Living Without Crutches by Samuel Ufot Ekekere - HTML preview

CHAPTER ELEVEN

SOCIETY CRUTCH

Every society has a set of guiding principles. These principles control how people in the society lead their lives. These principles help to make order so that everyone is controlled by the same set of rules

It’s great when we find ourselves in a chaotic situation and order has to be made. However society isn’t always that chaotic. Laws are made just in case a chaotic situation arises.

Society is great at helping us create rules that it expects we fall into. You’d hear stuff like, no one comes in after 10am, no work after 6.00pm etcetera. These rules are limiting.

I remember once I was praying with my family and I heard a knock on the window with a voice telling me to slow down as I was disturbing the community with my prayers. That was a society crutch. The society didn’t have to tell me how to pray to my God. I accepted their plea but soon I had to pay dearly. Guess what? I knew I had to pray anyway and whatever the opinions of others in the society, I just have to pray to God.

Many times, society places certain fringe rules that pose a threat to the personal development of constituent members. Society is like the crowd that does not want an original thinking system away from that one it has organized for its members. It finds a way to push you to a point where you are powerless to even defend yourself against the imposing laws it causes. It thus becomes a necessary crutch that you must walk and work with.

Now you don’t want to be imposed with certain stringent rules that society often offers. This is because society crutches are

• Suspicious. Society often suspects every of its members thus it strives to ensure you align to its rules or concludes you as a suspect if you don’t align
• Outrageous. Society doesn’t care so much about the individuals inside. It cares more of the whole so its rules and desires tend to be outrageously bigger than what members demand.
• Controlling. Society strives to control everything about you. They tell you when to come in and how to go out, where to go and where not to go. Sadly it kills the individual creativity and goal oriented mindset.
• Institutional. Society always doesn’t allow for change. It creates institutions and desires everyone to align to such institutions. Society doesn’t try to adapt. Everyone must adapt to it.
• Elusive. Society tries to ensure you cannot change her however hard you try. It places debacles on the way to ensuring you can never try to change. Rather you are forced to adopt her principles
• Tricky. You can’t hang on to society for so long. It has these broken legs that you think it is still strong enough to hold you when it just can’t.
• Yielding. They will easily give way. You don’t and can’t trust them.

Don’t hang on society to help you make good of your life. It never does. No one has come well under societal influences and if you do benefit, it’s only temporal. It’s the real you that is of value that the world is hoping to see. Tell society bye and hang on to who you really are.