People sometimes talk about slavery.
They talk about chains, cruelties, and the agony of having no self-respect and not being respected. Slavery is when a person is ruled by others and used (or abused) for others.
God didn’t create slaves. God created free people. God gave us all a personal choice to be what we want to be. Following the crowd is not free-choice. the TV, radio, songs, friends and family may convince you that following the latest fad is our free choice because we do say “Yes” or “No” but the reality is that people get caught up in the wave of people going to do what ever is the latest craze and people flock to follow the crowd.
We can get “emotionally pushed” to do things that we normally wouldn’t do.
Today we have a slavery. We have people addicted to sexual activities, addicted to pornography, drugs, pride, etc. There is another form of slavery which millions have no idea that they are addicted to and it is crowd-driven.
It is the slavery of ‘following the crowd’ any crowd. When Princess Diana became famous women all around the world rushed out and got their hair cut the same as Diana’s. That is a form of slavery. They didn’t think for themselves, they went with the flow because it feels important to be like all the others. They admired Diana and they yearned to copy her. Very few at that time new how insecure Diana was in real life. She was being judged by the millions as someone to admire because of the media-frenzy that fired up this mass adoration.
People will go to extremes to be accepted by the crowd. They will change their hair style, they will dye their hair, they will follow the latest music. The will change their own choices of lifestyle to suit the ways of others so that they can be important to a few.
When a new rock star appears or a new movie actress glows in Hollywood the millions go out to mimic them. When it becomes the thing, the rage, the fad to wear a tattoo on a certain place of the body the masses go out and get the same tattoos or one’s like it to be accepted by their friends and with hope someone will say that they are “cool” etc.
The sports heroes get a tattoo or cut their hair in a certain way and the parents cut their children’s hair the same, or the teenagers mimic their sports heroes and copy their tattoos. Copying someone does not make us as good at that person is at whatever made them famous, it simply means that we are following the logic of a monkey – monkey see, monkey do!
When people see what we have done to copy others it shows them that we don’t really have personal confidence. It shows others that we must copy others to try to get attention. We must be beyond the “sheep-attitude” and be how we feel deep inside that we should be. You need to be you!
By copying others we are being copies of others. Each person has different fingerprints (What seems an impossible thing but God made sure that it is so) and each person has a different character.
When you enter a room and you see people all gathered together just watch them. See who is copying who. See the ones who adore others. How many Taylor Swift’s can you see, and how many people can you see who are being natural?
We need confidence in our own personal character and be satisfied that being different to everyone else is an amazing blessing. A person will never stand out if a person is a mimic of others.
Have confidence in you being different. Stand strong with that. Listen to the music that you like and just keep doing it. If your friends laugh then move on or keep being a good example of a person who stands alone as you were designed to be. As the famous saying goes, “You were born an original, don’t die a copy!”
It is very important in your life to know that God created you to be you and only you.
You are special in so many ways. And we can find your character, your true character if you are an original.
All the best from James M Sandbrook.
Saturday, 6 July 2013, 4:42:40 PM.