Two masters pt2

A person can do what they believe is best for themselves or they can do what is best for the community. Very often though a person can not do both. Within our home we have three different small groups of people. Two by design and one that is just sort of happening.

The first is renters, people who do not have an interest in our overall vision and goals. These people just pay money to share some of our extra space.As long as they continue to pay their rent on time and do not make a nuisance of themselves, how they live and what they do in general is of no
consequence to us.

The second group is the people that are committed to our vision and goals who are dedicated to improving the lives of not just our community but of creating gradual world change.Instead of having a specific person that decides what we are or are not allowed to do we let our ideals decide. At any
point where our goals alone are unable to provide a clear picture of what to do we put things to a vote.

The third group is a splinter of the second. Those in this third group think a lot of the things we stand for are good ideas but they want to go off and do their own thing somewhere else. They are part of our group for now, but in a couple of years they won't be.

The problem with this is, in the past they could be counted on to always make whatever decisions were best for our household on the whole. Now, it seems like a crap shoot whether or not they will do what is best for themselves or best for all of us. In the past the two things were one and the same- Now they are not.

This creates disharmony. It seems unfair to ask a person to make choices that are not in their own best interest. But when those choices are better for you, it is difficult not to ask them to do so. It was kind of the whole point of us all living together in the first place.

There is kind of an us vs them mentality at times, as if we were rivals instead of friends. This is somewhat infuriating to me because I don't think that way. I see all of us as us. In my mind, we either all succeed together or we all fail together.

It is not impossible for us to move forward with our goals while they move forward with theirs but things are certainly more complicated this way. There are less win-win circumstances and sometimes the compromises that we end up making are less than ideal.

For me, I guess, the biggest problem is, I want to respect their goals and wishes while at the same time pushing towards going in the direction that is best for our group goals and vision. I don't want to choose between the two.

But I have to. So, I will focus on and in the end insist on whatever is best for those in our inner circle. I will still be polite and respectful whenever possible but much less concerned about the thoughts and feelings of those that are choosing a different master than my own.