Lately I have been somewhat withdrawn from the public eye. I have been more focused on my recovery, my students and work. Seeing what is happening in the world and how brutal people have become I do not feel like participating. I will not participate in bashing anyone due to their social class, level of education, place of origin, differences of culture or anything else. That being said others seem more willing to engage. Others are frustrated and willing to jump at the chance to be violent, to unleash all their frustration in life and aim at a target regardless of who or what it is, regardless of justice or not. They will not consider the facts, reason or even wonder if they got it wrong.
Sadly, we are not talking about choosing the team to root for in the super bowl. We are talking about human beings, life, consequences and ripple effect of our actions. Someone will happen to be looking their way and yet strangely the first thought is to posture and try to pickup a fight. Two fellows walk through a crowd and one accidentally bumps into the other and the assumption is that it was malicious in nature. The lack of manners, considerations or social graces is shown in the lack of a simple apology. Now you have posturing, a push and someone reaches out for a gun, or knife and what could have been a nice night out becomes years behind bars in a jail for no reason.
We can perceive such abrasive nature when we go in for medical services or try to book an appointment. We have always known that for the last 40 years the medical profession in the U.S. has turned into a field of vultures ready to pluck your carcass if necessary out of everything you have. Now there is no pretension, nor pleasantries. Try to get a simple medical appointment for a check up and you will be treated with no consideration, respect nor anything else.
There is an old expression "an eye for an eye the whole world goes blind". The old "eye for an eye" was not exactly something literal but rather had to do with when damaging someone else's property to pay, reconstitute or do what is necessary to make things right. The issue is that even the most heart felt apology and gesture are often not enough. There are lines that once they are crossed what is taken, damaged or broken cannot be fixed hence why it is better to consider our actions as there are things we cannot take back. That alone is a great reason why not to engage with violence.
Much of what sets us in this course of collision is someone else's agenda, goals or even views of the world. Furthermore very much like in the times of relativism we see many giving into emotions and taking that which is felt as a guiding truth however, what happens when we have not allowed enough time to consider our emotions? What happens when we do not understand what we are feeling and yet choose to preach it to others as the truth or choose to act on it, even making serious life decisions informed by feelings?
We navigate through life with a serious of resources each with a function. Feelings, instincts and emotions all serve a role. They are like warning signs, not that different from when a burglar trips an alarm. The security specialist decides to watch the cameras while sending a colleague to inspect the area. Even in such a common occurrence there are protocols in place to asses the situation and gather the facts first hand before acting. If we learn to apply the same concept in life we will avoid much heart ache. If our alarms go off we must not act but rather investigate, consider things and think. "Cogito, ergo sum", I think for therefore I am. Lets begging with that!
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