I’ve been tricked! I knew something was up, but I couldn’t put my figure on it. I am from the generation of rebels. Generation X, we are the generation of “latchkey kids”, we are the generation of “difference makers.” Reject everything, embrace new ideas, be radical, be practical, get things done, do it yourself and get in there and make it happen.
Everyone has a story of how they were the kid who no one liked, and the bullies picked on them. The nerds, we overcame the bullies, the jocks, those in seats of authority. As I sit here and think about it, the music “Don’t you forget about me..” rings in my head because it represents walking down those hallways and rejecting, rebelling and being unique.
In recent days, we together have seen dramatic changes in our society and our world. I have been hungry to learn and read about the past because I have been trying to make sense of now. I am also very involved in learning and facilitating conversations and practices in leadership.
So, what tricked me? It started with an appeal to some books that have been coming out recently about leadership. It reads something like this:
Pull back the curtain on yourself and others. Dig in to understand the power that you have and the ability to see through the masks. Are you tired of being controlled? Are you tired of being a sheep? Break out and see the matrix, empower yourself to break the bonds of that which holds you back. Take back your power and don’t allow anyone to control you. If anything, you control the narrative, you are the master now.
This is interesting to say the least. This morning, I came to understand that it feeds into my narrative. It is a wolf painting the sheep and telling him, “You are a black sheep, different from the flock.” I come to believe that I am different. As the black sheep, I walk outside the lines, I don’t hang out with those regular sheep. I am not like them. I am not like you, I am special. My generation is special. We are special.
So, the moment that matters here is the realization that painted on, black, white or other, the sheep are the sheep. We are consistently being herded by the farmer, protected by the sheep dogs and moved from field to shelter and shelter to field. Regardless, if we walk outside the lines, we haven’t left the farm.
I’ll offer; it isn’t just the wolf that we need to worry about. It is the coyotes, the other predators and unfortunately, the farmer.
The most dangerous place to be is the place where you are safe and secure with your guard down and belly exposed. Betrayed by your trusted care takers and all the while your sheep brothers and sisters have no idea that you’ve become dinner and someone is wearing your skin.
As seemingly always, this pattern of mine and possibly yours, I’ve been searching for answers. I’ve been thinking about our generation. I have been thinking about our uniqueness and our identity. If we were in charge, this world would be a better place. If our generation had a real shot at it, we the “black sheep” no nonsense, practical generation would fix it because this is what we do.
In the movie “The Matrix” one of the characters wanted to go back into the system because, it was better there. He could just be a battery and live a great life that is real enough to him but not real to the true physical world. The world composed for them was not real, and the world composed for us is also, not real.
You and I have a choice. We can believe that we are unique and special. We can question authority and challenge everything. We can be different. I think this is what we are currently programmed to believe. We are the same in our desire to be different, but this just makes it easier for the farmer. Why? Because we are all still on the farm and under this control.
Ripping off the mask and taking control, is a distraction. It helps us when it comes to navigating the flock but not the farmer. You see what I am saying?
We are distracted and disorganized. We absolutely believe in our own voices and individuality as if, these matter. History teaches us that a singular voice matters only in rare instances. We are not in control and we are not free. We have clear boundaries that we are operating in. We are part of and inside a system, we are in a “matrix” of sorts. If we are honest about it, we can understand what it means to us.
What ability we do have and come by naturally and honestly, is the ability to go inward. This is not controlled by farmer, wolf or anyone else but us. That world can free you of earthly boundaries but in the end, at some point we are coming up for air and water.
Here is why this is important to us. At least from my perspective, I am not the black sheep, I recognize that even if I were the black sheep, I am still on the farm. What can I do from the farm? What ability do I have? What does going inward achieve for me? How am I impacting the other sheep?
Can a sheep become the farmer? I think not my friends. I don’t know in our entire history of our world if ever, a sheep ran the farm. The closest thing I can think of is the farmers trust in his dog.
If this is the case, is it all for nothing? If this is the case, we are powerless and helpless.
We are bound and governed by the immuntible laws of nature, the laws of man and the laws of tyrants. What I have come to realize is that yelling at the moon and shaking my fists because I am upset, does nothing but make me upset. The farmer, the wolf, they want me upset because I am distracted. My distraction allows for them to take advantage of me in their own ways. It allows for me to believe that I am in full control.
Hard to reconcile, even for me. I don’t want it to be this way because I have been programmed for something special, I am special. Aren’t you special? Aren’t you realizing the change in the world that you believe you need to see and realize? When you yelled at the moon, did you move it with your power?
Time for Peace
Hello you, person still reading this. It isn’t doom and gloom; it is truly empowering to realize the difference between what we can do and what we cannot do. Most of us don’t want to be told what we cannot do but this is the reason we must talk about it. If we come to realize the boundaries, the risks, the environment, the control, the lack of control, we can free ourselves from the worries and concerns of things we have no agency over. Give the idea of impossible to the universe or G-d, whomever needs to take on this burden but not you.
The journey for peace begins with understanding what we believe this means to us and what we can do about it. It does not mean to give up but it does mean to learn and understand where to put most of your effort. If you are angry because you think you are special and you should be rebelling and changing the world, what have you effectively done about it? At the same time, I argue, if you are angry and you understood what you can and cannot do, where could you focus your energy, get out of the distraction and find peace for yourself? Even if you wanted to separate yourself from society, it would be difficult if not impractical to be fully separated. That said, if you wanted to do it and find quiet and peace and you either have the resources or created the conditions, you could achieve this.
Giving up a fight that you can’t possibly win is freeing because it allows you to focus on achieving your goals and objectives within the scope of your domain. If you truly believe that you can make a difference for the greater good and I mean truly for the world that you can see and be happy with, then do it. I am not looking to discourage you if you believe you truly can do it.
What I am coming to the conclusion is that we have been tricked into thinking that we can do things we can’t do because it allowed us to push ourselves and the boundaries of what is and was possible. At the same time, we are facing the reality of the boundaries themselves. This causes distress for us because we believe so deeply in achieving and overcoming the impractical. We are built to discover and advance ourselves on possibilities, often we do achieve great things. For very few of us achieve that which others may deem impossible.
If we choose to pull back the veil and realize the truth, it may be only a few of us that do this as well. We can become aware of who we are and what we are and what our scope of abilities are. While my analogy of sheep applies only to the extent that we are conscious and they are not, we are still bound to this earth, nature, the rules.
Regardless of what generation you are, the message from me is simple. Spend your energy, your time, your effort, on that which brings you peace. Discover what you want, what you need, what fills your heart and soul. Work on your peace and you will naturally become a beacon of light for others. The impact of your light and being is unknown and not for me to say. Recognize where you are, what system you are living in and the boundaries you face, don’t allow yourself to be tricked or fooled into thinking you are something different from what you know yourself to be and advance strictly in the cause of service. Service for yourself first in finding peace and service to others through abundance for yourself.
It is humbling but necessary to learn about ourselves. Through this effort, we may realize fully on our own the empty promises of those who would trick us into believing we are something different from what we are.
Happy Sunday
Abraham Heschel once said (to paraphrase) that the prophets came to conflict the comfortable and to comfort the conflicted. He also said “Never in my life did I ask G-d for success or wisdom or power or fame. I asked for wonder, and he gave it to me.”
So many self-help books have been written in the past 70 years and they feed our self control and point us inward. Inward reflection isn’t a bad thing but in many cases it leads us to believing we are in complete control which we are not. Sheep know the sound of the voice of the shepherd and follow that voice to greener pastures and safety. The problem imo today is that the voice of the shepherd has been confused and diluted with self centeredness and finding individual happiness. Life is a journey and happiness or true peace (Shalom) only comes from being one with G-d. The voice of G-d is the same for all of us, to love G-d and each other. How we manifest that love is our journey and self control without that vision of unity will lead us to keep searching as we cannot obtain or maintain this peace without following the voice of the Shepherd.