Freedom to think for myself does not include you. Freedom to think for me
does not mean I have the right to deceive you, control you, harm you, or
influence you to follow my lead. We can disagree about almost everything, and
we can each choose to follow our chosen path. What I know from living over half
a century is that the majority of everyday people are kind and good and
have no need to deceive anyone.
We can learn to know those that deceive and cause harm to others by the
results of their actions/decisions. It takes years of living and interactions
with others to learn this. If these individuals are in governing positions,
including families, and these speak negatively constantly, these individuals need
to be removed from their place of influence in our minds.
Peaceful co-existence concerning diversity is a more profound commitment
than surface disagreements. Co-existence is the calm acceptance of social
differences in every community. Kind people worldwide like to help one another
every day.
In the self-discovery of my love for the people of the world, I first had to
love myself. Negative judgments about me, whether spoken by you or
"thought silently" by me, cause fear and anger. When I stopped
judging myself as "perfect," I stopped believing others are
"imperfect." I learn to listen to different opinions and compromise on
living with others in peace. No violence is needed.
If I am to think for myself, I have to decide what I think, which takes
time. Time to listen to opposing views and assimilate the facts with MY logic and
reason clarifies my mind. Another opinion cannot easily persuade
self-confidence. Will I change a viewpoint once proven incorrect? Yes, if I see
the facts, these facts agree with my accumulated knowledge.
What a relief to know I am NOT perfect, and no one can be. What a relief to
know I do not need to be afraid once I have confidence in my ability to make
sound decisions.
Knowledge-based facts have eliminated much anger in me. I have found I can
scare myself to death through my fantastic negative stories that are not valid.
If our children are to learn "How to THINK" instead of "What
to think," we, the parents, have to be on the front line of teaching them
to question everything and discuss their concerns at home with us. Parents are
the people that are supposed to love and protect us most. If you were not
taught this at home, you would have to prepare yourself for these skills. So I
had to teach myself as an adult.
Now, this is scary to have to learn these necessary lessons out in a world
that does not have my best interest at heart. We enter the school of hard
knocks. Life lessons will be repeated until learned. I write to hopefully help younger
people find their own answers in this confusing world. Teaching HOW to think,
NOT to be told WHAT to think, is more important to know.
The more you know about a subject, the more you know when to question
opposing views. Question everything and do your research to find the truth
through facts. If someone tells you something and you feel confused, don't do
it. Instead, slow down research through multiple sources, including but
not exclusively "Google" and "Wiki." Remember,
anything digital can be easily manipulated. (Snopes and Wikipedia have proven
to be compromised.) Who is tampering with this, and why? Someone is trying to
influence your mind and opinion to cause you to think WHAT THEY want you to consider.
I read books and listen to others to formulate my beliefs.
We have free will to think; that is one
thing we always control. So we need to dig deeper to discover for ourselves
what WE believe.
Experienced minds gather wisdom and know personal research finds the truth.
When you do find facts, your answers will help you have the confidence to
choose wisely. You can breathe a sigh of relief. Calm will come to your senses.
Now you can move forward with confidence that today you made the best-informed
decision for your life.
Whatever you choose, allow others to do their research and choose their path
without your fear of them being wrong.
We can choose to stop listening to negative fear-mongering stories from
media, family, and friends. WE can love without being loved when we have
knowledge and confidence.
If we choose to control our emotions with facts, we become the
elected president of our life.
WE win.
