The Erosion of Free Thought?
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As you know by now, we do our part (it’s a pleasure, really) to provoke thought… often, more by sharing the absurdities of life rather than the gloss-covered mind-tricks and media-fed ideologies that you’re exposed to every day.
Our stance is simple: the more honest, open, and accepting you are to what IS happening, regardless of its taste, look, or smell, the more empowered you are to do something about it.
Lucille Ball once said that knowing what you can NOT do is more important than knowing what you can do.
And, the reason she said it is because she also recognized that self-awareness is rare. Or, its counterpart big sister, “denial,” isn’t!
When we ask coaching clients of ours why they keep believing something about themselves (as in, “I know I’m a good networker,” or “Hey, no doubt, I’m one of the best at asking good questions?”) that isn’t true (the ‘results’ or ‘evidence’ they produce lets us know that), it’s usually for one of two reasons:
( Click the “continue reading” link to see what those reasons are )
— Cont’d —
#1) Somebody once told them they ARE what they say they ARE, so they latched onto an “identity” that is bigger than themselves. Think about it… how many people do you know who continue to do what they do, even in a very ho-hum, monotonous way, because the self-importance of what they do over-shadows the results they actually produce… either for themselves or others?
#2) They take a cliquish phrase like, “Believe and You Will Achieve” and butcher the hell out of it, by actually living in a “dream world,” crafted out of a feel-good movement that says “nothing can stop you if you want it bad enough.” And ya know what, that’s true, very true… to a point. Yet, at some conscious, cognitive level, the person needs to rip off his/her rose-colored glasses and quit pretending. They need to give themselves a timeframe to “accomplish” something, then stop, be okay with not achieving it (temporary failure), and move the hell on.
Novelist Iris Murdock says we live in a fantasy world of illusion, and that the great task in life is to find reality.
Yes, Dear Iris, at the risk of sounding jaded or mean, it is indeed time to put a lid on the whole self-absorbed I create my reality BS and turn our attention to something much bigger:
( The punchline to come after this short sponsor advertisement )
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How we relate, sync-up, and harmonize with “outside things” — as in the world-at-large around us. We either really make solid connections with people of substance, or we don’t. And, the secret to that (the one most won’t recognize) is that you’ve gotta know what the ‘standards’ are for yourself in the first place.
We either strip away labels that keep a leash around our ability to discover new things and break free from normalcy, or we don’t.
It’s not about being a democrat or republican. It’s not about just being a life coach, a raw foods expert, a marketer, or a namaste-yielding crusader of love and peace.
Heck, it’s not about being identified as a “mother-in-law” either. Unless, of course, you’re so insecure that you think you ARE the person who ‘fits the bill’ and therefore can’t even take a joke.
A New York comedian is being sued by her mother-in-law for telling mother-in-law jokes. Ruth Zafrin says comic Sunda Croonquist’s stand-up routine is “malicious, intentional, and based on her hatred towards her.” Croonquist often jokes that Zafrin finds her mixed-race background alarming.
See, it’s about thickening up your skin, not taking your self-imposed identity or societal label too seriously.
It’s about common sense!
Recently, fellow contrarian-thinker Doug Casey was saying how he thinks it’s a pity that the average guy or gal (the non-professional comedian that’s not on stage) has to “outsource” his sense of humor. Meaning, about the only people who can say politically incorrect things today are comedians.
A Minnesota man is facing up to 90 days in jail for swearing in public. Lucas Wilcox, 19, cursed at police officers who had just ticketed him for underage drinking at a party, and was promptly found in violation of an 1887 ordinance that prohibits the use of “any obscene language”’ in public places.
Folks, it was just words… if you can’t swear at an over-zealous police officer, spending more time prowling college parties than on the street chasing down hard-core criminals, then who the @#$% can you swear at, without being put in jail for 90 days?
Doug adds:
“And… where does this lead us? Will you need to get a license to say funny things? (not that cursing is funny. Yet, I bet it was for the frat brothers listening to it). It’s part of the increasingly corrosive atmosphere in America that you have to watch not only what you say, but whom you say it to, and who might overhear what you are saying. We really are entering the era of Thought Crime and Double-Think.”
A Missouri high school has banned the school’s marching band from wearing T-shirts that depict brass instruments evolving into one another. The “Brass Evolutions” shirt, based on the classic ascent-of-man image, drew complaints from religious conservative parents. “If the shirts had said ‘Brass Resurrections‚’ and had a picture of Jesus on the cross, we would have done the same thing,” said a school official.
Riiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiight! So, the point of banning the shirts was what, then?
Yup, only in America!
One of the few places on earth the sheeple (the masses) praise and identify with medocrity and struggle, and condemn excellence and over-achievement…
For a some more head-shaking evidence, read Heather’s post:
Your Partner in the Quest For
Living a Life Without Limits,
Filed under: Mind Control, Personal Achievement, Self-Sabotage
Finally some words of reason. We may be limitless in how we experience life, but that does not mean that we can control every aspect of it. And in order to achieve our goals, we must acknowledge what we can change and the things over which we have little control.
If I am in a building with no doors and I want to get outside, I can believe with all my heart that I am going to be able to walk through the wall. But all I will get is bruised and battered. However, if I take a moment to check out other possibilities, I may discover a window. Presto! I still get out of the building, but without beating myself up first.
Sticking one’s head in the sand in order to insulate oneself from any “negative information” is equally unnecessary. The true test of a positive mindset is when one can remain positive and motivated in the face of negativity, suffering and insanity. Avoiding unpleasantness doesn’t make it disappear. Nor does it insure that one will be untouched by the negative situations. Anyone can be positive in Disney land. But you can’t stay there forever.
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