Never lower your standards. Many people would love to bring you down just to make themselves feel better. Don’t give others this kind of power.

The world is full of those that would judge you. You might say that we are all programmed to judge others. It is after all a survival mechanism. If you are able to judge others, you are able to predict what they will do. This is a very powerful way to be able to take charge of any situation and to be able to control the outcome. It is for this reason that we are all programmed by nature herself to try to judge others. Those that can judge others well, will know what will happen and therefore live longer. What happens though is that this proclivity for the judgment of others tends to always be on. Other people want to judge you whether they realize it or not, whether they think that it is politically correct or not. Well let them judge you, it is inevitable, just don’t let them lower your standards about things by telling you what you should do, or have.

We are also all pre-wired to try and control every situation that is presented before us. Again this is an evolutionary response where those that are successful at controlling are better at surviving. People will try and control you, people will also try and control whatever situation that you and they are in. To blame others and to hate people in general for this is really just a waste of time, we are what we are and usually for good reason. What you must do is not let others control you but not get emotionally upset about it.

People will try to get a read on you. People will also try and get you to do what they want, or to put you in a place where they are in control. The tribe is based on all focusing on the same goal. Like the Japanese say, “ the nail that sticks out, gets pounded back down.” These tribes still exist today. They are made up of family, work groups, communities, and friends. Modern tribes have now even extended themselves unto the Web where you see tribes made up of the friends that you have on Facebook and similar social media.

Many of these efforts to tell you what to do and lower your standards can be down right scary. Besides the reasons above, humans have a huge need to maintain routine. This is perhaps the most important and powerful reason for control, it actually outweighs personal survival. The reason for this is that the personal routine that these tribes and extended tribes (like cities and even countries) maintain, assures their group survival. We are no longer just talking about an individual, we are talking about the cohesion and survival of the whole.

The need to maintain the routine and therefore the beliefs of the tribe intact is what caused the great witch trials and nearly all of the wars today. There is no more dangerous a thing than to try to go against a tribes beliefs and routine. The routine maintains and supports. The belief is the source that underlies this routine.

You might think that this has nothing to do with your simple desire to maintain personal standards, or that this might not apply to you in this modern world. Well it takes very little looking to see that it is very dangerous to be openly gay, or to practice a religion (or any belief) in most parts of the world, this includes the West.

Now after I have said all that, I want you to fight to not lower your standards for anyone. Depending on where you live, this might be a very difficult thing. The simple solution is to keep you matters private as much as you can. The more others know the more they will try to control. In order to become one of a kind and to overcome the inertia of where you are, you have to keep your standards. Stay strong and don’t let others bring you down.