the difference that makes a difference

there's a truth in self-actualization, but like all truths, it contains the seed of it's own undoing
at the heart of the "internal locus of control" there is another dangerous paradox:
to be responsible for that which you in actuality have little or no power over...
this mindset leads to dictators and terrorists and neurotic "fixers"
you blame the people for their government, the poor for their poverty, and the mad for their madness

it is true, that in the modern world, most people suffer from the other error,
which is why we see totalitarian spectacle everywhere... the minority of sadists
who are in an interactive system with a great mass of masochists...
each creating the other over and over.
but there is another formula, hidden in the old cliche:
grant me the wisdom to accept what I cannot change,
the courage to change what I can,
and the wisdom to know the difference...

then mix this with the great subtle formula of the ancient chinese: no blame.
you didn't ask to be programmed, and if you didn't know better,
you didn't get to choose your programming... YET.
But each day is a new day and you can make new choices...
the initial step in the process is to test...
to poke out into new areas and see if they can be changed...
observe, then re-test.
Don't expect anything. Find out for yourself. Be surprised.