This Person Is You

Report

You have at present a desire to break through inhibiting obstructions, to succeed in spite of the elements that are maintaining the status quo. You may feel at times that conservative formalities prevent you from unfolding your personality, and that in order to express yourself in word and action you must break down certain inhibitions around you. You probably feel that you should not be denied the things you deserve just because of certain traditions, that law and order do not always do justice to the dynamic forces of life, and that these forces must sometimes express themselves without conventional sanction so that they will find their form later.

Since you are now so pre-occupied with the idea of force, you may assume that other people share your feelings. But most of them have other ideas, and other problems. The people you love will probably encourage your attempts to act forcefully; but at the same time they will admonish you to play fair, according to the rules that everybody else obeys. They sense your tendency to do things that border on the criminal, and your hidden inhibitions.

How can you put your dynamic ideal into practice in spite of the formalities and inhibitions around you? Actually, what hinders you from unfolding your personality is not only outside but also inside yourself. Your zeal to break up the existing order is caused in part by your unsuccessful attempts to overcome your hidden inhibitions. Your dislike of dusty formalities is caused in part by your inability to express your strong feelings.

Some of your old habits and attitudes are still quite stiff, and it will take you a few weeks to become more dynamic. Your pre-occupation with force indicates that you are still an apprentice in the art of acting dynamically. But if you keep trying you will soon realize that you no longer try to act like an outlaw because you have overcome your hidden inhibitions.

Your stiff habits are evident in your body coordination: try to move your body and limbs in a less inhibited, more dynamic manner.

Until a more forceful behavior becomes second nature to you, you will at times overshoot your goal and break obstructions or rules needlessly. This you can easily change by bringing back into your daily life the qualities you neglected, such as fairness. Avoid thoughts and actions that do not agree with your own conscience or public opinion. Try to be more impartial. By thus coming to terms with your conscience, and the order obeyed by others, you can set the stage for energetic, but justified, action. As has been said: «If one takes care of the means, the end will take care of itself». (Gandhi).

There are times when you feel that your growth is stifled by an inhibiting environment. By following the voice of your own conscience, and the advice of impartial friends, you will be able to make room for yourself without getting in conflict with law, order, conventions, and yourself, needlessly. If you are motivated by an innocent desire to grow and expand, you will find no serious obstructions in your way. But if you have ulterior motives, and a craving to live at the expense of others, your circumstances are bound to get even more confining than they are now. The objective is to be impartial without becoming stiff, and to be dynamic without becoming unfair.