The Great Sheep Uprising

Wednesday, April 27, 2006
By Walt F.J. Goodridge
Special to the Saipan Tribune

The only way to take control of your life, raise your standard of living and move beyond merely surviving is to create your own unique product or service that you offer to increasing numbers of people in exchange for the things of value that you desire. This simple formula applies to countries as well as people. A self-sufficient economy has its own products or services of value to export to the world. Similarly, a self-sufficient individual has something of value to exchange in the global marketplace. That thing of value is based on your natural talent, skill, or interest—in other words, your passion!

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The greatest challenge to being successful in business is not the economy, it's not the market, your customers or anything external. The single greatest obstacle you will ever face in turning your dreams into reality is overcoming the way you currently think. Your thoughts determine your beliefs, your beliefs set your expectations, your expectations influence your actions, and your actions create your reality. So, the first place to start in changing your reality, is to change your thoughts.

The challenge, however, is that we live in a society which encourages and rewards the masses for thinking alike, acting alike, and following the same plan. Despite what anyone says about the economy, the market, or what's possible, with enough courage, creativity and commitment to doing things differently, you can change your situation.

So today I'd like to introduce you to some thoughts that can help you do just that. Every Friday, since 1997, I've written something I call a “Walt's Life Rhymes” which I send to my subscribers. Life Rhymes are simply thoughts that create success, written in poetic format. Today's Life Rhyme is especially for Saipanpreneurs who wish to break free from limiting ways of thought and change their realities. It's entitled

The Great Sheep Uprising
Walt’s Life Rhyme #442

One day a young sheep woke
and faced a world he’d never known
He raced to tell the herd
and share the vision he’d been shown

The fence is down, the dog is dead
the shepherd’s gone away!
We sheep will soon taste freedom
with no one to block our way!

What pastures shall we roam to?
Oh, what fields shall we explore?
Our day of choice has now drawn nigh
what greatness is in store?

We’ll spread across the country!
Yes, expand our power base!
We’ll maximize our numbers!
and reclaim our rightful place!

Imagine how we’ll prosper
Yes, just think how far and wide
Our children spared enslavement
our own fate shall we decide

The sheep began to follow
with excitement this bold youth
But then an old sheep blocked their path
and spoke his only truth:

Contain your mad excitement
and now listen well, dear child
For sheep we are and sheep we’ll be
and sheep do not run wild


Our master loved and led us
and this field is all we know
What lies beyond no one can say
this path may lead to woe

And so it was, that fateful day
the sheep fell back in line
No fence, no dog, no shepherd
just the limits on their minds

And so it is with sheep
And sadly so with us ourselves
That even blessed with freedom
all good sheep still herd themselves

Today's life rhyme was inspired by author D. Icke (rhymes with hike) who wrote:

When a few people wish to control and direct a mass of humanity, there are certain structures that have to be in place. These are the same whether you are seeking to manipulate an individual, family tribe town country, continent or planet. First you have to impose the ’norms’ what are considered right and wrong, possible or impossible, sane or insane, good and bad. Most of the people will follow these norms without question because of the baa-baa herd mentality that has prevailed within the collective human mind for at least thousands of years. Second, you have to make life very unpleasant for those few who challenge your imposed ’norms.’ The ’norms’ or ’consensus reality’ are essential to our control...

The most effective way to do this in order to ensure compliance with these norms is to make it difficult to be different. You make those who voice a different view, version of ’truth’ and lifestyle, stand out like black sheep in the human herd. You have already conditioned the herd to accept your norms as its reality and, through arrogance and ignorance, they ridicule or condemn those with a different spin on life. This pressurizes the black sheep to conform and serves as a warning to those others in the herd who are also thinking of breaking away or challenging the prevailing reality. ...This fear of being different and voicing a view that challenges the ’norms’ is overwhelmingly the fear of what other people will think of us. In reality, the fear of what the sheep around us will say and do if we seek to leave the herd and question its conditioned assumptions. This mentality means that the masses are policing themselves and keeping each other in line. The sheep become the sheepdog for the rest of the herd.

Once you have the herd mentally policing itself, there is a third phase in the entrapment of human consciousness. You create factions within the herd and set them to war with each other. This is done by creating different belief systems (which are not different at all) and bringing them into conflict. These belief systems are known as religions, political parties, economic theories, and isms of endless variety.

You bring these beliefs into conflict to ensure the divide and rule you so desperately need for control by the few. While the masses are busy fighting each other, and seeking to impose their beliefs and views on each other, they don’t see...the...strings attached to all of them.

Dare to be different. Dare to dream big dreams. Don’t allow the mass consensus to restrain your thoughts and actions. Break free from the herd. Let the young sheep’s vision of The Great Sheep Uprising live in you! (See all 452 Life Rhymes at www.liferhymes.com)

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NEWSFLASH: On May 6th, from 10am to 1pm I'll be conducting a special workshop for aspiring and/or established saipanpreneurs who wish to break free and launch their ventures online. It will be held on the NMC campus. Seating is severely limited for this event. Call the North Marianas College Small Business Development Center at 235-1551 to pre-register, and I’ll see you at the uprising!

Until next week, remember, success is a journey, not a destination!-Walt

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