The Dependency Habit
Maybe you’ve recently become aware that you might be not as self-reliant as you’d like. If you have, you’re probably wondering how you become less reliant on you own knowledge and skills and more reliant on the knowledge and skills of others. The short answer is that you’ve allowed yourself to become dependent upon others, as well as the things produced by others. It’s that simple. You’ve developed the dependency habit.
Like many habits, the dependency habit has a negative effect on you, your outlook and your lifestyle. It makes you passive. It makes you more likely to conform to behaviors that you don’t truly believe in. It stunts your ability to be self-sufficient. In short, it makes you less of a person and prevents you from becoming who you were truly meant to be. Luckily, like all habits it can be broken and replaced by behaviors that are more personally beneficial.
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– Janis Joplin
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The dependency habit starts because our society is designed to make all of us consumers of things and services that are not essential. We consume these non-essential things because we are told that they are, in fact, essential. We are told they will solve a problem. We are told they will make our lives easier and more comfortable. We are told that successful and beautiful people would not consider living without these things. In short, we are lied to from birth. We are indoctrinated to be unthinking consumers of products that actually will do nothing to make us more beautiful or successful. They will not make are lives easier or more comfortable. They will not solve any problem that we can’t already solve without their help. All they will do is tie us down under a mountain of derby and obligation that we feel we are unable to walk away from. Why? Because if we don’t service the debt on these unnecessary products, we won’t be able to purchase more unnecessary products in the future.
So, what’s the answer? Break the consumerist cycle by breaking the dependency habit. Strip back the possessions in your life. Get rid of everything except for that which is really essential. Simplify your life. Do more with less. Think outside the box. Think minimally. Learn new skills that will increase your self-sufficiency while, at the same time, reducing your dependence on others and what they produce. It can be done. You weren’t born to simply consume. You were born to live, self-reliant, self-sufficient and proud of who you are.
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