Don't Push

Compulsion kills passion. I’ve come to realize that one method seen as the best way to instill a desire into kids is through force. Force takes away the passion kids need to fully immerse themselves into something. Something they once enjoyed becomes a task that’s draining and silently loathed. The indoctrination of how religion, education, respect and various other aspects should be perceived is disappointing. Once people begin to dictate the way something should be done with an iron fist, everything falls through. Perfection becomes the main purpose and truly enjoying the sensation is no longer an option. Various authority figures fail to realize that the reason for the lack of enthusiasm for an activity is because of them. They successfully alienate the concept as a whole and the thought of anyone having interest dissipates.

The most common instance of this is in religion. One reason why people lose faith is because they are forced to worship in a certain way. Asking questions is scorned and we’re meant to sit and believe the words of the leaders. Whenever doubt arises they tell you to ignore it when you should educate yourself more. Voluntary things become compulsory and without the intention it’s completely pointless. When people push their beliefs onto you with so much pressure it becomes suffocating. It gets hard to notice the beauty and the entire concept in its actual light. 

The small doubts form into cavities that are fed with online manipulation. People force their bigotry onto you without any further thought of how it could affect your response to it. The worst part is they use the guise of their deity to justify their actions, they’ve coerced you into thinking everything else is wrong. Everyone has a right to snap under such circumstances, when the dogmatism becomes overwhelming and there’s no room for simple inquiries anymore. Anytime I begin to doubt I speak to people who understand me, and I do further research on my own. 

Unfortunately the control and pushing doesn’t stop there. It can be seen even in education, especially in education. I’m not scared to say that not everyone is smart, but that doesn’t mean we don’t harness beautiful talents. It’s often overlooked though, kids are urged to study hard and work themselves raw for letters on a piece of paper. There’s no concern or interest in the skills they hold and it becomes suffocating to hold so much talent but lack the permission to use them. Wards find themselves folding into mundane jobs that kill them slowly, eventually they decide to take it into their own hands. The tragedy of wanting to be and not being able to feels like a punishment worse than death. The passion and desire to create, combined with the inability to actually do so eats you from the inside out and leaves you hollow. It’s always hard to go against the ones who gave you life, that coupled with the information they’re fed about your incompetence from teachers leave you seething. Good grades are seen as the only pathway to success, everything else is collateral damage and shouldn’t even be given the time of day. Your silly interests have no value. 

However, being forced to suppress what you love can be better than being pushed into hating it. When someone notices that glimmer of specialty within you they think of all ways to exploit it. The activity, sport or extra curricular that you once did to express yourself becomes a task you push yourself through. It gets harder to enjoy it when you have to abstain from little luxuries, when you have to competitively embrace the feeling instead of leisurely.

Athletes having to follow strict regimes and using harmful promoters to be better. Something that started as a fun escape becomes morphed into a parasite that steals your passion and contorts what’s left into hatred.

It constantly seems like there’s no care for how you feel about things, as long as you do it the way they deem best. They convince you that everything they say is true, stop you from being curious and place you in a box that only they have the key to. When you eventually break free, because we all do somehow, it’s almost too late. If it isn’t too late, then you beat the system, and everyone wants to beat the system. Life isn’t meant to be lived in one path, as long as you do the right things you can be free with what you want to be. No one should push you too far into the wall that you explode. 

People will always try to control our free will because change bothers them. I won’t let people dictate how I live and understand concepts. I will educate myself, I will protect my passion, and I will stay true to my faith. If someone pushes too hard you either push back or surrender to it, I try hard not to surrender.

Written by, Amina Abdulkareem