Personal Meditation No. 121

“Your beliefs are your actions. What you say is just what you think.”

Embrace the Within.

Standing man watches others drown is the way media would frame yesterday’s post. Surrounded by drowning people that can easily kneel or stand to avoid drowning, it is only natural that we feel sympathy and even empathy for the drowning. We want to get back down there and help them out of the throws of drowning.

BUT as any lifeguard can tell you, drowning folks can take you down with them very easily. And the next thing you know, you’re both drowning. So, if you’ve only recently started standing or you’re just kneeling right now, leave the drowning folks alone. You can just as easily become one again.

I can’t save anyone else from drowning that doesn’t first understand that they can place their feet on the bottom. It does me very little good to try and save folks from drowning. I know we get excited when we start to learn all about freedom and personal responsibility and we want to go out and tell everyone that they can get free . . . BUT, most people don’t want that. So, our happiness for our discovery is often burned out and left with disillusionment at the people around us. We get frustrated with their beliefs. We get frustrated with their need to follow. We get frustrated with their lack of zeal for self ownership.

BUT, as I have said before, your freedom, my freedom, our freedom, does not require anyone else to be free. Live the life you want to live. Find the folks that are already on the path to discovery and leave the others to their diversions. It isn’t an easy lesson to learn but if you truly value personal responsibility and personal liberty, then you will learn that you can preach the good word all day long and it won’t change the hearts of folks.

Folks will do any number of horrible things to their lives, their bodies, their minds on a daily basis just to get along. They will tolerate so many slights and injuries. They will do whatever it takes not to stand out in a meaningful way. There are billions of them just going along. So, let them.

Spend your time working on you. Share the glory of what you’re working towards. Show the path in your life and be a beacon. You will get a lot of haters BUT you will also inspire folks to take the steps. Be open to those folks in their journey and let the rest slide into the background like they want. Remember, only you changed yourself and only they can change their paths as well.

Have the day you want. I hope you find whatever you’re looking for.

#ThinkBetter #BeBetter #NoGodsNoMasters #MyBodyMyChoice #MakeYourselfGreatAgain

Personal Meditation No. 120

“Your beliefs are your actions. What you say is just what you think.”

Embrace the Within.

Yesterday began the annual teaching of influence techniques with an introduction to bias and fallacy. We discussed the Placebo Effect bias and Bandwagon fallacy. As the study of Animal Farm looms on the horizon for some of my students BUT the study of argumentative writing dominates most of the rest of the academic year. Influence and argument are rather important things to consider. They are all around you, all the time.

We are all influencers. That is one of the fallacies of the idea behind getting influencer status on social media. Some folks might have a bandwagon reach to more folks but we can all influence and do all influence every day at all times. And that is why our message is important. We have to concern ourselves with the brand we’re creating.

And brand isn’t just about what you say, it is about your actions. Folks can get away with saying one thing and acting another way for only so long. We see it in our daily lives and we see it in the media, having two belief systems, having two ways of being, never works out over the long haul. Folks can keep up appearances for awhile BUT, eventually, the truth always comes to light. Truth needs to find air.

Don’t take too much faith in our social media images. Folks are really good at hiding the parts they don’t want you to see. If they’re broadcasting their pain, then that is what they want you to use to identify them. If they’re broadcasting their perfection, then that is also what they want you to use to identify them. What I am struggling with right now, outside of Google Docs acting up and reconnecting all the time as I type this, is finding folks that are struggling and changing. A lot of folks are struggling. These fourteen days are really wearing on the nerves of folks that are political, apolitical, left, right, statist, anarchist, nice, mean, powerful, corrupt, meek, kind . . . shit, everyone is struggling because this is so illogical and never-ending right now. We’ve been doing fourteen days for nearly two years. Folks are struggling. BUT, not everyone is drowning.

I struggle to find folks that aren’t drowning because I am not drowning. And I am tired of standing in the vast water looking around to see folks splashing away in two feet of water when they could truly just stand up. BUT, it’s difficult to convince yourself that you’re not drowning when all you see is water and folks trying not to drown too. And I am struggling with finding folks that are standing.

Maybe you’re looking for other folks that are standing too. I think that’s one goal of me tapping away in the morning. I think it’s one goal of me getting serious about increasing my YouTube presence with putting up some more content now that the gardens are going cold. I think that’s one goal of posting these links on Twitter and Facebook. I think that’s one goal of having a Facebook page and a website. I just want to let folks that are struggling or striding, standing or drowning to know that you can stand because some of us already are. I hope you find your legs today and decide to stand. I hope you start to realize that the water isn’t that deep and there are plenty of arms around to help you up. I hope you make the change to struggling toward your dreams rather than struggling against the kiddie pool.

Have the day you want. I hope you find whatever you’re looking for.

#ThinkBetter #BeBetter #NoGodsNoMasters #MyBodyMyChoice #MakeYourselfGreatAgain