“Whoever cannot change his mind cannot change anything,” said George Bernard Shaw. However, immersed as we are in the external world, we have forgotten the internal world. Blinded by the desire for more, we lose what is most precious. And the more value we lose, the more we surround ourselves with intrascendent things in a vain attempt to make sure everything is as it "should be".
The terrible mistake of equating success with social status and material possessions, and the even greater mistake of thinking that they are synonymous with happiness, has led many to seek out what they should seek within.
When the existential void knocks on their door, they try to cover the sound of the blows with external stimuli that end up causing a state of semi-unconsciousness in which they are lost. They are transformed into repeating automatons of the consumerist message of the system which, happy with the result, continues to nourish that emptiness. In fact, "the system loves people who have nothing to say," French rapper Koma said about it.
It is easier to control consumers than slaves
“The advertising industry is the one that is dedicated to creating consumers. This phenomenon has developed in the freest countries, in Great Britain and the United States. And the reason is very clear. It became clear about a century ago when this industry realized that it would not be easy to control a people with the use of force. They had won too much freedom: trade unions, parliaments with workers' parties in many countries, the right to vote for women… So, they had to devise other means to control people ”, wrote Noam Chomsky.
It is easier to control consumers by manipulating their beliefs and attitudes than to use force to keep slaves willing to feed the system with their time and effort. The result, however, does not differ much: in both cases your life goes away without living it, pursuing goals that someone else has decided for you.
For the system, the ideal society is based on a dyad: you and the television, or perhaps now, you and the Internet. In both platforms, they present you what the ideal and successful life should be like, the kinds of things you should have, and the goals you should achieve. They constantly remind you how you need to spend your time and effort. Or, they encourage you to buy things you don't need and don't really want and will most likely end up throwing away.
Fortunately, more and more people have begun to question this system where happiness is not guaranteed and success is an increasingly elusive ideal that shows itself empty within. Being a cog in the system ensures that things will work, more or less, while everything is well lubricated, but at the slightest setback, you will be replaced quickly and forgotten.
Inner peace as a new ideal of success
Inner peace, that state in which you feel in balance with yourself and with the world, where nothing is missing and nothing is superfluous, is supplanting the archaic concept of success, it encourages us to live more relaxed, but, above all, more connected. with our authentic needs and desires.
Inner peace is achieved, on the one hand, when we re-establish contact with our "I" through a long journey that involves discarding the expectations that weigh on us and above all our own expectations about how we are supposed to think, feel or Act.
On the other hand, inner peace implies making peace with the world. We cannot feel at peace if we constantly criticize or if we harbor a grudge. This means putting into practice the radical acceptance that frees us from those thoughts and feelings that disturb us.
The path to inner peace offers no guarantees, and is often too torturous for lazy spirits, but it guarantees the most exciting journey of all: finding yourself.
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