The most dangerous man … is the
man who is able to think things out ... without regard to the prevailing superstitions
and taboos.
H. L. Mencken
If you look over my articles, I avoid as much
as possible establishing rules to follow or even guidelines. Many of the
different concepts presented are up to personal interpretation. At best I can
give people warnings based on my own mistakes (which have been plenty) or point
them to a general direction based on my own path (again, based on my
experience, read as the plenty of mistakes mentioned before). Why? Wouldn’t it
be easier just to tell you what to do and how to act? Shouldn’t explanations
like “Because I say so” and “We have always done it that way” be enough?
NO!
Question everything and everyone, including
yourself. Read, think, analyze, and come to your own conclusion. There is a
reason for everything, even if that reason is not evident or apparent. Learn to
think outside the box. Way to many times people don’t understand a problem
because they are actually asking the wrong questions or confusing results with
problems.
Be wary of gut feelings and emotional reaction
as well as “convenient” analysis, for both are there only to excuse and justify
behavior. People tend to react emotionally, assuming that their “heart” is
always right. If this is true, emotional manipulations and heartbreak would
never be. Also the “convenient” analysis is just as dangerous. You know, the
bullshit reasons you use to justify doing the wrong thing.
And accept that you can and will be wrong in
your decisions. You will make mistakes and you will have to reconsider previous
comments and actions. There is nothing wrong with this. It’s called growth.
This attitude and acceptance will keep you humble, but will give you limitless
confidence at the same time. When you’re not afraid to be wrong, you can
dare to do anything.
And with that confidence comes empowerment; the
ability to challenge every idea and notion that gets regurgitated thoughtlessly
by every group of sheep and line followers out there. This empowerment will
give you the courage to stand when everyone else is sitting down. It will open
your eyes to the truth behind the mysteries of life, letting you conquer what
you didn’t even know was there. And it will give you the most dangerous gift that
you will have to endure, Personal Liberty, as you realize how hard it is to
deal with and how much it will elate you.
Just remember what Oscar Wilde said, “An idea
that is not dangerous is unworthy of being called an idea at all.”
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