With climate change a reality, the question remains whether we can change course to avoid the impending catastrophe. My view as a counselling psychologist, but more importantly as a fellow human being, is that our only hope is to change our minds. We do this by learning a most valuable lesson, and that is how to properly mind our own business. It is time to take full responsibility for ourselves, instead of waiting and depending upon others to do so. Autonomy and responsibility are the most powerful and wonderful freedoms we have but we have not been shown how to make the most of them.
In the last six months I have realized how massively I have been socialized and conditioned by the prevailing culture I grew up in. Through family, religion and education, not to mention media influence, I developed a world view that is mainstream, compliant and dependent. However, this pathway eventually led to depression and burn-out, both useful signs that I was off course. Letting go of things that are familiar, even if not good for us, is incredibly difficult, but fortunately our own individual crises often dictate the new rules of engagement.
What I started to understand was the importance of nurturing my own nature, because the prevailing culture has very little time or ability to do so. Culture is a bit like a runaway train, powered by its own weight and momentum. So, within the train, we must become active agents instead of passive passengers. As an active agent, I want to die knowing that I truly lived my own life. But this requires taking full responsibility for myself, and minding my own business at a body, heart, head and soul level. It may sound selfish, but it is not.
Within each of us lies profound potential wisdom, accumulated through millions of years of evolution. Learning to listen and connect with all these inner resources is what will potentially deliver us from the drama triangle of co-dependence we all currently operate within. As we learn to nurture our own natures through various daily practices, we reconnect with our true selves and are liberated. We find ourselves suddenly awakened and in a far better position to take care of the environment. It’s as if we see things with greater clarity and instinctively know what to do. If you want to mind your own business, please give me a call, psychologist in Fourways. .