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Freedom is just the extent of control you have over your own life…
Holly McLoughlin
Activist Post
Every day we despair at the atrocities we see going on in the world. We all have issues close to our hearts whether political, financial, scientific, health related, humanistic or other. We long for change. We can smell it in the air like dinner in the oven wafting through the room. All of us at the table have different tastes, choose different things from the menu, and we all want to like what we’re about to eat. So how can one restaurant satisfy us all?
It can’t! That’s why we have many restaurants and we each have our preferred ones. So why is it when it comes to any other decision, whether it is political party, financial policy, scientific theory, or diet we usually think one particular solution can serve us all? Freedom, like food, is all about personal preference or simply put; choice. In today’s society we find ourselves eating in a bad restaurant because the majority voted it in. In a bad restaurant it doesn’t matter what you choose from the menu you’re not going to like what you get! So when the world picks a different choice to the one you wanted how can you be happy and what should you do about it?
If the choice was as straightforward as a meal we’d simply pick a different restaurant or if no options suited us then we’d stick to cooking at home. With the bigger life and world issues, individually we simply don’t have the influence to choose where we eat. This can leave us feeling frustrated, worried or even anxious to change things. But focusing on the things we can’t control, will only lead to disappointment. Here are things you do control:
- Your values and whether you live them
- Quality of your work and job performance
- Relationships with friends and family
- Involvement with your community
When it comes to changing the world though, we typically think about changing things at the top. Do you envisage a great leader to swoop in and do things right making all the best choices? Do you know of any man who can always be right and never make a mistake or who can keep everyone happy? I don’t believe any of us are perfect. If you are basing your happiness in the idea that someone or something outside yourself can make it all right you are sure to be let down and feel unhappy. In doing such a thing you are out of control and actively giving up your freedom. Freedom is just the extent of control you have over your own life. How can you be in control when your happiness rests in someone else’s hands like a leader? Therefore it’s up to you to take control of your life and your actions.
Do you think there is nothing you can do? I tell you the truth when I say you just don’t realise the power of one person. Many agree that the government, banking and corporate fat cats are working to serve only themselves. We sit reading websites like this one judging peoples bad deeds and their failings. But if you think you can change the world by having your idea be ‘the chosen one’ and making everyone follow it then think again. Others will simply be in the position you are in now and you will have become just like the oppressors you hate. You can’t always change other peoples’ minds. No matter how right you may be, sometimes, like you and I, people just don’t want to hear it. The truth is; to be the solution the change needed is in YOU not outside you.
The old saying goes ‘if you can’t beat em join em’. This doesn’t mean join in what they do and make the same choices as them, it means stop seeing them as the enemy! Join their side and help them as an individual. When we see someone with an alternative view to ours as the enemy, we have a tendency to attack them, and their response is to attack back. You must stop resenting and judging people for their mistakes. You are a flawed just like everyone else, so treat them as you would wish to be treated.
So in trying to change the world ask who am I serving? Are you serving yourself in pushing your ideas on to others aggressively just as your oppressors do to you? Or are you serving others by allowing them to make mistakes and go against your advice, but not resenting them for it? The only way to change other people’s choices is to lead them to have an ‘a haa!’ moment of their own. Help them see how much better their life could be and how they could benefit if they follow what you do, then you will find you get a much better response than attacking them. We all like to come to our own conclusions by free will, so serve the world by allowing others that gift of free choice that you also appreciate. That is how you really change the world.
Whatever you decide you can do in your sphere of influence, don’t expect it to be easy. You may say there is nothing you can do, and think people will not change their minds. But I can promise that it’s easier for you to change the minds of your fellow people rather than change those at the top. You may not be able to change everyone’s opinion but even just changing one mind you will feel a lot happier. You will see a better return for the efforts you make when you focus locally, and will hold an attitude of here let me help you rather than I hate you. This helpful attitude gets much more positive responses. When enough of the population have experienced better options and decided its right for them through their own free will, the pressure on those at the top will be too great. We must first strive to become a fee thinking and free willed society as individuals for change to take effect as a whole.
To find your own truth, search for Roy Masters on blogtalkradio.com . The writer is not affiliated to this site, but has found the advice invaluable in her own life.
This article has been entered into the Activist Post Writing Contest – Solutions. 1st place receives a $250 cash prize & $250 gift certificate to Offgrid Outpost. 2nd place receives a $250 gift certificate to Offgrid Outpost. Additional details and submission guidelines can be found here: http://activistpost.com/2012/11/activist-post-writing-contest.html
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