…We find ourselves in a place we hardly recognize.
Feel familiar? Lets consider where we are.
We were raised to value our freedom above all else. Freedom to choose our faith, our career, whether to get married and have a family. Freedom to do with our time what we choose. Yet almost all of us spend our entire lives working jobs we would never do, but for the need for money. And for the very few of us who have accumulated enough money to reclaim our time for ourselves, what price did we have to pay? Did we sacrifice healthy relationships with our spouses and children? Or maybe just our basic humanity by being willing to make unthinkable choices for huge sums of cash?
What choices? Consider the fortunes made selling food that destroys the lives of their customers…or the money made deploying planned obsolescence that kills people due to intentional system failure…or the junk science paid for by vested interests to convince people prescription drugs cure diseases…or the countless marketing jingles that associate harmful products with our most cherished values or desires.
We were raised to value the pursuit of our own happiness as one of our most cherished fundamental rights. Now we address the most important public policy issues with a simple question: How is the policy going to effect me? Is there any wonder why we are incapable of solving critical problems facing our society?
We were raised to be independent people. To build a life that allows us to be as independent of other people as possible. Today, the Good Samaritan is a snowflake, and people needing help are labeled takers. Yet do any of us actually live independently? Do we produce our own food? Build our own shelter? Pave our own roads? Fight our own wars?
The fact is we grind through our daily lives guided by values that are not leading us to the fulfillment we sorely deserve. We have exhausted ourselves on blaming an endless list of others for our lack of fulfillment. In desperation we turned to a carnival barker to lead us back out of the wilderness, only to realize he is the glitter that is most definitely not gold.
Where do we go from here?
Stop grinding. Stop digging. Stop running. Just stop, breathe deeply, then set aside the noise and expectations of our busy, modern lives. Find a mirror and take a moment to look at yourself. The answer to your fulfillment is staring back at you.
All fulfillment requires is an alignment of our physical, emotional and spiritual lives. When our values inspire choices that serve our highest purpose, we feel the euphoria of fulfillment.
Today, our values have led us to a society we hardly recognize. And our aimless wandering will not end until we realize the compass that guides our journey is broken.
Independence from each other; Freedom of each other; Self interest without consideration for each other…all lead to dystopia, because our individual prosperity is a function of the constructive contributions of all of us.
We are one humanity, interdependently nourished by one natural universe.
This is the undeniable fact of our existence.
When our values are aligned with the physical requirements of our existence, we will make choices that serve our highest purpose.
Then, and only then, will we find the fulfillment we seek.