We all are the leaders of existence because we all have the ability to think and make choices. Our individual leadership influences everyone around us as family, friends and neighbors. 

It doesn't matter who we are or what we do or where we are from. We all influence the course of existence whether we do it consciously or not. We all have the ability to choose means of peace in our daily lives.

We all would like to say that we make our own choices, but are we really making our own choices if we make decisions based upon dominated information?

Is it possible that some explanations have been created and maintained by dominators to improve their status in a war of all against all? Is it possible that false information is presented to us as absolute truths?

For example, some explanations maintain that men have more value than women do.  Are we judging men and women according to male standards, female standards or impartial standards?

Some explanations maintain that the only value in life is economic success. This explanation is constantly promoted.  If individuals accept the explanation, they will want to achieve economic success in order to prove the value of their existence.  Individuals will do whatever is necessary to have expensive clothes, expensive homes and the means of acquiring more economic wealth in order to prove their value to themselves and others.

Would it be beneficial for economic dominators to prioritize and establish economic success as the main value and goal of existence?  Can we choose to exist according to a different set of values?

If an individual rejects the pursuit of economic wealth in favor of pursuing spiritual, educational, artistic or personal values, will the individual be ridiculed or questioned? Will the individual no longer have value? Will they no longer be allowed to eat? Is economic value the only value of existence?

The explanations in our lives will always be subject to change, immaturity, and domination. Will we simply digest the explanations and choices we are perpetually bombarded with? Will we, as the individual leaders of existence, close our minds to any other thoughts? It is our choice to make.

22: Questioning established explanations

It really is easy to just accept all of the explanations we are given.  We are repeatedly tempted with the short cut of just accepting what we are told.  Many calculated plans try to guide our lives within a stable environment with explainable laws existing forever.

Questioning established explanations doesn't mean we automatically reject them.  If they have any merit, then debate will only strengthen the explanations. We can have faith in our explanations just as we can have scientific proof of our explanations.  It just seems ridiculous to accept all of the presented explanations without allowing ourselves to think about them.  

By closing our minds to anything that threatens our explanations, we reject our individual ability to think.  We reject our ability to choose means of peace. What type of existence will we lead ourselves to if we close our minds within a constant state of change?

We might discover that some of the explanations presented to us have been misleading.  We may find traces of domination.  This might cause us to reject all of the established explanations under a cast of doubt.

A total rejection of our explanations is not advisable because most of the explanations will probably end up being correct and valid.  Sometimes, the explanations have considerable merit, but have been presented in a confusing manner. We all need to understand things in our own way. It would be very confusing to function in life after discarding every explanation.

The best option is to understand our original explanations while also keeping an open mind for new information.  If we have an open mind, we begin to accept the state of our existence. We can't stop the course of evolution just because we think we have everything figured out.

No cultures or philosophies have ever developed in any period of history without being influenced by many different factors.  Can we freeze the status of anything within a world of constant change?  We can't reject who we are, but sometimes it is difficult to evolve beyond who we were.  We all change and no one changes within a vacuum of existence.  We all influence the course of existence with every decision we make.

Are we courageous enough to guide the course of existence with an open mind?  If we don't limit our choices, the potential of the human mind will be unleashed.  Individual leadership is just as important as any other form of leadership.

21: Why make our own choices

What happens if we reject individual leadership?  It takes a lot of confidence and courage to accept the leadership of our own existence.  Why should we think about our choices when there are capable leaders who will tell us exactly what to do and how to live?

If we allow someone else to make our choices, we also allow someone else to decide between the means of peace and war.  Should we close our minds to the possibility that we are being led down a path of destruction?  Do we really want to support means of war within a community of life?

What choices will we make and what choices will be made for us if some of our leaders are dominators engaged in a war of all against all?  Do our leaders even consider the benefits of a peaceful existence?

If leaders are concerned only with domination, then the spirit and benefits of peace are destroyed.  Dominators are addicted to a war of all against all where only temporary victory is available and long-term destruction is guaranteed. They want us to enable their means.

Since dominators make important decisions based only on the priorities of domination, individuals feel the negative effects of the shortsighted actions.  If dominators are too busy fighting within a war of all against all, then the goals of a peaceful existence are defeated. 

We all have a pretty good idea of what happens when leaders pursue goals of domination.  We all have a pretty good idea of what happens in a war of all against all.  I hate thinking about war.

I imagine myself being weighed down by my equipment as I crawl on my belly through a forest many miles from home.  I struggle to hear my personal thoughts as machine gun fire rattles through the trees and zips past my ears.  I watch soldiers of all ages moving through drilled actions.  I see civilians crushed in chaos.  I fear the opposing lines of a faceless enemy I would want to share a joke with in times of peace.

My senses are confused by a scent somewhere between an air freshener and the worst stench requiring one.  As I taste a warm revolting mixture on my lips, I realize it is the metallic blood of a friend who now stares at me with no other movement.

For a moment I feel a plague of guilt rush over me.  The open eyes of my deceased friend are vicious.  They pin the responsibility of war on my actions prior to battle.  As a shell explodes a few yards behind me, I pledge the staring eyes my new commitment as a peaceful leader on Earth.  I crawl to a safe location, keeping my head low, as the soft breeze wafts poisonous gas on a one way track to my immature dreams.

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