The Art of Standing Alone

Sometimes in life we feel as though we're alone. Sometimes we actually are, but most days, we actually have a silent support group that is ready and willing to come to our rescue and give us the encouragement we need to go on. We often don't know who they are until we're in trouble.

I have often stood alone, as I'm sure many of you have to, against movements, trends, fads, and public opinion. It wasn't that I was purposely trying to be different, but because I was standing up for what I believed to be right. What's surprising is that sometimes public opinion is based only on perception, subjective experience and not truth -- a public relations campaign, a snow job sold to us by the powers that be or etc.

I find that it's so much easier to stand in a crowd than to stand out and be alone. I feel for those who have had to do that throughout time and history...the lone voice crying in the wilderness; the suffering man or woman who was condemned, but totally innocent. Sometimes the peer pressure causes some to turn on those they know. How sad...

Sometimes we wonder why certain ones stand alone and don't voice their opinion while everyone else is doing just that...perhaps they have an experience or some information that would shock the crowds, but out of respect for certain ones, they stay quiet. Rather than stand up and shatter illusions, they choose to remain silent...the truth is often not accepted because of one thing and one thing alone: EMOTIONS.

Emotions, though a beautiful thing, can blind people from the facts. I can't tell you how many times someone heard the facts and said, "I don't care." That one phrase says that such a person would rather accept a lie and feel good, than accept the truth and be uncomfortable.