THE URGE TO CHALLENGE
??????????
Part of my job here is challenging people, which often results in pissing them off.
Some people are very uncomfortable around me because they sense their bullshit will be seen.
I purposely spend time around people who will call out my bullshit too. It’s a divine service and a standard to be set.
This can manifest (and often has) as a rebellious, inauthentic, hierarchical, arrogant perspective.
When someone feels this urge to challenge another, it may easily be laced with their own wounding and projections.
It can easily come from the wounded ‘need to be right’, as opposed to truly speaking the voice of someone’s higher self to them.
For many ‘truth tellers’, this wounded identity causes them to live a lifestyle as a reclusive, lone wolf, ‘no one understands me’ sort of lifestyle.
The arrogance causing this issue is of course accumulated innocently, in my case as a teenager when observing and making an internal mockery of the ‘cliquey’ nature of humans.
Why are all of these people acting so foolishly? Do I really need to act this way to fit in?
Am I willing to pretend I can’t see the stupidity?
Yes, stupidity is real. Isn’t that funny? Arrogance and stupidity…both very real.
So how do we consolidate a sustainable perspective?
The core issue of arrogance is isolation, separation, loneliness, victimhood. Noticing our own arrogance can be quite challenging when we are completely sold on the victim’s identity.
Recognizing stupidity is actually a very helpful survival skill
It’s what we make that mean about ourselves which creates suffering.
“That person is stupid and therefore I am not (I hope).”
“That person is making a mistake and therefore the critical attention should be on them (not me).”
This subtle arrogance is frequently obvious in Facebook comments when people share…something like ” I agree with this post, I never do that!” Why are you sharing that? Why do you need us to know what you think you do or not?
This also tends to be an attempt at obscuring self-pity from the collective. You think we don’t know about your poor me story when you share about how perfect you are? Clever…
The solution is always in vulnerability…eating through your own stories with precision and vigilance.
We become trustworthy when we take it upon ourselves to do the dirty work so others don’t have to when dealing with us.
I can’t say I am 100% exposed, but I share more and more deeply every day simply as a permission slip to everyone I connect with to do the same
Joshua Falcon-Grey
