Choose To Move To An I Can Lifestyle

Catherine Pope

   Lately, I have noticed a big move to change our thought processes and way of life. We are firmly nudged from individuality to follow the herd mentality. We have lost the ability to act on our own. I find the change alarming. We are maneuvered, manipulated and steered each day to accept and overlook more and more control.

The latest "Best Thing My Mother Taught Me" lesson posted on our log-in screen is:

I CAN IS A WAY OF LIFE

   The messages we receive each day do not mirror this thought. They lead us in quite the opposite direction.

   We are told:

What to do and when to do it.

What to wear and when to wear it.

What to think and when to think it.

Bad behavior is applauded.

Good behavior is questioned.

   Newscasts, articles, talk shows and politicians are all shouting at us. The single message, no matter how it is embroidered is:

 Think alike

Act alike

Be alike

Do what you are told

    We have been sold on the idea that we need to always be connected with each other. Individuality is scorned and discouraged. We simply cannot make any decision without expert advice. We are incapable of choosing the course for our own lives. We must have someone else to validate us.

   Walk the aisles of any store. The majority of shoppers are with someone or talking to someone on the phone. They are asking for support and agreement for every move and every purchase they make. They may have a list, but the choices are too many.

"What if I choose the wrong item."

"What do you think?"

"Have you tried this?"

"Fresh or frozen?"

"Please help me!"

   Parents aren't leading and teaching children. The children are ordering and demanding parents, "Everyone has this...so I've got to have it too. I can't do without it. I'll be weird if I don't have it. Everyone does it. It's not wrong...it's just the now style."

   Women don't buy things because they like them or need them. They are pressured to look...be...do like the favorite celebrity of the day...week...month. Personal style and unique expression have all but disappeared. "I need acceptance and validation at any cost. I want magazine hair, face and home decor."

   Men have been beaten into the same mold and seem to have lost the ability or desire to lead and instill wisdom and experience into their family life. The easy way is to flow into the ever increasing river of sameness and passive submission. "I'm tired. To go against the flow takes determination and strength. I'm out of both."

   Our public schools are ordered to homogenize and standardize the classroom and the student. The fact that each is different and one-of-a-kind doesn't fit the plan. Children are frustrated and upset. Don't match the mold, and be labeled a rebel and troublemaker. Fit the mold and get squeezed tighter and tighter into more and more narrow thought processes.

   Finally, the goal is reached. No one questions or thinks on their own.

   God made us unique. He gave each of us marvelous gifts and abilities. He created us to be movers and shakers. Each of us has a different perspective on every thing. All of us together compliment and complete each other. We are not the same.  

   Scripture encourages us, " I CAN do all things through Christ which strengthens me."

   I can think for myself because Christ in me directs my thoughts.

   I can make decisions because Christ shows me the right choice.

   I can trust my gut feeling, because Christ has recreated my inner self, my spirit.

   I CAN BE AN INDIVIDUAL. I CAN DO ANYTHING I CAN DREAM. NO GOAL IS UNREACHABLE!

   I am not you and you are not me. But, I will add my gift to your gift and the world will be colorful, inspired and challenged. I will not accept anything without filtering it through God's Word.

   The enemy wants our passive acceptance of negative thought. He does not want us to recognize that our strength comes from within not from outside support. Inside us is the life of God. That LIFE allows us to reach our full potential.

I CAN IS MY LIFESTYLE CHOICE.

I WILL DREAM BIG DREAMS

AND GO FOR THEM!