Everybody always wants more rights.
They feel they are privileged to get more and more, without ever thinking about the other side of the equation, which is individual responsibility and ownership.
But how can you have a talk about your priviledges without thinking about the fact that someone also has to provide them to you? And why should they even care to carry the additional load which was meant for you instead?
Isn’t that your job?
However, you can decide to not carry your given responsibility anyways. We can convince ourselves that there’s nothing in it for us, and then also question why we should even care?
The opposite of taking on responsibility over our actions results is nihilism and meaninglessness. And when we no longer strive for what is meaningful to us individually we start telling ourselves to “FUCK IT!” and remain stuck in “Pleasure Island” instead.
WELCOME TO PLEASURE ISLAND
We seek low-class pleasure instead of meaningful joy. We distract ourselves with expedient entertainment and mind-numbing games. We become consumers instead of creators. We insist on our rights and privileges as a direct consequence of neglecting our responsibilities and duties.
And then we find ourselves in the exact situation most of the world is in right now. A world in which people struggling to find meaning in their job, desperately slacking off and then jumping from one demeaning occupation to the next.
A world in which they raise their fists to the high heavens to curse the skies and to blame everyone but themselves.
They blame the skies?
How ironic.
It’s almost as if they… blame God? Or whatever their definition of “God” may be at any given moment. Anything “omnipotent and superior” which they gladly hand their power to. The system? The state? The politicians? The company? The boss? The parents?
Still, they blame it on something as thin as air and make it responsible for whatever misfortune and pain they experience in their life. And by doing so, they hand off their individual ownership and control to someone (or something) else.
And rightly so?
Because God gave them the free will after all. The free will to neglect what they deep down already know is right. And the free will to move into the opposite direction nonetheless.
“Oh, God why have you abandoned me?” they might ask in utter confusion.
But wasn’t it themselves who moved away from where they already knew they were supposed to be heading instead?
We all know this to be true:
The most painful experiences come from KNOWING what we are supposed to do one thing and then refuse to follow through on it nonetheless as we seek other more tempting options which present themselves in a more pleasing and rewarding way.
However, is the reward ever from a long-lasting nature or furthermore a fleeting spike of emotion which we then continue to chase after over and over again?
Like addicts we’ll do everything for the next high…
But what if we stop this endless rollercoaster altogether and listen to our core instead? What if we align our lives with what we deep down knew the whole time?
DOING THE RIGHT THING
I don’t know what makes “doing the right thing” so hard. Shouldn’t it be naturally easier as it’s just that the “right thing to do” after all?
But of course it’s not.
Because, obviously, what might feel right to you, might turn out as complete and utter bullshit to everyone else. Even if your gut tells you to aim into a certain direction most of your surrounding will tell you how stupid and idiotic an attempt to move into this direction is. And they will try their best to convince you otherwise, because to them, it doesn’t feel like the right way at all.
And who could blame them?
It’s all a question of perspective.
Sometimes these people give you subtle hints of where you’re supposed to move instead. Other times it takes on the form of aggression, fury or even guilt. Nonetheless, all of this influence makes the decision to follow your gut a tiny bit more challenging than it already is – even without all this external influences.
Still, isn’t it your responsibility to offer to the world what you bring to the table nonetheless? And isn’t it your given right to at least try?
It’s your right to aim for a life you would enjoy living to the fullest. But it’s also your responsibility to turn it into reality too. These are the two sides of the same coin which is life.
Sometimes, others want to rob us of our right to give it a shot, other times, we also do the same toxic behavior to ourselves, and then, again, it’s our duty to take ownership over our own decisions and fight for what we value and care about.
But it’s not a physical fight but an internal conflict of “giving yourself permission” instead.
Because soon you’ll realize that nobody can ever take that right away from you anyways. The only thing others can ever do is “asking” you to hand it over to them. And then it seems as if we too quickly obey and say: “Yes, you are right! I am a useless creature and you were right all along. Here, take it! I am not worthy of this gift.”
But the natural consequence is that we will suffer dreadfully once we give into these absurd demands. We suffer because we know that we gave in a bit too early and because we fought for it too little.
And then, once we realize how we messed up, we have to reclaim the steering wheel over our life once more, course-correct to where we wanted to be heading all along, and get moving.
A SIMPLE DECISION
But as I said before: this “reclaiming” is not a fight but a mere decision. And the only question we have to continue to ask ourselves is the one if we have made the decision yet?
Am I still handing over my luck to someone else?
Or have I taken on full responsibility over my life instead?
Did I submissively given someone the keys to my car?
Or did I keep the ownership and now use it to steer my life into the direction I want it to be heading?
Did give in to the expectations others have of me?
Or did I stay true to what makes myself me?
It’s a simple decision we oftentimes have huge troubles making and sticking to. Mostly because we want to belong and feel accepted and loved. But how can someone ever love you for what you aren’t and merely pretend to be?
The decision to stay true to yourself requires the commitment to constantly question your daily actions and check if you are still aligned with your core and with what your gut tries to tell you.
It’s a constant inner battle between what others want you to be and what you really are.
And this daily battle again requires you to take on the responsibility to fight for your right to be OK with your decisions and to play them out into the world with confidence.
Which side will you fight for?
