Improving Happiness

Subservient: serving or acting in a subordinate capacity; servile; excessively submissive; obsequious.

Obsequious: compliant or deferential; obedient; dutiful; fawning.

A desire to control is a natural, human urge.

But to work at exercising control over any realm beyond the boundaries of (mutually agreed upon and beneficial) responsibility is immature and (especially when the mutuality does not include ALL natural, living impacted realms) unpredictably reckless.

Examples: 

  • Lawn care must consider practical functionality and the environment. To insist on personal landscaping as a means of ego gratification is an excessive / extravagant desire for control. I should not pretend that nature is subservient to my whims and demands.
  • The responsibility of governance, at any level, must consider the boundaries of one's power, as agreed upon mutually. To demand an uncompromising obedience to a presumed authority is an excessive / extravagant desire for control. I should not pretend that because according to momentary circumstance I have more power, I am more capable and/or more correct.

In this past week, these two examples have played themselves out, both separately and as an entangled interpretation; and on both a personal and a global scale.

I can better understand the reasoning leading to one believing they have dominion over nature than the irrationality of believing one has dominion over subordinate individuals or groups who by any definition are also human; but I do not agree with either declaration of superiority. And though some believe that environmental issues are fake news, and some believe that cultural intolerance is a misinterpretation of a simple appeal to history and heritage, I believe that both practices reflect a dangerous ignorance. Granted, lawn care may appear to be a tiny piece of an overwhelming challenge, but as an individual, eco-friendly lawn care is a manageable contribution. And impaired governance may appear to be an overwhelming piece of an insurmountable challenge, but as an individual, I am able to protest; gross mismanagement demands an outcry.

So, in a sense, these two examples encompass a spectrum in which I am able to participate in many different areas and on many different levels. From an active voice to active participation, I feel compelled to work for future generations that are as of yet unable to work for themselves.

And perhaps that is this week's takeaway / reminder. No matter how seemingly inconsequential or overwhelmingly substantial, I have active options.

In 307 BCE, King Wuling, a ruler of the kingdom of Zhao in northeastern China, said, "A talent for following the ways of yesterday is not sufficient to improve the world of today." (Quote taken from "The Silk Roads: A New History of the World" by Peter Frankopan.) I would go a step further and maintain that the world of today is the world of tomorrow. We may learn from past mistakes, but we should not glory in them. We may learn from past success, but as with past mistakes, it is nonproductive to glory in them. We may consider the moment, but the moment (by definition) is momentary. To desire control and require subservience will stretch the moment from a moment to a week, or to a month, or in some circumstance to four years; and to stretch a moment in this manner will frustrate progress, rooting us in today. To improve the world of today I must be active for tomorrow, and to be maximally active for tomorrow I cannot expend effort on excessive / extravagant control.

Unfortunately, many of us do spend far too much effort on excessive / extravagant control; (even within my recognition of its harm, I am human and I desire control). And more unfortunately, even if we are able to expand consciousness and decrease some excess, this is only the first step. From here, to be maximally active for tomorrow, I must accurately predict tomorrow. Unfortunately I have found that my precognitive skills are lacking, but fortunately there are experts who are much better at predicting where our trajectory may take us. So for my part, I read the experts.

If one is spending effort on excessive / extravagant control, one has less opportunity to read (or consult with) the experts. This leaves us stuck in today; or alternatively, reliving yesterday.

  1. Acknowledge the waste inherent in excessive / extravagant control.
  2. Learn to recognize excessive / extravagant control.
  3. Read (and/or consult with) bona fide experts---(ideally multiple experts who disagree)---and listen for understanding.
  4. Be active, in voice and in participation.
  5. Rinse and Repeat.

This is an arduous undertaking, partially because you cannot do it for me and I cannot do it for you. But fortunately the heaviest lifting is being done by experts; that is experts with credentials as opposed to self-perceived or charismatic experts with a smart phone and access to Google; (or Twitter).

In recent years, I have composed written thought and earmarked it for more frequent review. If I come back to the paragraphs above each time I brandish excessive / extravagant control, I should have them memorized in a matter of days.

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