One of my favorite lines from the movies is from the old Clint Eastwood movie, “The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly.”

Where they are about to find the gold, and one guy says:

“There’s two kinds of people in this world. Those with loaded guns, and those who dig. You dig.”

This easily lends itself to the organization of society since the dawn of time. There are people who hold power, and people who do all the work.

And usually power comes from whoever has all the best weapons. Guns, bombs, planes, swords, the biggest clubs, rocks, alien technology, whatever.

Might, as they say, makes right.

But it also illustrates the human tendency to categorize things. Usually into two or three different groups.

All kinds of studies have shown that our brains pretty much seize up when we’ve got too many choices.

When we’ve got two or three, it’s pretty easy. But when we’ve got five or six, we tend to stand there in confusion.

“Wow! Look at all the stuff!”

(BTW this really sucks when you’re in line behind somebody like this at a fast food joint!)

Most people, as they get older, tend to categorize their lives into “before” and “after”.

Before a certain event, and after that certain event.

Maybe a horrible divorce, maybe when they found out Santa Claus wasn’t real, maybe when they had kids.

In ancient societies, the most crucial barrier to cross was that of childhood, to that of adulthood.

Back then, there were no safety nets. No hospitals, no police. Nobody to call if you got into any trouble.

If you weren’t entirely self sufficient as an adult, you were a huge liability to the tribe.

So they made sure kids turned into adults.  They put them through extended ceremonies, days at a time, where they would have to dig deep and face a horrible life or death situation.

Of course, it was all staged, but the kids didn’t know that.

By facing death, they went in as kids, and came out as adults.

Unfortunately, there is nothing remotely close to this today. It’s very easy to stay in the “childhood mindset” your entire “adult” life.

It’s incredibly hard to make this transition completely on your own. Back then it was a tribal event. The whole tribe participated to make sure the kids made the transition.

Today, it’s all up to you.

You may say the whole purpose of life is to become an adult. To become actualized may mean to become fully responsible, fully capable, and fully in control of who you are, what you get, and where you go.

One step in the that direction is taking charge of your mind. Instead of accepting beliefs from others, you can learn to choose them yourself.

See the world how YOU want, not how THEY want you to.

Learn how:

Belief Change