Category: Positivity

Why Shoveling Is FUN!

~ Donald "Nugget" Arteaga ~ Leave a comment

😄 𝐒𝐇𝐎𝐕𝐄𝐋𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐈𝐒 𝐅𝐔𝐍!!! 😄

𝐈𝐟 𝐲𝐚𝐮 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐭𝐚 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐚𝐬𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐭𝐰𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐝𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐬𝐚𝐊𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭’𝐬 𝐜𝐚𝐧𝐯𝐞𝐧𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐝𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐬𝐚𝐊𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭’𝐬 𝐊𝐞𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐟𝐮𝐥…𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐚𝐬𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫. ❀

Last Sunday we had a blizzard in Chicago. As the inches piled up and the storm raged on, I decided to bundle myself up, step outside, and shovel the driveway. 🌚

But in doing so I could hear that little voice in my head which was saying:

🗣 “𝘋𝘖𝘕𝘈𝘓𝘋, 𝘛𝘏𝘐𝘚 𝘐𝘚 𝘗𝘖𝘐𝘕𝘛𝘓𝘌𝘚𝘚!” 🗣

To be fair, this voice had a point! Why? Because the townhouse association I live under already provides snow plowers to do everyone’s driveways! 😅

In other words, I had no reason to step outside my warm, cozy home and out into the freezing cold to perform a job which was already going to be done for me! 🀣

And yet…I did have a reason! 😲

Have you ever done something you felt really proud of, yet in the eyes of others it could easily be seen as “𝘗𝘖𝘐𝘕𝘛𝘓𝘌𝘚𝘚”?

📌 You run a marathon…yet you NEVER need to run 26 miles in your life!

📌 You play a sport…yet you NEVER need to place yourself in harm’s way for bodily injuries!

📌 You learn a new skill…yet you NEVER need to learn one because you can always hire someone with the same skill!

Are we just masochists?! Do we just enjoy experiencing discomfort for the sake of it?! 😅

Not quite! 🛑

I doubt most people would say they do it primarily for the pain. I know I don’t! 🙋‍♂

𝐁𝐮𝐭 𝐩𝐚𝐢𝐧 𝐢𝐬 𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝐚𝐟 𝐢𝐭! 𝐃𝐢𝐬𝐜𝐚𝐊𝐟𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝐚𝐟 𝐢𝐭!

When I stepped outside last Sunday, I knew what I was getting myself into!

🥶 I KNEW the snow would blanket my face!

🥶 I KNEW the cold air would leak under my gloves!

🥶 I KNEW I would be sweating from shoveling!

🥶 I KNEW my muscles would be aching!

And yet…I still enjoyed it!

𝐁𝐞𝐜𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐢𝐭’𝐬 𝐍𝐎𝐓 𝐚𝐛𝐚𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐚𝐢𝐧! 𝐈𝐭’𝐬 𝐚𝐛𝐚𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐞𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬 𝐲𝐚𝐮 𝐠𝐞𝐭 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐲𝐚𝐮 𝐚𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐜𝐚𝐊𝐞 𝐚𝐝𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐲! ✊

𝐈𝐭’𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐚𝐟 𝐝𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐬𝐚𝐊𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐝, 𝐝𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐬𝐚𝐊𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐜𝐡 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐬 𝐲𝐚𝐮, 𝐝𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐬𝐚𝐊𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐲𝐚𝐮 𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐝 𝐊𝐞𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐟𝐮𝐥, 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐬𝐞 𝐟𝐞𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐩𝐫𝐚𝐝𝐮𝐜𝐞𝐝! 🙌

In other words:

📍 You don’t run a marathon just to exhaust your muscles. You also do it to see what your body is capable of.

📍 You don’t play a sport just to risk bodily injuries. You also do it to see how you compete against other players.

📍 You don’t learn a skill just to learn it. You also do it to see what else your brain doesn’t know about the world.

𝐈𝐭’𝐬 𝐚𝐛𝐚𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐠-𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐊 𝐎𝐔𝐓𝐂𝐎𝐌𝐄, 𝐧𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐭-𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐊 𝐏𝐀𝐈𝐍!

As I was shoveling, I got so much into the flow of doing it I even shoveled the sidewalks too!

Again, there were plows for that too, but I didn’t care! 😁

There’s an ancient Greek proverb which echoed in my mind as I kept shoveling: “𝘈 𝘎𝘰𝘀𝘪𝘊𝘵𝘺 𝘚𝘳𝘰𝘞𝘎 𝘚𝘳𝘊𝘢𝘵 𝘞𝘩𝘊𝘯 𝘰𝘭𝘥 𝘱𝘊𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘊 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘳𝘊𝘊𝘎 𝘞𝘩𝘰𝘎𝘊 𝘎𝘩𝘢𝘥𝘊 𝘵𝘩𝘊𝘺 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘞 𝘵𝘩𝘊𝘺 𝘎𝘩𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘯𝘊𝘷𝘊𝘳 𝘎𝘪𝘵 𝘪𝘯.” 🙌

And once everything was done, I got to fully feel the fruits of my labor! ❀

𝐏𝐑𝐎𝐔𝐃! 💪

𝐀𝐂𝐂𝐎𝐌𝐏𝐋𝐈𝐒𝐇𝐄𝐃! 😎

𝐀 𝐉𝐎𝐁 𝐖𝐄𝐋𝐋 𝐃𝐎𝐍𝐄! 💯

“𝐌𝐘 𝐂𝐎𝐌𝐌𝐔𝐍𝐈𝐓𝐘 𝐈𝐒 𝐒𝐀𝐕𝐄𝐃!” 🗡

“𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐃𝐑𝐀𝐆𝐎𝐍 𝐇𝐀𝐒 𝐁𝐄𝐄𝐍 𝐒𝐋𝐀𝐘𝐄𝐃!” 🐉

If I can make a task as “mundane” as shoveling a meaningful experience, I have to ask: what are YOU capable of making meaningful in your life? ❀

What dragons can you create to slay? What missions can you accept to accomplish? What hero’s journey can you undertake in your own backyard? ⚔

Because when you don’t have any, I encourage you to create some! The Stoic philosopher Epictetus had a point ⬇:

“𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘞𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘊 𝘣𝘊𝘀𝘰𝘮𝘊 𝘰𝘧 𝘏𝘊𝘳𝘀𝘶𝘭𝘊𝘎 𝘥𝘰 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬 𝘪𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘊𝘳𝘊 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘣𝘊𝘊𝘯 𝘯𝘰 𝘭𝘪𝘰𝘯, 𝘩𝘺𝘥𝘳𝘢, 𝘎𝘵𝘢𝘚 𝘰𝘳 𝘣𝘰𝘢𝘳 – 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘯𝘰 𝘎𝘢𝘷𝘢𝘚𝘊 𝘀𝘳𝘪𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘭𝘎 𝘵𝘰 𝘳𝘪𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘊 𝘞𝘰𝘳𝘭𝘥 𝘰𝘧? 𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘞𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘩𝘊 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘊 𝘥𝘰𝘯𝘊 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘊 𝘢𝘣𝘎𝘊𝘯𝘀𝘊 𝘰𝘧 𝘎𝘶𝘀𝘩 𝘀𝘩𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘊𝘯𝘚𝘊𝘎? 🀔

𝘖𝘣𝘷𝘪𝘰𝘶𝘎𝘭𝘺 𝘩𝘊 𝘞𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘊 𝘫𝘶𝘎𝘵 𝘳𝘰𝘭𝘭𝘊𝘥 𝘰𝘷𝘊𝘳 𝘪𝘯 𝘣𝘊𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘚𝘰𝘯𝘊 𝘣𝘢𝘀𝘬 𝘵𝘰 𝘎𝘭𝘊𝘊𝘱. 𝘚𝘰 𝘣𝘺 𝘎𝘯𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘚 𝘩𝘪𝘎 𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘊 𝘢𝘞𝘢𝘺 𝘪𝘯 𝘭𝘶𝘹𝘶𝘳𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘀𝘰𝘮𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘵 𝘩𝘊 𝘯𝘊𝘷𝘊𝘳 𝘞𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘊 𝘥𝘊𝘷𝘊𝘭𝘰𝘱𝘊𝘥 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘊 𝘮𝘪𝘚𝘩𝘵𝘺 𝘏𝘊𝘳𝘀𝘶𝘭𝘊𝘎.” 😔

And that’s why I shoveled! It had nothing to do with the plowers! It had everything to do with creating a meaningful life. 🙌

𝐈𝐟 𝐲𝐚𝐮 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐭𝐚 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐚𝐬𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐭𝐰𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐝𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐬𝐚𝐊𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭’𝐬 𝐜𝐚𝐧𝐯𝐞𝐧𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐝𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐬𝐚𝐊𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭’𝐬 𝐊𝐞𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐟𝐮𝐥…𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐚𝐬𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫. ❀

Make life fun, even when there’s no reason to! But just don’t forget that making it fun is YOUR responsibility! 😄

Your MOST Important Valentine!

~ Donald "Nugget" Arteaga ~ Leave a comment

❀ 𝐘𝐎𝐔𝐑 𝐌𝐎𝐒𝐓 𝐈𝐌𝐏𝐎𝐑𝐓𝐀𝐍𝐓 𝐕𝐀𝐋𝐄𝐍𝐓𝐈𝐍𝐄!!! ❀

What does today’s holiday mean to you?

💓 A day to share love with the people in your life?

💘 A day to spend time with that “special someone”?

💔 A day to remind you of the fact you’re still single?

𝐈𝐟 𝐲𝐚𝐮𝐫 𝐚𝐧𝐬𝐰𝐞𝐫 𝐢𝐬 #𝟑, 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐩𝐚𝐬𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐟𝐚𝐫 𝐲𝐚𝐮!

For all my single friends out there, me being single myself: no need to fret! 😁

What if I told you, me at age 29, I’ve NEVER been in a relationship?! 😱

“𝐁𝐋𝐀𝐒𝐏𝐇𝐄𝐌𝐘!!!”❌

Don’t get me wrong, I used to DESPERATELY want one myself! Back in high school, I was on ALL the dating sites and apps: Plenty of Fish, OkCupid, Tinder, etc. I had them ALL covered! 😅

🗣 “𝘞𝘩𝘺 𝘥𝘪𝘥 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘞𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘊 𝘪𝘯 𝘢 𝘳𝘊𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘎𝘩𝘪𝘱 𝘎𝘰 𝘣𝘢𝘥, 𝘋𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭𝘥?!” 🗣

At the time I didn’t really know, nor did it ever cross my mind to really ask myself why. All I knew was I simply wanted to be in one! 🀷‍♂

I wanted to find that “special someone” that would make me happier. 🙁

🌟 BUT THEREIN WAS THE PROBLEM! 🌟

𝐈 𝐡𝐞𝐥𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐚𝐧 𝐢𝐧 𝐊𝐲 𝐊𝐢𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐚 𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐈 𝐠𝐚𝐭 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐚 𝐚 𝐫𝐞𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐚𝐧𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐩 𝐈 𝐰𝐚𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐊𝐚𝐠𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐛𝐞𝐜𝐚𝐊𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐢𝐞𝐫.

❀ 𝐘𝐎𝐔𝐑 𝐌𝐎𝐒𝐓 𝐈𝐌𝐏𝐎𝐑𝐓𝐀𝐍𝐓 𝐕𝐀𝐋𝐄𝐍𝐓𝐈𝐍𝐄!!! ❀

Often we’re taught, especially through romantic stories, that if we’re in a relationship with that “special someone” the heavens will somehow magically open and all will live happily ever after. 😊

It’s quite a romantic way of looking at relationships…but as a teenager I didn’t understand that that was NOT reflective of reality! 😅

And I get why we keep believing this idea: We tend to only see the POSITIVE moments of a couple’s relationship, on display in our social lives and for all to see on social media. 🖌

We typically don’t hear about the negative or challenging moments that happen in relationships. Who wants to hear that negativity, right?! 👍

𝐖𝐞’𝐫𝐞 𝐊𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐢𝐥𝐲 𝐜𝐚𝐊𝐊𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐚 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐬𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐲. 𝐖𝐞’𝐫𝐞 𝐊𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐢𝐥𝐲 𝐜𝐚𝐊𝐊𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐚 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐯𝐢𝐬𝐢𝐚𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐚𝐧. 𝐁𝐮𝐭 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐊𝐚𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐲𝐚𝐮 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐳𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐚 𝐜𝐚𝐊𝐊𝐢𝐭𝐊𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐭𝐚 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐢𝐬 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐊𝐚𝐀𝐞𝐬 𝐟𝐚𝐫 𝐚 𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐠-𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐊 𝐫𝐞𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐚𝐧𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐩. ❀

But I didn’t know all this as a teenager! So, as a naive teenager, WHY WOULDN’T I want to be in a relationship? They seemed to be nothing but smooth sailing! They looked like mindless fun! 😍

But it was around 4 years ago that I finally had this big change in perspective around relationships. I made the unanimous decision to UNINSTALL and DELETE ALL the dating apps I was on! 😲

🗣 “𝐖𝐚𝐢𝐭, 𝐰𝐡𝐲?!” 🗣

Of all the countless hours I had spent on those apps, I had finally become drained of my willingness to keep searching for that “special someone”. 😓

If I could take the ratio of time I spent browsing those apps to the amount of time I actually spent talking with someone, it would be like 500 to 1! 👎

❀ 𝐘𝐎𝐔𝐑 𝐌𝐎𝐒𝐓 𝐈𝐌𝐏𝐎𝐑𝐓𝐀𝐍𝐓 𝐕𝐀𝐋𝐄𝐍𝐓𝐈𝐍𝐄!!! ❀

Ultimately, my excessive searching was a time-waster! And the worst part of all: I kept making myself feel worse each time I logged off the apps when I had no luck. Each time I blamed MYSELF for it! 😥

⚠ 𝐈 𝐝𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐚𝐩𝐞𝐝 𝐚 𝐛𝐚𝐝 𝐡𝐚𝐛𝐢𝐭 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐈 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐚𝐧𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐫𝐞𝐢𝐧𝐟𝐚𝐫𝐜𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐚 𝐊𝐲𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐟: “𝐍𝐚 𝐚𝐧𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐬 𝐭𝐚 𝐭𝐚𝐥𝐀 𝐭𝐚 𝐊𝐞! 𝐈 𝐟𝐞𝐞𝐥 𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐧 𝐈 𝐝𝐢𝐝 𝐛𝐞𝐟𝐚𝐫𝐞!” ⚠

…And then holidays like Valentine’s Day came around every year. They would only FURTHER reinforce a cycle of self-pity that I wasn’t in a relationship. And it SUCKED! 😫

So, you may be asking: what was the “final straw” for me to make such a drastic change?

❀ 𝐘𝐎𝐔𝐑 𝐌𝐎𝐒𝐓 𝐈𝐌𝐏𝐎𝐑𝐓𝐀𝐍𝐓 𝐕𝐀𝐋𝐄𝐍𝐓𝐈𝐍𝐄!!! ❀

Since my teenage years, I’ve come to greater realizations about why I wanted to be in a relationship in the first place:

⚠ I thought being in a relationship was the answer to making me happy. But it wasn’t.

⚠ I thought by being in a relationship, I could seek recognition and validation from others. But I wouldn’t.

⚠ I thought that if I was in a relationship, it would fill the void of loneliness I felt inside myself. But it wouldn’t.

As awful as it sounds, 𝐈 𝐬𝐚𝐰 𝐚 𝐫𝐞𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐚𝐧𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐩 𝐚𝐬 𝐚 𝐟𝐚𝐫𝐊 𝐚𝐟 𝐩𝐫𝐚𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐭𝐲, 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐚𝐧 𝐛𝐞𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚 𝐩𝐚𝐚𝐫 𝐬𝐮𝐛𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐭𝐮𝐭𝐞 𝐟𝐚𝐫 𝐚 𝐭𝐚𝐲 𝐈 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐊𝐚𝐀𝐞 𝐊𝐞 𝐟𝐞𝐞𝐥 𝐛𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫.🧞

But people aren’t objects! And owning more objects won’t make you fulfilled in the long-term! 💯

🚚 𝐈 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐳𝐞𝐝 𝐊𝐲 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐚𝐧𝐬 𝐟𝐚𝐫 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐚 𝐛𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐚 𝐫𝐞𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐚𝐧𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐩 𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐟𝐚𝐫 𝐊𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐒𝐄𝐋𝐅𝐈𝐒𝐇 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐧 𝐒𝐄𝐋𝐅𝐋𝐄𝐒𝐒. 𝐌𝐲 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐚𝐧 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐥𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐚𝐛𝐚𝐮𝐭 “𝐖𝐄” 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐊𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐛𝐚𝐮𝐭 “𝐌𝐄”. 🚚

How many of us get into a relationship primarily for selfish reasons? I challenge you to seriously think about it! 💯

So, in sharing my story with you all, I hope you see a part of yourself in this. Sometimes what we’re actually looking for is not that “special someone” but actually something much closer to home. 🏠

❀ 𝐘𝐎𝐔𝐑 𝐌𝐎𝐒𝐓 𝐈𝐌𝐏𝐎𝐑𝐓𝐀𝐍𝐓 𝐕𝐀𝐋𝐄𝐍𝐓𝐈𝐍𝐄…𝐈𝐒 𝐘𝐎𝐔!!! ❀

🌟 𝐃𝐚𝐧’𝐭 𝐟𝐚𝐫𝐠𝐞𝐭 𝐚 𝐫𝐞𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐚𝐧𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐩 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐘𝐚𝐮𝐫𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐟 𝐟𝐢𝐫𝐬𝐭. 𝐁𝐞𝐜𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐲𝐚𝐮 𝐜𝐚𝐧𝐧𝐚𝐭 𝐠𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐲𝐚𝐮 𝐝𝐚 𝐧𝐚𝐭 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞. 🌟

Again, for all my single friends out there: no need to fret!

❀ Relationships are not all sunshine and rainbows. We often don’t see what goes on behind-the-scenes, the ongoing commitment required from both people, or the negative moments which happen in them.

❀ Inner happiness and fulfillment has to come from YOU first. Fill your cup up first so then you can easily share it with a future lover. If you can’t love yourself first, you can’t expect it to come from someone else, because you’re going to be waiting forever.

❀ Self-love is one of the greatest gifts you can give. The only person you’re with 100% of your life…is Yourself! So learn to be comfortable in your own company.

❀ Today is an opportunity for you to change your perspective on how you see relationships. They are not a place you go to GET but a place you go to GIVE, and not being in one DOESN’T determine your self-worth.

Make today a day for you to give love in whatever way you know best! For me, writing this post to share with all of you is one of them! 😁

Please SHARE this post with anyone who needs to hear this today. Truly, you’re not alone! ❀

Why Our HUMANITY Matters!

~ Donald "Nugget" Arteaga ~ Leave a comment

❀ 𝐈 𝐀𝐌 𝐀 𝐇𝐔𝐌𝐀𝐍 𝐁𝐄𝐈𝐍𝐆! ❀

I am someone who is gay
I rarely talk about it. 🀷‍♂‍

I am someone who is Hispanic
I rarely talk about it. 🀷‍♂‍

I am someone who is Liberal
I rarely talk about it. 🀷‍♂‍

I am someone who is Atheist
I (especially) rarely talk about it. 🀷‍♂‍

Why do I rarely talk about these things? 🀔

Well
let’s take a step back. 👣

Say you were meeting me for the very first time, and the only information you were given about who I am were these labels: 📜

Male. Gay. Hispanic. Liberal. Atheist.

What kind of person comes to your mind that fits into each of these categories? 🀔

What comes to your mind when you think of a “Gay Male”? Flamboyant? Feminine? Limp wrists?

What comes to your mind when you think of an “Atheist?” Snobbish? Science-obsessed? Blasphemous?

Now
take these labels and apply them back to me. And compare these labels to how you 𝘢𝘀𝘵𝘶𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 know me as a person. 🙋‍♂

Let me ask: do these labels easily fit into your general perception of me? 😅

Of Donald Arteaga? 🀷‍♂

If your answer is “no”
THAT is the reason why!

🙌 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐚𝐧 𝐈 𝐫𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐥𝐲 𝐝𝐞𝐬𝐜𝐫𝐢𝐛𝐞 𝐊𝐲𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐟 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐊𝐬 𝐚𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐬𝐞 𝐥𝐚𝐛𝐞𝐥𝐬 𝐢𝐬 𝐛𝐞𝐜𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐈 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐝 𝐟𝐚𝐫 𝐲𝐚𝐮 𝐭𝐚 𝐬𝐞𝐞 𝐊𝐞 𝐚𝐬 𝐚 𝐡𝐮𝐊𝐚𝐧 𝐛𝐞𝐢𝐧𝐠, 𝐟𝐢𝐫𝐬𝐭 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐟𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐊𝐚𝐬𝐭, 𝐛𝐞𝐟𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐥𝐚𝐛𝐞𝐥𝐬. 🙌

I’d rather we all be judged, as Martin Luther King Jr. said, based upon the content of our character. 👀

👍 I don’t intend for you to judge me by virtue of my sexual preference.

👍 I don’t intend for you to judge me by virtue of my race.

👍 I don’t intend for you to judge me by virtue of my political views.

👍 I don’t intend for you to judge me by virtue of my religious affiliation.

❀ 𝐈 𝐀𝐌 𝐀 𝐇𝐔𝐌𝐀𝐍 𝐁𝐄𝐈𝐍𝐆! ❀

THIS is why I generally don’t provide this information to people upfront. I want you to get to know ME first, minus the preconceptions. 🙂

👀 𝐁𝐞𝐜𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐊𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐈 𝐞𝐊𝐩𝐡𝐚𝐬𝐢𝐳𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐬𝐞 𝐥𝐚𝐛𝐞𝐥𝐬 𝐚𝐬 𝐰𝐡𝐚 𝐈 𝐚𝐊, 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐊𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐈 𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐚𝐮𝐫𝐚𝐠𝐞 𝐲𝐚𝐮 𝐚𝐧𝐥𝐲 𝐭𝐚 𝐬𝐞𝐞 𝐊𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐚𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐢𝐥𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐚𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐬𝐞 𝐥𝐚𝐛𝐞𝐥𝐬. 👀

The problem is these labels are only mere facets of who I am as a human being, just as I believe this to be the case for any other human being. 💎

I’ve held this ideal ever since I started my mission to Transcend Labels in 2018. ⏳

The ideal has always been for me to show through my example that people don’t have to be entrenched in their labels. 💯

The ideal has always been for me to show that my diagnosis of Autism is just a temporary explanation and not a final destination. 💯

The ideal has always been for me to show how limiting labels are as frameworks for understanding ourselves and other people. 💯

Consider the facts:

🙌 No one on this planet is 100% exactly the same.

🙌 No one thinks 100% exactly the same way.

🙌 No one has lived 100% exactly the same life as another person.

𝐁𝐞𝐜𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐚𝐟 𝐚𝐮𝐫 𝐢𝐧𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐯𝐢𝐝𝐮𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐲, 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲𝐚𝐧𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐭𝐚 𝐭𝐞𝐚𝐜𝐡 𝐮𝐬 𝐬𝐚𝐊𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠.

𝐁𝐞𝐜𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐚𝐟 𝐚𝐮𝐫 𝐢𝐧𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐯𝐢𝐝𝐮𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐲, 𝐚 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐚𝐧’𝐬 𝐥𝐚𝐛𝐞𝐥𝐬 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐧𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐝𝐚 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐞 𝐭𝐚 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐚𝐊𝐩𝐥𝐞𝐱, 𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐪𝐮𝐞 𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐯𝐢𝐝𝐮𝐚𝐥 𝐥𝐚𝐲𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧 𝐞𝐚𝐜𝐡 𝐚𝐟 𝐮𝐬.

𝐁𝐞𝐜𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐚𝐟 𝐚𝐮𝐫 𝐢𝐧𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐯𝐢𝐝𝐮𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐲, 𝐚 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐚𝐧’𝐬 𝐥𝐚𝐛𝐞𝐥𝐬 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐧𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐛𝐞 𝐚 𝐝𝐞𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐊𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐚𝐟 𝐚𝐧𝐞’𝐬 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐚𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐞𝐫.

As Ayishat Akanbi put it: “𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝒇𝒊𝒙𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒊𝒅𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒊𝒕𝒚 𝒍𝒊𝒎𝒊𝒕𝒔 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒊𝒅𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒊𝒕𝒚.” The obsession with one’s labels become a self-fulfilling prophecy which leaves no room for change, let alone the possibility for personal growth. 🙌

For me, my mission to Transcend Labels is a life-affirming philosophy that says we are more than our pasts, more than our circumstances, and that we are capable of becoming more than the people we were yesterday. ✊

❀ 𝐈 𝐀𝐌 𝐀 𝐇𝐔𝐌𝐀𝐍 𝐁𝐄𝐈𝐍𝐆! ❀

Perhaps as you read this, this sounds like common sense to you! 😅

But
things seemed to have changed. 🧐

Not with my mission; it remains the same. But I’m talking about within our society. 👥

More and more I continue reading about a growing ideology that:

😱 Encourages people to see each other ONLY for their labels, not for their individuality.

😱 Encourages people to see each other ONLY for their group identities, not for their common humanity.

😱 Encourages people to see each other ONLY through a zero-sum lens of either being Oppressors or being Oppressed.

😱 Encourages people to indulge in cognitive biases like mindreading, overgeneralizing, and black-and-white thinking.

This smorgasbord of an ideology has come to be more popularly known as: “being woke”.

(𝘍𝘰𝘳 𝘢 𝘙𝘰𝘎𝘊𝘵𝘵𝘢 𝘎𝘵𝘰𝘯𝘊 𝘰𝘯 𝘞𝘰𝘬𝘊 𝘪𝘥𝘊𝘰𝘭𝘰𝘚𝘺, 𝘳𝘊𝘢𝘥 “𝘊𝘺𝘯𝘪𝘀𝘢𝘭 𝘛𝘩𝘊𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘊𝘎: 𝘏𝘰𝘞 𝘈𝘀𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘪𝘎𝘵 𝘚𝘀𝘩𝘰𝘭𝘢𝘳𝘎𝘩𝘪𝘱 𝘔𝘢𝘥𝘊 𝘌𝘷𝘊𝘳𝘺𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘚 𝘈𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘙𝘢𝘀𝘊, 𝘎𝘊𝘯𝘥𝘊𝘳, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘐𝘥𝘊𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘵𝘺” 𝘣𝘺 𝘑𝘢𝘮𝘊𝘎 𝘓𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘎𝘢𝘺 & 𝘏𝘊𝘭𝘊𝘯 𝘗𝘭𝘶𝘀𝘬𝘳𝘰𝘎𝘊.)

Simply put
the very ideals I’ve stood for the past few years are in direct opposition to this ideology. 🀷‍♂‍

So perhaps you can understand why a part of me is fascinated at how this ideology has reached such a wide audience, especially among the political Left, with little Critical (pun intended) examination. 😅

Perhaps you can understand my fascination reading about this ideology that argues the very ideals I stand for, the message I’ve promoted for years, can now be entirely summarized under labels like “white supremacy”, “white privilege”, “patriarchy”, “racist”, “microaggression”, and “hateful”. 🀚

❀ 𝐈 𝐀𝐌 𝐀 𝐇𝐔𝐌𝐀𝐍 𝐁𝐄𝐈𝐍𝐆! ❀

But I get it. ❀

I understand in these current times A LOT of us are stressed out and worried. I understand it’s hard for anyone to think clearly, let alone rationally, when our minds are shrouded in weeds. 😖

𝐈 𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐢𝐭’𝐬 𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐝 𝐭𝐚 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐀 𝐢𝐧 𝐧𝐮𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐝, 𝐜𝐚𝐊𝐩𝐥𝐞𝐱 𝐰𝐚𝐲𝐬 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐚𝐮𝐫 𝐊𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐬 𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐜𝐫𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐬𝐢𝐊𝐩𝐥𝐢𝐜𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐝𝐮𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐟𝐮𝐥 𝐭𝐢𝐊𝐞𝐬.

If I were to combine every negative event which has happened the past year, I can’t blame someone for not feeling comfortable with all this Uncertainty. 😚

As I saw 1 tweet put it: “𝐘𝐚𝐮 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐭𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐩𝐞𝐚𝐩𝐥𝐞 𝐠𝐚 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐚𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡𝐝𝐫𝐚𝐰𝐚𝐥 𝐟𝐫𝐚𝐊 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐞𝐊𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐚𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐚𝐝𝐝𝐢𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐚𝐧 𝐭𝐚 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐊𝐲𝐭𝐡 𝐚𝐟 𝐜𝐞𝐫𝐭𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐲.” ❀

So yes, I definitely understand that lots of people at this time will be desperate to find something which helps them get back to Certainty, back to some sense of clarity and normalcy, back to some sense of renewed purpose and meaning
even if that means embracing an over-simplistic, fringe ideology like this one. 🙌

And THIS is one of the main reasons why I’ve not spoken up about this topic personally. 𝐈’𝐊 𝐧𝐚𝐭 𝐥𝐚𝐚𝐀𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐚 𝐭𝐚𝐀𝐞 𝐚 𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐝’𝐬 𝐛𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐀𝐞𝐭 𝐚𝐰𝐚𝐲 𝐟𝐫𝐚𝐊 𝐡𝐢𝐊 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐡𝐞’𝐬 𝐟𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐟𝐮𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐜𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐚 𝐢𝐭 𝐟𝐚𝐫 𝐝𝐞𝐚𝐫 𝐥𝐢𝐟𝐞. 😭

At the moment, the child needs something, anything to stay calm and feel safe. 🛡

Don’t get me wrong, there are 100% real problems in our society that still need to be solved. I’m not here to pretend like everything is all fine and dandy. It’s not.

But we’re not going to solve them when we’re making the incorrect diagnoses, which in turn prescribe the wrong solutions. 👎

𝐖𝐞’𝐫𝐞 𝐧𝐚𝐭 𝐠𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐚 𝐬𝐚𝐥𝐯𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐚𝐊𝐩𝐥𝐞𝐱 𝐩𝐫𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞𝐊𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐚𝐮𝐫 𝐬𝐚𝐜𝐢𝐞𝐭𝐲 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐚𝐊𝐞 𝐚𝐯𝐞𝐫-𝐬𝐢𝐊𝐩𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐜 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐀𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐜𝐡 𝐢𝐬 𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐊. 👎

But that part of the discussion will be saved for another post


My point is: THIS is not the way forward. ❌

❀ 𝐈 𝐀𝐌 𝐀 𝐇𝐔𝐌𝐀𝐍 𝐁𝐄𝐈𝐍𝐆! ❀

🀬 “𝑟𝑬𝑳𝑳 𝑎𝑹. 𝑯𝑰𝑮𝑯-𝑚𝑵𝑫-𝑎𝑰𝑮𝑯𝑻𝒀 𝑫𝑶𝑵𝑚𝑳𝑫, 𝑮𝑶𝑻 𝑚𝑵𝒀 𝑩𝑬𝑻𝑻𝑬𝑹 𝑰𝑫𝑬𝑚𝑺?!” 🀬

I believe I do! And it goes right back to what I was talking about earlier. 😊

🙌 We move forward by focusing on our common humanity.

🙌 We move forward by focusing on what we have in common.

🙌 We move forward by NOT assuming malicious intent of those who disagree with us.

🙌 We move forward by focusing on understanding and less on labeling.

𝐖𝐞 𝐃𝐈𝐅𝐅𝐔𝐒𝐄 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐚𝐰𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐥𝐚𝐛𝐞𝐥𝐬 𝐜𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐲 𝐛𝐲 𝐟𝐚𝐜𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐧 𝐚𝐮𝐫 𝐜𝐚𝐊𝐊𝐚𝐧 𝐡𝐮𝐊𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐲.

𝐖𝐞 𝐓𝐑𝐀𝐍𝐒𝐂𝐄𝐍𝐃 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐚𝐰𝐞𝐫 𝐚𝐮𝐫 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐚𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐛𝐢𝐚𝐬𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐣𝐮𝐝𝐢𝐜𝐞𝐬 𝐜𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐲 𝐛𝐲 𝐟𝐚𝐜𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐧 𝐚𝐮𝐫 𝐜𝐚𝐊𝐊𝐚𝐧 𝐡𝐮𝐊𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐲.

𝐖𝐞 𝐀𝐂𝐊𝐍𝐎𝐖𝐋𝐄𝐃𝐆𝐄 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐥𝐞𝐧𝐬𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐚𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐜𝐡 𝐰𝐞 𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐬𝐞𝐞 𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐩𝐞𝐚𝐩𝐥𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐂𝐇𝐎𝐎𝐒𝐄 𝐧𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐚 𝐠𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐊 𝐬𝐢𝐠𝐧𝐢𝐟𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐟𝐚𝐜𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐧 𝐚𝐮𝐫 𝐜𝐚𝐊𝐊𝐚𝐧 𝐡𝐮𝐊𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐲.

For every time we do this, we’ll remind our survival brain who’s in charge of how we connect with others. 🧠

We’ll remind our survival brain how naïve the caricatures we create in our minds about mass groups of people are. 🧠

𝐈𝐟 𝐰𝐞 𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐥𝐲 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐭𝐚 𝐩𝐫𝐚𝐊𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐝𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐢𝐧 𝐚𝐮𝐫 𝐬𝐚𝐜𝐢𝐞𝐭𝐲, 𝐥𝐞𝐭’𝐬 𝐧𝐚𝐭 𝐧𝐞𝐠𝐥𝐞𝐜𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐝𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐥𝐚𝐲𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧 𝐞𝐚𝐜𝐡 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐚𝐧𝐞 𝐚𝐟 𝐮𝐬. 𝐑𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐧𝐚𝐰 𝐰𝐞’𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐥𝐲 𝐭𝐚𝐮𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐮𝐫𝐟𝐚𝐜𝐞.

❀ 𝐈 𝐀𝐌 𝐀 𝐇𝐔𝐌𝐀𝐍 𝐁𝐄𝐈𝐍𝐆! ❀

Because what’s the alternative?

👎 A society which is OBSESSED with focusing on what makes us separate from each other.

👎 A society which DISCRIMINATES people based primarily upon their labels.

👎 A society which attempts to solve the problem of prejudice
with EVEN MORE PREJUDICE.

That doesn’t sound like a desirable outcome, does it? Sounds a bit backwards, right? It’s honestly quite IL-liberal! 😅

But
thankfully we don’t have to go down that route! We don’t have to become “woke”! 💯

I challenge you to come with me and take the road less traveled. It’s important to remember that just because something is popular in the moment doesn’t automatically mean it’s right. 👍

I challenge you to come with me and use what might be considered a more “radical” approach these days to connecting with others:

𝐓𝐚 𝐬𝐞𝐞 𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐚𝐬 𝐡𝐮𝐊𝐚𝐧 𝐛𝐞𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬 𝐟𝐢𝐫𝐬𝐭 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐟𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐊𝐚𝐬𝐭. 𝐓𝐚 𝐭𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭 𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐭, 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐢𝐭’𝐬 𝐧𝐚𝐭 𝐠𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐧 𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐀. 𝐓𝐚 𝐜𝐚𝐊𝐊𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐜𝐢𝐯𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐡𝐮𝐊𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐲, 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐚𝐧 𝐝𝐚𝐞𝐬𝐧’𝐭 𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐩𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐞. 𝐓𝐚 𝐫𝐞𝐊𝐞𝐊𝐛𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐡𝐮𝐫𝐭 𝐩𝐞𝐚𝐩𝐥𝐞 𝐡𝐮𝐫𝐭 𝐩𝐞𝐚𝐩𝐥𝐞, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐟𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐟𝐢𝐫𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐟𝐢𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐥𝐲 𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐬 𝐊𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐟𝐢𝐫𝐞. 𝐓𝐚 𝐠𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐲𝐚𝐮𝐫𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐟 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐊𝐢𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐚𝐧 𝐭𝐚 𝐛𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐮𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐟𝐮𝐥 𝐊𝐚𝐊𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬.

But if all this sounds too overwhelming, how about just this…?

𝐘𝐚𝐮’𝐫𝐞 𝐚 𝐡𝐮𝐊𝐚𝐧 𝐛𝐞𝐢𝐧𝐠. 𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐈’𝐊 𝐚 𝐡𝐮𝐊𝐚𝐧 𝐛𝐞𝐢𝐧𝐠. 👥

𝐋𝐞𝐭’𝐬 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞. 🙂

𝐍𝐚 𝐊𝐚𝐫𝐞. 𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐧𝐚 𝐥𝐞𝐬𝐬. ❀

❀ 𝐈 𝐀𝐌 𝐀 𝐇𝐔𝐌𝐀𝐍 𝐁𝐄𝐈𝐍𝐆, 𝐍𝐎𝐓 𝐀 𝐒𝐄𝐓 𝐎𝐅 𝐋𝐀𝐁𝐄𝐋𝐒! ❀

SHARE this post with anyone who needs this reminder!

How Glasses POSSESS Us!

~ Donald "Nugget" Arteaga ~ Leave a comment

📖 𝐖𝐄 𝐀𝐑𝐄 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐒𝐓𝐎𝐑𝐈𝐄𝐒 𝐖𝐄 𝐓𝐄𝐋𝐋 𝐎𝐔𝐑𝐒𝐄𝐋𝐕𝐄𝐒 📖

I’d like you to take a moment and read the following 2 Stories. They both revolve around the topic of Capitalism ⬇:

𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐲 #𝟏:

“𝘖𝘯𝘀𝘊 𝘶𝘱𝘰𝘯 𝘢 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘊, 𝘞𝘰𝘳𝘬 𝘞𝘢𝘎 𝘳𝘊𝘢𝘭 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘢𝘶𝘵𝘩𝘊𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘀. 𝘍𝘢𝘳𝘮𝘊𝘳𝘎 𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘎𝘊𝘥 𝘀𝘳𝘰𝘱𝘎, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘀𝘳𝘢𝘧𝘵𝘎𝘮𝘊𝘯 𝘮𝘢𝘥𝘊 𝘚𝘰𝘰𝘥𝘎 𝘞𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘊𝘪𝘳 𝘰𝘞𝘯 𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘎. 🌜

𝘉𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘊𝘯, 𝘀𝘢𝘱𝘪𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘎𝘮 𝘞𝘢𝘎 𝘪𝘯𝘷𝘊𝘯𝘵𝘊𝘥, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘥𝘢𝘳𝘬𝘯𝘊𝘎𝘎 𝘎𝘱𝘳𝘊𝘢𝘥 𝘢𝘀𝘳𝘰𝘎𝘎 𝘵𝘩𝘊 𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘢𝘎 𝘵𝘩𝘊 𝘎𝘮𝘰𝘬𝘊𝘎𝘵𝘢𝘀𝘬𝘎 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘊 𝘐𝘯𝘥𝘶𝘎𝘵𝘳𝘪𝘢𝘭 𝘙𝘊𝘷𝘰𝘭𝘶𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘀𝘰𝘷𝘊𝘳𝘊𝘥 𝘊𝘷𝘊𝘳𝘺𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘚 𝘪𝘯 𝘎𝘰𝘰𝘵. 🏭

𝘛𝘩𝘊 𝘀𝘢𝘱𝘪𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘎𝘵𝘎 𝘣𝘊𝘀𝘢𝘮𝘊 𝘊𝘷𝘊𝘳 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘊 𝘎𝘬𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘊𝘥 𝘢𝘵 𝘊𝘹𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘀𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘚 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘥𝘶𝘀𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘞𝘰𝘳𝘬𝘊𝘳𝘎 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘱𝘰𝘀𝘬𝘊𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘚 𝘵𝘩𝘊 𝘚𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘎 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘊𝘪𝘳 𝘭𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘳. 😈

𝘛𝘩𝘊 𝘞𝘰𝘳𝘬𝘊𝘳𝘎 𝘊𝘷𝘊𝘯𝘵𝘶𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘧𝘰𝘶𝘚𝘩𝘵 𝘣𝘢𝘀𝘬 𝘣𝘺 𝘶𝘯𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘪𝘻𝘪𝘯𝘚. 𝘐𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘊 𝘊𝘢𝘳𝘭𝘺 20𝘵𝘩 𝘀𝘊𝘯𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘺, 𝘢𝘎 𝘵𝘩𝘊 𝘣𝘳𝘶𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘎𝘵𝘶𝘱𝘪𝘥𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘰𝘧 𝘀𝘢𝘱𝘪𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘎𝘮 𝘞𝘢𝘎 𝘊𝘹𝘱𝘰𝘎𝘊𝘥, 𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘚𝘰𝘷𝘊𝘳𝘯𝘮𝘊𝘯𝘵𝘎 𝘚𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘊𝘥 𝘞𝘰𝘳𝘬𝘊𝘳𝘎 𝘎𝘰𝘮𝘊 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘵𝘊𝘀𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘊 𝘱𝘳𝘊𝘥𝘢𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘎. 𝘋𝘊𝘮𝘰𝘀𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘀 𝘞𝘊𝘭𝘧𝘢𝘳𝘊 𝘎𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘊𝘎 𝘞𝘊𝘳𝘊 𝘣𝘰𝘳𝘯. 🙌

𝘉𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘊 𝘀𝘢𝘱𝘪𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘎𝘵𝘎 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘊𝘪𝘳 𝘳𝘪𝘚𝘩𝘵-𝘞𝘪𝘯𝘚 𝘀𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘪𝘊𝘎 𝘞𝘊𝘳𝘊 𝘶𝘯𝘳𝘊𝘭𝘊𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘚, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘀𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘳𝘪𝘊𝘎 𝘵𝘩𝘊𝘺 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘊 𝘥𝘊𝘎𝘵𝘳𝘰𝘺𝘊𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘊 𝘶𝘯𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘎, 𝘎𝘭𝘢𝘎𝘩𝘊𝘥 𝘳𝘊𝘚𝘶𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘎, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘚𝘪𝘷𝘊𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘊 𝘀𝘰𝘳𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘎 𝘧𝘳𝘊𝘊 𝘳𝘊𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘰 𝘊𝘹𝘱𝘭𝘰𝘪𝘵 𝘢𝘵 𝘞𝘪𝘭𝘭. 𝘚𝘰, 𝘵𝘩𝘊 𝘳𝘪𝘀𝘩 𝘚𝘊𝘵 𝘳𝘪𝘀𝘩𝘊𝘳, 𝘵𝘩𝘊 𝘳𝘊𝘎𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘶𝘎 𝘚𝘊𝘵 𝘱𝘰𝘰𝘳𝘊𝘳, 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘥𝘊𝘮𝘰𝘀𝘳𝘢𝘀𝘺 𝘚𝘊𝘵𝘎 𝘞𝘊𝘢𝘬𝘊𝘳, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘊 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘊𝘵 𝘚𝘊𝘵𝘎 𝘩𝘰𝘵𝘵𝘊𝘳. 🔥

𝘐𝘵 𝘪𝘎 𝘯𝘰𝘞 𝘵𝘩𝘊 𝘥𝘶𝘵𝘺 𝘰𝘧 𝘊𝘷𝘊𝘳𝘺 𝘥𝘊𝘀𝘊𝘯𝘵 𝘱𝘊𝘳𝘎𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘰 𝘫𝘰𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘊 𝘧𝘪𝘚𝘩𝘵 𝘢𝘚𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘎𝘵 𝘚𝘭𝘰𝘣𝘢𝘭 𝘀𝘢𝘱𝘪𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘎𝘮 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘊 𝘎𝘶𝘱𝘊𝘳-𝘱𝘳𝘊𝘥𝘢𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘎 𝘪𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘎 𝘶𝘯𝘭𝘊𝘢𝘎𝘩𝘊𝘥 𝘶𝘱𝘰𝘯 𝘶𝘎…” 𝐂𝐚𝐩𝐢𝐭𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐊 𝐢𝐬 𝐄𝐱𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐢𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐚𝐧 💯

Does this Story resonate with you? 📖

If not
how about this one? ⬇

𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐲 #𝟐:

“𝘖𝘯𝘀𝘊 𝘶𝘱𝘰𝘯 𝘢 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘊, 𝘢𝘭𝘮𝘰𝘎𝘵 𝘊𝘷𝘊𝘳𝘺𝘰𝘯𝘊 𝘞𝘢𝘎 𝘢 𝘱𝘊𝘢𝘎𝘢𝘯𝘵, 𝘢 𝘎𝘊𝘳𝘧, 𝘰𝘳 𝘢 𝘎𝘭𝘢𝘷𝘊. 𝘒𝘪𝘯𝘚𝘎 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘧𝘊𝘶𝘥𝘢𝘭 𝘭𝘰𝘳𝘥𝘎 𝘵𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘮𝘰𝘎𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘱𝘊𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘊 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘥𝘶𝘀𝘊𝘥, 𝘎𝘰 𝘯𝘰𝘣𝘰𝘥𝘺 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘮𝘶𝘀𝘩 𝘳𝘊𝘢𝘎𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘰 𝘞𝘰𝘳𝘬 𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘥. 😞

𝘉𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘊𝘯, 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘊 17𝘵𝘩 𝘀𝘊𝘯𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘺, 𝘀𝘢𝘱𝘪𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘎𝘮 𝘞𝘢𝘎 𝘪𝘯𝘷𝘊𝘯𝘵𝘊𝘥, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘊 𝘭𝘪𝘣𝘊𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘣𝘊𝘚𝘢𝘯. 🌞

𝘐𝘯 𝘌𝘯𝘚𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘥, 𝘏𝘰𝘭𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘥, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘈𝘮𝘊𝘳𝘪𝘀𝘢, 𝘵𝘩𝘊𝘺 𝘥𝘪𝘎𝘀𝘰𝘷𝘊𝘳𝘊𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘞𝘩𝘊𝘯 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘚𝘪𝘷𝘊 𝘱𝘊𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘊 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘱𝘊𝘳𝘵𝘺 𝘳𝘪𝘚𝘩𝘵𝘎, 𝘵𝘩𝘊 𝘳𝘶𝘭𝘊 𝘰𝘧 𝘭𝘢𝘞, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘧𝘳𝘊𝘊 𝘮𝘢𝘳𝘬𝘊𝘵𝘎, 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘯 𝘰𝘯 𝘢 𝘎𝘞𝘪𝘵𝘀𝘩 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘊𝘪𝘳 𝘩𝘊𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘎. ❀

𝘗𝘊𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘊 𝘞𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘞𝘰𝘳𝘬 𝘞𝘩𝘊𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘊𝘺 𝘀𝘢𝘯 𝘬𝘊𝘊𝘱 𝘵𝘩𝘊 𝘧𝘳𝘶𝘪𝘵𝘎 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘊𝘪𝘳 𝘭𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘳. 𝘛𝘩𝘊𝘺 𝘞𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘪𝘯𝘷𝘊𝘯𝘵 𝘯𝘊𝘞 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘥𝘶𝘀𝘵𝘎, 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘷𝘪𝘥𝘊 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘊𝘪𝘳 𝘀𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘥𝘳𝘊𝘯, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘣𝘊 𝘶𝘎𝘊𝘧𝘶𝘭 𝘵𝘰 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘊𝘳𝘎. 𝘍𝘳𝘊𝘊 𝘮𝘢𝘳𝘬𝘊𝘵 𝘀𝘢𝘱𝘪𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘎𝘮 𝘊𝘯𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘊𝘎 𝘵𝘩𝘊𝘮 𝘵𝘰 𝘥𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘊𝘎𝘊 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘚𝘎. 💪

𝘐𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘊 20𝘵𝘩 𝘊𝘊𝘯𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘺, 𝘎𝘰𝘮𝘊 𝘀𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘳𝘪𝘊𝘎 𝘊𝘮𝘣𝘳𝘢𝘀𝘊𝘥 𝘀𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘶𝘯𝘪𝘎𝘮 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘀𝘊𝘯𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘻𝘊𝘥 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘚, 𝘢𝘭𝘞𝘢𝘺𝘎 𝘞𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘊 𝘎𝘢𝘮𝘊 𝘳𝘊𝘎𝘶𝘭𝘵: 𝘎𝘩𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘢𝘚𝘊𝘎 𝘰𝘧 𝘊𝘷𝘊𝘳𝘺𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘚, 𝘪𝘯𝘀𝘭𝘶𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘚 𝘧𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘧𝘳𝘊𝘊𝘥𝘰𝘮. 👎

𝘉𝘶𝘵 𝘀𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘳𝘪𝘊𝘎 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘊𝘮𝘣𝘳𝘢𝘀𝘊𝘥 𝘀𝘢𝘱𝘪𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘎𝘮 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘊 𝘚𝘳𝘰𝘞𝘯 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘎𝘱𝘊𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘎 𝘪𝘯 𝘢 𝘎𝘪𝘯𝘚𝘭𝘊 𝘚𝘊𝘯𝘊𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯. 💰

𝘠𝘊𝘵 𝘥𝘊𝘎𝘱𝘪𝘵𝘊 𝘵𝘩𝘊 𝘊𝘷𝘪𝘥𝘊𝘯𝘀𝘊 𝘰𝘧 𝘩𝘪𝘎𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘺, 𝘵𝘩𝘊 𝘭𝘊𝘧𝘵-𝘞𝘪𝘯𝘚 𝘊𝘚𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘢𝘯𝘎 𝘢𝘳𝘊 𝘶𝘯𝘳𝘊𝘭𝘊𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘚, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘞𝘩𝘊𝘯𝘊𝘷𝘊𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘊𝘺 𝘚𝘊𝘵 𝘀𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘳𝘰𝘭 𝘰𝘧 𝘢 𝘚𝘰𝘷𝘊𝘳𝘯𝘮𝘊𝘯𝘵, 𝘵𝘩𝘊𝘪𝘳 𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘎𝘵 𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘚𝘊𝘵 𝘪𝘎 𝘊𝘀𝘰𝘯𝘰𝘮𝘪𝘀 𝘧𝘳𝘊𝘊𝘥𝘰𝘮. 𝘛𝘩𝘊 𝘊𝘚𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘢𝘯𝘎 𝘥𝘰𝘯’𝘵 𝘞𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘊 𝘪𝘯 𝘢 𝘞𝘰𝘳𝘭𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘞𝘩𝘪𝘀𝘩 𝘱𝘊𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘊 𝘞𝘩𝘰 𝘀𝘳𝘊𝘢𝘵𝘊 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘊 𝘷𝘢𝘭𝘶𝘊 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘊𝘳𝘎 𝘚𝘊𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘊𝘯𝘫𝘰𝘺 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘊 𝘞𝘊𝘢𝘭𝘵𝘩 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘊𝘮𝘎𝘊𝘭𝘷𝘊𝘎. 𝘛𝘩𝘊𝘺’𝘥 𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘊𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘊𝘷𝘊𝘳𝘺𝘰𝘯𝘊 𝘣𝘊 𝘊𝘲𝘶𝘢𝘭, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘊𝘲𝘶𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘱𝘰𝘰𝘳. 😡

𝘐𝘵 𝘪𝘎 𝘯𝘰𝘞 𝘵𝘩𝘊 𝘥𝘶𝘵𝘺 𝘰𝘧 𝘊𝘷𝘊𝘳𝘺 𝘥𝘊𝘀𝘊𝘯𝘵 𝘱𝘊𝘳𝘎𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘰 𝘫𝘰𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘊 𝘧𝘪𝘚𝘩𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘵𝘊𝘀𝘵 𝘀𝘢𝘱𝘪𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘎𝘮, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘊𝘹𝘵𝘊𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘵𝘎 𝘣𝘭𝘊𝘎𝘎𝘪𝘯𝘚𝘎 𝘵𝘰 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘰𝘧 𝘩𝘶𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘥.” 𝐂𝐚𝐩𝐢𝐭𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐊 𝐢𝐬 𝐋𝐢𝐛𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐚𝐧 💯

So
which Story is correct? #1 or #2? 📖

Depending on where you reside on the political spectrum, 1 of these Stories you’re far more likely to agree is accurate. ↔

But here’s the catch: 𝑻𝒉𝒆𝒔𝒆 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒃𝒐𝒕𝒉 𝒋𝒖𝒔𝒕 𝑺𝒕𝒐𝒓𝒊𝒆𝒔. 📖

They are 2 different narratives, 2 different perspectives on the exact same thing: Capitalism. ↔

But to back up a moment, what exactly are Stories?

🌟 𝙎𝙩𝙀𝙧𝙞𝙚𝙚 𝙖𝙧𝙚 𝙚𝙪𝙗𝙟𝙚𝙘𝙩𝙞𝙫𝙚 𝙛𝙧𝙖𝙢𝙚𝙚 𝙬𝙚 𝙪𝙚𝙚 𝙩𝙀 𝙚𝙭𝙥𝙡𝙖𝙞𝙣 𝙀𝙪𝙧 𝙀𝙗𝙟𝙚𝙘𝙩𝙞𝙫𝙚 𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙡𝙞𝙩𝙮. 🌟

If this definition sounds too pretentious, think of Stories as like wearing pairs of glasses. 👓

𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐲 𝐥𝐞𝐧𝐬 𝐲𝐚𝐮’𝐫𝐞 𝐰𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐬 𝐡𝐚𝐰 𝐲𝐚𝐮’𝐫𝐞 𝐠𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐚 𝐬𝐞𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐥𝐝, 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬 𝐲𝐚𝐮’𝐫𝐞 𝐠𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐚 𝐟𝐚𝐜𝐮𝐬 𝐚𝐧, 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐚𝐧𝐬 𝐲𝐚𝐮’𝐥𝐥 𝐛𝐞 𝐢𝐧𝐟𝐥𝐮𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐚 𝐭𝐚𝐀𝐞, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐡𝐚𝐰 𝐲𝐚𝐮’𝐫𝐞 𝐠𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐚 𝐟𝐞𝐞𝐥 𝐚𝐧 𝐚 𝐝𝐚𝐢𝐥𝐲 𝐛𝐚𝐬𝐢𝐬.

👓 The person wearing an Optimistic lens will focus on seeing the best of things.

👓 The person wearing a Pessimistic lens will focus on seeing the worst of things.

👓 The person wearing a Realistic lens will focus on seeing things just as they are.

👓 The person wearing a Cynical lens will focus on distrusting the things they see.

Do you know a person who, even in the worst of situations, can always find a silver lining? 🙋‍♂‍

Or how about a person that, even in the best of situations, can always find something to complain about? 🙋‍♀‍

𝐈𝐭’𝐬 𝐛𝐞𝐜𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲’𝐫𝐞 𝐞𝐚𝐜𝐡 𝐰𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐝𝐢𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐥𝐞𝐧𝐬𝐞𝐬.

🗣 “DONALD, ENOUGH WITH THE ANALOGIES! WHAT’S YOUR POINT?” 🗣

My point is it’s CRUCIAL we become aware of what glasses we’re currently wearing. 😅

Why? 𝐁𝐞𝐜𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐥𝐞𝐧𝐬𝐞𝐬 𝐰𝐞 𝐰𝐞𝐚𝐫 𝐝𝐞𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐊𝐢𝐧𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐰𝐞 𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐞. 📖

With that said, briefly re-read those 2 Stories of Capitalism again at the beginning of this post. ⬆

You can now take a guess as to the lens each author is wearing. 👓

To put it simply: 𝐰𝐞 𝐝𝐚𝐧’𝐭 𝐬𝐞𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬 𝐚𝐬 𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐘 𝐚𝐫𝐞. 𝐖𝐞 𝐬𝐞𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬 𝐚𝐬 𝐖𝐄 𝐚𝐫𝐞. 👀

𝐖𝐞 𝐬𝐞𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐚𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐰𝐞’𝐯𝐞 𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐮𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐊. 📖

🀬 “THAT’S RIDICULOUS, DONALD! YOU’RE SAYING I ‘CHOOSE’ A CYNICAL LENS?! JUST LOOK AT HOW MESSED UP THE WORLD IS!” 🀬

To clarify, I’m NOT saying you’re “choosing” any of the lenses you’re currently wearing, at least not consciously. 😅

Often, we’ve adapted to these lenses over time through our environment: from our family, from the books we’ve read, from the media we’ve consumed, and from the opinions of friends we’ve surrounded ourselves with. 🌎

As Jim Rohn said: “𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘢𝘳𝘊 𝘵𝘩𝘊 𝘢𝘷𝘊𝘳𝘢𝘚𝘊 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘊 5 𝘱𝘊𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘊 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘎𝘱𝘊𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘊 𝘮𝘰𝘎𝘵 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘊 𝘞𝘪𝘵𝘩.” 👥

Surround yourself with negative people, you’ll soon become one too. Surround yourself with hopeful people, you’ll soon have their hope rub off on you too. 👥

𝐒𝐮𝐫𝐫𝐚𝐮𝐧𝐝 𝐲𝐚𝐮𝐫𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐟 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐚𝐧𝐥𝐲 𝟏 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐲 𝐥𝐞𝐧𝐬, 𝐲𝐚𝐮’𝐥𝐥 𝐬𝐚𝐚𝐧 𝐛𝐞 𝐰𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐥𝐞𝐧𝐬 𝐚𝐬 𝐲𝐚𝐮𝐫 𝐮𝐥𝐭𝐢𝐊𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐲. 👓

After enough time, you’ll take this Story lens to be a Fact and not just a Story. 😲

But herein lies the problem: 𝗊𝘁𝗌𝗿𝗶𝗲𝘀 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗡𝗢𝗧 𝗙𝗮𝗰𝘁𝘀. ❌

𝐅𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐬 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐰𝐞 𝐀𝐧𝐚𝐰 𝐭𝐚 𝐛𝐞 𝐚𝐛𝐣𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐲 𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐞; 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐥𝐞𝐧𝐬𝐞𝐬 𝐰𝐞 𝐰𝐞𝐚𝐫 𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐮𝐧𝐝 𝐬𝐞𝐭𝐬 𝐚𝐟 𝐅𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐬. ⚪

It’s the difference between saying a Fact about capitalism (“Capitalism is an economic system based on the private ownership of the means of production and their operation for profit”) versus saying a Story about capitalism (“Capitalism is exploitation”). ↔

Capitalism is not intrinsically “exploitation” nor “liberation”; these are just Stories lenses we’ve placed around them. 👓

𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙥𝙧𝙀𝙗𝙡𝙚𝙢 𝙞𝙚 𝙬𝙝𝙚𝙣 𝙬𝙚 𝙗𝙚𝙘𝙀𝙢𝙚 𝙚𝙀 𝙖𝙘𝙘𝙪𝙚𝙩𝙀𝙢𝙚𝙙 𝙩𝙀 𝒕𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝙀𝙪𝙧 𝙎𝙩𝙀𝙧𝙮 𝙡𝙚𝙣𝙚 𝒂𝒔 𝙁𝙖𝙘𝙩, 𝙬𝙝𝙚𝙣 𝙀𝙪𝙧 𝙡𝙚𝙣𝙚 𝙗𝙚𝙘𝙀𝙢𝙚𝙚 𝙚𝙀 𝙚𝙣𝙩𝙧𝙚𝙣𝙘𝙝𝙚𝙙 𝙞𝙣𝙚𝙞𝙙𝙚 𝙀𝙪𝙧 𝙚𝙚𝙣𝙚𝙚 𝙀𝙛 𝙚𝙚𝙡𝙛 𝙬𝙚 𝙘𝙖𝙣’𝙩 𝙛𝙖𝙩𝙝𝙀𝙢 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙥𝙀𝙚𝙚𝙞𝙗𝙞𝙡𝙞𝙩𝙮 𝙀𝙛 𝙀𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙡𝙚𝙣𝙚𝙚𝙚 𝙚𝙭𝙞𝙚𝙩𝙞𝙣𝙜. 🀯

𝙒𝙚 𝙘𝙖𝙣 𝙣𝙀 𝙡𝙀𝙣𝙜𝙚𝙧 𝙛𝙖𝙩𝙝𝙀𝙢 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙥𝙀𝙚𝙚𝙞𝙗𝙞𝙡𝙞𝙩𝙮 𝙬𝙚’𝙧𝙚 𝙬𝙚𝙖𝙧𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙜𝙡𝙖𝙚𝙚𝙚𝙚. 😔

When we’re unable to take off our glasses, we have a much harder time separating the Facts from the Stories about the Facts. When we’re unable to take off our glasses, we have a much harder time being able to truly understand other people’s points of view. 🙌

In turn, our empathy becomes replaced more and more with egotistical self-righteousness and moral grandstanding. 🥇

So
how do we solve this problem? 🀔

𝐖𝐞 𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐚 𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐟𝐲 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐲 𝐥𝐞𝐧𝐬𝐞𝐬 𝐰𝐞’𝐫𝐞 𝐜𝐮𝐫𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐥𝐲 𝐰𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠. 🔎

Here’s a list of just a few of the Stories currently circulating in our culture. 📖

I must warn you: some of the Stories I list here you may wholeheartedly embrace, and the fact I’m listing them here may make you feel like I’m trivializing or invalidating you or other peoples’ personal experiences. 👎

I can assure you that is not at all my intention here. So, please be aware of this just in case your emotional defenses jump up in protest. ❀

📖 “𝘛𝘩𝘊 𝘈𝘭𝘵-𝘙𝘪𝘚𝘩𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘎 𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘊𝘯 𝘰𝘷𝘊𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘊 𝘙𝘊𝘱𝘶𝘣𝘭𝘪𝘀𝘢𝘯 𝘗𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘺!”

📖 “𝘛𝘩𝘊 𝘙𝘢𝘥𝘪𝘀𝘢𝘭 𝘓𝘊𝘧𝘵 𝘞𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘎 𝘢𝘯𝘢𝘳𝘀𝘩𝘺 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘊 𝘎𝘵𝘳𝘊𝘊𝘵𝘎!”

📖 “𝘞𝘊 𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘊 𝘪𝘯 𝘢 𝘱𝘢𝘵𝘳𝘪𝘢𝘳𝘀𝘩𝘢𝘭 𝘎𝘰𝘀𝘪𝘊𝘵𝘺 𝘥𝘊𝘎𝘪𝘚𝘯𝘊𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘰𝘱𝘱𝘳𝘊𝘎𝘎 𝘞𝘰𝘮𝘊𝘯!”

📖 “𝘍𝘊𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘎𝘵𝘎 𝘞𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘯 𝘮𝘊𝘯 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘞𝘰𝘮𝘊𝘯!”

📖 “𝘖𝘶𝘳 𝘩𝘊𝘢𝘭𝘵𝘩𝘀𝘢𝘳𝘊 𝘎𝘺𝘎𝘵𝘊𝘮 𝘪𝘎 𝘢 𝘎𝘪𝘀𝘬-𝘀𝘢𝘳𝘊 𝘎𝘺𝘎𝘵𝘊𝘮 𝘥𝘊𝘎𝘪𝘚𝘯𝘊𝘥 𝘰𝘯𝘭𝘺 𝘵𝘰 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘊 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘧𝘪𝘵!”

📖 “𝘞𝘊 𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘊 𝘪𝘯 𝘢 𝘎𝘰𝘀𝘪𝘊𝘵𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘪𝘎 𝘎𝘺𝘎𝘵𝘊𝘮𝘪𝘀𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘯𝘎𝘵𝘪𝘵𝘶𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘳𝘢𝘀𝘪𝘎𝘵!”

📖 “𝘞𝘊 𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘊 𝘪𝘯 𝘢 𝘎𝘰𝘀𝘪𝘊𝘵𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵’𝘎 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘚𝘰𝘵𝘵𝘊𝘯 𝘧𝘢𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘺 𝘷𝘢𝘭𝘶𝘊𝘎 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘱𝘊𝘳𝘎𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘳𝘊𝘎𝘱𝘰𝘯𝘎𝘪𝘣𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘺!”

📖 “𝘉𝘪𝘚 𝘗𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘮𝘢 𝘥𝘰𝘊𝘎𝘯’𝘵 𝘀𝘢𝘳𝘊 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘩𝘊𝘭𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘚 𝘱𝘊𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘊!”

📖 “𝘚𝘀𝘪𝘊𝘯𝘀𝘊 𝘪𝘎 𝘳𝘢𝘀𝘪𝘎𝘵!”

📖 “𝘉𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘎𝘢𝘵𝘊𝘎 𝘪𝘎 𝘊𝘷𝘪𝘭!”

📖 “𝘚𝘪𝘭𝘊𝘯𝘀𝘊 𝘪𝘎 𝘷𝘪𝘰𝘭𝘊𝘯𝘀𝘊!”

📖 “𝘌𝘷𝘊𝘳𝘺𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘚 𝘞𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘚 𝘪𝘯 𝘎𝘰𝘀𝘪𝘊𝘵𝘺 𝘪𝘎 𝘣𝘊𝘀𝘢𝘶𝘎𝘊 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘊 𝘊𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘊 𝘎𝘭𝘰𝘣𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘎𝘵𝘎!”

📖 “𝘌𝘷𝘊𝘳𝘺𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘚 𝘞𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘚 𝘪𝘯 𝘎𝘰𝘀𝘪𝘊𝘵𝘺 𝘪𝘎 𝘣𝘊𝘀𝘢𝘶𝘎𝘊 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘊 1%!”

📖 “𝘌𝘷𝘊𝘳𝘺𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘚 𝘞𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘚 𝘪𝘯 𝘎𝘰𝘀𝘪𝘊𝘵𝘺 𝘪𝘎 𝘣𝘊𝘀𝘢𝘶𝘎𝘊 𝘰𝘧 𝘞𝘩𝘪𝘵𝘊 𝘎𝘶𝘱𝘳𝘊𝘮𝘢𝘀𝘺!”

📖 “𝘌𝘷𝘊𝘳𝘺𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘚 𝘞𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘚 𝘪𝘯 𝘎𝘰𝘀𝘪𝘊𝘵𝘺 𝘪𝘎 𝘣𝘊𝘀𝘢𝘶𝘎𝘊 𝘰𝘧 𝘎𝘰𝘀𝘪𝘢𝘭 𝘫𝘶𝘎𝘵𝘪𝘀𝘊 𝘞𝘢𝘳𝘳𝘪𝘰𝘳𝘎!”

📖 “𝘐𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘥𝘪𝘎𝘢𝘚𝘳𝘊𝘊 𝘞𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘮𝘊, 𝘺𝘰𝘶’𝘳𝘊 𝘢𝘶𝘵𝘰𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘀𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘢𝘚𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘎𝘵 𝘮𝘊!”

See some Stories you recognize? 🙋‍♂🙋

By sharing this list, I’m NOT here to say which Story lens has more validity to them. I’m also NOT here to say each Stories lens is equally accurate or equally useful. They’re not, and it’s why we need Facts. 👍

But that’s NOT what this post is about. 💯

𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐩𝐚𝐬𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐬𝐢𝐊𝐩𝐥𝐲 𝐭𝐚 𝐞𝐊𝐩𝐡𝐚𝐬𝐢𝐳𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐰𝐞 𝐭𝐞𝐥𝐥 𝐚𝐮𝐫𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐯𝐞𝐬, 𝐫𝐞𝐠𝐚𝐫𝐝𝐥𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐚𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐭𝐡, 𝘄𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝗠𝗔𝗊𝗊𝗜𝗩𝗘𝗟𝗬 𝗱𝗶𝗰𝘁𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝗵𝗌𝘄 𝘄𝗲 𝘀𝗲𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘄𝗌𝗿𝗹𝗱.

👀 If you wear a Story lens that all men are sexist, misogynist pigs, you’re going to have a very hard time seeing any man in a positive light.

👀 If you wear a Story lens that all police officers are racist, sadistic authority figures, you’ll assume every police altercation that includes people of different races to automatically be about racism.

👀 If you wear a Story lens that all protesters are rioting, anarchic looters, you’ll assume every property destroyed during a protest to automatically be the cause of protesters.

👀 If you wear a Story lens that all white people are racists, you’re going to see racism in every interaction with a white person, regardless if it’s there or not.

A perfect phrase to summarize this: “𝐒𝐞𝐞𝐀 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐲𝐚𝐮 𝐬𝐡𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐝.” 🔎

But…wouldn’t YOU rather decide what it is that you’re going to seek? Wouldn’t YOU rather decide how you’re going to see the world? Wouldn’t YOU rather decide what glasses you’re going to wear instead of having someone else force you to wear theirs? 💯

It’s time to take back control, don’t you think? 💪

🙌 𝐖𝐞 𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐚 𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐟𝐲 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐲 𝐥𝐞𝐧𝐬𝐞𝐬 𝐰𝐞’𝐫𝐞 𝐜𝐮𝐫𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐥𝐲 𝐰𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠.

🙌 𝐖𝐞 𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐚 𝐪𝐮𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐚𝐧 𝐡𝐚𝐰 𝐚𝐮𝐫 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐲 𝐥𝐞𝐧𝐬𝐞𝐬 𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝐡𝐚𝐰 𝐰𝐞 𝐬𝐞𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐥𝐝.

🙌 𝐖𝐞 𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐚 𝐛𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐚 𝐭𝐫𝐲 𝐚𝐧 𝐧𝐞𝐰 𝐩𝐚𝐢𝐫𝐬 𝐚𝐟 𝐠𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐬.

🗣 “DONALD! WHY SHOULD I DO THIS WHEN NO ONE ELSE IS?!” 🗣

Because you’re not doing this for others.

😊 𝐘𝐚𝐮’𝐫𝐞 𝐝𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐭 𝐬𝐚 𝐲𝐚𝐮 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐎𝐏𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍 𝐭𝐚 𝐭𝐚𝐀𝐞 𝐚𝐟𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐠𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐬 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐜𝐡 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐩𝐚𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐲𝐚𝐮.

😊 𝐘𝐚𝐮’𝐫𝐞 𝐝𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐭 𝐬𝐚 𝐲𝐚𝐮 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐅𝐑𝐄𝐄𝐃𝐎𝐌 𝐭𝐚 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐚𝐬𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐠𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐬 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐜𝐡 𝐛𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐬𝐞𝐫𝐯𝐞 𝐲𝐚𝐮.

😊 𝐘𝐚𝐮’𝐫𝐞 𝐝𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐭 𝐬𝐚 𝐲𝐚𝐮 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐂𝐎𝐍𝐓𝐑𝐎𝐋 𝐚𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐲𝐚𝐮𝐫 𝐥𝐢𝐟𝐞, 𝐬𝐚 𝐲𝐚𝐮 𝐧𝐚 𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐫 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐭𝐚 𝐟𝐞𝐞𝐥 𝐥𝐢𝐀𝐞 𝐚 𝐯𝐢𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐊 𝐚𝐟 𝐜𝐢𝐫𝐜𝐮𝐊𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐚𝐝 𝐚 𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐚𝐫 𝐚𝐟 𝐲𝐚𝐮𝐫 𝐬𝐮𝐜𝐜𝐞𝐬𝐬.

Because the alternative is to fall back asleep, to allow yourself to forget you’re wearing glasses, and to return to a place where you’ll continue experiencing needless suffering. 😢

After all, in this place your Stories are in control of you. 😔

So
staying awake sounds like a better option, doesn’t it? 😅

You got this! And before you know it, you’ll be looking back on the old Stories you use to carry, looking back on those 2 Stories of Capitalism, and you’ll truly understand when I say to you: “These are 𝘫𝘶𝘎𝘵 Stories!” 🙌

📖 𝐖𝐄 𝐀𝐑𝐄 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐒𝐓𝐎𝐑𝐈𝐄𝐒 𝐖𝐄 𝐓𝐄𝐋𝐋 𝐎𝐔𝐑𝐒𝐄𝐋𝐕𝐄𝐒 📖

.

(2 Stories of Capitalism credited to Jonathan Haidt)