My ideal World

So many of us grow up and spend much of our adult lives believing negative things about ourselves. We are ugly, fat, clumsy, stupid and so on. Even if at first we don’t believe it, the continuous barrage of negative reinforcement from others, causes us to accept these perceptions as being factual and we thus start to believe them.

Accepting these as real obviously hinders our progress in many ways and tends to hold us back, stunting our achievement potential. Because of these negative beliefs, we tend to feel we cannot achieve our dreams so do not even try. Even if the negative issue, is not directly related to the dream we would like to achieve.

From a starting point, let us look at the world’s perception as a whole. We have been brainwashed that perfect is good and less than perfect is not.

For example, how many really ugly movie starts are there? How many ugly or fat singers are there? (And by use of the word ‘ugly’ I mean it in terms of the standards that we as humans have set.)

Granted, there are some, but then it is no secret that those who do not meet these ‘ideal’ standards earn less and are less marketable than the ‘better- looking’ celebrities. We, the public have been brainwashed that we do not want to see ‘ugly’ people selling things, especially goods associated with beauty like creams and cosmetics-even cars.

In a world where we have specific labels and checklists of what is perfect and what is not, many people do not match that description. So, as a result, people are mocked, scorned or their shortcomings are highlighted over and over, until it becomes an issue, and sometimes the issue grows into a life- hindering defect or complex. Our attitude towards ourselves could hinder us as much as if we were blind or crippled. In fact, a mental affliction is more hindering that a physical one in many ways.

The world, by way of the media, legends, folklore and so on, dictates what is acceptable as intelligent, looks, behavior and so on. So, based on this, as a people, we judge other people and scorn those we do not fall into that category. 

On the other side of this, we tend to accept outer beauty as the benchmark and become blind to the inside of that person, either because we don’t want to look beyond the surface, or we refuse to because it will shatter the image we have created about that person, and image we are obviously happy with.

Everybody on earth is different, in looks, talents, nature, sense of humour and so on and on. We can not expect everybody to be what we perceive as perfect and nor should we. Unfortunately, we live in a plastic world, where worldly goods and looks are more important than deeds and what is inside a person. Celebrity is worshiped, failure is not. 

 Companies use beauty and sex to market their products and thus, reinforce the image of what is beautiful and thus, acceptable.

This situation obviously is not acceptable. We live in a world that is very competitive and becoming increasingly more so. Individuals need to believe in themselves more, to be able to compete successfully. We need to realize that everybody has their own individual talents which makes them unique. They may not be strong in other areas, but nobody is strong in all fields. 

We need to strive for a world where everybody’s talents are celebrated, where people who are not the same as us, are accepted as being equal to ourselves.  We need to help other people become who they could and want to be, and not who the world wants them to settle for because they are apparently not good enough.

Everybody should look at themselves objectively and see what talents they do have, what they do well, and concentrate on those points to build themselves up and thus give themselves the confidence to follow their dreams.

It may be a perfect, ideal. We cannot expect everybody to follow this idea, but it can start with us. We can make a difference in one person’s life, we can turn that person’s life around into something positive. It will feel wonderful, and you will do it again and again. It is true, every one of us has the ability to make a difference to the world, we don’t have to change the entire planet to make that difference, but we just need to touch one person’s life in a positive manner, and that touch, like a pebble in a pond, will have a ripple effect, and in doing so, the world can become a more perfect place.