Conclusion: The Trouble with the World is Complacency

The difference between complacency and living on purpose is a matter of ignorance.

If you don't know (or care about) the dangers or the concerns or the repercussions of what you are eating, where you are living, activities you are engaged in, people you are hanging out with, habits you are forming, products you are buying or using or leaders and causes you are supporting, then you're complacent; satisfied with the ways things are regardless of whether it's a positive or negative effect.

Not so bad, you say? Well, that all depends. Do you want to live in the shadows or do you want to be out in the light? Do you want to be fully informed or just another drone going through the motions? Do you want to be living life to the fullest and teaching your kids to do this as well or do you shrug your shoulders and think, whatever happens, happens; I have no control over things.

Complacency: the reluctance to take charge of your life and the outcome of situations concerning you and your family.

Have you ever noticed that some people are continually surrounded and caught up in the swirling vortex of drama; things just happen to them and the people around them....constantly. And yet, I have noticed that generally these people never formulate a plan or stand up to the architect of the drama or announce a call to action. No, instead they merely shrug and say, "Why do these things keep happening to me/my family/my friends?" But instead of a stand down or a decision or a plan, they simply say, "Oh well."

I say take the bull by the horns. Do not live with complacency. Live with purpose.

Educate yourself; stay informed; surround yourself with positive, supportive, well-informed people.

Do not simply accept that something must be your fate...do something.

Life is an action word. Life is about using our senses (including common sense) and putting our little gray cells in our heads to work and standing upright and going headfirst. Life is about purposely doing and not doing.

So, are you complacent? Are you just going to sit there and take it? Are you watching from the sidelines and taking the knocks that come your way? Or are you actively participating in this thing we call Life...leaving a positive legacy, doing your part, taking part and stepping up? It's your choice....really. Over and out...

Anna

Comments

[Casey the Dirty Hippie]

Martin Luther King, Jr. made similar claims when he argued, "Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter." Victimization is real, but we have control over how we respond to it. We can sit idle, or take action. We live in an age of hyperindividualism, and the driving ethos for so many seems to be "I got mine, so screw you." Not only does that line of thought run directly counter to most organized spirituality (including, notably, Christianity, which most Americans claim to believe), it also enables a solipsism that robs individuals of basic empathy and compassion. When that slips away, humanity becomes little more than the love child of Hobbes and Nietzsche—a feral abomination.

When we see injustice, we have a moral obligation to stand up and call it injustice, and then work to rectify it. When we feel victimized, we have an obligation not only to self, but to others, to resist the cause of the victimization and act to prevent it from happening to others.

One more thing: it's always worthwhile to note WHO complacency serves. Who tells us to succumb to inertia rather than seek change? Who tells us to remain still when we could be active? Who tells us to look away while others are robbed of their dignity? Identifying the stakeholders in complacency, and illuminating the interest (usually monetary) that they have in it, is perhaps the most necessary ingredient for any of us to truly awaken from our cocooned slumber.

Good column!

[Anna]

Indeed! Thank you, Casey! Love ya!