See Double You

Ah the election…  Nothing unites a democratic country more than standing behind an individual or group of individuals to support them in their quest to become one of our nation’s leaders.  Whether it be at the local, state, or federal level, you can tell when election day is coming up when we see people’s front yards littered with blue or red campaign signs, and the media is stuffed chock full of blather related to the strengths and weaknesses of those on this quest.

This time around, I find myself much more aware of a significant problem with this entire process that I find counter-productive to what some would call an idealistic expectation of our future.  While these candidates throw themselves into the public spotlight, “unzipping their fly” for all to see, and we the people stand behind them, an overwhelmingly obvious wave of anger, hatred and ignorance passes from one citizen to the next as daggers of accusation and slander are thrown from both sides of battlefield.  From YouTube to local newspaper editorials, truth and more often rumors flood the public forums as we try to sway the decisions of our fellow voters.

I have already found myself caught up in this a few times, and each time I have had to remind myself that it is not healthy to speak negatively of anyone.  Though it is important to identify the strengths and weaknesses of those who we choose to be our leaders, it is also important to remember that every human on this planet makes mistakes.  Instead of generating negative emotions about these mistakes, we instead should be objectively taking them into account and making rational, intelligent decisions based on *facts* that take into account their strengths and weaknesses.  All too often we find ourselves easily becoming “sheep” to an idea or concept that poisons our mind, has a severe impact on our ability to make a conscious decision, and only makes us ignorant to the truth.  Too many people on this planet have become lazy in front of their televisions, computers, and even in their traditional ways that they refuse to use their own mind to make an independent decision.  At what point do you say to yourself, “what is honestly and truly the right way?”

Unfortunately, due to an overwhelming amount of negativity, hatred and ignorance in our world today brought on by bigotry, war, religion, as well as violence whenever we turn on the computer or television, most of us have turned off our ability to seek out this core belief in what is truly right, and have instead learned to feed and depend on these thoughts and emotions.  Prove me wrong, but show me one evening of television, starting with your local evening news, where hate, violence, and death aren’t what keep the ratings going strong.  If its not hate, violence and death, its usually slander and gossip, just ask Paris or Britney.  Ok, there’s American Idol and its relatives…and there is a glimmer of happiness there as people go on the search to fulfill their dreams, but other than that, all that I’ve seen is pain.  This my friends is why I’ve simply learned to turn it off.

So as election day  draws closer and closer, remind yourself that the gray stuff floating around under your hair-do is capable of much more than you ask it to.  Pull yourself away from the ignorant chatter, stop being lazy, and challenge yourself to become learned about something beyond how to program your remote control.  Do everything you can to make your best intelligent effort to create the world we’d all like to wake up one day to live in.  Its most definately not the easiest thing to do, but if each of us were to work a little harder at it, it could certainly be the most rewarding.

Continuing on the topic of accepting and embracing the challenges that life throws our way, the last couple weeks have been, if anything, consistent.  Another death of a friend, an unwelcome rodent in the kitchen, and significant changes in the daily rhythm and routine of life has provided us with plenty of opportunities to grow and strengthen as individuals.

Various recent social situations have reminded me of one particular aspect of human life that once again I feel the need to question.

Why is it that we find it necessary to paste labels?

Especially when referring to fellow human beings, but also with pretty much anything, it has become common human behavior to sneak our judgment of something into our description of that subject.  Granted, adjectives are a necessary part of describing what sets apart one noun from another, whether it be a mouse, a car, a man, a woman, a child, or a dog.  Unfortunately, all too often I hear humans finding the most judgmental or even worse the most negative part of that noun, and using that identifier to describe it to another human.  Like a virus, this negative judgment is passed on to that person and implants it into their mind without giving them the opportunity to form one of their own.  Only by mindfully working to remove negative labels from our daily conversations and thoughts do we free ourselves from placing harsh judgments, which then frees us from the ability for gossip, slander and negative emotions.  Next time an opportunity arises in passing judgment or providing a simple description, use it instead to pass on an objective or even positive opinion rather than one that degrades and slanders.

With prejudice and bigotry remaining a significant problem in society due to ignorance in politics, religion and how we are raised, human beings must learn to “create the change we want to be.”  We must stop looking to the person next to us, on the television, or at the podium running for office to make this change.  Only by changing our own behavior and using the same method to spread the cure as is used to spread the disease, we can gradually eradicate the problem and begin to see the world around us change for the better.  By “changing poison to medicine” and seizing these opportunites to grow and learn with our sons, daughters, friends and family, we can find the happiness in life everyone wants.