I know that you and I aren't as close as we ought to be, but I have something to say to you that I consider to be very important, and I hope, with all my heart, that you will take the time to listen.
This world that we share is most difficult to behold at times. It's not easy to watch as others are led to make choices that come at a cost to their selves and to their people. It's even more difficult to observe our own selves make such decisions, knowing that what we're doing is wrong but feeling that we must to avoid inviting further discomfort into our lives.
It's these choices that we make, out of what seems like necessity, that ultimately lead us to disconnect ourselves from our peers and to adopt a smaller, more manageable circle of friends and family to care for. It has to be this way, though. For to look upon our people as our people, is to suffer the burdensome weight of regret every time we make a decision to serve ourselves at a detriment to them. This is the reason why it is hard for me to accept this world sometimes.
We bully and belittle one another, all so that we might raise our social standing and escape the same treatment from others. We buy our shopping from the largest corporations as opposed to the small family owned business on our street, knowing that in the process we're wiping small businesses from the face of the Earth by feeding these monopolies. But it's cheaper, and we don't want to be without, so we do it anyway.
We accept jobs knowing there's not enough to go around, and bank loans knowing that each time we do the amount of unrepayable debt in the system increases, forcing more of our neighbours into impoverishment and homelessness. We even pay taxes to the system that makes it all happen, helping it to grow more powerful and force billions more of us to do the same - because to avoid paying them invites the potential for further discomfort into our lives, and life's uncomfortable enough as it is.
This is not to mention the intentional suffering we inflict upon others just to feel that we are in control, when in truth we're just running from the fact that we don't feel in control of our lives or our decisions at all. And what about the prejudices we adopt that allow us to hate by default, because accepting that others might be worthy of our love only opens up more avenues for us to be hurt?
Yes. The choices that you and I have made, and that we continue to, make this world very difficult to look upon. But for all my loathing and distaste for the home I've found myself in, there is one thing that makes all this suffering, all this deceit, and all this heart ache worth it; you.
When I stop to think for a moment about all you've endured in this life, and when I then recognise the fact that you're still here, fighting on, I see a strength that a life in no other world could inspire.
Should I take even a second to recount the challenges you have overcome just in the past year, it becomes impossible to overlook the perseverance growing inside you, that could once again only be evoked by a world comprised of hurdles such as this one.
If I choose to glance upon the many mistakes that you've made throughout the years, I cannot help but marvel at the explosive potential firing inside of you. For the moment you decide to disregard those mistakes, and interpret them as lessons that you do not wish to have to learn again, that potential will be realised and this world will receive an immeasurable blessing; you, born again, and in the fashion you were always intended to be.
I know why you've avoided this transformation thus far. It's the same reason I have avoided it. Why bother to make a change that no one else is making, especially when that change will open your heart to the suffering you've been trying to avoid for most of your life? Why seek to be better in a world that demands only the worst?
I'll tell you why. Because it may be easier to swim with and in the direction of the current, and it may be more comfortable; but to swim against the current, will undoubtedly provide you with a strength that even the greatest fantasy fiction writer could not conjure within their imagination. Furthermore, if the current, modern society, is pushing you in one direction; only by deciding to turn around and swim in the other direction can you discover what is behind that overwhelming force- the one thing that you, I and everyone else is being ushered away from.
I want to know what that thing is. Nothing seems more important to me. But I'm afraid to journey headfirst in the opposite direction alone. So why don't you come with me? And why don't you invite another to do the same? Perhaps if enough of us turn around from the direction this world has been forcing us to swim, we can reverse the current, and lead every single soul in this world towards that which we've been led away from.
What you've done in the past no longer matters. You had to do that, so you could become who you are right now. Make the choice to make the right choices from now on, and all your regrets will disappear, and become nothing more than necessary life lessons that provided you with the tools you needed to turn around, and find your way home.
Let me know when you're ready, and we will start the journey together, for you are the one I've been waiting for.
I originally shared this on a previous account of mine, but felt it more relevant now than it was then. We all need some inspiration to do the right thing at times, especially as we are being led further towards deciding what is acceptable through the observation of societal norms - which far too often, are not the right thing to do at all.
We are born with the ability to listen to our hearts, and through the process of interacting with fellow human beings, we discover morality and our compass that leads us towards making the right choices. But, as society leads us to make decisions that we innately disagree with, eventually, for our own protection, we lose the ability to listen to our heart, and surrender our understanding of morality to a "higher" authority.
But the truth is, there is no authority higher than one's own heart, and that is the only agency that should be making demands of us. If we listen close enough, we might find that our hearts never stopped guiding us, and that we just stopped listening. But we can choose to listen again, and we should, because we are the architects of the future that billions will reside in, and we have a responsibility towards them to make as beautiful world as we possibly can.
This is a beautiful passage of writing ... I wonder if you are writing it to someone specific in mind...
However, it is all things that we can relate to... things that we do out of fear of falling behind or trying to maintain our position in a perceived race to.... something.
I have featured you and this post for a Curation Contest here:
https://steemit.com/curation/@bengy/payitforward-week62entry-hy2ialdfy2
You can join the fun here:
https://steemit.com/payitforward/@pifc/week-62-pay-it-forward-curation-contest
No, it was aimed at everyone. I know who I want to walk that path with, and I know that they are capable of it. But, unfortunately, I do not believe they have the same belief in their self or in the world's potential to recover from where it has fallen to. But I think there is a lesson there for me, because essentially what I am asking of people is to be willing to sacrifice what they want to put what we all need first, and I have to begin that journey with letting go of what I want most of all, if I cannot have it and walk the same path I want everyone else to.
Thanks a lot for sharing the post, and although I am going to be getting off Steemit for the rest of tonight, I will pay it forward very soon.
This post resonated with me as well, I write poetry and prose in much the same vein,
Upvoting and resteeming this @lordless.exile
I appreciate that. Thanks, mate.
Excelente! Hola @lordless.exile! Esto que dices es muy cierto.
Ojala que todos escucharamos nuestros corazones, seriamos mejores personas.
llegue a tu publicacion por @bengy, te presento en el concurso pay it forward, te invito a participar en el concurso.
Beautiful and heartfelt @lordless.exile. I have been thinking a lot about perspective in the past few days and look what is brought my way.
You were featured in week 62 of @pifc's Pay It Forward Curation Contest by @bengy. @pifc is a Pay It Forward Community which believes in by helping others grow we build a stronger community. We run this contest each week, it is open to everyone. It's a great way to show off people you find that might need some more exposure and meet new people
Thank you. I have every intention of paying it forward but have very limited access to the internet currently and not much time to be consuming content. But, I don't expect the current situation to last too long, so I am hoping I shall paying it forward soon.
Thanks for the words of encouragement.
Very good article. Humans are really strange creatures, able to do so much good and evil...
We're going to go down in history as "that bipolar race." I have no doubts about that.
Congratulations on being featured by @bengy on an entry for the Pay It Forward Contest**