“They are playing a game. They are playing at not playing a game. If I show them I see they are, I shall break the rules and they will punish me. I must play their game, of not seeing I see the game.”
– R. D. Laing, Psychiatrist
I love this quote. How many times have we seen that the emperor has no clothes, yet continue to pretend like we haven’t seen anything? How many times does the curtain have to be pulled back to expose the truth about the great and powerful Oz?
Maybe I’m a slow learner. I think I probably am when it comes to the shenanigans of adults. I assume the best about people until they prove me wrong. Lately, I’ve been proven wrong by several people.
I think that’s why I prefer children. They’re honest about their intentions. Whether you like it or not, children will let you know what they are thinking. This is not true with many adults.
I’ve learned that most people do whatever they can to protect their own interests and public image. Sometimes that involves sacrificing their espoused values and beliefs or their proclaimed allegiance.
I still don’t want to believe that we hurt and betray others on purpose. I want to believe this comes from an overactive threat response that was hardwired in the cave days of history.
That’s partly true. The rest of the truth is that we have a highly evolved brain that can override the primitive threat response. We can choose to see a bigger perspective and find safety in connections.
Knowing that we are a social species and that we are stronger together, I can’t seem to fathom why we continue to harm one another.
Sometimes the way we hurt others is by not speaking up when we should. I’ve had several conversations with people about clearly evident issues that no one, including me, is willing to vocalize.
Why do we continue to play this game?
Fear, that’s why.
When will the desire to do right outweigh the fear of punishment that comes when we consider speaking truth about things that are clearly wrong? I don’t know about you, but I’m impatiently awaiting the day when doing what’s right is more profitable than pretending everything is fine.
Very, very deep question. I believe this goes back to the title of this blog “the dynamic balance”. The only real personification of truth & grace and light & dark is Jesus Christ. He is life over death and love over hate. He is The Truth. Everyday we all play the game of life and we get so caught up in this world of stuff – we forget our real truth -our real purpose -which is really to share the good news. I’ve been so guilty of not finding my balance between my mental, physical, emotional, and spiritual selves. I am working on it but I am so far from being where I need to be. Of course there are those who do not want balance. They feed off the negative and love being nay-sayers. I want to be more balanced and achieve the real purpose God has for me. People like you help me along the way. Those of us that want to grow and improve others and ourselves need each other.
You are so right. There is an eternal game that is being played out which is above and beyond most of us. My prayer is that I can help move God’s plan forward and not hinder anything that is outside my awareness.
Very, very deep question. I believe this goes back to the title of this blog “the dynamic balance”. The only real personification of truth & grace and light & dark is Jesus Christ. He is life over death and love over hate. He is The Truth. Everyday we all play the game of life and we get so caught up in this world of stuff – we forget our real truth -our real purpose -which is really to share the good news. I’ve been so guilty of not finding my balance between my mental, physical, emotional, and spiritual selves. I am working on it but I am so far from being where I need to be. Of course there are those who do not want balance. They feed off the negative and love being nay-sayers. I want to be more balanced and achieve the real purpose God has for me. People like you help me along the way. Those of us that want to grow and improve others and ourselves need each other.
That is so true Jess. More often than not people are afraid to speak up about what is right for fear of being shunned or ignored. They don’t want to be associated with someone who Speaks the truth.