As individuals we need to be healthy self-realising human beings but the society we have created is failing us. No longer are we allowed to look for the best in people and nurture that nugget of gold. Instead we have cultures within politics and business which command and control in an attempt to make people conform to an artificial way of being.

The concept of trust has all but disappeared from society as more and more controls are put into place to control individuals and even more creative ways of circumventing these controls are then found.

The debates about the fundamentals of human nature will continue for many years. One view is that human nature is naturally evil and so requires authority and control. A more humanistic approach asserts that humanity is inclined towards good and is more than worthy of accepting responsibility for the self and being viewed as trustworthy.

If we choose to adopt the humanistic view we have the potential to dramatically alter our lives through the realisation that there is significance to our being here, that we are worthy and that we add value.

The more cynical view of human behaviour traps us into believing that individuals are more inclined to do wrong; that we need restrictions, controls and punishments to manage effectively. I wonder how we can ever achieve an inclusive, creative and cohesive environment when we feel constantly threatened and mis-guided.

This artificial way of living which is being forced upon us is, I believe, the cause of a number of unwanted effects.

There has been a significant increase in recent years in the incidence of depression, panic attacks, social anxiety, post traumatic stress syndrome, phobias, obsessive compulsive disorders and stress induced anxiety. Pharmaceutical companies grow larger and richer through the development of new ranges of mind altering drugs to control unwanted emotions. We are even medicating children to control unwanted behaviour. Note here that these medications are designed to control and not cure.

Prolonged periods of mental distress make us more vulnerable to mental and physical illness and impair our ability to function in an evermore demanding world. Occupational – induced stress has now even been recognised as a health and safety issue. More is demanded of us. Modern communications mean we can always be in touch with others which sounds marvellous but we can become victims to our mobile telephones and email servers – never allowing ourselves the quiet still time that our beings need.

How many of us spend our lives in overwhelm – overwhelmed by the demands of our relationships with others, overwhelmed by the volume of communications we are called upon to process and overwhelmed by the number of activities which we feel compelled to cram into every day.

We are also faced with an epidemic of anger in society. There has been a significant rise in “angry” incidents in the home, in our communities and within our institutions.

Large numbers of the population are suffering from low self esteem or practice addictive behaviours. Bullying is on the increase in our schools, in the workplace and in our homes.

80% of the population on the planet are experiencing either shortages of food or water whilst the remaining 20% struggle with a battle against an epidemic of obesity.

The elected leaders of the Western world are experiencing the lowest levels of trust from the people.

It is time for a change.

If we choose to adopt the views of the human potential movement it is possible that the cynicism prevalent in society today can be replaced with a mood of collaboration. By allowing the individual to self-realise society can only benefit from having highly motivated, empowered, enthusiastic and trustworthy members.

Which society do you think will be more successful? The one which has a culture of shame, punishment, control, suspicion and cynicism or the one which is trusting, liberating, inspiring and integrating?

We are born into the world trusting. In some cases this trust is broken very early in life and we learn to mis-trust. We learn cynicism and our minds become closed to the possibility of trust, but this is all learned behaviour. Our instinctive way of being is to trust and be trusted and I believe that by following the path of trust a whole new world of possibilities becomes available to us.

Donetta Harrison is using her writing skills to build http://www.wellnessforlife.info, an information resource covering all aspects of wellness in all domains of life, to encourage individuals to take responsibility for their health and wellbeing in order that that they may live life to the full. More Information from wellnessforlife@btinternet.com

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