Be the Change no. 12

“What we tend to overlook about fascism is the role of the bystander.”

Be the Change.

When we look back at history we tend to demonize the horrible acts of the few and overlook the apathy of the many. We give the bystanders a free pass. The folks that pretended not to see what was happening. The folks that said nothing. The folks that simply existed. And I think the greatest fallacy of looking back at the past and the atrocities of the few is the overlooking of the cowardice of the many.

Folks are cowards. They do not want to fight. They do not want change. They want to be comfortable. Because it is easy. And folks are all about easy. Our brain is all about easy. Our brain does not want to learn new things. Our brain does not want to make thought out and researched decisions. Our brain does not want to do anything that makes it uncomfortable. Our brains hate change so we hate change. It is a natural survival system we adapted over years of evolution that no longer serves our situation today.

Our brain’s comfortability with cruise control and easy decisions makes us want comfortable and easy lives. We have to fight our brains and our instinct and our programming to get out of ease and comfort. So, it is quite simple to understand why so many just stand by and pretend not to see what is happening.

And that frustrates the few that see what is happening. They get so very upset at the cowardice of the many BUT that is just how things are. We are quite simply born that way. And over the past hundreds of years, folks grew in their understanding of how we’re wired and used it to their advantage. Pick up some books on psychology or history and check into how easily led astray we can be? Because our brain software is really simple to hack even when you work on your antivirus software and know all the hacking tools.

Can we change the bystanders? Not at all. They are simply born that way. Can we change the fascists? Not at all. They don’t have a moral compass to guide their actions. Well what can we change? Our tactics in dealing with the bystanders.

It does no good to get frustrated by the bystanders BUT it also does no good to ignore them and give them a free pass. They need nudged into doing the right thing. And you aren’t going to get there yelling at them or arguing with them in the same way you aren’t going to yell and argue a fascist into changing. We need to change. We need to focus our energy on showing just how easy it is to change even though we know change is difficult.

But there is no other choice. We have to simplify the message. Simplify the steps. And make things easy for the bystanders. Remember they want to be comfortable. They do not want change. They do not want to fight. They want easy.

So, we need to make things easy. And that is where I am going to move my focus moving forward with Embrace the Within. As I get started with setting the table for spring, I am going to focus on just how simple getting healthy is. Just how easy it is to drink more water and eat less garbage. Just how easy it is to grow plants and raise livestock. Just how easy it is to learn new things and make better choices.

Because the one thing I hear more than anything else is, “How do you find the time?” And the simple answer is that I do not find the time. I made my time fit the life I wanted. We make time for what we find important in life. That is the great thing about life and the thing that haunts people as they grow old and approach the end of their life. Sometimes they realize they chose to focus on the things that ended up not being important. They spent their time on what they thought they wanted and ended up with a hole that they can no longer fill. They squandered their time on things that didn’t make them better. They were too comfortable. They were too complacent. They were waiting for tomorrow. And someday, tomorrow will not come.

What is your day saying about you?

#ThinkBetter #BeBetter #NoGodsNoMasters #MyBodyMyChoice #MakeYourselfGreatAgain #BeTheChange