Free will means that we can make our own decisions. We can take on the ideas that we think are right. I realize that we need to be very cautious about the ideas that we take on, because we do not have ideas, ideas have us. Ideas take a person over and we act them out in our lives.
So, the merit of a good idea, an idea worth being given power in your life, is the salient point here. How do we judge the merit of a good ideas, or set of ideas? I think we need to look at the outcome produced in the lives of others who have previously allowed such ideas to “have them.” So, pay attention to the outcomes. Where does it lead? How’d that turn out for people who embodied that idea in the past? What kind of person did they become as a result of the ideas that they chose to live out? What kind of life experience resulted for the individual and the nation? Broken people? broken families, broken cites . . .what kinds of ideas drove them into hell on earth?
Realize that you are not your ideas, you can let them go and take on new and better ones; ideas that seem to cause you to live out a life story with good outcomes. Consequences can either be good or bad, pay attention to the consequences of the ideas that have you.
Another test is to pay attention to the emotions you feel that result from the ideas that have hold of you. Are you experiencing resentment, anger, despair, apathy, fear, superiority, frustration, annoyance, rage, shame . . . the list goes on. If you are experiencing a preponderance of these kinds of emotions, then the ideas that you hold are a Maybe it’s the ideas that you have allowed to take hold of you?
Fortunately, if we look up and pay attention we can see the outcomes and trace them back to the ideas that caused them. In the same way we can perceive good ideas by the fruit they bear, by the outcomes that result, and the preponderance of emotions that those who take them on experience. Emotions like Joy, gratitude, peace, triumph, compassion, contentment, boldness, attraction, delight, result, satisfaction, connection, goodwill, happiness, optimism, love, gratification, awe, and freedom. There are ideas and ways of being that lead to these! Allow these ideas to take you.
We are free to choose our ideas, but once we take them on they have a way of taking us over. For better or worse. If the outcomes and emotions you are seeing in yourself and others are not for the better, then stop and think and read and study and learn; adjust your aim and try on some better ideas. This is not easy, ideas that have taken you over have a life and a will of their own – be prepared for an internal fight.
The 365 Commitment is a place where you can fight off the bad ideas that have had their way with you. It is a place where you can test ideas that you think may better for you, for your family, for your community. Test them in your own life for 365 days in a row and see what the outcome is. If it is good then it is likely a worthy ideas to maintain. Otherwise drop it, and re-aim, continue seeking and learning and practicing ideas that manifest good outcomes and positive emotions.
Ben Wagner (195)
Member The 365 Commitment
