Are you happy?\u00a0 I mean, are you truly happy with your life?\u00a0 Are you living the life of your dreams or are you waiting for something better to come along?<\/p>\n
If we are truly honest with ourselves, most of us are not as happy and satisfied with our lives as we would like.\u00a0 Thoreau said that most men lead lives of quiet desperation.\u00a0 Most of us have regrets over things we haven\u2019t done, tried or seen.\u00a0 We harbor secret dreams that remain unfulfilled.\u00a0 It\u2019s so sad that in old age, so many people say, \u201cI wish I had done\u2026 but it\u2019s too late now.\u201d<\/p>\n
So why does this happen to us?\u00a0 Why do so few of us live the life of our dreams?\u00a0 It\u2019s as if our lives are seeds carried on a breeze.\u00a0 We land wherever the wind blows us.\u00a0 Sometimes we land on fertile soil and we flourish.\u00a0 Other times, we land on rocky, barren ground where nothing grows.\u00a0 How does this happen to us?\u00a0 The answer is an indictment on society and on each individual.<\/p>\n
We come into this world full of potential, full of wonder and curiosity.\u00a0 We ask questions, always seeking answers.\u00a0 We are never satisfied with just knowing how things are.\u00a0 We want to know why they are and how they came to be.\u00a0 As children, we dream big dreams, never thinking that our dreams can\u2019t be realized.\u00a0 Society allows children to dream because, after all, that is what children do.\u00a0 They dream and they play.\u00a0 Once we enter school, though, all that changes.\u00a0 We are taught by our parents, teachers, clergy and leaders to sit in our chairs, don\u2019t fidget, keep quiet and pay attention.\u00a0 We are taught to stop dreaming, to get serious about our future, to believe in the things and behave in the ways that others want for us.<\/p>\n
Society as it is designed requires our conformance.\u00a0 Society needs people to fill roles that serve the greater good.\u00a0 This is why we adopt our parents\u2019 religion, politics, careers, hobbies and interests.\u00a0 This is why so many of us raise our own children in the same way.\u00a0 I have startled myself on more than one occassion by saying something that my father said to me as a boy.\u00a0 After uttering the words from my distant past to my own children, I would reflexively turn around, expecting to see my father standing behind me, stern look on his face.\u00a0\u00a0 We are creatures of habit and we learned our habits early on in life from those whose sphere of influence we were exosed to.<\/p>\n
So society is guilty for supressing our individuality, our creativity, our dreams.\u00a0 But we as individuals are also guilty.\u00a0 After all, we are bestowed with the gift of free will.\u00a0 We have the option to choose our careers, our religion, our politics and our interests.\u00a0 More importantly, we can choose our thoughts.\u00a0 So why don\u2019t more of us do that?\u00a0 Why have we surrendered control of our destiny to others?<\/p>\n
Prescious few of us have the strength to resist the will of society and stand for our own convictons.\u00a0 Those who can are leaders.\u00a0 While eulogizing his brother Bobby, Ted Kennedy cited something Bobby often said.\u00a0 \u201cSome men see things as they are and say why. I dream things that never were and say why not.\u201d<\/p>\n
This is the kind of thinking that makes people true individuals \u2013 makes them leaders.\u00a0 This is the kind of thinking that more of us need to engage in.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 It is time for us to take control of our lives by thinking freely.\u00a0 When a thought enters your mind, ask yourself if that thought serves you or empowers you in any way.\u00a0 Question where the thought comes from.\u00a0 Is it from your parents, teachers, clergy or political leaders?\u00a0 How do you REALLY feel about that though?\u00a0 Does it resonate with your deepest feelings or is it merely a programmed thought?<\/p>\n
In my next post, I\u2019ll continue this topic by exploring some ways in which you can start to control your thoughts and overcome some of the limitations imposed on you by a lifetime of programming.\u00a0 Meanwhile, I would love to hear your comments about this topic.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Are you happy?\u00a0 I mean, are you truly happy with your life?\u00a0 Are you living the life of your dreams or are you waiting for something better to come along? If we are truly honest with ourselves, most of us … Continue reading