There’s a huge emphasis in the world today about being your own person and striving to make your own make on the world. Husbands and wives don’t wish to stand in each other shadows, siblings don’t want to be seen as carbon copies and people as a whole generally want to be seen for their own value and worth.
But how much of your own person are you? As children growing up we do develop our own personalities, likes and dislikes. But for the most part are under the care of our parents. We learn that we do things a certain way. For example some children might learn that you never put your feet up on the couch. To others it’s a non-issue. They’ve never really thought about it.
My question here though is when do you throw of the shackles of parental control (and it does indeed move from care to control) and begin to make decisions about your own life. At which point in your life is it okay to say: “I don’t agree with what you taught me while growing up. I’m making new decisions based on what works for me.”
After all is it really yours to begin with?
We can never get away from the truth (even if truth is relative) that our decisions have consequences not only for ourselves but for family that surrounds us and the friends we choose. The decisions I make are what fits for me in my lifestyle.
My decisions may not be the ones you want me to make and my lifestyle may not be the one you want me to live but it is the one I choose just like you choose the lifestyle you wished to have.
....No man is an island, entire of itself...any man's death diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind; and therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls; it tolls for thee." – John Donne
1 comment:
In so far as all decisions made are your own, we are all our own persons. However all our choices are influenced by our environments. No matter which side you take on the whole Nature vs. Nurture debate we must acknowledge that we are products of where we come from. My view encompasses both sides of the argument. Every day the people we meet and socialise with impact on our future decisions. Therefore I suggest: Be discerning, what can begin as just going with the flow can all too quickly become a part of you.
Who am I? This single question has baffled people since self realisation first entered the scene. The question which follows is, Am I happy with who I am?
These questions for me ultimate incorporate what the Tibetan monks spend their lives seeking, Zen. Perfect peace can only begin with acceptance.
Post a Comment