Part 3 – Becoming Responsible

In parts 1 and 2, I discussed how Political Correctness has gotten out of hand and is being used by special interest groups to further their agenda. The masses are being put down by not being permitted free speech. It has become an honoured place to be a “Victim.” What is the answer and what needs to change?

With the exception of those who due to age or a mental condition do not have the ability to decide for themselves, there is no one in our society who is a victim, except by choice! It is true that some terrible things happen to nice people. Sometimes, many times.
Those who feel they have been victimized have made a conscious choice to be a victim. Viktor Frankl was an Austrian Psychiatrist and Psychotherapist who spent many years in Auschwitz and other labour camps during the war. His wife was killed within hours of reaching a different part of the camp. Frankl spoke of his experience in the following way. “We who lived in concentration camps can remember the men who walked through the huts comforting others, giving away their last piece of bread. They may have been few in number, but they offer sufficient proof that everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms — to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one’s own way.” He went on to say: “When we are no longer able to change a situation – we are challenged to change ourselves.”

There are many women in countries like Afghanistan today that have endured terrible atrocities and the loss of spouses, children, and families. They could have chosen to be victims. Instead, the women chose to rebuild their country and to adopt the orphaned children so that those children would grow up with a parent. Those women chose hope.

When we become “Victims,” we give up our right to choose and we give up our power to someone else. We let others determine our lives. We give up responsibility for ourselves. Giving up responsibility ultimately comes with a terrible price. No one can make us feel any way we do not want to feel. We always choose how we feel at any given moment. Neither I nor anyone else can make you feel angry, sad, happy, jubilant, pissed off, or in love. Your children, your spouse, your employer or the other driver does cannot make you angry. You and only you can decide how you feel. You choose your feelings based on your life experience, your view of the world, your mood, and your beliefs. These are so entrenched in us that the majority of the time we choose how we feel without even thinking about it. We react rather than respond. All of this has nothing to due with the circumstances or the thoughts or words of another person. It has only to do with our interpretation of it. As Viktor Frankl also said: “Each man is questioned by life; and he can only answer to life by answering for his own life; to life he can only respond by being responsible.” As individuals and as a society we need to turn the tide and start retaking responsibility for our own thoughts, actions, feelings and beliefs. It is time to stop giving our power to others who are interested in furthering their own agendas and belief systems. It is time to stop giving our power to those who seek “Political Correctness” under the guise of caring, yet care very little about us despite their assertions to the contrary. “Political Correctness” is all about control.
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Being responsible for oneself, for one’s feelings and for all that happens to us is not easy. However once we accept and live this responsibility– life becomes very freeing. It is time to take the plunge into the deep end of the pool.

Part 4 – Some Afterthoughts: To Follow

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