Middle Of The Night Ramblings

Woke up with a horrible nightmare. It was so bad, I asked son to come sit and talk with me for a bit so i could go back to sleep. He did and then after he went on to bed, I laid here and was just about asleep when the computer decided to reboot on me and make that gosh awful noise. So, here I am doing my rambling in the middle of the night.

I was laying here thinking about the expectations some people have and how those expectations remind me of Junior High school. I am sure you remember the cliques and how you must have the identical opinion as the others, the same friends as the others, often wearing the same clothes as the others in the clique. While it may seem cute in Junior High….when adults, it is not so cute.

It really becomes controlling and ugly when adults decide who and what you are based on whether you stay in total agreement with them, on who you like or talk to, and on whether you totally support the same things they do. Now, I will admit that stuff like this makes me irritated as all get out.

As adults, if we all thought the same thing, all spoke the same thing, all did the same things…we would be a very dull group. We might as well be robots.  I talk to all sorts of people. Does not mean I always agree with everything they say but I believe that is how we learn. If we lock ourselves into a tight box of “you can only believe this or that”, then we are hindering our own self growth.

So, I started reading about why people feel that others must think and do exactly like them or they are bad people and the consensus of the writings I read said it was fear. I thought ok…I can see that but fear of what? Fear that others will diminish what they believe in, fear that someone might sway the opinion that they want to keep perpetuated and the list goes on.

The enemy is fear. We think it is hate; but, it is fear.
Gandhi

Well, I decided a long time ago that I was not in the cliques in Junior High. I think I graduated back in the dark ages. And therefore, that meant that if I didn’t like something that my friends did…it was ok. If I had a friend other than what my friends had…that was ok.  And if someone wanted to talk ugly about me for not agreeing with them…that was ok too for I don’t let others decide for me who and what I am. I know in my heart who and what I am. I love to read and learn and add to my knowledge base. I am not afraid of knowledge…and I am not afraid to change my opinion because I learn something new. That is what life is….a constant evolving of what we believe in. Fear immobilize us, whether we realize we are doing it or not. Fear makes us cling to beliefs and information even when we learn it is not so. Fear makes us fight anyone with a different opnion. Fear controls us.

“the only thing we have to fear is fear itself”.

Franklin D. Roosevelt

Don’t let fear rule your life and make you try to control what others think. If we must shut someone up because they disagree with us, then we must not be as sure of our beliefs as we want the world to think. Son and I agree to disagree all the time and we both respect each other. Just because someone says they do not agree with me, does not mean they are right and I am wrong or that I am right and they are wrong. It simply means that we have different opinions.

Never be afraid to try something new. Remember, amateurs built the ark, professionals built the Titanic.
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