Have you ever thought?

"Men fear thought more than they fear anything else on earth- more than ruin, more than even death. Thought is subversive and revolutionary, destructive and terrible; thought is merciless to privilege, established institutions, and comfortable habits; thought is anarchic and lawless, indifferent to authority, careless of the well-tried wisdom of the ages. Thought looks into the pit of hell and is not afraid. It sees man, a feeble speck, surrounded by unfathomable depths of silence; yet bears itself proudly, as unmoved as if it were lord of the universe. Thought is great and swift and free, the light of the world, and the chief glory of man. But if thought is to become the possession of the many, not the privilege of the few, we must have done with fear. It is fear that holds men back- fear lest their cherished beliefs should prove delusions, fear lest the institutions by which they live should prove harmful, fear lest they themselves should prove less worthy of respect than they have supposed themselves to be." - Bertrand Russell

After reading this the first time, I really didn't see how this could be true. Now I can't see how it couldn't not be true.

I spent time in 2 small downtown metro areas this week and saw the people coming and going. The same thing that they likely do every day. Over and over again. And that is how I know the above statement is the truth. And I even found myself thinking of the people who have influenced me in my life and felt anger and frustration about the fact that they never really spent any valuable time thinking about reality and how their lives are just being tossed in the trash. We find all kinds of excuses to rationalize why we do what we do rather than thinking about exactly what and why we do them.  But, as I always do, I realized that my anger and frustration was simply at myself for doing exactly the same thing for years and years. Not thinking. Not realizing that I was slowly flushing my life in the toilet.

This is what thought does, it leads you to uncomfortable realizations. But these realizations are exactly the fuel that is needed for change.