The Owners of Life
Social studies analyze and categorize people according to different criteria and measures, such as ethnic origins, religions, geographical location, cultural background, sexual orientations, etc. Some of these studies are very insightful and others are a complete waste of time. An important criterion often used in the more insightful studies is the distinction between leaders and followers. This distinction largely defines the fate of the world we live in. The gist of leadership studies can be summed up in the following way: some people are born to be leaders and others develop into ones. Symmetrically, some are born to be followers and others are brought up to follow other people.
These two words, leader and follower, can carry few meanings. The leader could be the visionary, the guide, or the commander. The follower could be the interpreter of the vision, the searcher of the way, or the implementer of the mission. The visionary leader must have a compelling and well communicated vision, the guide requires wisdom and clarity of thoughts, and the commander needs charisma and authority. The leader, who can incarnate all these attributes together, will surely be among the greatest leaders, as we’ve known them throughout history. A leader can easily cross the line from being a legend to becoming a loser, from being an inspired visionary to becoming a delusional narcissist, from being a wise guide to becoming a dogmatic manipulator, from being a charismatic commander to becoming a totalitarian despot. Followers too can degenerate and become enslaved to their leaders. They could transform from interpreters of the vision into limited viewers, from searchers of the way into lost souls, and from implementers of the mission to obedient slaves.
All this is very insightful, respectful and greatly important for businesses, governments and historical purposes. However, for our daily lives, there is an important question, each of us, leaders and followers alike, needs to answer in order to know if our life journey is yielding the desired outcomes. This question needs to be answered with the utmost objectivity and without any emotional biases. This critical question is simply: “to whom does this world belong?” Not in terms of its material wealth, but in terms of the most expensive and rarest currency: moments in time. In other words, what is the most important criterion of all when it comes to you and me and our relationship with our life? I argue that it is not leadership, material or spiritual wealth, or any sort of power. I claim it is ownership of moments.
There is a group of people who own this life, and entirely profit from it, and another group of people who own little or nothing of this life and do not, or very little, profit from it. At the end of your day, it matters less to know if you are a leader or a follower, what matters more is to know whether you can be an owner in this world and take the most advantage of this comedy, called life, or not!
Before I reveal how you know if you are an owner or how to become one, It is important to note that ownership is not directly related to possessions. Jesus was a great leader, with a great spiritual power, but did he really profit from his life? The same can be said about Hannibal, Moses, Gandhi, Napoleon, ... and about many other leaders who led valiantly, had a huge amount of material and spiritual power, but eventually, they finished their lives in misery and died an inglorious death.
Below are the two most effective rules that you need to apply, unquestionably, to become an “owner of this life” or to confirm your status if you are already one. These rules also help greatly in knowing who are the owners and profiteers of this world? And are they many or do they represent a small portion of humanity?
First rule: you should refrain from asking yourself any question about anything important or deep in life or spending any effort in attempting to find any answers. In other words, you must put your curiosity to a definitive rest. For example, reading this article or any similar article or text that asks questions about life, is a breach of this first rule. Actually, reading anything is highly discouraged. If you could accomplish this, then you would have gained the right to enter the “owners” club!
Second rule: you must forget the other person, what they need, what makes them sad or happy. Ignore their state of mind, their joys and specially their sorrows! You should focus all your energy on what relates directly to your personal wellbeing and contentment. All the rest is useless, it is a pure waste of time! Maintaining yourself in that egocentric state is the only guarantee to keep your membership in the “owners” club! This line of conduct can be summarized with the famous saying: “the devil may care!” or in french “après moi le déluge”
Now that you know the formula of how an owner looks like and what it takes to become and remain one, look around you and answer to yourself the following questions: “from the people you know, who is an owner of this life and who isn’t? where does the majority lie?”. Then you need to decide in which category you are or you want to be. Because so far, you are still reading, and therefore you still haven’t entered the “owners” club!
As for me, I believe I am ready to join the "owners of life" group, consequently, these few lines will most likely be the last ones I write. Maybe that is the best solution for everyone… is it?