Here. Now. A Catholic Guide to the Good Life - free today
From Chapter 1:
here. now.
Thinking...
... Does your physical appearance matter to you? Why? Who told you it should matter?
...What kind of music do you like? Why? How did that type of music come into your life?
...What are your career goals? Why? Where did the standards that you're using to judge how successful you are come from?
...When you imagine a happy life, now and in the future, what do you think of? Be honest. Where does your understanding of "hap- piness" come from?
Well? What did you come up with? Are you completely in charge of your own life, the Master or Mistress of your own Uni- verse, totally beyond the influence of others?
Didn't think so. None of us is.
It's not that we're slaves of fate, either robots acting only in response to stimuli and commands. Who you are is the result of an interaction, a dynamic between your free will, your uniqueness, the choices that your world presents, and what it's taught you is valuable and important.
But if you answered those questions in the box honestly, you might have confronted that Myth of Total Independence. In a rather shockingly major way, your life is a response to voices and challenges raised by others. Nothing is excluded, not how you style your hair, not how you define what "happiness" means for you.
Listening...
... What messages did you pick up from your family about your value? Do you find yourself trying to please or argue against those messages in your choices?
... What messages do your peers give you about what makes you valuable?
... What messages does your culture-your music, mass media-give you about what makes your life worth living? Do you believe them?
