What is Ontology and what is its relevance in our everyday lives?
What is Ontology and what is its relevance in our everyday lives?
Ontology is the study of our existence and how we choose to identify ourselves as human beings. If I was to ask you how do you define yourself which qualities would you relate to the most, would it be your physical appearance such as your height, weight, skin tone or colour of your eyes or perhaps you would describe yourself in an emotional sense listing your character traits such as kind and loving or maybe stubborn and withdrawn? It may even be you define yourself by a successful career or by being a mum of three children, everyone is different in what they perceive as the very thing that defines them as a person.
At some point in life we will all make a decision on who we feel we are and it is through our life experiences and upbringings that we naturally form our own opinions about how we feel about ourselves and others which is greatly influenced by the quality of our thoughts. Although we do not have the ability to control our thoughts all the time as they come and go constantly the quality of our thinking will have a huge influence on how we will experience our life, negative thoughts about our self will greatly damage our self-esteem and attract negativity, yet positive thoughts will restore our self-worth and confidence and attract abundance to us.
The same format is true for how we choose to view others but sadly discrimination is constantly a factor in some ways as difference naturally creates fear so why is this? Unfortunately it is human nature to make judgements and you may be reading this and think you are the exception to the rule but can you honestly say you have never formed an opinion about another person or situation before you actually knew what the facts were? Human beings are complex and emotional creatures and we rarely have the ability to see the full picture as we rely on our thoughts, feelings, beliefs and opinions when making a judgement about another person or situation which is not always accurate!
This happens to us all, irrespective of if we are an extrovert and speak our thoughts out loud or an introvert who tends to process information more internally. We are imperfect and constantly evolving and learning and some of us will know who we are and what we want from life from an early age and others will take a little longer to figure that out and yet the amazing thing about life is that numerous paths will constantly open us to us all and through personal choice we will choose the path that most resonates with what our priorities are at that given moment in time.
As our lives change some of us will be very clear on the direction we are going in and yet for others there may be confusion based on a variety of different circumstances which can affect our choices, perhaps as a child we always wanted to become a carer yet we may have felt pressurised by well-meaning parents to pursue a career which would generate a greater income such as being a lawyer even thought our heart was not in it …it was still expected of us and we didn’t want to disappoint our family. Maybe you got married at a young age when you still did not know who or what it was that you were looking for and then over the years just grew apart from your spouse and yet felt you needed to stay together for the sake of your children even though you no longer have anything in common any more.
Irrespective of our upbringings we all have our own set of values and beliefs which govern and drive every decision we will go on to make. Have you ever wanted to create change in your life and yet felt held back for fear of the effect it would have on others? How many of us will happily sacrifice our own personal desires and passions for fear of judgement from others, causing discomfort to loved ones or a lack of self-confidence within ourselves about the possible outcome. How many of us choose to live with complete congruence and show how we are really feeling to the world or put on a facade. Only you know the answer to that and everybody’s situation is different and can be complicated.
Something that will always remain the same though irrespective of our external appearance or situation is our ability to choose and take responsibility for the affect we have on other people’s lives through our words and actions. We may feel we are aware and fully in control of how others will be impacted but are we really? How many of us will then go onto consider the long term implications not only on the person we have initially corresponded with but by the effect it will have on the receiver which will then in turn pass these same emotions and opinions onto others they are connected too.
You may have a cross word with a neighbour who may then become angry as a result of your words and then take out their frustrations on the bus driver or their partner, who will then go on to either absorb that emotion creating negativity in their own body or pass it on to someone they are connected too and so the toxic circle continues and yet see the difference if you simply walk up to a stranger and complement them on something they are wearing or the way they look ...try it and make somebodies day, trust me that positivity will then be passed onto every person that individual then comes into contact with in some way.
Perhaps the most important aspect apart from choosing carefully how we choose to relate is the message we choose to teach our children who are the future and will impact society long after we are no longer here to do so. Do you want your children to live in a world that celebrates difference and diversity or a world that thrives on prejudice? What right do we have to form a judgement on someone based on the colour of their skin,their sexual preference,how they choose to dress or look, what they choose to do for a living or the decisions they make? So long as they are happy with their choices and not causing harm to others then what right do we have to tell others how to live their lives? We are all human beings with feelings and everybody deserves to be treated with the same love, equality,respect and kindness we would want for ourselves.
So the question is what long term effect do you want to have on your loved ones, society and the world you and your children inhabit, will you choose to spread love and positivity or hate and negativity,I know my choice, what's yours?
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