It is never wise to abdicate the responsibility for your life to the government.
As I sat down to write today's truth, I was struggling to find any heartfelt words to adequately describe my feelings on this President's Day. I just spent the past two days watching the Canadian government unleash wooden-baton wielding police on peaceful protestors. Spraying tear gas on an unarmed, female, independent journalist and people waving flags, while signing 'O Canada' at the top of their lungs in below freezing temperatures. Trampling a woman in a walker with a horse, repeatedly kicking people while they lay on the ground, trying to shield themselves from the unjustifiable blows from an entire police force attacking them for peacefully demonstrating their right to free speech. All in the name of their Prime Minister, who at the time was skiing.
News reports and commentators had nothing much to say about the inhumanity of this situation, and instead argued the politics of it. Politicians weighed in on how this was either justified or not, based upon their political party's beliefs on mandates. As if this level of cruelty is somehow explained away by which political party is in control, and nothing to do with the individuals responsible for this atrocity.
So although this wasn't happening in our country, you'll have to excuse me if I didn't feel much like celebrating anyone involved in government; not currently, nor those in the past.
Governments are comprised of nothing more than men (and women, but I'm also not much in the mood to have to be inclusive of every gender in order to avoid hurting anyone's feelings.) When we defer to governments as the solution to all of our problems, we are doing nothing more than abdicating the responsibilities of our own lives to other men. Why would you ever want to turn over your own life to a collection of other men?
When I hear the phrase, "the government needs to fix this" or, "the government has a responsibility to....fill in the blank," I instantaneously wonder why anyone would think another person should be responsible for any of their problems? You are responsible for your life. Period.
The incessant, childish arguing back and forth in this country right now always ends in one of two phrases, "If Trump was our president, this wouldn't be happening," or "if Trump wasn't such a fuck-up, none of this would be happening because we wouldn't have been left with no other choice but Sleepy Joe." Both of these statements so our reliance on a president to determine our fate and do nothing to encourage people to take personal responsibility for their lives.
When are you going to realize that a president isn't the solution to your problems. No matter how aligned any president is with your views, they aren't your savior! As long as you think they are, you are neglecting your own personal responsibility for your life. Presidents can have lasting effects on policies and shaping our culture, but they do not free you from personal responsibility.
A shining example of this would be Barack Obama. As the first black president, he was supposedly going to change the life of every black person in this country. It didn't happen. Whether you believe he did more to unify races or divide them is here nor there. He didn't change the lives of black people because he can't. No more than he can change my life, as a white person. Presidents can't change what only YOU can change.
Had Hilary Clinton been elected, "she would have changed the life of every woman in this country!" Donald Trump could "save America and change the lives of every 'working man'." Nonsense!
Nobody is going to save you, but you. And you should ask yourself, what in the world do you need saving from? Instead of trying to survive something, maybe you should try living. Living a life that God gave you every bit of talent you need to live. Maybe you should start using all of those amazing gifts you've been given, and you might find the world a better place to live. What if everyone did their part to live a life of meaning, instead of waiting for someone or something to come along and give them something meaningful?
As I watched a clip of a Canadian police officer charging a woman with a stick, splatters of blood hitting the snow beneath her, while another officer was trying to stop him, yelling "her hands are in the air," all I could ask myself was, "what if this man was taking responsibility for living a meaningful life for himself?" Is this what he would be doing? The answer is no.
The potential for cruelty in the human spirit is limitless; but so is the potential for good. You have so much good inside of you, stop looking to the government to bring about good that only you are capable of.
Presidents throughout history have impacted the world we live in, but never has a single one been able to remove the reality of personal responsibility from human existence.
The men and women in this video took personal responsibility. They didn't sit back and talk about how another leader will come to save them.
Watch it and learn from it.
Your happiness is not a gift given to you by others.
Create a mantra for your life. If you aren't writing your story, someone else is writing it for you.
Listen: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/eml-radio-talking-truth/id1498113483?i=1000558947971
Hello my friends!
I'm finishing up the transition away from Locals onto Substack and wanted to be sure each of you have made the necessary adjustments to your accounts. For those of you who have remaining months left on your paid support here, I have comped you the balance over at Substack.
This will be the final week I post content here.
I will resume the live recordings over there, starting with our first call on Friday, March 3rd at 9am/12pm. Invitations to join the Zoom calls will go out on Substack. Mark your calendars!
Also, be sure to download the Substack App! I love the app and find it so helpful in organizing content I want to read later by keeping it on my dashboard.
See you on the other side!
https://eviefatz.substack.com/
One of the biggest challenges in writing my book is not being able to share any of it along the way. Given my narcissistic need for constant approval and attention, not having any feedback is killing me. Even negative attention is better than no attention at all (which explains a lot of my behavior in life), so not only am I missing the praise but I also miss my haters.
I need to break out of this cave. Thanks to Chuck Palahniuk who writes Spoiler Alert on Substack, but you would know as the author of Fight Club, I got the idea to share some excerpts and things that won’t make the final edit. This will give us both what we need. I get some attention and you get some thought provoking words to make you think (and possibly laugh, cry or both.)
Today’s snippet is from the first draft of a chapter titled, Remove Your Kindergarten Name Tag. I am currently on my third revision and we can all be thankful for this. As I walk my readers through the dark hallways of my earliest years, and attempt ...
Wanted to pass this short video along. We think of health in very limited ways. Faith, nature, love, communality, shared human experience…all prove to be just as necessary, if not more so, than going to the gym.
I’ve always viewed and taught health from this perspective. It is my belief the lack of these essential elements is as big an issue in our culture as poor diet and lack of movement.
The takeaway-we can do better🙏🏼
