Look up 'humility' and we find: "the quality or condition of being humble." (Doesn't that help?)
So humility is to be humble.
And being humble is?
Not arrogant, not proud, not assertive, not costly, not, not, not....
And that's not the truth.
Not being or doing certain things is another way of saying passivity or passive aggressiveness.
There's something more to being humble - something which reflects beauty and integrity.
Something else...
Sunday, July 31, 2011
Saturday, July 30, 2011
Humility is Truth
"Humility is truth." - Desiderius Erasmus
Easier said than done, right?!
But with truth doing beats saying everyday.
Humility is an easy word, but its the hardest word to practice.
We'll spend a few days talking about it and see where it leads us.
For now here's an exercise: look for examples of humility around us. It could be a person, an act, an attitude, something we see on television, in a movie, read about in a book or magazine, or even hear about on the radio or in music.
Look and see what we find.
Easier said than done, right?!
But with truth doing beats saying everyday.
Humility is an easy word, but its the hardest word to practice.
We'll spend a few days talking about it and see where it leads us.
For now here's an exercise: look for examples of humility around us. It could be a person, an act, an attitude, something we see on television, in a movie, read about in a book or magazine, or even hear about on the radio or in music.
Look and see what we find.
Friday, July 29, 2011
A New Day
Well, it's Friday (again) and time to try something new.
Take advantage of that dangerous, carefree feeling that accompanies Fridays.
Risk something. Risk anything. Nothing is off limits.
Try to do something normal, differently. Try to talk to the next person who walks by. In the normal course of what we have to do, do something we don't have to do.
It's Friday - take advantage it!
Take advantage of that dangerous, carefree feeling that accompanies Fridays.
Risk something. Risk anything. Nothing is off limits.
Try to do something normal, differently. Try to talk to the next person who walks by. In the normal course of what we have to do, do something we don't have to do.
It's Friday - take advantage it!
Thursday, July 28, 2011
On the Other Hand
Right or left?
It's hard to look for a third option, especially when we're looking for a change.
Because change is always our reaction to a bad course, a bad situation, a bad life.
So we make a change. Any change. We pick, we choose, and we feel better because we've done something instead of nothing.
As if going straight ahead is doing nothing.
As if turning right or left is making a change that just has to be better because it's a change.
As if it takes no courage to continue on, to keep moving down the path that we've been traveling.
The alternative?
Continue on the same path while making changes along the way.
Because we're born this way. Because we don't get to start over. Because turning right or left isn't a real change. Because a change in direction doesn't change us.
.
It's hard to look for a third option, especially when we're looking for a change.
Because change is always our reaction to a bad course, a bad situation, a bad life.
So we make a change. Any change. We pick, we choose, and we feel better because we've done something instead of nothing.
As if going straight ahead is doing nothing.
As if turning right or left is making a change that just has to be better because it's a change.
As if it takes no courage to continue on, to keep moving down the path that we've been traveling.
The alternative?
Continue on the same path while making changes along the way.
Because we're born this way. Because we don't get to start over. Because turning right or left isn't a real change. Because a change in direction doesn't change us.
.
Wednesday, July 27, 2011
Two Schools of Thought
There are two schools of thought about what to do with how we're born.
Both are moral arguments.
Both are common arguments.
And both are right in what they affirm, but wrong in what they deny.
The first school of thought is that since we're born this way, it's moral to act out our natural inclination.
The second school of thought is that we must always do what's right, regardless of how we're born.
Both are right in admitting we're born certain things that we don't choose (and not all those things are necessarily easy, good, best or what we'd choose for ourselves).
Both are wrong in arguing our choices to act are simply an expression of (for or against) the way we're born.
If these are the two common schools of thought, we'd do well to look for a third.
Both are moral arguments.
Both are common arguments.
And both are right in what they affirm, but wrong in what they deny.
The first school of thought is that since we're born this way, it's moral to act out our natural inclination.
The second school of thought is that we must always do what's right, regardless of how we're born.
Both are right in admitting we're born certain things that we don't choose (and not all those things are necessarily easy, good, best or what we'd choose for ourselves).
Both are wrong in arguing our choices to act are simply an expression of (for or against) the way we're born.
If these are the two common schools of thought, we'd do well to look for a third.
Tuesday, July 26, 2011
Born This Way
Which came first, the chicken or the egg?
It doesn't matter.
Really, it doesn't matter.
Ancient philosophers (among others) not only wasted time wondering about the foul, they also wasted time with a classic irreducible logical problem. The answer has always depended on where you start (ab ovo - from the egg), and our answer was already determined the way we begin.
It's not that the question is unanswerable. Biologists have an answer: http://bit.ly/cyqtIJ and so do psychiatrists (why would you ask about the ovum? tell me about your mother).
It is answerable, but what our answer will be is already determined by where we begin - the ideas we assume (about chickens and eggs and the world).
The Truth is that we were born this way.
Get over it.
And ask: now what?
It doesn't matter.
Really, it doesn't matter.
Ancient philosophers (among others) not only wasted time wondering about the foul, they also wasted time with a classic irreducible logical problem. The answer has always depended on where you start (ab ovo - from the egg), and our answer was already determined the way we begin.
It's not that the question is unanswerable. Biologists have an answer: http://bit.ly/cyqtIJ and so do psychiatrists (why would you ask about the ovum? tell me about your mother).
It is answerable, but what our answer will be is already determined by where we begin - the ideas we assume (about chickens and eggs and the world).
The Truth is that we were born this way.
Get over it.
And ask: now what?
Monday, July 25, 2011
Accidents of Birth
Since (not if) we begin in media res - in the middle of things - it is important to acknowledge the many things that make us who we are. These are things about being human that we did not choose (and they weren't necessarily chosen for us either).
Gender.
Race.
Ethnicity.
Height.
Eye color.
And so many more.
And that's a good exercise... add to our list of what we did not choose in life - what we didn't have a choice about, things beyond our choice. Parent(s), geography, education, DNA, rich or poor or in between, I.Q. (duh!). The list can go on, and on, and on....
Discovering what's on our list is important - very important.
Why? Because we all begin in the middle of things.
Gender.
Race.
Ethnicity.
Height.
Eye color.
And so many more.
And that's a good exercise... add to our list of what we did not choose in life - what we didn't have a choice about, things beyond our choice. Parent(s), geography, education, DNA, rich or poor or in between, I.Q. (duh!). The list can go on, and on, and on....
Discovering what's on our list is important - very important.
Why? Because we all begin in the middle of things.
Sunday, July 24, 2011
In Media Res
Remember the phrase in media res from lit class?
It means 'in the middle of things.'
Strictly speaking it's a narrative technique that begins in the middle and uses flashback (often in stories embedded in the present told about the past). The alternative is to begin ab ovo (from the egg).
Strictly speaking most of us think that the best way to make a better life - just start over. A do-over is a kid's solution to a mistake (or a spoiled kid's way of demanding his way, or he'll take home his bat and ball). That is strictly speaking.
But strictly speaking, there is no strictly speaking when it comes to our lives.
We don't - we do not - get to start figuring out life ab ovo. No one.
We all start in media res.
And the sooner we stop looking for a do-over, the better we'll be today.
It means 'in the middle of things.'
Strictly speaking it's a narrative technique that begins in the middle and uses flashback (often in stories embedded in the present told about the past). The alternative is to begin ab ovo (from the egg).
Strictly speaking most of us think that the best way to make a better life - just start over. A do-over is a kid's solution to a mistake (or a spoiled kid's way of demanding his way, or he'll take home his bat and ball). That is strictly speaking.
But strictly speaking, there is no strictly speaking when it comes to our lives.
We don't - we do not - get to start figuring out life ab ovo. No one.
We all start in media res.
And the sooner we stop looking for a do-over, the better we'll be today.
Saturday, July 23, 2011
Good Stories
"A good story should have a beginning, a middle, and an end... but not necessarily in that order."
- Jean-Luc Godard
There's something about stories. Some say we're wired to like stories. Some say it's innate in our psyche; that we understand and make sense of everything through stories.
Stories are how we fit things into our lives and our lives into everything we experience.
So what? Here's what...
The first step is to start to 'see' stories in our lives - beginnings, middles and ends. For the next few days try to see stories in our lives. Little things, big things, friends, family, work, play, knick-knacks lying around. They all have stories.
Interested in learning more about stories and the stories of our lives?
We'll find more in The Truth, available on Amazon.com, paperback and eBook Kindle versions: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B005BZLQ4S
- Jean-Luc Godard
There's something about stories. Some say we're wired to like stories. Some say it's innate in our psyche; that we understand and make sense of everything through stories.
Stories are how we fit things into our lives and our lives into everything we experience.
So what? Here's what...
The first step is to start to 'see' stories in our lives - beginnings, middles and ends. For the next few days try to see stories in our lives. Little things, big things, friends, family, work, play, knick-knacks lying around. They all have stories.
Interested in learning more about stories and the stories of our lives?
We'll find more in The Truth, available on Amazon.com, paperback and eBook Kindle versions: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B005BZLQ4S
Friday, July 22, 2011
One More Thing About Dancing
Dancing is one of the few things we don't have to be good at to have fun. (I'll let others figure out what the other things might be.)
So we've danced, we've been laughed at, we've continued to dance in spite of the embarrassment, and we've made others wonder - not about our dancing but about their laughing. Unless we're dancing with such oddity or creativity, the laughter will turn into smiles or they'll just walk away.
But don't let them get away. Become a life evangelist. How? Invite them to dance themselves, invite them to live!
So we've danced, we've been laughed at, we've continued to dance in spite of the embarrassment, and we've made others wonder - not about our dancing but about their laughing. Unless we're dancing with such oddity or creativity, the laughter will turn into smiles or they'll just walk away.
But don't let them get away. Become a life evangelist. How? Invite them to dance themselves, invite them to live!
Thursday, July 21, 2011
Laughing or Dancing?
So we've put together our series of moves and called it dancing.
(We can do better, but we're out of practice.)
But if we're all alone, and if we're the only ones who can hear the music, then we'll probably be laughed at - smiles will become amusement, and that will become outright laughter.
Now what?
Have we ever tried to keep laughing when we're the only one laughing? It's difficult, or maybe impossible.
So make them keep laughing - make them do the impossible.
They will stop, sooner than we think and they'll do one of two things. Either smile with us or join in.
And the only way to get to this point is to keep dancing.
(We can do better, but we're out of practice.)
But if we're all alone, and if we're the only ones who can hear the music, then we'll probably be laughed at - smiles will become amusement, and that will become outright laughter.
Now what?
Have we ever tried to keep laughing when we're the only one laughing? It's difficult, or maybe impossible.
So make them keep laughing - make them do the impossible.
They will stop, sooner than we think and they'll do one of two things. Either smile with us or join in.
And the only way to get to this point is to keep dancing.
Wednesday, July 20, 2011
So I'm Dancing... Now What?
Dancing isn't ever as simply as just moving around.
Just about any of us can 'do' a dance move. C'mon we've all got our one go-to move. Some of us may try to look like John Travolta in a three piece white suit in Saturday Night Fever, but the rest of us will look like, well, ourselves caught in an awkward moment.
That's all well and good, but then what? Dancing keeps moving - it strings together move after move and doesn't stop. That's dancing.
We need more than one dance move, right? And then learn to transition to and from one move to another.
So, today we'd better start putting things together.
But what if people laugh? That's tomorrow's topic.
Just about any of us can 'do' a dance move. C'mon we've all got our one go-to move. Some of us may try to look like John Travolta in a three piece white suit in Saturday Night Fever, but the rest of us will look like, well, ourselves caught in an awkward moment.
That's all well and good, but then what? Dancing keeps moving - it strings together move after move and doesn't stop. That's dancing.
We need more than one dance move, right? And then learn to transition to and from one move to another.
So, today we'd better start putting things together.
But what if people laugh? That's tomorrow's topic.
Tuesday, July 19, 2011
A Good Day to Dance
To-Do List for Tuesday: work, laundry, dentist, groceries, lawn, dance...
Dance? Yes, dance.
One of the suggestions in The Truth is to dance. Just dance. If you prefer music to dance to, then put on music (but remember that other people can't hear the music in your ear buds, I forget that sometimes when I sing along, a little off key).
But just dance. Today. Start small if we must, or go-for-it.
After people look around to see if we're part of a flash mob, they'll turn back with an odd look.
And then what?
We'll talk about that tomorrow.
Today we dance, without a net.
Dance? Yes, dance.
One of the suggestions in The Truth is to dance. Just dance. If you prefer music to dance to, then put on music (but remember that other people can't hear the music in your ear buds, I forget that sometimes when I sing along, a little off key).
But just dance. Today. Start small if we must, or go-for-it.
After people look around to see if we're part of a flash mob, they'll turn back with an odd look.
And then what?
We'll talk about that tomorrow.
Today we dance, without a net.
Monday, July 18, 2011
TGIM?
No one says TGIM - Thank goodness it's Monday.
Mondays mean conformity and necessity - we have to work, we have to go to school, we don't have a choice, we have to.
No choice, right?
Wrong.
As we go about doing what we must, try doing the same thing differently. Do someting we have to do differently, be creative, experiment.
Make Monday's question: What will we do differently today?
Try it, and we might be able to say TGIM!
Maybe.
Mondays mean conformity and necessity - we have to work, we have to go to school, we don't have a choice, we have to.
No choice, right?
Wrong.
As we go about doing what we must, try doing the same thing differently. Do someting we have to do differently, be creative, experiment.
Make Monday's question: What will we do differently today?
Try it, and we might be able to say TGIM!
Maybe.
Sunday, July 17, 2011
The In Between of Our Story
Groucho Marx said, "If you've heard this story before don't stop me because I'd like to hear it again."
Repeating stories is a pleasure to children and a necessity to the elderly. But what happens in between? What happens after we're done begging 'Again! Again!' to the stories we're told and the uncertain pause of 'Have I ever told you about...?'
A lot, right? That thing called life!
Well, yes and no.
That in between is what we're doing now, what we're living now - some dare to call it 'life'.
It takes time and effort (two things that are always in demand it seems) to learn to enjoy our story in between.
The story in between how we're raised and how it all ends needs some attention... some time, effort and attention...
Repeating stories is a pleasure to children and a necessity to the elderly. But what happens in between? What happens after we're done begging 'Again! Again!' to the stories we're told and the uncertain pause of 'Have I ever told you about...?'
A lot, right? That thing called life!
Well, yes and no.
That in between is what we're doing now, what we're living now - some dare to call it 'life'.
It takes time and effort (two things that are always in demand it seems) to learn to enjoy our story in between.
The story in between how we're raised and how it all ends needs some attention... some time, effort and attention...
Saturday, July 16, 2011
A Better Story
Learning to tell our own story differently is an easy idea but a very difficult thing to start to do.
Remember the story about the gingerbread man? 'Run, run, as fast as you can; you can't catch me, I'm the gingerbread man' - yes that one.
A parent was volunteering in a kindergarten class once upon a time, and read that story for reading time. Reading with enthusiasm and joy the children were enthralled - so much so that the teacher interrupted, "Now children, we know that gingerbread men can't talk, the can't run, and neither can the animals. We know this, right?!" And she led the young, impressionable minds in an affirmative nod (showing them the right response).
But in the story the gingerbread man does talk (and taunt), and the animals can answer back. In the story, the way it's told, the way the story goes.
By the way, the teacher's critique of the story of the gingerbread man and the way the real world is didn't work. The children nodded in agreement that they understood their teacher's instructions, but just as quickly went back to the story with an eager request, "Read it again! Read it again!"
Remember the story about the gingerbread man? 'Run, run, as fast as you can; you can't catch me, I'm the gingerbread man' - yes that one.
A parent was volunteering in a kindergarten class once upon a time, and read that story for reading time. Reading with enthusiasm and joy the children were enthralled - so much so that the teacher interrupted, "Now children, we know that gingerbread men can't talk, the can't run, and neither can the animals. We know this, right?!" And she led the young, impressionable minds in an affirmative nod (showing them the right response).
But in the story the gingerbread man does talk (and taunt), and the animals can answer back. In the story, the way it's told, the way the story goes.
By the way, the teacher's critique of the story of the gingerbread man and the way the real world is didn't work. The children nodded in agreement that they understood their teacher's instructions, but just as quickly went back to the story with an eager request, "Read it again! Read it again!"
Friday, July 15, 2011
The Truth About Today
The Truth is about living better. And living better is about developing the skills to tell our own story.
Try this: narrate our own day. At the end of today take two or three minutes to tell the story of our day. Not just what happened, when or where, but how things happened, and maybe even why.
It's as simple as seeing more than what happened (because what happens often seems beyond our control - we work, drive, do so much because we must, but why this or that happens is the 'seeing more' we're after).
Try it. And tomorrow we'll talk specifics.
----------
The Truth is currently available as an eBook: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B005BZLQ4S.
And the paperback version will be available soon, first on Amazon and then in bookstore distribution channels.
Try this: narrate our own day. At the end of today take two or three minutes to tell the story of our day. Not just what happened, when or where, but how things happened, and maybe even why.
It's as simple as seeing more than what happened (because what happens often seems beyond our control - we work, drive, do so much because we must, but why this or that happens is the 'seeing more' we're after).
Try it. And tomorrow we'll talk specifics.
----------
The Truth is currently available as an eBook: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B005BZLQ4S.
And the paperback version will be available soon, first on Amazon and then in bookstore distribution channels.
Thursday, July 14, 2011
Welcome to The Truth
It's time.
It's time to hear the truth about life and the truth about a better life.
Let's get started.
The Truth is a beginning to a better life. It's written to be read and re-read. It's written simply but it's not simply written.
The Truth leads us through seven topics: who we are, gullibility, wisdom, playing the fool, happiness, boredom and death.
Here's a taste (from Chapter Seven):
Wedding or funeral - which one would we rather attend?
That's an easy one, right?
Wrong.
Solomon said it's better to be at a funeral than a wedding.
What do you think?
It's time to hear the truth about life and the truth about a better life.
Let's get started.
The Truth is a beginning to a better life. It's written to be read and re-read. It's written simply but it's not simply written.
The Truth leads us through seven topics: who we are, gullibility, wisdom, playing the fool, happiness, boredom and death.
Here's a taste (from Chapter Seven):
Wedding or funeral - which one would we rather attend?
That's an easy one, right?
Wrong.
Solomon said it's better to be at a funeral than a wedding.
What do you think?
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)