Life is a "Test"

In today's blog, I want to talk about everything in life being a "test." The idea of tests tends to freeze people up; their minds stop working and the physical system goes into stress mode. This is a carry-over from attending schools in our younger years.

As in school, if you know the material being tested, you will probably be under less stress than if you haven't prepared. All a "test" is, really, is a way of determining how much you have yet to learn.

This testing has been, and is, continuous throughout our lives. Unfortunately, only a minority of people understand that, once they have graduated from High School, College, or University, etc., they are not, "done," they have only just left kindergarten, as far as learning and becoming proficient in life are concerned.

In previous blogs, I have talked about how everything we say, do, wear, etc., etc., is saying something about who we are as a person. Today, I am introducing the idea that everything in life is a test of some aspect of ourselves; that whatever aspect of what you have become up to that point is "tested." The test "scores" are how you behave at any given time in any given situation.

One big test is becoming an independent adult; vast numbers of today's young people are failing this test miserably, thinking that they can live off their parents or others, when it is time for them to begin fending for themselves.

Another major test is taking on various adult roles in life, and being responsible for oneself, and for obligations taken on. In previous times, individuals allowed years for themselves to grow into such roles; time to become "established" in the world. Currently, there is a rush to have everything, without having really worked to achieve anything worthwhile in life.

The material I wrote previously, in the mid-70's, had the title: You in the Process of Becoming. We are all "in the process of becoming," but, Becoming what? is the question. The last fifty years, or so, have had some rough spots, but, overall, were relatively easy times for most people. Because of this, few people in those years made any effort to discipline themselves in ways to make them better able to survive difficult times.

That period includes the vast majority of the adult population in this country right now.

In previous recent blogs, I have discussed the affect the child-psychologists' "self-esteem" programming has had on our society, and the resultant current adult population. In past times, children were expected to contribute to the social group, as well as to develop into responsible adults. The emphasis was on one's responsibilities to the social group, however, one's growing sense of being able to accomplish various tasks, resulted in self-confidence as a byproduct, for many.

Our current times are a major time of testing; a testing of our values, our beliefs, our relationships, our ability to survive. Over the last number of year's, a vast disappearance of paper "wealth" has occurred; this was brought about through the malfeasance of giant corporations. The great loss of homes, experience over the last few years, was, and is, due to the fraudulent mega-banks and mortgage institutions' machinations. Further destruction of the economy brought about by the Federal Reserve, is bringing this all down around our heads. As a result, of this loss of wealth, which existed primarily on paper and in inflated home values, tremendous numbers of people are now being required to fall back on their personal resources to just get by.

As yet, the majority of people do not know the degree to which this destruction has been brought about by those who were trusted to "take care of things," when, in fact, they were only taking care of themselves as individuals. See also, for example, the many ponzy schemes revealed, and others still operating, as well as pyramid ventures participated in by many.

As this indicates, (to those who are paying attention) many people were perfectly happy to go along with the insanity; in other words, were complicit, or did not do, "due diligence." (In this regard, I regularly think of the fact that in the "heyday" of the Internet craziness, AOL was able to "buy" Warner Corporation, when AOL had more in debts, than Warner had in liquid assets.)

This is the "ostrich-with-its-head-in-the-sand," approach to life. What does an human "ostrich" with its head in the sand look like?

Vast number of individuals currently subscribed to movie-rental systems, to enable them to immerse themselves in adrenalin-producing drama; they watch sports events on TV, and "reality" TV programs; need I mention "soap operas"? Those watching what is called, "TV News programming," are oblivious to how little actual real news in reported. Many prefer to watch "Newscasters" express opinions, which are designed to reinforce their Belief Systems, and which either keep them mentally asleep, or work them up into an irrational frenzy. If one wishes to take one's head out of the sand, it is important to limit the amount of sand.

Taking stock of oneself, and one's abilities, gained over time, will help to maintain confidence in one's abilities and options. "Don't Panic," was advice we saw in many places, in the past. "Keep calm and carry on," apparently, is its current variation; both are good precepts to always keep in mind.

With that as advice for today's state of affairs in our world, I end this blog.

Shirley Gallup