My all-time favorite movie franchise is: The Matrix Trilogy.
If you’ve not seen this AWESOME set of movies, Wikipedia offers a nice summary.
It depicts a dystopian future in which reality as perceived by most humans is actually a simulated reality called “the Matrix”, created by sentient machines to subdue the human population, while their bodies’ heat and electrical activity are used as an energy source. Computer programmer “Neo” learns this truth and is drawn into a rebellion against the machines, which involves other people who have been freed from the “dream world”.
I’d suggest that our society has MANY parallels with The Matrix. The question is: are we trapped by it?
Many are.
Following are a handful of questions that can help to determine if we are among the trapped…
Warning: This may be painful 🙂
We simply need to ask ourselves questions like: Do I…?
- Spend most of my time devoted (at work) to paying off a mortgage (and/or other debt) rather than enjoying life?
- Judge my (or other’s) success by the car I drive, the suburb I live in, and the size of the house I own?
- Work a job I don’t enjoy, thinking the money I earn will offset the misery of working in a career I am not passionate about?
- Buy stuff to make me happy?
- Focus more on my favorite sports team (and/or the news) than on personal development and advancement?
- Conform to the status quo and seldom question why things are done?
- Believe that my education was complete after High School or College?
- Think that living with traffic congestion (the daily commute) is part of normal everyday life?
- Believe the way to make ends meet is by going to work each day, for someone else, until retirement age (or death)?
- Believe my pay is determined by somebody else?
The more of these questions we answer with a “Yes”, the more likely we are trapped in the “dream world” called The Matrix.
In my early 20’s, I certainly was…
Are you? It is perfectly ok – if that is what you want.
It just wasn’t for me…
When the student is ready the teacher appears.
I’ve written throughout this blog about my exit from The Matrix (although it didn’t dawn on me to call it that) which began with a bootcamp experience. As such, I won’t cover that here.
While many of the above indicators are norms of our society, they need not apply to our lives. We must simply WAKE UP from this “dream world” and apply ourselves in ways that create the life we’d REALLY like to live.
We CANNOT leave this up to, or blame, anyone else: not the government, our employer, spouse, parents, friends, neighbors or church. They are simply NOT responsible for our lives. We are! And, we need not settle for societal norms!
In closing, the purpose of this post is to stir up some “constructive discontent.”
If you want to wake up from the “dream world” and create the life you’d truly like to live, begin the process by:
- Scouring this site for strategies to do so, starting with my bootcamp experience.
- Acquiring and then listening to the audio program: Lead the Field, by Earl Nightingale several times EVERY year. Simply click on the title above and you will be transported to Amazon.com.
Ignorance (living in The Matrix) is NOT bliss!
All the best!
Be Brave Not Safe 