You Cannot Bend Others to Your Will
That’s a very, very good thing.
One of the most daunting aspects of the world today is how many people want you to bend to their will. Give them what they want, to hell with what you want. Accept mediocrity, take your place among so-called lessers, and don’t think for yourself.
Some people resist such things actively. Some passively. Others, not at all. Because of how fear is weaponized, many people allow themselves to be the victims of a religion, a government, another institution, or an individual. Possibly a combination of some or all of the above.
The truth, however, is that nobody can bend you to their will. Likewise, you cannot bend others to your will. And that’s a very, very good thing.
You are an individual. That means you are capable of being who, what, where, how, and why you desire to be. Nobody but you is in your head, heart, and soul. Ergo, you alone can make choices and decisions for yourself and your life.
Some take this to heart and use it frequently. Others, unfortunately, fear this and would far prefer to let someone else tell them to be a given thing. This can get pretty crazy when you look at it, especially when you explore the collective consciousness and how it gets twisted, shaped, and manipulated by people supposedly “in power”.
The biggest issue here is that you can’t do much for the collective consciousness. You can, however, take hold of this sort of thing when it comes to you and how you interact with those around you.
Resistance to being pushed
Sometimes you need someone to show you a path. A different way. You need someone to open you to something you have been unable to find on your own. Alongside this, sometimes you need someone to push you.
There’s a thin line between tough love and harassment. Intent is generally the key to recognizing the line. However, it can be crossed by intent when the person giving a push goes too far.
For example, someone who loves you wants you to want to spend time with them. Let’s say that you would like to spend time with them, too. However, when they start to end every instance when you see them demanding when the next time will be — and not acknowledging enjoying the time you’ve had — that can lessen your desire to spend time with them. When they push and attach expectation to giving them time, and seldom or never appreciate what time you give, this can and will cause resistance.
When you’re pushed and feel as if someone else is trying to bend you to their will, you likely develop resistance to it. That’s natural. Even those who cede control tend to dislike learning that they’re giving away their control to someone else.
Yet in some cases, trying to show someone that they’ve fallen for a shyster or snake oil salesman can feel like a painful uphill battle.
You cannot bend others to your will
Even with the best of intentions, you cannot bend anyone to your will. You can teach, explain, give examples, reason, and apply logic. But no matter what, you can’t bend anyone to your will.
Even when you apply uncontestable logic and reason, show your work, maybe even give examples, you can’t make someone else see the world as you do. And when you are standing against illogical, unreasonable, ludicrous ideas and beliefs, this can feel infuriating.
It’s bad enough if this is a friend or coworker. Of course, it’s even harder when it’s someone you love. When you see someone causing others hurt and harm, you cannot bend them to your will, no matter how good your intent or positive your approach is.
When all is said and done, however, this is a very good thing. Why? Because it also means that nobody can bend you to their will, either.
Kindness, compassion, and empathy
We live in a crazy, mixed-up world right now. Decades of progress are being slowed, halted, and destroyed in the name of fundamentalism, false values, and numerous factors borne of fear of change. Because of the weaponization of fear, certain groups and people have gotten really good at manipulating others to follow their lead.
The good news is that they do not have actual, factual control over anyone else’s will. What they have is the ability to offer a false kind of empathy that shifts focus away from self-examination, self-awareness, and understanding. Why? To disempower.
Disempowered people tend to look outside themselves to be empowered. It doesn’t help that mental health is treated as taboo, and nobody teaches self-sovereignty. Too much focus and emphasis are placed on looking outside to get information and answers to questions.
I’m not saying that learning is wholly an inside job. It most certainly is not. Nobody, and I mean nobody, knows everything. What I am going on about here is how nobody apart from you can know you. Why? Because you’re the only one in your head, heart, and soul. Only you know your thoughts, feelings, intentions, approach, actions, and all else about you from within.
Applied, genuine kindness, compassion, and empathy are key factors to changing the narrative and helping shift the collective consciousness from fear to reason. It begins with the self, and applying kindness, compassion, and empathy to and for you, from yourself.
You cannot bend others to your will. However, by practicing kindness, compassion, and empathy, you can be a beacon of light, hope, and more to others. It might not seem like much, but it can be a lot. I think it’s a worthwhile endeavour.
Recognizing it’s a good thing that you cannot bend others to your will isn’t hard
It’s all about practicing active conscious awareness (mindfulness) of your thoughts, feelings, intentions, and the positivity or negativity of your approach to direct your actions.
When you recognize and acknowledge that you can alter and change only yourself and your thoughts, feelings, intentions, approach, and actions, you can practice more kindness, compassion, and empathy to be a beacon of hope and light to the world at large. Knowing that you cannot bend anyone to your will and they cannot bend you to theirs, you can strive to be genuine and authentic with who, what, where, how, and why you are, and maybe make a useful, helpful, positive impression on others from there.
This empowers you, and your empowerment can, in turn, empower others around you.
Consciously choosing your approach to life towards positivity or negativity — from the vast cylinder that exists between them — shifts life in a way that opens greater dialogue. From that dialogue, you can recognize, explore, and share where you are between the extremes and how that impacts you here and now.
Choosing thoughts, feelings, actions, and intentions for yourself opens the way for a positive approach and attitude via your actions. This can lead to realizing amazing potential and possibilities for your life.
The better aware you are of yourself, here and now, the better you can choose and decide what, how, and why your life experiences will be. When you empower yourself, it can spread to those around you and empower them as well. That is an amazing conduit to help reason to overcome fear in the collective consciousness.
Thank you for coming along on this journey.
This is the six-hundred-twenty-sixth (626) entry of my Positivity series. I hope that these weekly messages might help spread positive energies for everyone. Feel free to share, reblog, and spread the positivity.
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