“Society is designed to keep you conformed and not stand out.”
- Dr. Myles Munroe (The Spirit of Leadership)
Welcome you all of great potential to the New Year 2010. Before I begin the continuation of the last discourse, I have a question to ask. “What do you see and where do you see yourself at the end of this year?” You don’t have to tell me your answers, just ponder on the question.
Rollo May, the distinguished psychiatrist, wrote a wonderful book called Man's Search for Himself, and in this book he says: "The opposite of courage in our society is not cowardice ... it is conformity." And there you have the reason for so many failures. Conformity — people acting like everyone else, without knowing why or where they are going.
We learn to read by the time we're seven. We learn to make a living by the time we're 30. Often by that time we're not only making a living, we're supporting a family. And yet by the time we're 65, we haven't learned how to become financially independent in the richest land that has ever been known. Why? We conform! Most of us are acting like the wrong percentage group — the 95% who don't succeed.
Society is designed to keep you conformed and if you don’t find your place of Independence you will always be influenced and find yourself swaying to the emotional cycle of society’s expectations. Your every decision will always be tortured with the thoughts of making sure that it will have to please society and be the same as everyone else. Life is all about growth and change and if one doesn’t follow this order of nature will certainly die out. You can still be in a society but not necessarily of it.
There are people who were regarded as “the misfits” of society; the round pegs in square holes. They are the ones that looked beyond a blank canvass and saw a work of art. History talks about these people who dared to go beyond society’s conventional way of thinking. The renaissance and industrial revolution was started by these people, without whom you wouldn’t enjoy the benefits of their work as you do now.
If it wasn’t for one of such people, you would still think that the Earth is the center of the Universe. Copernicus, a renowned thinker and philosopher, was ridiculed by his society back then for he claimed that the Sun and not the earth was the center of the Universe. Thomas Edison was considered mentally insane during his time because the “crazy” person was seen several times flying a kite during thunder storms but nonetheless his crazy endeavor led to the discovery of electricity.
The Matrix movie tells a clear and interesting concept that resembles the world today. There are two types of people in the world today that the movie depicts; those who live life by default and at the hands of fate and there are those who don’t like the idea of fate and who would rather be the controller and master of their own life. Which group do you belong to?
Now many of you who have read my other discourses may think that I have something against following the advice of “getting an education, find a secure job and settle down”. NO I DON’T have anything against that advice but what I am trying to point out is the MENTALITY developed and set by this conventional norm. Dr. Myles Munroe went to Malaysia one time for a business meeting with some Asian business men and during a lunch-break one of the Asian businessman asked him this question: “Dr. Munroe, why is it that many people of your skin pigmentation find it hard to make it well in life and live a life of prosperity and abundance?” Before Dr. Munroe could give an answer, the Asian answered his own question. “You see, this is what I have observed between your people and my people. An Asian can enter into a country dead broke and the first thing he will look for is NOT a Job, which your people will do. Instead he will seek to start a business.” Many Papua New Guineans have this limited mentality of working for somebody for the rest of their working life, and can’t wait for retirement, instead of working towards having others to work for you.
There is more to life than what you are now seeing!!
Have a Great Week and always remember to DARE THINK DIFFERENT.
Cheers!
Sunday, January 31, 2010
Wednesday, December 16, 2009
Society’s Moto: “Be Conformed” Part 1.
“You cannot change a society you are a part of.”- Dr. Myles Munroe (The Spirit of Leadership)
Greetings once again to you all Great people of a unique and vast potential. If it is your first time to read this week’s blog than PNGDTD warmly welcomes you. If you have missed out on the previous blog postings you can always go to the group’s blog site http://pngdarethinkdifferent.blogspot.com/.
The aim of the blogs are not to brain wash you with philosophical ideologies but rather act as a mirror in which you reflect on your own life experiences and everyday activities by way of stimulating your mental capability of SELF-ANALYSIS or self-awareness, of which the majority of us rarely engage in. YOU have it WITHIN yourself this 3 pound “mass of jelly” that you can hold in the palm of your hand that has the capability to contemplate the vastness of the interstellar space, it can contemplate the meaning of infinity and it can contemplate itself contemplating on the meaning of infinity. And there is this peculiar recursive quality that we call SELF-AWARENESS which neurologists think is the “Holy-grail” of neuroscience. In short, what I mean to say is YOUR MIND is the most POWERFUL tool that you possess for the creation of the desired outcomes for your life. The onus is on us to discover and learn to use it!
In Last week’s discourse, we looked at the power and influence of belief that governs the way we behave. For one to change, the journey begins in one’s thoughts, one’s own mentality. We have been raced up in a society that thought us HOW TO THINK, HOW TO FEEL, HOW TO TALK and HOW TO ACT. To get a better understanding of this discourse it will be fitting to point out clearly what a SOCIETY constitutes of herein. Society can mean the following collectively or individually:
1) Your Family
2) Your Friends and peer groups
3) Your spouse, or boyfriend, or girlfriend
4) The education system
5) Your ethnic group
6) Religion
7) Government
For this week’s discourse we will try to give reason as to why society is so adamant that we CONFORM to its standards and NOT STANDOUT. Let me give you a typical Papua New Guinean illustration of what I mean by that statement. I am absolutely certain that you have heard this drummed into your heads when growing up, “Get a good education, go to University, graduate with a degree, find a reputable company to secure you employment and has a good salary package, find a house and settle down”, or something closer to that degree. If I am wrong than you don’t have to read further. Just close this blog and go back to doing what you are accustomed to doing. But if I am right than I do hope you want me to point out the impact that that philosophy has on us. If so than please read on. That philosophy has two impacts that I can point out in our society today.
Firstly, the majority of us who have followed the advice successfully are seeing ourselves still struggling to leave from pay-check to pay-check, accept for a certain few who have learnt to harness the power of making money work for them. Even though we have managed to gain a secured job with a good paying salary but still we face the same dilemma as all the other working class; More Taxes, Increase in Expenses, More Mortgage, Increase in money borrowing from Financial Loan companies and or informal money lenders, etc. We are still within the sphere of “survival”.
Secondly, there are those whom have gave up in their efforts to live up to society’s expectations and have adversely reacted (because of their deeper, unconscious insecurities stemming from their deeper need to belong) by engaging in criminal, self-devaluing and illegal activities or following yet another one of society’s advice to “Go back to the village where there is land to plant gardens, forest to hunt for meat and river for food and drink”. Whether you fall in the category of the first group of people or the second, the end result is the same for both. WE all are still at the level of “survival”. But yet one cannot rule out the fact that deep down in the recess of our souls, we all feel a deeper sense of wanting to make sense and finding purpose for our existence. “THERE’S GOT TO BE MORE TO LIFE THAN THIS??” How can we possibly discover that when we are totally engaged in living up to society’s expectations? We are still conformed or part of society. And the saddest part and most destructive behavior is that society will never allow you to Stand Out. Because the moment you do they will seem to not know you anymore and consider you as an outcast or in the pidgin language we say, “long long man or meri!” And that behavior will cause us to still hold on to society because we have already had this preconceived idea that our livelihood and wellbeing or sense of security depends entirely on the whole. Whatever the society thinks, says and does is always right and true; that in itself can be based on a True Philosophy or a False Philosophy of which gives rise to our belief systems which governs the way we live.
Myles Munroe made a profound statement in his Spirit of Leadership seminar and I quote: “You cannot change a society you are a part of.” You cannot live beyond the life of “survival” if you’re still among the crowd.
I will have to end here because already I have so much information in one posting for you to mentally digest. Do join me in the next posting where I will continue on the same topic of discourse.
Have a Great Week and always remember to DARE THINK DIFFERENT.
Cheers!
P.S. You can always view and make comments on this posting including the previous ones at http://pngdarethinkdifferent.blogspot.com/.
Greetings once again to you all Great people of a unique and vast potential. If it is your first time to read this week’s blog than PNGDTD warmly welcomes you. If you have missed out on the previous blog postings you can always go to the group’s blog site http://pngdarethinkdifferent.blogspot.com/.
The aim of the blogs are not to brain wash you with philosophical ideologies but rather act as a mirror in which you reflect on your own life experiences and everyday activities by way of stimulating your mental capability of SELF-ANALYSIS or self-awareness, of which the majority of us rarely engage in. YOU have it WITHIN yourself this 3 pound “mass of jelly” that you can hold in the palm of your hand that has the capability to contemplate the vastness of the interstellar space, it can contemplate the meaning of infinity and it can contemplate itself contemplating on the meaning of infinity. And there is this peculiar recursive quality that we call SELF-AWARENESS which neurologists think is the “Holy-grail” of neuroscience. In short, what I mean to say is YOUR MIND is the most POWERFUL tool that you possess for the creation of the desired outcomes for your life. The onus is on us to discover and learn to use it!
In Last week’s discourse, we looked at the power and influence of belief that governs the way we behave. For one to change, the journey begins in one’s thoughts, one’s own mentality. We have been raced up in a society that thought us HOW TO THINK, HOW TO FEEL, HOW TO TALK and HOW TO ACT. To get a better understanding of this discourse it will be fitting to point out clearly what a SOCIETY constitutes of herein. Society can mean the following collectively or individually:
1) Your Family
2) Your Friends and peer groups
3) Your spouse, or boyfriend, or girlfriend
4) The education system
5) Your ethnic group
6) Religion
7) Government
For this week’s discourse we will try to give reason as to why society is so adamant that we CONFORM to its standards and NOT STANDOUT. Let me give you a typical Papua New Guinean illustration of what I mean by that statement. I am absolutely certain that you have heard this drummed into your heads when growing up, “Get a good education, go to University, graduate with a degree, find a reputable company to secure you employment and has a good salary package, find a house and settle down”, or something closer to that degree. If I am wrong than you don’t have to read further. Just close this blog and go back to doing what you are accustomed to doing. But if I am right than I do hope you want me to point out the impact that that philosophy has on us. If so than please read on. That philosophy has two impacts that I can point out in our society today.
Firstly, the majority of us who have followed the advice successfully are seeing ourselves still struggling to leave from pay-check to pay-check, accept for a certain few who have learnt to harness the power of making money work for them. Even though we have managed to gain a secured job with a good paying salary but still we face the same dilemma as all the other working class; More Taxes, Increase in Expenses, More Mortgage, Increase in money borrowing from Financial Loan companies and or informal money lenders, etc. We are still within the sphere of “survival”.
Secondly, there are those whom have gave up in their efforts to live up to society’s expectations and have adversely reacted (because of their deeper, unconscious insecurities stemming from their deeper need to belong) by engaging in criminal, self-devaluing and illegal activities or following yet another one of society’s advice to “Go back to the village where there is land to plant gardens, forest to hunt for meat and river for food and drink”. Whether you fall in the category of the first group of people or the second, the end result is the same for both. WE all are still at the level of “survival”. But yet one cannot rule out the fact that deep down in the recess of our souls, we all feel a deeper sense of wanting to make sense and finding purpose for our existence. “THERE’S GOT TO BE MORE TO LIFE THAN THIS??” How can we possibly discover that when we are totally engaged in living up to society’s expectations? We are still conformed or part of society. And the saddest part and most destructive behavior is that society will never allow you to Stand Out. Because the moment you do they will seem to not know you anymore and consider you as an outcast or in the pidgin language we say, “long long man or meri!” And that behavior will cause us to still hold on to society because we have already had this preconceived idea that our livelihood and wellbeing or sense of security depends entirely on the whole. Whatever the society thinks, says and does is always right and true; that in itself can be based on a True Philosophy or a False Philosophy of which gives rise to our belief systems which governs the way we live.
Myles Munroe made a profound statement in his Spirit of Leadership seminar and I quote: “You cannot change a society you are a part of.” You cannot live beyond the life of “survival” if you’re still among the crowd.
I will have to end here because already I have so much information in one posting for you to mentally digest. Do join me in the next posting where I will continue on the same topic of discourse.
Have a Great Week and always remember to DARE THINK DIFFERENT.
Cheers!
P.S. You can always view and make comments on this posting including the previous ones at http://pngdarethinkdifferent.blogspot.com/.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)