Every choice begins with a question: What is the right thing to do?
But have we ever learned to define what right and wrong mean?
What if the very foundation of that question is flawed?
One Size, No Fit For All
As we grow up, we’re handed a set of rules that tell us what’s right or wrong.
We all learn them, and we all follow them.
They become our map towards a happy, peaceful, and successful life.
Or so we’ve been told.
What this system failed to incorporate is one variable, an essential characteristic, that is fundamental to every living being:
Uniqueness.
Each of us is made of countless traits that blend into a self that has never existed before.
Yet, we all received the same list, tailored to no one in particular, of very specific rights and wrongs.
Observing people and the levels of contentment they have with their lives, it’s hard to convince oneself that our standardized set of rules has worked out well.
Suddenly, our one-size-fits-all map seems more like one size, no fit for all.
Scripted Certainty
We went out into the world with a list of specific things that were labeled right or wrong, as if the way we process life is the same for all.
The theme that’s hiding behind is a presumption that everything in our lives has either already been predetermined or that somehow we’ll be able to take full control.
What this does is reinforce the illusion of certainty, when one of the most fundamental virtues of life is the very opposite – uncertainty.
To just blindly learn a list of what’s right or wrong is not only useless, but highly misleading.
If uncertainty stretches through every aspect of our lives, and each individual perceives and experiences everything in their unique way, then our central question should mature into:
What would be the right thing for me to do?
The courage To Learn
We were trained to memorise the specific things labeled as right or wrong, but nobody ever taught us how to develop our own process of differentiating between the two.
If we truly seek peace and fulfilment in life, every situation needs to be approached individually and sifted through a filter that has been personalized to who we are and where we are at that moment. Only then do we draw the conclusion of what our right and wrong are.
This requires courage.
This requires willpower to face the consequences of potential deviation from the norm.
This also makes everything around you, and inside you, more expressive and alive.
The odds are in your favour
Where this becomes interesting is when we realise how, under the circumstances of defining a system for discovering your personal right or wrong, the consequences of each decision will always work best in your favour.
A choice that doesn’t go as planned is not a defeat of any kind, but recalibration that brings you one step closer towards what’s meant for you.
Choices don’t break into failure anymore, but flourish into a newfound clarity.
This is a brilliant way to discover who you are, and to become the main character of the story that is your own design.
free of regrets
The best thing about creating a system like this is that you rid yourself of the possibility of waking up one day full of regret for the choices you made in the past.
The mistakes that you make this way aren’t mistakes, because at the moment of making a choice, they were the right thing to do.
What led you there is your curiosity.
Curiosity always leans towards the truth.
You had lessons to pick up on the way.
And the knowledge you acquired is an asset that brings you closer to the places meant for you.
Wisdom from beyond
Going against your internal guidance never plays out well.
Even when it looks good on paper.
The right things sometimes come in the wrong time.
So we have to be patient and trust that everything fits the puzzle of the big picture we are creating.
The mind can make the craziest idea sound reasonable, and the sanest one appear deranged.
But our body is deaf to the language of the mind.
There are meanings that can never be put into words.
There’s wisdom beyond what our minds can comprehend.
So, as you slowly dissolve old beliefs of your mind, sharpen the senses your body enjoys.
They are both your anchor and your helm.
Make your own mistakes, and let others carry out their own.
