…I must be a
member of a vanishing species…
Many
years ago, during the dawn of what would turn out to be a somewhat convoluted
existence, a young man was constantly exhorted by his elders to exercise the
ability to think. “Think for yourself!” This young man would be admonished to
do… “Don’t let others decide for you what you should decide for yourself…” they
would pummel his ears with these and other similar advice, so strongly imbuing
this concept that it bordered on being a requirement to live as a member of
this family unit.
So
it was that this thinking took this young man to question most everything that
would come his way; a habit which often brought chagrin (in one or more of its expressions like… mortification, embarrassment and
especially, annoyance…) to those who had so strongly advocated the very
behavior. In early school, an old fashioned catholic school so commonly present
in Latin countries, this questioning constantly brought this young man face to
face with a marble column which, eventually, would become a friend and
confidant. For it was then common practice to have an offender (guilty of any type of offense) stand
outside the class facing one of many columns….
I guess the equivalent of the dunce cap in the corner of the room… It
meant that this individual had been insubordinate or OMG!!... worse yet… Had
questioned heretofore unquestioned authority…
As
time went on and this young (now an older
young man) person faced several issues which were truly life changing, this
behavior took on a life of its own. It actually propelled his actions. Thinking became an ingrained habit; questioning, a close second.
Rebellion (of the mental kind) ensued as a constant; authority was to be
questioned at all times, unless it came accompanied with a logical
explanation.
So
it was that the often exercised authority without reasoning became anathema; an
enemy against which this man would fight an ongoing personal battle. Often,
those around him could not, or would not want to, understand why he couldn’t
just ignore what he considered banalities and just, simply , go on in this or
that well paying position. As you can imagine, some suffered along with him…
suffering that in a more likely scenario, they should not have endured. This brought
an additional layer of problems and reasons to abandon this crazy habit of…
well, thinking.
As
this man now approaches that status of “mature member of the society” (well, OK... he is there!!!), this
continues to be somewhat of an ongoing battle in his mind… To think or not to
think… and, believe me, that is not a question… thinking is an imperative.
Trying to understand as many “whys” as possible and figuring out some ways in
which he can, albeit in a very small measure, counteract the massive invasion
of personality-less individuals that seems to permeate the society at large in
which he lives.
Perhaps
it is the result of our societies (not
just the one we live in) becoming massive agglomerations of humanity(ies);
this, in becoming so, requires a somewhat uniform code of conduct. What do we
give up in return? I think much… we give up the ability to reason, to think for
ourselves, to develop a sense of urgency when faced –precisely- with these very
issues. We therefore lose the insight to question what we perceive as being
wrong or unfair… We become a mass of day-to-day functioning entities, looking
to others to tell us what and when to do; afraid of bringing attention to
ourselves lest we become the target of some fool(s) who will not accept that
there are individuals who actually may exercise their rights as such.
Of
course, in every society, no matter how uniform and boring it may become, there
is always a small group who become the Jobs, Gates, etc… of each generation and
there is another group who, due to an unplanned and unfortunate mix-up of
genes, are born without the ability to exercise their full potential. These two
diametrically opposed -and not so far apart- segments stand out, for their own reasons.
Yet,
there is that grand, amorphous mass in the middle, who willingly give up their
personalities in order to conform and yet, when the end of their road
approaches, the time left is spent questioning “Why…?” or “What if…?” being now
too late to actually shake off an ingrained life habit of conformity which doggedly pursued
each one throughout. See, is not whether one can change the world or not. Most
of us are usually not in a position to do so… But the issue is one of remaining
an individual within society, firm in the fact that each one has his/her own
rights to think, to dream, to plan, to express his/her thoughts without fear
and to actually try to live that dream and to, yes, succeed or fail at doing
so.
If
you are young at heart and are one of those who accept society’s demands…
think!! You may or not be in agreement with these demands and, if there is a
true reason for this… express it and don’t just stand there and watch life go
by. You may be the one who may be in a
position to make that change…
If
you have young children and are raising them, don’t let the day to day issues
keep you away from teaching to them the beautiful option of thinking, of being
individuals who will choose their own paths, of being able to reasonably
question when their minds tell them that there are options which might be
better… They will become, even through the struggles of life, better persons.
They will go through difficulties brought on by this questioning generated by
thinking but, this very process will make them stronger persons and will help
in resolving issues which might otherwise go unresolved.
In
the end, these children will thank the adults who forced them to think and to
reason, to question and to negotiate, to discuss and to understand that not
always the other person has the reason, just because they may speak a little
louder…. To also accept that not always he/she
will have the reason of it… Most importantly, they will understand what being
an individual is; that this is the greatest gift we have been given… our minds.
I
know… I thank my grandfather and my elders who instilled in me from a very
early age the concept of thinking and I include in this, those very elders who
would send me out to the columns… this was part of the process of understanding
and accepting that being a thinking being would take effort and perseverance…
Pass this gift on to your children, don’t let them lose that very essence of
what makes them who they are.
Be
Well … Be Back!!!
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