LEONARD COHEN: “Be For Real”

Lead by setting the example. Teach by being yourself. We all get to know ourselves better trough the interaction with others. Sometimes we just don’t see ourselves the way others look at us. Sure, other persons also deceive us at times, when they turn out to be different than we thought they were. They either pretended to be somebody else or we were imagining them to be another person who was never really there from the beginning, just because we wanted that person to correspond with the image in our mind. Likewise, we have an image of ourselves in our mind, but not necessarily does this image correspond with how others perceive us. Think of that awkward feeling you have when you hear your own voice on a recorded tape. The sound you hear seems to be completely different than how you imagined it to be. And that can be confronting.

The best lessons are learnt without being imposed onto someone. What will last forever, is when that person eventually draws his own conclusion what he should do, rather than just obeying what he has been ordered to do. Just because he is in an unequal position of authority or power doesn’t mean he agrees with what he must do. Power is nothing without control. Now that is more than just the advertising line of a tyre brand that stresses the importance of grip on the road. There is no need to control anybody in the first place, if that person is doing something out of his own will. Nobody owns anybody else, exactly because of this reason. Thoughts are free, and are the only thing that can never be taken away from a person. You can rob a person from his belongings, you can take away his freedom, you can even steal his pride. But never can you prevent him from thinking. And thoughts contain hope, like hope contains dreams.