Breaking Free of the Matrix

Book excerpt: While it has been a number of years since The Matrix first hit the big screen, the life lessons that so many of us enjoyed in the film seem much more pertinent today than they did a decade ago. The Matrix has layer upon layer of metaphor for the world we live in today. Just as Neo saw the Matrix crumbling around him, we are in similar circumstances where we the very fabric of our society crumbling around us. Gone are the days of the concept of job security where your father worked at a company for 30 years and provided a sense of stability to your household. Now nearly every state in the country has adopted "at will employment" laws, which means that any employee can be terminated for no reason whatsoever. Huge American corporations like IBM with its 386,500+ employees actually have more people employed overseas than they do here in America. This is a growing trend that won't stop as corporate greed for greater profits becomes more irresistible. Many large corporations are outsourcing their higher paid jobs overseas where they can find skilled technical workers for 1/10th of the cost. College students are graduating with huge debt from school loans and are only able to find low paying menial jobs. Right before our eyes, we are witnessing the evaporation of the middle class. More than half of the population lives one paycheck to the next. While most Americans view themselves as middle class, only 30% of Americans truly are middle class. The remainder of the population will be dropping from those ranks into the lower ranks of the working class and working poor. We currently have 96 million unemployed Americans. Many of those held high income positions. These are the devastated unfortunate who slip down the slope into the misery of their new reality and personal hell hole of angst and turmoil. In the film, the world Neo grew up believing in began crumbling all around him. Neo then entered a period of physical and mental training. He is taught that he needs to achieve a high level of mental discipline and that he needs to totally rework the entire framework of how he views himself and the world around him. He needs to reach deep inside his very soul and draw forth new strengths, new gifts and new abilities that he never even knew he possessed. Neo is taught that to function at his fullest capabilities and that he must become a master at disciplining his mind and his thoughts. He must take control of all thoughts of doubt, fear, intimidation, and bring such thoughts directly under their control. As the world we grew up in is quickly crumbling around us, clearly we must do the same. We must become masters of innovation. We must look at our lives from new perspectives. We need to rethink how we view ourselves and all that is around us. We need to cast aside the old perspectives, and develop a much broader understanding of our existence. We must cast aside old prejudices, and embrace a new world view. We must put an end to thoughts of doubt, hesitation and fear, and step into a bolder and more exciting way of day to day living. In the closing of the film, Neo says, "I'm going to show these people what you don't want them to see. I'm going to show them a world without rules or controls, borders or boundaries. A world where anything is possible." Such is the attitude that we all should embrace and employ in our lives-that we are all beings with limitless potential to overcome barriers, that we can live life to the fullest despite the difficult challenges we now face. We can heed that call and pick up the mantle that has been bequeathed to us. We can start today on a new adventure where anything truly is achievable. Where we really can do amazing things that seem impossible. Where we can accomplish the great things that we dreamt about when we were younger. Will you heed the call and break free of all that is holding you back from living your life to the fullest?