Becoming Yourself: Part 2

Today we look at our current lifestyle. It is all to often that we find ourselves falling into a practice or lifestyle that has been handed to us by our parents, teachers, superiors, or any other person we trust, however these practices are not truly ours unless we take the extra step of choosing to make them ours.

This may be a little uncomfortable for some people, but I promise that it is an important part of becoming who you are.

Let us begin.

Think about your lifestyle. There are so many aspects of it and I can't ask you to think of them all right now, but try to stand outside yourself and observe. What do you do? How do you do it? What influences you? Why? Often times here you will find yourself extremely familiar with what you observe, as you should since you are observing a person you are most familiar with. Now let me guide you to a few aspects that are easiest to demonstrate autonomy through.

First, lets look at one's moral code. For some people this will be a religious system, for others, simply an idea of right and wrong. Where did this come from? Have you studied your moral code and understand it truly? Or is it a moral code that you learned from your parents, religious leaders, or teachers? While none of these people are intending to guide you astray, if you have not scrutinized your moral code and understand it, it is not yours, but someone else's.

We often accept someone else's ideas because it is easy, but when we are searching for ourselves it becomes counteractive to be adapting other peoples thoughts. Ideas must be your own and can be once you realize they are not. It may seem strange, but when you see that something is in fact not of your own mind, you are forced to either make it your own, or reject it.

Let's move on to a different experience of autonomy. How do you experience learning? When you read something in a book do you believe it? When a teacher tells you a 'fact' do you accept it as such? While you read this blog do you accept what I say without a second thought? The answer to the last one is probably no, but the first two might have a fuzzier place in your mind. Education is in a state of crisis currently and it is because we don't teach children to think for themselves, in fact we teach them not to!

Schools teach facts, dates, names, but not so much reasons, full stories, ugly realities. And if kids ask about something that shows a little independent thought, they are hushed. I wrote a paper in 8th Grade about Hitler. It was a fictional diary written from the prespective of a good friend of his. The diary did not say what Hitler did was good, but it didn't say he was bad, and indeed it defended much of what he did. My teacher was horrified and asked me to re-write it, but I said no. The paper was not a glorification of Hitler, but a different side of the story, the idea that Hitler was in fact a human, who did do good things, as well as terrible things.

This was autonomous thought. I did not accept that he was a monster, because he wasn't. He wasn't a saint, but neither were the American's who didn't step in until things were unavoidable, neither were the Catholics that signed treaties with him. But where does it speak of this in an 8th grade text book? You won't find it.

Now ask yourself, do I do my own research and meditation on things I hear, or do I simply accept them as fact? Have I searched for the truth or merely taken what others have told me. I tell you this, truth has become little more than someone's side of the story. In order to think for yourself you must dig for truth, push past the layers that have been put on top of it and keep your mind open. You will have to fight and often lose, but if autonomy is what you seek, you will not stop.

As we end Part 2 I will ask you to meditate on at least the two above mentioned aspects of your lifestyle. They are extremely important in shaping you as an individual, but I also encourage you to look into other parts of yourself and apply the same ideas to them.

And before we go let's repeat the motto:
I am __________
I am everything I wish to be.
I love myself. I am proud of myself.
Today I am free of all others and myself
Today I am free to be me.