What If You've Been Told Wrong

I grew up in a culture in which I was trained:  “Do what your told, not what you want to do.” 

Ouch.  I had the desire to make decisions for myself beat out of me.  I was indoctrinated with this:

“Don’t make waves.” 

“Don’t stand out.” 

“Don’t show off.” 

“Don’t puff yourself up.” 

In other words, be average.  Be a nobody.  Don’t be aggressive – that is selfish. 

I was once told this:  “Don’t buy that circular saw.  You might cut off your finger.”  Finally, I bought that circular saw.  I still have all ten fingers and ten toes.  Amazing!

Another one:  “Don’t touch that tape recorder – you don’t know what you’re doing.”  I went on to record radio programs, produce audio and video programs and a whole host of other projects using the very equipment I was warned against touching.  And I was good at it.

I had my curiosity driven from me. 

If I had been stuck on an escalator at the downtown Harvey’s Department Store in Nashville, that philosophy would have said “Stand still.  Sooner or later someone will come and fix the escalator.”  Rather, we could have walked down, or up.  But no.  “Take no action” would have been the order of the day.

Gandhi said:  “We need not wait to see what others do.”  Am I going to wait to see what others do?  Am I going to let others dictate how I should act, what to think, what to eat, how to vote?  Will I stand idly by and allow others to do the thinking for me? 

Oh God, I hope not. 

A thought worth considering.

(The seed for this idea came from Seth Godin’s book What to do When it’s Your Turn)

P Michael Biggs

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