We all create a framework or prism in which we live our lives. That framework is made up of social expectations, family expectations, and personal expectations as well as the legal and work frameworks we are part of.
While they differ for everyone they set the parameters of our lives. There are times that we all push beyond these expectations with both positive and negative impacts for ourselves and the world around us. At other times, this framework pushes back as it shapes us, our lives, and our futures.
At all levels we create stories of our experiences and justification for our actions. For some of us that is just in relation to our own lives; for others their stories shape the world around us. For both the personal and public those stories can have advantages and drawbacks. We can see the narrative around the Israel/Palestine conflict, the impact of Trump and fake news, the way local council conducts its community consultation, and in the way a person takes their own life.
The choice to push against truth, to reframe an event, to lie outright – these things impact not just us but the lives of those around us, the lives of people, people with feelings, tears and futures. Regardless of if they are our ex, our local councillor, or an international politician, we can impact their lives if we spread mistruth, and they can impact ours if they do the same. Sometimes that can lead to the loss of one life, or perhaps thousands of innocent lives.
That is why honesty, truth, and integrity are important. That is why reassessing our own framework for our own biases is important. That is why sometimes the best decisions we will ever make will begin with the integrity to stop, rethink, reframe, and make alternative plans.
While we watch the the likes of Trump, Netanyahu, and Putin make decisions that destroy thousands upon thousands of lives, we too can be responsible for the destruction of those we once cared for, loved, or perhaps never knew – purely because we won’t look at how we are framing our story to justify our own decisions, our own desires, our own determination to get the outcome we want.
The question is always, do the means justify the end? What is the framing of our story, and our decisions, doing to ourselves and to others? If it leads to death and destruction can we truly justify it in our own hearts?
We can take a moment to question ourselves. We can all be self-righteous bastards, but is that really the best we can do?
Aslan Shand, editor
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