Is Freedom A Double Edged Sword?
I don’t always get a chance to reply to comments, but I always read them as they come in. As you are reading what I have written, I’m working on the next installment. I’m developing new materials, planning ahead and going about my normal working and family life.
Sometimes, I don’t reply because my mind is focused on a different track and I know that if I get distracted it will take me a long time to get back to it. Sometimes I’m too tired at the point I read the comments and sometimes I just don’t have anything to say, so I leave it till later.
Anyway over the last two or three days I’ve been catching up and replying to some comments that were long overdue a reply. Here’s one that I felt was probably relevant to many people, so I’m making my reply into a post.
007 said;
Is freedom a double edged sword? A logical conclusion would be “not having a choice is better than having one”..no decision is required and so no stress..
Yes. I do think not having a choice can lead to less stress. The Paradox of Choce and Stumbling on Happiness both talk about how choice can make us more stressed and less happy;
However I believe the ideal state is not in never being put in a stressful situation, which would only lead to boredom and stagnation, but in overcoming stress and using it as a springboard to a higher level of being.
Anything can hurt you or help you. Today we have so much more freedom and choice than our Ancestors, that it is overwhelming us. It’s why so many people are feeling more stressed. Because we have so many possibilities, but lack the skill to decide on issues at the level to really take advantage as we could.
The old structures and barriers that once held us in our place, but also to some extent supported us, such as strong religious/moral codes, defined social class/roles, demographic identities such as nationality, cultural and so on are crumbling to make way for the new. But we have not yet evolved to a state that allows us to function as effectively without the structure of rules and punishments.
Yet the old structures are close to breaking point. The illusion of authority, be it temporal, spiritual or societal is the idea that it can control or manage anything. It can’t.
Our world has become so fragmented and complex that it is beyond any group of people to monitor and plan for. No Government or other body, however powerful or educated it’s thinkers are, can see and understand enough to control all aspects. And so those who place their trust in such authority will increasingly be disappointed.
This millennium is about the birth of what a friend of mine has termed ‘the given self’. It’s not about willing or visualizing yourself to be what you think you should be. It’s about understanding the pattern of instincts, experiences, observations and personality that make you what you are and then living truly to that self.
Up till now people have always worked from the basis that they were designed or manufactured poorly. And so they should mould themselves into something else that will fit into the Society they have built to control each other and so fix the poor job their Creator did in making them.
When I opened up this series on stress I said the critical skill for our times was the ability to define and decide who and what we are. This is what I meant by that.
If you can’t cope with insecurity, ambiguity and choice from now on, you are going to struggle with life. And there is no Government or Organisation that can help you to stop the flow of life.
Yet on the other hand, if you do develop this skill, nothing can hold you back from having everything you ever wanted.
Part 2 tomorrow.
Your booklet on resolving strength is a great read and has set me thinking.. Appreciate your effort.
The six step process is very logical and simple once you get the step one right..
i am struggling with step one on most stressful ocassions..I really have a problem to establish what I want..
you said in your report
”
The first step is to recognize that the fact you have this problem is a sign that
you have reached the limits of your current thought system. You see, you hold
beliefs that are continually tested as they interact with other beliefs. And
when they meet with scenarios where they don’t hold up, you hit a problem
that can only be resolved by upgrading your thinking.
It’s like Einstein said, the solution to a problem is always to be found at a
higher level than the cause of the problem.
”
I do recognize this and when I elevate my consciousness the choice becomes clearer and easier. This new level of consciousness is only temporary and is not hard wird into my system and I tend to fall back /possessed by/to old ways of thinking which brings back the stress which I thougt was resolved..
For example, i have a dilemma between staying in my current job, which i relatively high paying but not very fulfilling and a job as a lecturer for teenagers where i do see scope for meaningful contribution and which i think I will enjoy more.. the catch is that the salry is only about 50% of my current..
when i elevate my thinkingto a higher level, i know that 50% of the current salary is something I can live with for a few years and it meets my family expenses..I ee the scope for more flow in my job and possibility to meaningfully contribute to the youth..
I feel good to think this way and the stress is resolved…
however my old habits and beliefs kick in..one such belief is “more money is better than less”. I start feeling anxious that I might be throwing away a great income resource and taking up something where I not only have to work harder, but get paid less as well..
In your recent post you talk abou “the given self” and about inherent instincts, patterns, and personality and living truly upto it..
If i get to the level of my instincts and patterns and personality (and I have observed this in many others), some of the basic instincs and deep beliefs are
1. more is better
2. sexual instinct gets triggered..
3. conforming to the society around you
4. show your uniqueness or speciality
I know that all these aepredominat when working from the level of the ego, but that is what we fall into most of the times…
how do i know my instincts, patterns and personality when I am functioning from the level of my true self?
I made a large comment and it does not show up.. this has happened a second time