Perception and perspective
I recently sat beside two men who were negotiating the sale of interactive Ray-Ban (1) glasses. The man selling the device extolled its virtues and how useful it had been. He was now attempting to sell it — and he stated some very rational reasons why. The other man was at first very patient and receptive, but slowly, over time, he began to voice some objections. There was a scratch here, a nick there. And then the inevitable: it was difficult to interface with his device. This eventually led to the seller objecting rather strongly that he had “babied” the item and there was absolutely nothing wrong with it. The net result was that the potential purchaser simply got up and walked away. It was a sad end to a budding sale.
Continue reading Perception and perspectivePodcast Episode 129: If you want to find that elusive peace in life, work on the development of you, of the self –yourself. Ask yourself, “Am I a hero or a coward?” You know, we all know, the right answer.
Podcast Episode 128: The problem of perception and perspective has been faced by mankind since time began. Now in the modern era, we can find “common ground” with others if we listen to what the other person is truly saying.
Will an education make me just?
You would think that an education would give a person some moral parameters, wouldn’t you? The more educated you become, the more sensitive you are to the needs of humanity — the concerns of the Common Good – that sort of idea. This is a truly naïve premise, however — being more educated, many times, makes you more deceitful and ruthless.
Continue reading Will an education make me just?Podcast Episode 127: All of us can find our own joy and happiness in life through belief in oneself and the commitment to work on my self development.
Podcast Episode 126: Never give up on your dreams! You must, however, be realistic and understand that the fulfillment of any aspiration requires training and a minimum of 10,000 hours of experience. Then, all is possible.
The Art of Public Speaking
You may ask yourself. “How am I actually going to get my message out into the world?” This is a very interesting and clever question. First and foremost, you are going to have to be “just a touch brave.” To paraphrase Osho: “There are no heroes and no cowards: there is only action.” (1) Public speaking is not a natural process for most people. You will become nervous: your palms will perspire and your heart rate will increase. You must accept this as natural. There are many techniques that you can use to calm yourself.
Continue reading The Art of Public SpeakingPodcast Episode 125: We all want adventure in life, but few of us seize the opportunity when it is presented — why not? This is because we are taught to “play it safe” and never take any risks. The self, however, suffers if I do not see myself as a champion. I must simply be “a little bit brave” and the hero’s journey will present itself. The choice is up to me.
Achieving inner peace
Is there a correlation between a contented mental state and inner peace? Of course, there must be. Recently, I was reading Dr. William Durant’s book The History of Philosophy. It is a pleasant bed-time read for the layman. He was touching on FredrickNietzsche and his frustrations with life. Out of this tortured mind, however, came a corpus of work that continues to influence epistemology (1) and metaphysics (2) to this day. There are numerous examples in history of the angst-ridden artist dying at an early age of drug, alcohol or sexual abuse. It is, I believe, the standard and accepted metaphor for the gifted mind: brilliance, suffering and, ultimately, death. An article in the Guardian Newspaper entitled Young, Gifted and Likely to Suffer refutes this paradigm. The author, psychologist Dr. Joan Freeman, “explodes this myth.” She has found that talented people are, in fact, similar to ordinary people, but with extraordinary gifts and thus enhanced opportunity. They need not squander this cadeau nor, conversely, ensure that it achieves its ultimate expression.
Continue reading Achieving inner peace