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Today's
quotation:
The hallmark of courage in our age
of conformity is the capacity
to stand on one's own
convictions--not obstinately or defiantly
(these are
gestures of defensiveness, not courage) nor as a gesture
of retaliation, but simply because these are what one
believes.
Rollo May
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Today's
Meditation:
What
do I believe, and what do I believe in? These aren't
questions that are covered in school, usually. They
aren't questions that we tend to be asked in job
interviews or in casual conversation. Many people
think that their beliefs are limited to religion--that
their own personal ideas of what God is or isn't form the
core of their belief systems. Many others adopt the
beliefs of other people--especially religious leaders--as
their own, as they seem to be unable to develop their own
core beliefs and live by them.
Rollo
is talking about living by our beliefs, but it's important
that we have beliefs first. It's important that we
recognize them and value them for what they are, and then
put them into practice in our lives. If I believe
that criticizing others in a negative way is bad, then not
only must I not do that, but I have to state my beliefs
when I see other people doing so. I don't have to
attack them or tell them they're wrong or make them feel
bad--after all, I may be wrong in my interpretation of a
situation--but I do have to stand up for my convictions
while respecting the fact that other people have different
sets of convictions.
Today
I must pay attention to what I see going on around me, and
I have to be aware of how things fit with or contradict my
convictions. I must see these things because our
convictions always are a work in progress, and I can't
refine them and allow them to evolve if I don't pay
attention to them. Other people don't have to live
their lives according to my convictions or beliefs, but if
I don't live my own life according to them, then my life
becomes much less rich, much less full, and I have only my
own inattention to my beliefs to blame.
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