INDEPENDENCE

THINK, DECIDE, ACT. "By doing this, I will be adhering to the following spiritual principles, Rationality, Integrity, INDEPENDENCE, Honesty, Justice, Productiveness and Pride.

http://heroofyourlife.blogspot.ca/2009/11/my-mission-statement.html

When I go through my mission statement, and I get to the word INDEPENDENCE, for me, the first meaning is of thinking independently, ie. not being a second handed person who lets others do his thinking for him.

Truth is that I've spent far too much of my life being a second hander, and I've paid a price for it. In fact, when I first read the Fountainhead, I had to admit that I had more in common with Peter Keating than with Howard Roark.

In my youth, I was definitely worried about peer pressure and fitting in and this led to some very poor decisions. Upon reflection, I was definitely guilty of what Ayn Rand referred to as believing in "Reality by Consensus" or thinking that reality was up for a vote. In other words, I thought if I could manipulate people into thinking I was "cool", that would make it so, or if I was ostracized, that would somehow mean that I wasn't "cool". Classic reversal of cause and effect.

Many people simply accept something because everyone else does. I've since learned, that if an idea becomes widely accepted, that is often a good cue to start questioning it. (I think Mark Twain may have said something to that effect.) The incredible danger of second handedness is that it is so pervasive in the world, and this is something that those who seek to manipulate (second handers themselves) are well aware of, and they use this to their own ends. We've seen this throughout history, and more recently with politicians, environmentalists and terrorists.

I will admit that I still rely on certain people I respect for knowledge, and don't always check out all facts for myself, but when I do this, I acknowledge, that I don't know these things first hand, and as a result could well be mistaken. I try to pick these sources very carefully.

As an advocate of rational self interest, I believe my own happiness is the ultimate purpose of my life, and that this will only be accomplished through independent thinking. This doesn't mean that other people don't matter to me. People are actually one of my greatest sources of happiness, and I know that interdependently, I can accomplish far more that I could alone through proper communication and synergy.

Proper communication with others requires HONESTY, which will be the topic of my next entry. Thanks to all for reading....