Human beings, we do things in cycles. Think, work, react.
Habits, yes?
If you do the same thing enough times, you will continue to do it. Good, bad, it's all the same to that part of you that says "this is how you've done it, so this is how you will do it."
Civilisation has become a habit, yes? The conscious decision to challenge thought and norms has become unconscious. There's a thin line of course; challenges become complaints. People learn to nitpick. It's ninety percent good, but what about all of that ten percent?
In the same way, our lives. Monkey see monkey do. But what is monkey looking at? And what happens when what he sees changes? In essence, what happens when we realise that our old habits no longer suffice in our new circumstances? (OMG!! DOES I.E. MEAN "IN ESSENCE?")*
What happens is, we revolt. We fight it. We do not accept it.
Change can not be allowed to happen, otherwise, what would that say about everything we've ever believed in until now?? Was it all a lie?
Truth is, sometimes it is. But most of the time, we've just outgrown it. A kid who didn't talk back to bullies learnt to keep his thoughts to himself. Functional. Same kid grows up to unable to articulate his feelings. Dysfunctional.
Nigerians learnt to smile in the face of the early civil disputes as the country settled into its own. Now we smile in the face of corruption. We have found a way to turn adaptation into a negative.
You learn to laugh at yourself so that no one else would laugh at you. Then you stop believing in yourself.
Protective barriers can become traps.
Why does it hurt so much to break destructive cycles, when what really hurts is the decision to keep at them? I think it's because it is easier to cut yourself than to heal the wound.
It stings. It itches. It scars.
You heal. You learn. You grow.
But it takes too long. We're all going to die, anyway.
Habits, yes?
If you do the same thing enough times, you will continue to do it. Good, bad, it's all the same to that part of you that says "this is how you've done it, so this is how you will do it."
Civilisation has become a habit, yes? The conscious decision to challenge thought and norms has become unconscious. There's a thin line of course; challenges become complaints. People learn to nitpick. It's ninety percent good, but what about all of that ten percent?
In the same way, our lives. Monkey see monkey do. But what is monkey looking at? And what happens when what he sees changes? In essence, what happens when we realise that our old habits no longer suffice in our new circumstances? (OMG!! DOES I.E. MEAN "IN ESSENCE?")*
What happens is, we revolt. We fight it. We do not accept it.
Change can not be allowed to happen, otherwise, what would that say about everything we've ever believed in until now?? Was it all a lie?
Truth is, sometimes it is. But most of the time, we've just outgrown it. A kid who didn't talk back to bullies learnt to keep his thoughts to himself. Functional. Same kid grows up to unable to articulate his feelings. Dysfunctional.
Nigerians learnt to smile in the face of the early civil disputes as the country settled into its own. Now we smile in the face of corruption. We have found a way to turn adaptation into a negative.
You learn to laugh at yourself so that no one else would laugh at you. Then you stop believing in yourself.
Protective barriers can become traps.
Why does it hurt so much to break destructive cycles, when what really hurts is the decision to keep at them? I think it's because it is easier to cut yourself than to heal the wound.
It stings. It itches. It scars.
You heal. You learn. You grow.
But it takes too long. We're all going to die, anyway.
*Okay it doesn't. But it should.
Thank You . . .
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