We live in a copycat world. The creativity of a few permeates and paralyzes society. The close knit society of higher education works hard to keep things exclusive. Look around and see the trends that sweep our cities. Nothing is new under the sun. A few cool kids in school get their haircut a certain way and all the kids soon want something similar. People as a whole do not try and look different than the accepted norm of society they want to look and dress the way most of their peers are dressing. We are crushed under the pressure to be in style or acceptable in the eyes of others. We strap ourselves with life crippling debt with a hope to join an educated class of society. It doesn't work for everyone. I wish happiness came in the form of a blue suit and brown dress shoes but for me it's not that simple.
You may be one of the happy ones. You've found your place in the world. You played the games. You put your time in and have found success in the corporate world. You may have found a fulfilling life in the system. The accepted career paths that people admire. You have the things others admire and you might even be happy. Success is admired in our society. Success through conformity to the accepted way of work and education. If you play your cards right you can take the family to Disney or an all-inclusive for vacation. I'm not saying this is bad. It is the dream many have. Play by the rules and it is not hard to achieve. Hard work brings rewards. Whether you work for yourself or someone else.
I was never able to thrive in my life by playing by the rules of normal society and business. Lack of maturity and self-control hampered me at every turn. I thought I could change the system. Because the rules were stupid, why should we follow them? The resulting bitterness that entered into my mind and heart made me miserable. I had a total lack of respect for the authority of my bosses. I created toxic relationships with people who to this day may dislike me. I deserve it. I used to blame the way others act as the reason for my poor behavior. I always knew better how things should operate. I was quick to complain and lay blame. I was not easy to get along with and never once considered the possibility of having a decent relationship with a boss. It was always adversarial.
My issues with authority were rooted in a way of life I had not chosen. We are all born into our lives by no choice of our own. We play the hand we are dealt. My foundational years growing up created in me a terrible habit of distrusting authority. The fruit of it almost destroyed me. It took me many years of struggle to figure out that I was the biggest problem in my life. Not my boss, not my job but Me. I had to fix my life, my mind and move on in a healthy way. I was a grown man and I was done playing the blame game. It was a journey I started and I am still on.
I came to a point where I knew I needed to play the game for my success. The workplace is where the "game" is played. I would take the good with the bad. I would work hard and not try to reinvent the rules. Things got better but not perfect. I had to make a deal with myself and the workplace. I was going to use my employer as a stepping stone to where I wanted to be. Loyalty to me first. My dream mattered and I was playing the game as a means to my dream. The workplace didn't own me because I had goals bigger than the work place. This set me free. I would show up and work hard. I felt empowered to dream and pursue more in life. The bitterness was holding me prisoner. The lack of perspective and hate made me blind. But I eventually came to a place of freedom.
Being a slave to conformity will suck all the life out of you if the end goal is conformity. Many will spend a life trying to be what others want them to be. Dressing like they are supposed to dress and worrying about what everyone thinks about them. Acceptance or at least the perception of it is comforting. The end goal for many is just that acceptance. For others they seek freedom and a place of individual expression and creativity. Some are seeking total ownership of who they are. It is a balancing act in the game of life and game of career. I was convinced I need to be free. But I wasn't able to be free because I didn't know how or why. I just knew the chains had to come off. Then I learned the chains were in my mind. I was limited by my own mind and mistakes.
There are more opportunities for freedom now in the technological age than ever. We live in an ever changing world. I am a man who was caught between the old world and the new. I was birthed into the old way of life and education. When I grew up men and women gave a lifetime career to one workplace or at least one industry. Education wasn't run by greedy blood suckers yet. Traditional workplaces and a lifestyles were married in a happier union. But the rules have changed. The world has changed. So we must change. Frustration will cause you to be paralyzed or your hunger for change will demand to be fed. The world needs the dreamer, the freedom seeking creative people to bring the positive change to our communities. I know there are more people out there that are wandering and not happy. It's never too late to break the chains and be free.
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