Be yourself...

Looking at an old picture of myself…it’s a bit odd knowing I’m still that same kid. I’ve grown, physically, & I’ve matured, but I am the same person.

It’s interesting…to mature, according to our dictionaries, means to become perfect, or in other words, complete. And I think the fact that we chose to use that word to describe our experience of time & change, says all it needs to about us. It seems like most people associate maturing with becoming less of a child. Distancing themselves from who they used to be. I think that alone leads to a great deal of self-destruction within our society.

Let’s say, that we are who we’re supposed to be. Nature or nurture, whatever you believe in…we can agree that all become someone. We become our own selves. If this sense of self, were to be betrayed by its oppressor, it could never end very well for either of them. We are those oppressors. We have been granted the power to asses our own selves. Naturally, we must bear the results of attempting to alter it.

If we were to bring animals into the conversation, we could see things more clearly through the comparison. Even as humans, we’ve always detected “personality” within some animals. We must at least, subconsciously, believe that only a certain level of intelligence can bring about a form of personality, because not all animals share this feature [or so we think]. If these animals aren’t intelligent enough to decide who they want to be, it must be chosen for them. On the other hand, we should have the ability to decide…because we’re so intelligent?? We’ve come to believe that our sexuality & gender can be choices as well, so why not?? But for the sake of the argument, humor me. I would say, declaring personality, a choice, represents the idea of Divine Creation…hear me out. Being able to change who I am, also implies that I can create something new, a different variation of a conscious mind. If you don’t believe in Divine Creation, you’re seeing why this can’t be…if you do, you should know that only a superior being should be capable of it. Further, if we could all control who we are…how would we be different?? What would separate us from all being the same, or at least, having the choice to be?? Only individualism stands in the way of this. As individuals, we are comprised of our own beliefs & perceptions. That is what makes us who we are. These are the borders of which we live in. Do you have the power to remove these borders?? Are you capable of deciding to genuinely enjoy doing something you despise?? Do you feel zero retaliation from yourself when you try hating something you Love?? As an emotional being, have you cracked the code to happiness by picking & choosing what you want to like or dislike about yourself & everything else around you?? Never forget, we are human. There are just some things we can’t control. You cannot force yourself to believe something. So tell me, why do you believe the things you do?? Why do you perceive the world through the eyes that have been given to you?? You can say to yourself, that your upbringing & your personal experiences shaped your individualism. And you’d be right. But have you questioned why these things happened?? Why they were done to you & only you, to mold you into someone only you could be?? Would you say that you are the product of random events?? Random. A word that strips away purpose from anything it’s cursed to rule. Its’ funny to believe that anything in this world could be considered random. Life, in itself demands purpose. Life could not exist without purpose, because purpose is the only reason for life. Our lives are no different. It’s impossible for the events in our lives to be absolutely random. I mean, do the math. Wouldn’t you say that randomness would contribute to at least 1 irregularity?? Or this case, 1 regularity. Billions of humans, over the course of thousands of years, & not 1 pair of the same individuals?? Even humans who share the same DNA escape this phenomenon. Let’s actually use math as an example. 9 Billion 0’s. Let’s put them on a scale. Numbers, like the variety of possible events in our lives, are infinite. So let’s randomly add numbers to each of those 0’s. At no point, on this scale, will any of the billions of numbers come to equal the same amount, no matter how many centuries we keep this process going. That’s humanity. Of course, we’re dealing with infinity here…but wouldn’t randomness contribute to at least 1 pair of numbers?? Just 1, c’mon. Respectfully, I can’t ignore your curiosity towards who or what would be selecting the numbers to add. Show me the same respect & attempt to offer an answer for humanity’s “selector”. In my example, it would have to be a person, a group of persons, or a formula. And forgive me for being technical, but a human would have to be responsible for creating that formula. Which means, someone would have to have their hand in it. All that said, we’ve found ourselves arriving at a paradox. That being, even randomness would have to be selected, or at least influenced. Why would it be different for humanity?? If every event that occurs in your life is “random”, wouldn’t there have to be someone or something dealing this randomness?? And if someone or something had that responsibility, shouldn’t that exclude any thoughts of these events being “random”?? We’ve built the fundamentals of science & logic on the theory of cause & affect. So how could “randomness” even exist??

Cause…affect. Purpose…life.

I may have strayed a bit, but my proving against 2 things should be aware of at this point. The power to choose who you are, & the powers that shape who you are, being random. That should paint the picture of 1 conclusion…someone or something deciding who you are, for you. What or who that something or someone is, is a debate to be had elsewhere. Right now, I’m focusing on you. Yes, you, the kid in that old picture, & the same one in the mirror. You are the same person, just like I am. We are the same because it isn’t up to us. I’m not speaking of whether we are good or bad. I am referring to our personality alone. If you refuse to separate those things, ask yourself, from that same perspective, if your pet is good or bad?? Animals are just who they are. They aren’t concerned with who they are because they don’t have the tools necessary to asses themselves or their behavior. So wouldn’t it be fair to disregard the titles of “good” & “bad”?? After all, they have no beliefs or perceptions to distinguish the 2. But we do, & we use the assessment of ourselves & others to manipulate the perception of each. And that is all they are, perceptions.

I’m not saying that we can’t change, but I am saying we can only be changed by our evolving beliefs & perceptions, which all depend on our experiences. Experiences we have no power over. I’m sure you’ve used the perception of others to asses yourself, causing you to feel the need to change. And because you don’t have the power to change who you are, you end up hurting yourself when you try. You aren’t alone, you know that. I’m pretty sure that we can say the majority of the human race suffers from the consequences of some variation of that temptation. One should be at least, skeptical, towards a belief pointing to us just coming together to create a world of suffering individuals. I refuse to believe that’s our purpose. I would say to try & be good, but even my views, just by being different from someone else’s, get in the way of us progressing in that light. So it would only be right if I came to you as simply another individual & asked you to just

…be yourself. Maybe that’s the first step we should take to try figuring out how to really mature.

God Speed