OUR conditioning (the way we were brought up) plays an enormous part in the way we live our lives.
In fact you could also argue that it also plays an enormous part in inhibiting our freedom to live.
For instance, if you were brought up in a certain way, it also means that you were brought up with a certain belief system and thus you lived your life accordingly. It can apply both to individual people and also to countries.
Take for example in Ireland. If you mentioned that you were having snails for dinner there is a high chance that any invite would be met with a fairly rapid polite (or perhaps blunt!) refusal, whereas in France the same invite would more than likely be met with delight.
You see escargots (snails) would be regarded as a delicacy kept for special guests, delivering such culinary delights like ESCARGOTS À LA BOURGUIGNONNE (SNAILS IN GARLIC–HERB BUTTER)
I had a personal experience of this on one occasion when I went to a lot of trouble to prepare crabs claws in garlic butter for a friend – all I can say is that plenty of spuds were eaten on that same evening! We still laugh about it.
Therefore our culture and our background play a huge part in the way that we see the world.
“If you change the way you look at the world, the world you look at changes” – Wayne Dyer.
The type of society we are brought up in moulds us for life. This is why we should be so grateful to people who voluntarily give of their own time to help in all sorts of organisations, girl guides, boy scouts, GAA, rugby, soccer, swimming, comhaltas, choirs, youth clubs to name just a few.
Particularly in disadvantaged areas these types of organisations are nothing short of a ‘Godsend’ as they provide young people with an environment where they learn about respect; respect for their community, respect for themselves and thus a respect for other people living in the area.
Could you for one second imagine the effect on society it would have if these types of organisations didn’t exist.
I have no doubt that law and order would break down in a very short period of time. Therefore it is incumbent for our Government to encourage an environment where these kinds of organisations can flourish and also to provide spacious green areas and parks where children can play.
Not to do so would be a huge deficit to the smooth running of our country and as the old saying goes ‘a stitch in time saves nine’.
This is so important, not only to realise. but to implement in the whole area of crime prevention.
Thanks be to God it has been recognised by our own Gardaí and there are now Community Gardaí present in disadvantaged areas of our country.
By doing this we provide every citizen with a certain amount of equality and opportunity so that they in turn will be an asset to the future running of our country.
In fact the ‘right to life’ is indoctrinated in the constitution of our country, but is of utmost importance that priority be given such that every citizen gets an equal opportunity of access to quality of living.
Next week I am going to write more on Conditioning (flowers are red!)
• Roger Harty is a life coach and can be contacted on 087-6128336, on twitter at @Innerjoyz1 or by email rogharty@gmail.com
