Questioning motives...

"Men will never voluntarily consent to being slaves and they cannot be held in slavery by physical power, unless they are first reduced to such a deplorable state of ignorance and consequent helplessness, that they shall neither understand their rights, nor be able to defend them."- Elijah Porter Barrows, A View of the American Slavery Question, 1836

I posted about the idea of helplessness earlier this month. After reading this quote in The Ties That Bind, I went back and reread my earlier statements in an attempt to help me understand its connection to life in general. Ignorance to me is more than an IQ score, more than a racist attitude. Ignorance to me means one thing- being self-unaware. There is a danger behind not questioning the motives behind not only others' actions, but your very own. When you don't ask yourself this important question of why, you become helpless- to your surroundings, to your condition, to your situation, to your emotions.

It takes work and a lot of digging, but once you know why you act a certain way, why you feel a certain way, you can then ask yourself the most important question. What does this do for me and/or for others? If it has a positive effect, great, continue doing it. If it has a destructive effect, or just no purpose at all, then you make strides to stop it. Like my example of the lady who wanted a room for $40. Had she asked herself why she was so angry- because her grandkids didn't get the room they wanted, then deeper- because I didn't get what I wanted, and deeper- because things didn't turn out the way I expected them to, ok- she might have then asked, does comparing life to the expectations I have in my head produce positive or destructive effects? Well, let's see, I'm standing here arguing in front of strangers; I'm upset; the manager's not happy; the front desk girl is not happy; and my grandkids get a poor example of how to handle life when it doesn't go the way you pictured. I'd say destructive. This woman, just like the mom who spanked her child for accidentally hitting her, was self-unaware, or ignorant, lending her to helplessness- their feelings did the leading, not them, and they, consequently became slaves. In this case, slaves to their own minds. They weren't aware of the thoughts their minds were telling them, or the fact that they weren't true, so they became helpless to their situation and their emotions. Perhaps had they asked themselves why am I so upset, they would've realized their anger was based on falsehoods, and was better left unfelt.
(Yes, I am creating my own words here. Just go with it!)


Interesting person #4.