Well
here are we are again! This is another episode if what you can call the 10
series, in which I present 10 things I discover to be interesting, impressive,
or inspiring. You can read a previous post from the 10 series here. Now, I
have had this post drafted since Oct 15th, but never really had the heart,
energy or even the words to finish it until today. I felt there was something
missing but with the events that have happened lately: Jeita, Lebanon vs. Korea
soccer game, Allouch vs. Shokr's boxing match, university student related incidences and
elections, GEW, $32 million paid
to STL, power blackouts across Lebanon, MEA strike, and of course the consistent dismissal
of citizens rights to a law that protects them against violence, have all left me thinking that this post can not be put off any longer.
So here they are, in no particular order, 10 things we can no longer afford to maintain.
1. Ignorance: We can no longer afford not to know. Not nowadays and not
anymore! You cannot live in a certain part of the world, and not understand
what laws govern it, and how they might impact you. You cannot open a bank
account without learning what the regulations and fees required are, purchase a
product online without reading the fine print, or marry someone without meeting
the family or friends. Since we were all born with the cells, nerves and blood
circulation that enables each of us to learn, ignorance is therefore a choice.
I firmly believe that you have the right to freely choose anything you want;
however, I also believe that your choice is flawed if you have not considered
its implications before hand. Ignorance is costly because it results in giving
up your free will and ability to decide on your own. Lack of information means
that you hand over different aspects of your life to someone else more
knowledgeable than you, like a bank, a politician, a firm, an airline,
MTCtouch, Alfa, a cab driver, the car dealer and so on and so forth… That’s a
lot of people/ organizations controlling what should be YOUR life. You do not
need to transform yourself into a Mr. / Mrs. Know_it_all, but at least be aware
and constantly search for information and assess its credibility prior to
taking or holding back action.
2. Indifference: There is nothing more irritating than
carelessness. You might think that you are only one person, and so you cannot
cause a lot of harm or result in any good. But you and I both know that this in
not true. Ghandi, Fairuz, John Lenon, and your teacher, each one of those is
one person and yet they influenced you and the world in more ways than I can
list here. I am not saying that you go on hunger strike, but while simple acts
of compassion or consideration cannot cause radical change, they can
incrementally make the world around you a little bit better and make you a bit
more integrated with your community around you. We are social beings after all,
social being derived from society, and therefore it’s simply unnatural to go
around disconnecting yourself from what goes around.
3. Parroting: Parrots are beautiful creatures, but here’s a newsflash: YOU
ARE A HUMAN BEING! Which means you have brain cells that can accumulate and
analyze information better than any other being out there. So I suggest you use
them. If you were intended to repeat everything you have heard or seen without
thinking about it or adding value to it, then you would have had two wings and
lots of colorful feathers, living in the amazons or in someone's living room
eating crackers. Successful people are those who add value, to everything they
do, but especially to things they say. Words travel fast, and are used to judge
your character often. It is crucial then that you understand the
importance of thinking about what to say and when to say it before you say it.
Repetition is a great tool for memorizing, but what future employers,
employees, even life partners are looking for is someone who can think for
his/herself, has valuable input to share and can contribute to positive change
instead of repeat and mimic inherent ideologies and concepts.
4. Tautness and Conformity: Adhering to the rulebook and implementing policy
and procedure to a T, without questioning them, breeds nothing but
underdeveloped capacity. Because only through questioning, discovering,
exploring and exposing yourself to people, cultures and concepts beyond your
comfort zone will you learn and improve. You think you are just being a good
citizen, student or employee, or you might be too scared or too indifferent to
rock the boat, but what you are really doing is building your own cage by
limiting yourself and settling for conditions that are either unjust or at
best, in severe need of improvement. Remember: "The hope of a secure and livable world lies with disciplined
nonconformists who are dedicated to justice, peace and brotherhood." Martin Luther King, Jr.
5. Making fun of others: No one cares if you are a celebrity judge on
Celebrity Duets, and no one cares in what context, whether funny haha, a wink
or a simple hand gesture; making fun of people, regardless of their condition,
reflects nothing but poor taste and cruelty. Making a habit of such a behavior
turns the human soul mean, disrespectful and borderline racist. Now, if you do
not care about your image, or your personal development as an individual, then
you better at least worry about Karma, because it does not play nice with bad
boys and girls.
