The Sleeping Metaphor

I think the pop metaphor for "awake" and "arise" are probably the worst in all of human history.

The concept that the metaphor targets is that we are asleep, ignorant, unattentive, unobservant, or we're stuck in catharsis and don't care. The idea is that if we would just wake up, open our eyes and look around, that we would make some life-changing observation about the world around us and realize it's time to take action.

I think a lot of this is spurred by religious ideals...

The problem I see with this is that: People don't have their eyes closed, ears plugged, nose plugged, etc. They see everything and subconsciously they know everything that needs to be done.
But they face fear in various forms...they fear being inadequate and having bad consequences happen to them, they face fear of the unknown because with change comes unknowns. They face fear of actually succeeding because they don't know what the next step is after success and if there is no next step then they would lack a purpose.

It's not that they need to wake up, it's that they need courage, they need motivation, they need purpose.

If you give someone the proper motivation--something that they really want--you can get them to work toward that thing and it gives them a sense of purpose to drive them to obtain it.
If you care to manipulate people, you could further convince them that the only way to obtain what they want is to do it a specific way that benefits you--whether it benefits them or not and whether it really gets them what they want.

And THAT is the problem. The problem is that so many people have been trying to manipulate everyone--persuading them that this is "the way the truth and the light," or "if you buy our products, all of your problems will be solved," or "a vote for me is a vote for you."  But none of that is really true. . .

In this moment, I don't know what kind of future I would be satisfied with. There are times when I think I know but I too fear that future...if it happens then what? I think I'm pretty visionary. I know I'm fantasy oriented--I dream up these fantasies that I would like to happen and that would be wonderful if they happened, and sometimes I act on those fantasies, but I too lose the will to continue with them and...my subconscious knows why but my conscious doesn't want to admit it...
I'm not asleep, I'm just scared. I'm scared of announcing something, making it come true, and then not wanting it once I have it because I don't know enough about the thing I desire AND I don't know enough about myself and if I'm capable of wanting it for the long haul.

Big insights right there.
That's what is holding me back.
And yet, it is also what is keeping me from being satisfied with the here and now.

Because I haven't explored those futures, because I haven't put enough time and energy into THINKING (not doing, but THINKING), I can't decide if I've got everything I could ever want right now in this moment because I've reached a state of satisfaction, OR if I would be more satisfied with another situation.

I keep coming back to the drawing board. I keep pulling out my thinking pad and writing down what I think I want, and then I convince myself that I don't want it and that I want what I've already got.

I do feel at peace right now and I'm happy.
If I dream, then I might want that thing and will have to think about its future and determine if I really want it.
No. Sleeping isn't the right metaphor, because it's easier to dream when you're sleeping and we need to dream more and think more about our dreams if we want to advance as a society.