There is an ancient debate. "We as humans are inherently good." "We are inherently evil." "We are inherently neither good nor evil." Any of these could actually be true depending on the context of the value system being applied at the time of consideration, but deciphering this eternal debate is not actually the point of this writing. We'll save that for another day. I bring this up though because whatever the great philosophers have to say about this topic, we do get to decide who we are in our own story.
"Our own story." What does that even mean?
Too often in our current age of technology that, while being outwardly coaxed to "be our own persons," "live more peaceful, spiritual lives" and "love one another;" the real life pressures around us dictate a very different path. "Easy" and "safe" are the watchwords of the day. We chase "likes" and comments online. We let often faceless and
Our technology is now inextricably intertwined with our social conduct.
impersonal interactions made through the glowing screen of some form of computational device drive our self-esteem, emotions and motivations. We let workplace authority figures define our overall self worth rather than the small sliver of workplace suitability such interaction realistically has any value. We allow brands and media to determine our aspirations by assigning imagery of emotional states we all seek to their products striving to trigger a romantic response within us that imprints a desire of possessing the product, or perhaps even pursuing an entire lifestyle that we may have more of that briefly contrived emotion. All of this, and much more like these examples have us striving to be who we need to be to please an audience of ever increasing participants with windows into our lives. With all these windows is it any wonder so many feel like caged animals with nowhere to go in a zoo of anonymous spectators.Our lives are under continuous pressure to be defined by an increasingly accessible outside world.
At the very least so many diverse interests of influence with a deep view into our lives creates a stressful superficiality as we compete for attention; like siblings in a dysfunctional family. In short, our lives are under continuous pressure to be defined by an increasingly accessible outside world by way of our intellect rather than by each of us individually by our own internal, uniquely present selves; often referred to as our spirit.
So then, "our own story" is defined as an evolving plot line with ourselves as the main character actively exploring internally derived, desire-fueled dreams until they become goals. Then subsequently pursuing those goals until they become accomplishments, or at least lessons learned.
Being the hero of your own story does not mean one must vanquish monsters, rescue damsels, seduce hunks, spit out clever phrases with perfect timing or anything else to win favor of anyone else. Being the hero of your own story means enjoying what you are doing rather than enjoying how other's are seeing you for having done it. Being the hero of your own story means enjoying the outcome of your actions on, or within yourself rather than your actions being driven by the intentions, or reactions of those around you. Being the hero of your own story does not preclude, but does take inherent priority over being the hero, or even a character of anyone else's stories. Being the hero of your own story means having the commitment to learn the truth of your own joys, goals and pleasures; the courage to create and follow your own plot line from these truths, and the confidence to fully bring the honest outcomes of your journey to others that their stories may be embellished by the full value of who you truly are.
Journey on ...