It’s a somber moment when you realize that the latest mass shooting was only a few miles away from Columbine Highschool. Columbine, if you remember, was location to the school shooting that launched us into what has become a “fad” for the “angry and isolated” youths of society. Since then, for some insane reason, walking into your school and shooting classmates and faculty has become an increasingly common outlet for frustration, anger, and blame. There will always be an argument for or against gun control, but my interests lie deeper within the problem. I want to know what makes us tick over that last tock. What can drive a seemingly sane person, over that edge towards a point where fuming frustration and a motivation to inflict harm outweigh the desire for a good life and a sense of connection to those around you?
We could say that these people were absolutely insane from the beginning, that reason and logic were beyond them for a long time and an act like this was absolutely inevitable. However, I am willing to bet otherwise…
The word “control” gets a bad rep. It’s often associated with male energy, dominance, anger, or even abuse over others. Yet, a sense of control in our lives in paramount. Every plan you make, every goal you set, and every action you take is an effort to put control in your hands, but we live in a society that is constructed to strip that control away. Our school system prepares you to “fit in” society rather than finding out what you can truly contribute. Dating or finding a mate has become more about finding someone who has what you want rather than discovering if someone is truly compatible. And how many of us have to trade 9 hours of every day, the prime hours, to perform what we consider a bullshit job, just to ensure we have enough money for a roof over our heads and food on our tables. None of these examples lead to a sense of control. But as human beings, we will find a way to gain that feeling. Especially males… especially young males. Testosterone fuels this drive to find dominance in our lives, but in a society that increasingly aims to castrate a man’s sense of dominion, largely due to centuries of men abusing their positions, that intensely powerful drive is turned into a compressed spring.
(Disclaimer: This is not to say that women don’t experience oppression, the opposite is most certainly the case)
The result of this mental slavery has led to a pandemic of addiction:
Drugs & Alcohol
Porn & Sex
Shopping
Cellphones
Eating (which has led to the obesity crisis)
These problems don’t persist solely due to genetic predispositions (this is another way to remove control in your life). Instead, it is time to find purpose in what you do. You are a human being. By default, you were born to create. That creation may come in the form of tuning cars. That creation may express itself in a drawing. Regardless of what you create, the very fact that your hands have the flexibility to manipulate a pencil and your brain can contain the value of introspection is direct evidence that you were meant for more than the world has taught you!
So, get your ASS off the couch, shut off the distractions, and discover what you were born to deliver to the world. Dive in deep. Ask yourself what you enjoy doing. Ask yourself what are ways you truly contribute to the world around you, and ask yourself how you can make that contribution better than it already is. This, folks, is a choice. Making a conscious choice to improve not only your life, but also the life of others is the ultimate form of control.
At the end of this day, you need to ask yourself one question: “What did I DO to put that control in my hands?”
