is for yourself. There’s no heart. More and more people are degenerating. Lots of us are living on autopilot. The excesses in sex and violence. This is the result of having mechanical minds.
These different sources of information form the web in which our reasoning is trapped. Hence, most of us live like we are missing something. Our eyes say it all. We live like we are missing money. We live like we are missing love. We live like we are missing recognition. And so on.
There are cases when either of the above is a necessity. But we know this: When our teeth hurt, we go to the dentist. We don’t go on living in misery, lost in thinking and emotions.
For some reason or another therefore, we’ve been fooled into believing that some things are more important than our peace of mind, than family, than living and enjoying life’s beauty — life’s gift.
For some reason or another, we forgot what used to make us happy, some years ago. We threw it aside, because the worried child in us, the one that grew up too soon, says or rather, repeats what he or she was told by mom and dad. Be realistic. You’re not a kid anymore.
Should it be a surprise therefore that most of us go through life as if we are missing something? We are indeed missing something. But it’s not what we’ve been made to believe. We are missing something more important, something dearer to our hearts — a fortune that is worth all fortunes.
We are being disloyal to our path.
We are pursuing things that ultimately make us miserable. When we don’t have those things, we envy those who do. When we don’t have them, we lose our humanity to get them. And when we get them, our happiness and satisfaction leave as soon as they came in. Overtime, it’s all about maintaining the status quo until we die from a heart-attack.
Why do we do this? Sometimes, out of necessity. Most of the time however, it’s simply because of all the beliefs we’ve swallowed in. Those beliefs about life, and how it should be lived, are the reason a lot of us are anxious, miserable and arrogant.
Our emotions are reactions to our beliefs. For you the adult, the child that cries as if she lost her mother when all she lost was a toy looks silly. Well, the same can be said about “adult” problems. In most cases, we overreact. Our beliefs make us do so.
Not only this, those beliefs of ours are also the reason why we deviate from what makes us truly happy. When we’re happy, do we care about how well others are doing? It’s when we’re miserable that we’re constantly insecure, and on the lookout for those who are doing better than us.
What’s the difference between them and us? They may have thrown away those beliefs we still cling to. And by doing so, they may have come back into alignment with what they actually enjoy doing. That’s what makes their path so exciting. That’s why they’re full of life. And because they are happy, they don’t have the time to be miserable because someone else seems to be doing better.
Ultimately, we all have our own journeys to walk. And while a lot of people fall into conventional categories — some of us aren’t meant to do so. Some of us are meant to combine different categories in unusual ways, and present them to the world. And part of our path is finding the courage to do so, to be unconventional.
If you’ve tried what you’ve been told for too long, and just couldn’t wrap your head around it no matter how hard your attempts were — then maybe, this isn’t meant for you. It doesn’t mean you should stop it all right now if you depend on it. But try exploring different avenues, with no expectations. Ask yourself what makes you happy, and see how to bring it out using your experience from the last years doing what you did.
When we follow the path we’ve always been meant to walk, we stop comparing ourselves to others, and we are fueled by inspiration, which gives us the endurance to keep going, and grow from our challenges.
Truly, a life without challenges lacks spice. And unless we push ourselves, and dig really deep within, using all our God-given capacities – we’ll never know what we’re capable of.
I hope this helps.
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