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Today's
quotation:
What one doesn't realize in ordinary mental
health
is that daily life is a show. You have to put on a
right costume, to improvise right speeches, to do
right
actions, and all this isn't automatic, it takes
concentration and work and a simply amazing
degree of
control.
Herman
Wouk
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Today's
Meditation:
In
other words, we're all accomplishing something pretty
remarkable every day. We're living our lives, doing
our jobs, saying the right things, wearing the right
clothes. We've learned systems and structures, and
we're functioning fully and appropriately within those
systems. We've become pretty adept at doing the
right things based on other people's expectations of us.
But
just how comfortable should we be with this
knowledge? This ability of ours isn't necessarily a
negative thing, and it doesn't necessarily keep us from
living a full and happy life. And if we look at it
the right way, we actually feel a sense of accomplishment
for showing the control and concentration necessary to
pull off starring in the show every day. But is
starring in the show necessarily what we want to do?
Is there room in our worlds for pulling out of the show
and doing our own thing, completely on our own terms?
I
believe there is, but I also see that there's a great deal
of value that we can contribute by remaining in the
play. As a teacher, I'd accomplish very little
without students, and in order to be able to stay at
schools it's necessary for me to play the required role to
a certain extent-- and push the envelope in ways that I
truly believe will help my students. And my ability
to play the roles expected of me then can have a very
positive effect on my students, as long as I'm an
effective teacher.
Sometimes
we get down on ourselves for conforming, for doing things
that are expected of us. But that's not always-- nor
necessarily-- a negative part of our lives. In fact,
we should give ourselves credit for it when we do it well.
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