Roots

The ecosystem around you can be quite amazing.

Walking outside, your eyes could be exposed to a multitude of things. The buildings, the people, cars, roads, bridges, and other places where humanity declared that x marks the spot. Sometimes it's a bit of a shock to imagine that at one time, there was not a speck of human ingenuity, or mistakes, as far as your eyes could see.

Then the human spark arrived, and broke the ground with a shovel.

In a similar way, anything and everything that is complex in the slightest was built from the ground up. Without roots, a tree would fall at the slightest nudge. Without a foundation, a building would have to learn to live with lying on it's side. And without our mental skeleton, our minds would just be a overactive, disorganized mess.

I could say that a start to being a perfect human being would be the perfect mental foundation. And I would be dead wrong. Perfection is in the eye of the beholder. And while a weak link in a bridge could lead to disaster, a bad experience in a person's childhood can make them all the wiser.

So our mental roots require as much loving water as they need a few dark times away from the sun. But what determines this optimal mix? The same abusive childhood that turns one into a savior can make another into a psychotic killer. Genetics and upbringing clash in infinitely different ways, bringing out a diversity in humanity that goes beyond the physical.

A person's mental roots can manifest themselves in every aspect of a person's life. How can a person change when their experiences, good or bad, chain their intellect in some way? What do you think?

Acceptance

Acceptance can be liberation; the breaking of a chain that binds to a single place. It can also be a final judgment; taking things to be the way they are, with not a shred of hope for change.

It's easy to stay where we are; change is a disruption no doubt. But when one accepts themselves for who they are, instead of settling for the fact that we all judge each other, one is truly free. Extraneous opinion no longer holds weight. Life tries and tries to throw the knockout punch, but true acceptance of who you really are simply cannot be broken.

Life can be a very tiring game. An ever shifting landscape of masks, facades, and a struggle for the acceptance of society. But it is that drive to gain acceptance that chains us. To accept ourselves, and in the process accept each other unconditionally; this is an aspect of true freedom.

Once in awhile, let the inner you out to play, with no reservations. Life is short. And it could surely use some fresh air.