Choosing One's Self

"It is what one is oneself and what one makes of one's life that matters." - Sir Ernest Shackleton

How often we become confused in life.

How often we mistake movement for action, conversation for communication, being present for being involved.

Especially, how often we mistake allowing the siren song of the world around us, the fads and interests of a society and civilization concerned largely with speed of action and entertainment and progression, for our own individual choosing.

Be assured: the "world", for all of its trumpeted phrases on life such as "Be the self you were always meant to be" and "Follow Your Bliss", is not really interested in that. Certainly, to the extent that you support the currently existing wisdom of what passes for "acceptable" in society, you'll be considered self actualized. But at the base line, the world is concerned about conformity, specifically yours, to the greater civilization around you.

How often have I found that "choosing for myself" or "being independent" is really just a mechanism for choosing the conventional wisdom of the age? And how many times have I found that really choosing for myself, really being my own person, is seen not so much as becoming myself as it is being a "nonconformist", "old fashioned", "Luddite (my favorite)", or even "archaic"?

Any time we rely on society or civilization to define who we are or what we believe, what we find is that we have really become an appendage of definer, subject to their definition of what constitutes personhood. It is only when we take ourselves firmly in hand, determine what we ourselves are and how we should live, that we will find that our choices are really choices and our decisions really reflect who we are.