Work is a 4 letter word

I like to bring it back to Star Trek...

It is all too common to hear people bitching and moaning about how "they" are screwing everything up, and how much better everything would be if not for "them" and how "I had to do those terrible things I did because 'they' left me no choice."



There is no shortage of people who are experts at identifying (often in elaborate detail) all the myriad problems that we are faced with, but solution experts are at a premium! Of course there are plenty of opinions as to the problems with any solutions...

We live in a world full of enablers and artful dodgers. If I want to quickly gain a bandwagon full of supporters (followers) I just need to confirm that their problems are not their fault and promise to take care of them. And voila, everyone will love me. Until their problems get worse. Which is what problems do when they are not dealt with at their source with real solutions.

The idea that the only way to enjoy your life fully is to be all that you can be - and never let anybody tell you otherwise - is not as palateable as it should be. It's too much like work. Work has become a dirty word. It has somehow become a goal in life to avoid all work. I know many people who work very hard at this, lol! It is these people that I call the "artful dodger". Always coming up with creative and ingenius ways of dodging any kind of work or responsibility. They will work very hard at looking like they are working, but never actually do or accomplish anything. Different strokes for different folks I guess.

Nothing truly interesting is effortless, at least that is my humble opinion. I imagine the millions of couch potatoes out there might beg to differ. Enabling people is easy and effortless. Empowering people is neither, but the payoff is exponentially greater.

So, to bring it back to Star Trek. In that rosy picture (some might even say Utopian) of humanity's future we have spread to the stars. We cooperate with civilized races from other worlds. And we have a unified human government. It seems to me self-evident that if humanity is to survive itself and not destroy our homeworld, we will need to unite our world. Unfortunately we have yet to evolve a sufficiently advanced system of political science or governance for this to happen any time soon without copious amounts of bloodshed and abuse of power.

Until society fundamentally changes how we look at (and utilize) power we will be in this bind. Power today is often thought of as the ability to enforce your will. Do what I say, or else! Power shouldn't be about what I can do TO you, but what I can do FOR you (to help you reach your full potential). This is where the next major shift needs to occur. To my critical eye, the majority of humanity in the Star Trek Universe are following their bliss!

My solution then is simple (but not easy or effortless). Never blame anyone for anything - who is at fault is irrelevant. Accept full responsibility for everything I say or do (or have said or done). Never make excuses. Never pass the buck. Always clean up after myself. Let other people make their own experiences (and mistakes) - live their own lives. And last but not least, love my neighbour as myself (I remember reading that somewhere). That is about all that I have the power to do. But it is plenty.

These issues are too important to leave up to others to solve for us. We must do it ourselves. The problems are ours - so too must the solutions be ours! It starts and ends within our own selves - the only person we have any power to change.

http://ferenczyram.blogspot.com - my personal blog
http://ferenczypre.blogspot.com/ - webOS & Palm
http://ferenczymu.blogspot.com/ - youtube mashups

-- Sent from my palm Pre