Sunday, February 18, 2018

February 18, 2018 - Permission


Almost everything in life is there because we allow it to be there, because we have given our permission for it to be there.  It often doesn’t seem that way, especially when we are in the thick of a problem.  If someone were to tell us that we chose it, we would angrily say, “I never wanted this!  I never would have agreed to this!”  But if we think about it, we do agree to almost everything.

We let certain people into our lives.  We choose a certain profession.  Most of us will choose what we eat at any given time.  We choose what we will believe, what faith we will have (if any) and how that faith will affect us.  We choose which news articles we will read and which we will ignore.  We choose what we will do, and we choose what we will not do.  We choose what we will wear, etc.

I can see clearly.
Sometimes it doesn’t seem like a choice.  “If I had the money, I would have chosen differently….”  “If I had known he was going to behave this way, I never would have married him (hindsight is 20/20)….”  “If someone had explained this would cause me problems, I would have listened….”  But really, we make the choice.

Here’s something interesting, though:  The mechanism of life requires our permission to do anything.  And unfortunately, that permission is all too easily given by us without us even knowing or thinking about it.  An advertiser can suggest something, but unless you give your permission for it to enter your life, it’s barred.  A society can heavily point you in a direction, but unless you accept that direction, it cannot come into your life.  A news article can tell you, “here’s what’s going on [according to our belief],” but you don’t have to live according to that belief.

Now, this is not about being in a state of denial.  When you make choices, when you knowingly give your permission, you’re not saying you refuse to see or acknowledge the existence of something.  You’re saying that you see it, but you are not going to live your life according to those standards, ideas, principles, products, etc.

Here are some things you can’t choose:  The weather.  Your genetics.  What someone else will do or say.  The fact that someday you will die.

But you can choose how you will react to those things, and you can permit or deny allowing those things to control you.  You can control yourself.  You can permit others to control you.  But you cannot control others (unless they give their permission).

Stop saying, “Oh, well.  This is just the way it is.”  No, it isn’t.  You get to say what is and is not in your life, what you will and will not allow to affect you.  You don’t get to choose what others do, but you do get to choose how you will react.

Here are some of the things I choose:  A life without too much technology.  I don’t allow many gadgets into my home, and the ones I do allow, I severely limit.  I choose to do a lot of work by hand that technology could do for me, and that means I choose exhaustion sometimes.  I choose to live in a state that is quite cold instead of one that is too hot.  I choose simple foods.  I choose pretty steep discipline.  I choose to continually monitor myself.  I choose silence.  I choose oil lamps over electric lights.  I choose herbal medicines over allopathic medicines.  I often choose hardships because I like to challenge myself…..

Notice that I acknowledge the existence of other paths, I simply do not choose them.  What is right for me might seem insane to you.  What do you choose?  What have you permitted into your life?  What could you toss out this very moment if you no longer wanted it?  What could you embrace?

The choices are endless, and save for a few, they are completely up to us.  Remember that without your permission, very few things can barge into your life and order you around.  The powers-that-be know this only too well, but they don’t want you to know it.  They want you to think you are powerless so you will give your permission without even realizing it.  A self-aware human being is formidable.