How the words you say, the words you think make you dumb

One of the most insidious and invisible parts of being human is that words we use for everything are already meanings, not facts.

Interpretations.

And we don’t know it.

We think things are what we say they are. Maybe not.

And because we think the meaning is the thing, we are wrong much of the time. In fact the truth value of language is 30% only… instead of what we think it is… of course 100%.

Not so. Continue reading “How the words you say, the words you think make you dumb”

Why do you need humility to learn anything? Skills, habits

learning and humilityLearning is humbling. Especially humbling is learning about yourself, and learning about your need to change.

You have a Precious I. Whether you believe it or not, whether you know it or not, the precious I is in every single person.

And your precious I wants to have and retain the self-image unchanged, the self-image that says you know everything. That you are the center of the Universe. You are special. And it wants to keep the self-image where it is superior. Where you are, therefore, OK. Continue reading “Why do you need humility to learn anything? Skills, habits”

The simple skills to rise above what bothers you

You cannot change something if you don’t know what causes it…

Thoreau thought misplaced value was the cause: We feel a void in our lives, and we attempt to fill it with things like money, possessions, and accolades.

I say that the truth is deeper than that. Continue reading “The simple skills to rise above what bothers you”

How to change your view of life so you can change your life

What you see is what gives you your attitude and your actions in life.

So if we can change what you see, we can help you change your life.

I love the analogy of the winding mountain pass where an unsuspecting motorist happens onto a car wreck in the middle of the two-lane road.

His options are to

  1. drive into the solid rock on the left,
  2. into the abyss on the right,
  3. into the wreck in the middle… or to
  4. slow down and drive around the wreck. Slowly.

Continue reading “How to change your view of life so you can change your life”

What is yours to do? Your ONE THING, right now…

do what is yours to doDo what is yours to do… and all will be well.

I have found that this above statement has only 30% truth value.

What is in the 70% that would make it really true?

If you look at the 100% true statement: ‘How you do anything is how you do everything’ it gives you a clue. Continue reading “What is yours to do? Your ONE THING, right now…”

Positive thinking and learned helplessness

Why do I fight positive thinking, why am I trashing it?

This morning I got to a realization: the students who are not making strides, not moving higher on the evolutionary scale are the students that are confusing ‘there is nothing wrong in reality’ with positive thinking.

Positive thinking says: avoid negativity. Turn your back to it. Make up something nice to say about things you don’t like, don’t want. Continue reading “Positive thinking and learned helplessness”

What can make you, force you to come out of the cave?

It was 1979. I was 32 years old. The ambulance was using its blue lights and the siren to rush me to the hospital. Of course it was Sunday… no doctors…

X-ray… it wasn’t clear what was wrong. I was in and out of consciousness. Internal bleeding. Continue reading “What can make you, force you to come out of the cave?”

The rudderless, directionless, low energy, and the floater

I had a conversation the other day with my core group. They felt to me rudderless, directionless, low on energy… like a floater.

What’s a floater, you ask? A floater is like stork sh!t… floats in the air and occasionally drops on the ground. Storks are known to poop while in the air… their poop dries out and starts its own rise and fall journey with the air stream… no innate motive power. A floater is like that. Continue reading “The rudderless, directionless, low energy, and the floater”

Fear in reality vs fear in the cave… Are they different?

Every living thing must have fear or they would be dead already… meaning the species. Fear is a useful warning that life is dangerous, and every species is the food of another one.

So we have a reason to be afraid. In reality. Animals, cars, other people… all good reasons.

In reality fear is like a nudge. Continue reading “Fear in reality vs fear in the cave… Are they different?”

My hunch: I’ll be bumbling towards clarity for a while

My new job is to take you, to lead you, to help you come out of the cave of the mind.

A prison break. Not unlike to the Exodus the Bible talks about: the Jews leaving the shadow world of Egypt for the Promised Land…

What is that cave? It is filled with words… filled with interpretation of facts, but it contains none of the facts. Continue reading “My hunch: I’ll be bumbling towards clarity for a while”