During a recent time of distress and political upheaval, I heard several people say that they were tired of people telling them how to live their life. We are it seems living in a peculiar day. Many are afraid to lose their liberties or fear they will never gain the freedoms they seek. There are plenty of people disagreeing on a variety of subjects all around us. This is nothing new. It’s not a surprise that people exist who do not agree with me. Realizing this I somehow got out of bed this morning, made it through the day, went shopping, mowed my lawn. All the day long nobody told me how to live my life.
I am often dumfounded by the reaction of people who are so upset by the opinions of others. So much energy is wasted on the people who are powerless to affect our lives. The things others say and think are most of the time empty words especially when spoken in times of frustration. The ideas of others have no power in your life until you surrender to them. You give them power.
The very simple fact that somebody disagrees may not immediately translate to them dictating how you are to live. Is there any art to disagreeing in our society anymore? Do we disagree, scream, pout and call names now? An opposing thought or group is now being seen as assault on the very existence of the offended. There is very little or no compromise. The my way or the highway attitude prevails.
Is this a matter of selfishness? Selfish people bring needless drama to the lives of others. They are demanding and unwilling to consider others. They want their way at all costs. Negotiation is a two way street. Every day life is a negotiation. To live peaceably with others there have to be compromises made. How do you come to agreement with those who are incapable of managing their own mind and life? This may be one of the great mysteries that needs to be solved in our generation.
What do we call children who have never been told no, who gain what they want by tantrums and disobedience? Who are given all they want on demand at all times? Spoiled. Once something is spoiled it ceases to be useful. It is easy to see these little ones bring nothing but chaos to the environment. You will have no peace until the little monster is reigned in. Now a battle must be fought that is nobody’s fault but those who spoiled the child to begin with. We will look down at the parents who raise children in this manner. Why? Maybe in a small way for the momentary displeasure, but we see what it brings to the school teacher, classmates, workplace, juvenile hall, and penitentiary. Where does it end? Not at home but in open society. Many will suffer because ‘lil Timmy or Tammy do not know how to treat the needs of others as important or even more important than their own.
There comes a time for all of us big boys and girls to realize that this big scary world is full of lots of different people. They are from different places and have unique experiences and backgrounds. We are not all the same. We all receive different educations and are taught different values and morals if any at all. We have become shortsighted, impatient and demanding. We are not willing to bear with each other. We need those around us sorted into two groups. The good and the bad, worthy and unworthy, those you approve of and those you don’t. It is easier that way.
This way we don’t have to think very deeply. We can make snap judgments, thumbs up or thumbs down, off with their heads! We are slipping into a place of intolerance that is dangerous. A society where the enemy is defined and eliminated has been tried and tried in our world many times. I don’t think it has worked yet. And I hope we don’t live to see it attempted in our lifetime again.
Who is it that tells you how to live your life? Do they go door to door? Is it by email? Maybe I am missing something. I am alive and not a hermit and I am not getting direction on how to live my life. It doesn’t surprise me, often I am the last one to know anything that goes on in my life. Wait, maybe it is because I am at work, they must come to my house when I am not there.
Maybe it is all those speed limit signs, every time I drive I see one. They really are slowing me down. I can drive as fast as I want. I don’t have to obey the signs. I am tired of people telling me how to drive. Tomorrow I will make my own rules of the road, this tyranny has got to end. I want my freedom and I guess you all need to stay out of my way. Does this seem like good logic? There are many rules and laws and traditions that have been put in place for the good of society. On the whim of a few should everything change upon demand?
I am free to live my life as I decide. The opinions of others, labels and name calling are powerless over me. You can allow others to put you in a box and categorize you according to their judgments. Or you can live your life and ignore them all. When freedom of thought ceases to exist we are already in prison. I refuse the chains of the thought police. The very declaration that people are telling them how to live their life tells me they have accepted the chains of the opposition. Are they free? Are we free to govern our own lives? It could be worse, it could always be worse.