Wisdom to Live By

Wisdom, Helen Keller

2011-04-11T10:46:00.001-07:00

"We differ, blind and seeing, one from another, not in our senses, but in the use we make of them, in the imagination and courage with which we seek wisdom beyond the senses. "

--Helen Keller

Truth, Obi-Wan Kenobi

2010-12-29T01:17:00.000-08:00

"Many of the truths we cling to depend greatly on our point of view."

--Obi-Wan Kenobi (the real one; not the one from the latest films - blah!!)

Liberty, Jon Stewart

2010-12-29T01:06:00.000-08:00

"If the evens of September 11, 2001, have proven anything, it's that the terrorists can attack us, but they can't take away what makes us American - our freedom, our liberty, our civil rights. No, only Attorney General John Ashcroft can do that."

--Jon Stewart

Persistence, Arthur Ashe

2010-11-07T17:02:00.000-08:00

“Start where you are. Use what you have. Do what you can.”

--Arthur Ashe

Pain, Jim Morrison

2010-11-07T16:56:00.000-08:00

“People are afraid of themselves, of their own reality; their feelings most of all. People talk about how great love is, but that's bullshit. Love hurts. Feelings are disturbing. People are taught that pain is evil and dangerous. How can they deal with love if they're afraid to feel? Pain is meant to wake us up. People try to hide their pain. But they're wrong. Pain is something to carry, like a radio. You feel your strength in the experience of pain. It's all in how you carry it. That's what matters. Pain is a feeling. Your feelings are a part of you. Your own reality. If you feel ashamed of them, and hide them, you're letting society destroy your reality. You should stand up for your right to feel your pain.”

--Jim Morrison

Momentum and the Reactive-Responsive Orientation, Robert Fritz

2010-10-23T21:46:00.000-07:00

"For people in the reactive-responsive orientation, momentum is one of the most difficult and elusive properties of growth and development to understand and use. When you are in that orientation, you do not build momentum toward achieving the results you want. You experience only shifts of conflict that create momentary bursts of energy as you take the action designed to avoid or reduce the discomfort associated with the conflict.

Furthermore, each step taken remains a single isolated action - like a knee-jerk reation - unrelated to any other actions and designed only to resolve the specific conflict at hand. For every conflict there is a reaction. In the reactive-responsive orientation, each action-reaction situation is an isolated event, leading nowhere in particular and certainly not beyond the confines of the conflict.

In the orientation of the creative, you are naturally and easily able to build momentum. Every action you take, whether it is successful or not, adds additional energy to your path. Because of this, everything you do works toward eventual success, including those things that are not immediately successful. Over a period of time, creating the results you want will get easier and easier.

A riverbed is structured in such a way that the water flows along a path of least resistance. As more water is added, the flow gains momentum, and the general force of all the water moving through that structure increases."

--Robert Fritz
Excerpt from "The Path of Least Resistance"

Vision, Carl von Clausewitz

2010-10-21T20:33:00.000-07:00

"There are very few men - and they are the exceptions - who are able to think and feel beyond the present moment."

--Carl von Clausewitz

Choices, Dr. David R. Hawkins

2010-10-21T20:14:00.000-07:00

"...the universe doesn't forget. There are many sides to the question of karma, but every choice of who and how to be is a choice of great consequence, as all of our choices reverberate through the ages. Thousands of reports of near-death experiences confirm that we shall eventually have to accept responsibility for every thought, word, and deed that we generate, and will reexperience exactly the same suffering we've caused. It's in this sense that we each create our own heaven or hell.

The universe holds its breath as we choose, instant by instant, which pathway to follow; for the universe, the very essence of life itself, is highly conscious. Every act, thought and choice adds to a permanent mosaic; our decisons ripple through the universe of consciousness to affect the lives of all. Lest this idea be considered either merely mystical or fanciful, let's remember the new theoretical physics: Everything in the universe is connected with everything else.

Our choices reinforce the formation of powerful energetic fields, which are the attractor patterns that influence others whether we wish them to or not. Every act or decision we make that supports life supports all life, including our own. The ripples we create return to us - this, which may once have seemed a metaphysical statement, is now established as scientific fact.

Everything in the universe constantly gives off an energy pattern of a specific frequency that remains for all time and can be read by those who know how. Every word, deed and intention creates a permanent record. Every thought is known and recorded forever. There are no secrets; nothing that is hidden, nor can it be. Our spirits stand naked in time for all to see - everyone's life, finally, is accountable to the universe."

--Dr. David R. Hawkins
Excerpt from "Power vs. Force: The Hidden Determinants of Human Behavior"

Imagination, Ralph Waldo Emerson

2010-10-18T06:08:00.001-07:00

"There are no days in life so memorable as those which vibrated to some stroke of the imagination."
--Ralph Waldo Emerson

No Free Lunch, Michihiro Matsumoto

2010-10-17T09:52:00.000-07:00

"There is a popular saying in Japan that goes, 'Tada yori takai mono wa nai,' meaning: 'Nothing is more costly than something given free of charge.'"

--The Unspoken Way, Michihiro Matsumoto

Empathy, Alice Miller

2010-10-17T09:43:00.000-07:00

"Learning is a result of listening, which in turn leads to even better listening and attentiveness to the other person. In other words, to learn from the child, we must have empathy, and empathy grows as we learn."
--Alice Miller

Admiration, Soren Kierkegaard

2010-10-16T16:56:00.000-07:00

"An admirer who feel that he cannot be happy by surrendering himself elects to become envious of that which he admires. So he speaks another language - the thing which he really admires is called a stupid, insipid and queer sort of thing. Admiration is happy self-surrender; envy is unhappy self-assertion."

--Soren Kierkegaard

Life, Henry David Thoreau

2010-10-12T04:22:00.000-07:00

"The true harvest of my daily life is somewhat as intangible and indescribable as the tints of morning or evening. It is a little star-dust caught, a segment of the rainbow which I have clutched."

-- Henry David Thoreau

Love, Leonardo da Vinci

2010-10-07T13:26:00.000-07:00

"Love shows itself more in adversity than in prosperity; as light does, which shines most where the place is darkest."

-- Leonardo da Vinci

Sincerity, Malcolm X

2010-10-01T20:36:00.000-07:00

"I do not pretend to be a divine man, but I do believe in divine guidance, divine power and divine prophecy. I am not educated, nor am I an expert in any particular field - but I am sincere and my sincerity is my credentials."
--Malcolm X

Charisma, Sigmund Freud

2010-09-28T06:16:00.000-07:00

"[The masses] have never thirsted after truth. They demand illusions, and cannot do without them. They constantly give what is unreal precedence over what is real; they are almost as strongly influenced by what is untrue as by what is true. They have an evident tendency not to distinguish between the two."
--Sigmund Freud

Charisma, General VanDamme on Napolean Bonaparte

2010-09-28T06:12:00.000-07:00

"The devil of a man exercises a fascination on me that I cannot explain even to myself, and in such degree that, though I fear neither God nor devil, when I am in his presence I am ready to tremble like a child, and he could make me go through the eye of a needle to throw myself into the fire."
--General VanDamme on Napoleon Bonaparte

Charisma, Max Weber

2010-09-28T06:08:00.000-07:00

"Charisma shall be understood to to refer to an extraordinary quality of a person, regardless of whether this quality is actual, alleged or presumed. 'Charismatic authority', hence, shall refer to a rule over men, whether predominantly external or internal, to which the governed submit because of their belief in the extraordinary quality of a this person."
--Max Weber

Love, Friedrich Nietzsche

2010-09-16T11:23:00.000-07:00

"What is done out of love always takes place beyond good and evil. "
--Friedrich Nietzsche

Growth, Mark Victor Hansen

2010-09-16T05:37:00.000-07:00

“Don't wait until everything is just right. It will never be perfect. There will always be challenges, obstacles and less than perfect conditions. So what. Get started now. With each step you take, you will grow stronger and stronger, more and more skilled, more and more self-confident and more and more successful.”
--Mark Victor Hansen

Intention, Albert Camus

2010-09-16T05:29:00.000-07:00

“The evil that is in the world almost always comes of ignorance, and good intentions may do as much harm as malevolence if they lack understanding.”
--Albert Camus

Patience, Rainer Maria Rilke

2010-09-14T10:15:00.001-07:00

"Be patient toward all that is unsolved in your heart. And try to love the questions themselves."
-- Rainer Maria Rilke

Self Knowledge, Bruce Lee

2010-09-13T06:14:00.001-07:00

“I am learning to understand rather than immediately judge or to be judged. I cannot blindly follow the crowd and accept their approach. I will not allow myself to indulge in the usual manipulating game of role creation. Fortunately for me, my self-knowledge has transcended that and I have come to understand that life is best to be lived and not to be conceptualized. I am happy because I am growing daily and I am honestly not knowing where the limit lies. To be certain, every day there can be a revelation or a new discovery. I treasure the memory of the past misfortunes. It has added more to my bank of fortitude.”
--Bruce Lee

Vision, Oscar Wilde

2010-09-13T06:11:00.000-07:00

“A dreamer is one who can only find his way by moonlight, and his punishment is that he sees the dawn before the rest of the world.”
--Oscar Wilde

Hope, Jacques Cousteau

2010-09-08T13:16:00.001-07:00

"If we were logical, the future would be bleak, indeed. But we are more than logical. We are human beings, and we have faith, and we have hope, and we can work."
-- Jacques Cousteau

Wisdom, Kahlil Gibran

2010-09-06T12:17:00.000-07:00

“Wisdom ceases to be wisdom when it becomes too proud to weep, too grave to laugh, and too selfish to seek other than itself.”
--Kahlil Gibran

Attitude, Brian Tracy

2010-09-01T10:32:00.001-07:00

"You cannot control what happens to you, but you can control your attitude toward what happens to you, and in that, you will be mastering change rather than allowing it to master you."
--Brian Tracy

Dominance, Cesar Millan

2010-08-31T21:19:00.000-07:00

“The most important thing that we have to provide every day is that we are the pack leader, that we set the rules, the boundaries and the limitations, and then we love. Most of the people, they go to get a dog because they need somebody to love. So they are going after what they need, not what the dog needs. And that, to me, creates instability immediately, and the dog sees the human as a soft energy. So they don't follow the lovable leader or a spiritual leader; they follow a dominant one.”

--Cesar Millan

Clarity, Friedrich Nietzsche

2010-08-29T17:05:00.000-07:00

“Whoever knows he is deep, strives for clarity; whoever would like to appear deep to the crowd, strives for obscurity. For the crowd considers anything deep if only it cannot see to the bottom: the crowd is so timid and afraid of going into the water.”
-- Friedrich Nietzsche

Clarity, Karl Von Clausewitz

2010-08-29T17:01:00.000-07:00

"Although our intellect always longs for clarity and certainty, our nature often finds uncertainty fascinating."
-- Karl Von Clausewitz

Truth, Jalal ad-Din Rumi

2010-08-28T22:11:00.000-07:00

"The truth was a mirror in the hands of God. It fell, and broke into pieces. Everybody took a piece of it, and they looked at it and thought they had the truth."
--Jalal ad-Din Rumi

Love, Jalal ad-Din Rumi

2010-08-28T22:00:00.000-07:00

“In your light I learn how to love.
In your beauty, how to make poems.
You dance inside my chest,
where no one sees you.”

--Jalal ad-Din Rumi

God, Baruch Spinoza

2010-08-27T15:13:00.000-07:00

"God is the indwelling and not the transient cause of all things."
--Baruch Spinoza

Acceptance, Baruch Spinoza

2010-08-27T14:57:00.000-07:00

“Do not weep. Do not wax indignant. Understand.”
--Baruch Spinoza

Perspective, Doc Childre

2010-08-25T21:10:00.001-07:00

"When you slow down, step back a moment and put things in perspective, you can then move on with more efficiency. It only takes a moment to adapt and control how you respond."
--Doc Childre

Character, Ethan Reynolds

2010-08-23T06:24:00.000-07:00

"...Character is a function of the kind of person you choose to be and serves as a platform on which to build the stage of your life. The sets you build to act out the play of your life are determined by the structure of that stage. And it also serves to provide criteria others can use to relate to you, and ultimately will provide the skeleton for the words of your epitaph."
--Ethan Reynolds

Protection, Robert Greene

2010-08-21T23:48:00.000-07:00

DO NOT BUILD FORTRESSES TO PROTECT YOURSELF - ISOLATION IS DANGEROUS.

"The world is dangerous and enemies are everywhere - everyone has to protect themselves. A fortress seems the safest. But isolation exposes you to more dangers than it protects you from - it cuts you off from valuable information, it makes you conspicuous and an easy target. Better to circulate among people, find allies, mingle. You are shielded from your enemies by the crowd."

--Robert Greene

The Principle of Correspondence, The Kybalion

2010-08-20T23:53:00.000-07:00

The Principle of Correspondence
"As above, so below; as below, so above."

This Principle embodies the truth that there is always correspondence between the laws and phenomenon of the various planes of Being and Life. The old Hermetic axiom, "As above, so below; as below, so above," and the grasping of this principle gives one of the means of solving a dark paradox and the hidden secrets of Nature. There are planes beyond our knowing, but when we apply the principle of correspondence to them we are able to understand much which is unknowable to us. This principle is of universal application and manifestation, on the various planes of the material, mental and spiritual universe - it is a Universal Law. The ancient Hermetics considered this principle as one of the most important mental instruments by which man as able pry aside the obstacles which hid from view the Unknown. Its use even tore aside the Veil of Isis to the extent that a glimpse of the goddess might be caught. Just as knowledge of the Principle of Correspondence enables Man to reason intelligently from the Known to the Unknown. Studying the monad, he understands the archangel.

--The Kybalion

Judgment, Doc Childre and Howard Martin

2010-08-20T12:19:00.001-07:00

"Making a mistake and then judging ourselves harshly is like paying compound interest on a bad investment." --Doc Childre and Howard Martin

Life, Fyodor Dostoyevsky

2010-08-19T20:46:00.000-07:00

"When I look back at my past and think of how much time I wasted on nothing, how much time has been lost in futility, errors, laziness, incapacity to live; how little I appreciated it, how many times I sinned against my heart and soul - then my heart bleeds. Life is a gift, life is happiness, every minute can be an eternity of happiness! If youth only knew. Now, in changing my life, I am reborn in a new form. Brother! I swear I will not lose hope and will keep my heart and soul pure. I will be reborn for the better. That's all my hope, all my consolation!"
-- Fyodor Dostoyevsky

Animals, Fyodor Dostoyevsky

2010-08-19T20:27:00.001-07:00

“Love the animals: God has given them the rudiments of thought and joy untroubled.”
--Fyodor Dostoyevsky

Love, Fyodor Dostoyevsky

2010-08-19T20:24:00.000-07:00

"To love someone means to see him as God intended him."
--Fyodor Dostoevsky

Adversity, Isocrates

2010-08-19T07:28:00.000-07:00

"Remember that there is nothing stable in human affairs; therefore avoid undue elation in prosperity, or undue depression in adversity."
-- Isocrates

Confidence, Michel de Montaigne

2010-08-18T06:21:00.001-07:00

"Of all our infirmities, the most savage is to despise our being."
--Michel de Montaigne

Growth, Anne Morrow Lindbergh

2010-08-17T07:25:00.001-07:00

"Only in growth, reform, and change, paradoxically enough, is true security to be found."
--Anne Morrow Lindbergh

Dreams, Sigmund Freud

2010-08-17T06:16:00.000-07:00

"The interpretation of dreams is the royal road to a knowledge of the unconscious activities of the mind."
--Sigmund Freud

Gratitude, Bill Vaughan

2010-08-16T14:15:00.000-07:00

“We hope that, when the insects take over the world, they will remember with gratitude how we took them along on all our picnics.”
--Bill Vaughan

Repentance, John Bunyan

2010-08-16T14:11:00.000-07:00

“If you have sinned, do not lie down without repentance; for the want of repentance after one has sinned makes the heart yet harder and harder."
--John Bunyan

Patriotism, Alexander Solzhenitsyn

2010-08-16T13:59:00.000-07:00

“Patriotism means unqualified and unwavering love for the nation, which implies not uncritical eagerness to serve, not support for unjust claims, but frank assessment of its vices and sins, and penitence for them."
-- Alexander Solzhenitsyn

Compensating Strategies, Robert Fritz

2010-08-15T13:12:00.000-07:00

COMPENSATING STRATEGIES:

...Structural conflicts lead to oscillation and not to final desired results. Consequently, people have a tendency to develop compensating strategies to deal with the inadequacies of the structure. How do these compensating strategies develop? Usually gradually. Your own compensating strategies develop so subtly that they are probably not obvious to you.

If your car's front wheels were out of balance and pulled slightly to the left, you might develop a compensating strategy of steering to the right when you wanted to move straight ahead. If the car's tendency to pull to the left developed gradually, your compensating action would also develop gradually. You might not even realize that you were steering to the right to compensate for the car's structure.

Once you had the wheels balanced and aligned, however, your compensating strategy of steering to the right would no longer be useful. You would no longer need to take compensating action, because the structure had changed. A shift in the structure leads to changes in your behavior.

In a similar way, when you move from a structure that oscillates to one that resolves, you may automatically change some of your behavior.

If you try to change your behavior without first changing the underlying structures [facilitating] that behavior, you will not succeed. This is because structure determines behavior, not the other way around.

Imagine that a friend of your was riding with you in the car one day and noticed that you tended to turn the steering wheel to the right. If your friend knew nothing about wheel alignment, he might point to your behavior and suggest a change, "Don't steer to the right, steer straight ahead."

If you took his advice, you might change your actions temporarily, but in short time - in order to stay on the road - you would return to steering to the right.

Much of the advice people give each other will not work, because it is designed to change compensating strategies without any notion of the underlying structures that are causing them.

Our human tendency is to propose theories of why people take the actions they take. Let's invent an almost plausible-sounding explanation for your action of steering to the right:

"You steer to the right because of your overly developed left-brain functioning. You are too mental and have not developed your intuitive side. What you should do is focus on your receptive nature through meditation and change of diet. Your diet should have many grains and vegetables. This will balance out your high protein intake and help you become more yin."

There are three major strategies designed to compensate for the fundamental unresolvability of structural conflict. They are:

-Staying within an area of tolerable conflict

-Conflict manipulation

-Willpower manipulation

If you are in a structural conflict, you may temporarily reach your desire, but it will become harder and harder to hold on to it. The great love affair turns into a painful relationship, the fantastic job opportunity turns into a disappointment, the corporate triumph turns into disaster.

Because the path of least resistance moves toward and then away from your desired results, you may develop one or more of these strategies to deal with future desires. All of them inhibit true creating. All of them reinforce the existing structural conflict and lead to oscillation. But all of them are prevalent throughout our society and our lives.

--Robert Fritz, The Path of Least Resistance, pp. 89-91

Memories of Grandpa, Jack Handey

2010-08-15T12:42:00.001-07:00

"We used to laugh at Grandpa when he'd head off and go fishing. But we wouldn't be laughing that evening when he'd come back with some whore he picked up in town."
--Jack Handey

Love, Jack Handey

2010-08-15T12:29:00.000-07:00

"Love is a snowmobile racing across the tundra and then suddenly, it flips over, pinning you underneath. At night, the ice weasels come."
--Jack Handey

Wisdom, William Hazlitt

2010-08-15T09:57:00.001-07:00

"The seat of knowledge is in the head, of wisdom, in the heart. "
--William Hazlitt

Originality, Edith Wharton

2010-08-15T09:51:00.001-07:00

"True originality consists not in a new manner but in a new vision."
--Edith Wharton

Joy, Mother Teresa

2010-08-15T09:49:00.001-07:00

"Joy is a net of love that captures souls."
--Mother Teresa

Criticism, Aristotle

2010-08-07T23:09:00.000-07:00

"To avoid criticism say nothing, do nothing, be nothing."
--Aristotle

Adversity, Horace

2010-08-06T11:24:00.001-07:00

"Adversity has the effect of eliciting talents which, in prosperous circumstances, would have lain dormant."
--Horace

Success, Edmund Hillary

2010-08-05T13:06:00.000-07:00

"It is not the mountain we conquer, but ourselves."
--Edmund Hillary

Appreciation, Charles Dickens

2010-08-04T07:19:00.001-07:00

"Reflect upon your present blessings - of which every man has many - not on your past misfortunes, of which all men have some."
--Charles Dickens

Conviction, Thomas Carlyle

2010-08-03T20:58:00.000-07:00

“Conviction is worthless unless it is converted into conduct.”
-- Thomas Carlyle

Tribulations, Abraham Lincoln

2010-08-03T20:56:00.000-07:00

“I have been driven many times to my knees by the overwhelming conviction that I had nowhere to go. My own wisdom, and that of all about me, seemed insufficient for the day.”
--Abraham Lincoln, 16th President of the United States

Conviction, Friedrich Nietzsche

2010-08-03T20:51:00.000-07:00

“Convictions are more dangerous enemies of truth than lies.”
--Friedrich Nietzsche

Heart, Paul Coelho

2010-08-03T20:11:00.001-07:00

"An enthusiastic heart finds opportunities everywhere. "
--Paulo Coelho

Light, Edith Wharton

2010-08-02T04:30:00.000-07:00

"There are two ways of spreading light: to be the candle or the mirror that reflects it."
--Edith Wharton

Progress, Martin Luther King Jr.

2010-08-01T10:59:00.001-07:00

"Take the first step in faith. You don't have to see the whole staircase, just take the first step."
--Martin Luther King Jr.

This is a test...

2010-08-01T08:14:00.001-07:00

This is a test of the sucky Feedburner system.

What Your Soul Sings, Massive Attack

2010-07-28T19:32:00.000-07:00

Don't be afraid
Open your mouth and say
Say what your soul sings to you

Your mind can never change
Unless you ask it to
Lovingly re-arrange
The thoughts that make you blue
The things that bring you down
Only do harm to you
And so make your choice joy
The joy belongs to you

And when you do
You'll find the one you love is you
You'll find you
Love you

Don't be ashamed no
To open your heart and pray
Say what your soul sings to you

So no longer pretend
That you can't feel it near
That tickle on your hand
That tingle in your ear
Oh ask it anything
Because it loves you dear
It's your most precious king
If only you could hear

And when you do
You'll find the one you need is you
You'll find you
Love you

--Massive Attack

Impermanence, Kalidasa

2010-07-28T19:29:00.000-07:00

Listen to the Exhortation of the Dawn!
Look to this Day!
For it is Life, the very Life of Life.
In its brief course lie all the
Verities and Realities of your Existence.
The Bliss of Growth,
The Glory of Action,
The Splendor of Beauty;
For Yesterday is but a Dream,
And To-morrow is only a Vision;
But To-day well lived makes
Every Yesterday a Dream of Happiness,
And every Tomorrow a Vision of Hope.
Look well therefore to this Day!
Such is the Salutation of the Dawn!

--Kalidasa

The Human Antenna, Lynne McTaggart

2010-07-27T22:20:00.000-07:00

"...Gary Schwartz's creative experiments revealed to me something fundamental about the quantum nature of thoughts and intentions. He and his colleagues had uncovered evidence that humans are both receivers and transmitters of quantum signals. Directed intention appears to manifest as both electrical and magnetic energy and to produce a stream of photons, visible and measurable by sensitive equipment. Perhaps our intentions also operate as highly coherent frequencies, changing the very key molecular makeup and bonding of matter. Like any form of coherence in the subatomic world, one well-directed thought might be like a laser light, illuminating without ever losing its power."
--Lynne McTaggart

Except from "The Intention Experiment", by Lynne McTaggart

Consciousness, Albert Einstein

2010-07-27T22:00:00.000-07:00

"A human being is is part of the whole, called by us "universe", a part limited in time and space. He experiences himself, his thoughts and feelings as something separated from the rest - a kind of optical delusion of his consciousness."
--Albert Einstein

Power, Voltaire

2010-07-27T12:48:00.001-07:00

"The longer we dwell on our misfortunes, the greater is their power to harm us."
--Voltaire

Guilt, Nicholas Rowe

2010-07-25T19:26:00.000-07:00

“Guilt is the source of sorrow, 'tis the fiend, Th' avenging fiend, that follows us behind, With whips and stings."
-- Nicholas Rowe

Gratitude, Marcus Tullius Cicero

2010-07-25T19:23:00.000-07:00

“Gratitude is not only the greatest of virtues, but the parent of all the others.”
-- Marcus Tullius Cicero

Structure Determines Behavior, Robert Fritz

2010-07-24T20:07:00.000-07:00

STRUCTURE DETERMINES BEHAVIOR

One of the most import insights of this book is in this principle: Structure determines behavior. The way anything is structured determines the behavior within that structure.

The next time you're in a building, notice how the structure of the building determines your path through it. Although you may move to your destination in a variety of ways within the building, your actions are still determined by the structure of the building. You do not walk through walls, you walk along corridors. You do not enter rooms through windows, you come through doors. You do not jump from floor to floor, you take the stairs, elevator, or escalator.

Similarly, there are fundamental structures in your life that determine the path of least resistance. The structures that have the most influence on your life are composed of your desires, beliefs, assumptions, aspirations, and objective reality itself.

As you consider your own life from a structural viewpoint, it is important that you do not mistake the structural perspective for a psychological perspective. Psychology is the study of the human psyche. If this were a book on psychological theory, we might be concerned with what makes you tick. Of course, there are many types of psychological theories and premises these days. The one commonality they share is the subject matter - the study of humankind.

In this book, we are not studying the human mind, the human psyche, or human behavior, but rather the behavior of structures. We will then consider how a structure itself affects human behavior. The same structure may be applied to non-human matters and still function in the same way.

The study of structure is independent of and different from the study of psychology. But when we being to understand how structure works and to apply structural principles to human behavior, two extraordinary principles become obvious.

One is that human beings are act in accordance with the underlying structures in their lives.

Because humanity is part of nature, it should be not surprise that people act consistently with natural law. But for most of us, this is a new idea. In our culture we have been taught to ignore our relationship to nature, to treat nature as the stage or background that we use, adopt, or oppose, as the case may be.

Some have called this too-common relationship between humanity and nature the height of man's arrogance. I do not agree. I think it is ignorance rather than arrogance that promotes the notion of the individual against the forces or nature. Many people see their life as a struggle against nature, a notion captured by composer Hector Berlioz's witty comment, "Time is the great teacher, but unfortunately it kills all of its students."

The second principle is: Some structures are more useful than others in leading to desired results.

Structure is "nothing personal". Someone in a structure that leads to pain, frustration, and hopelessness is not being designated by the Universe as a victim of life. Put anyone else in that same structure and that person will have similar experiences.

On the other hand, put anyone in a structure that leads to fulfillment, accomplishment, and success, and that person will have these experiences.

People commonly believe that if they change their behavior, they can change the structure in their lives. In fact, just the opposite is true.

This is not to say that people are mechanistic. Each person is a rare and special individual. But each person is subject to the powerful influence of structure. Your can't fool Mother Structure.

Some structures lead to oscillation and some lead to to final destinations. A pendulum is structured to oscillate. A rocket is structured to lead to a final destination. A rocking chair is structured to oscillate. A a car is structured. to lead to final destinations chosen by the driver.

--Robert Fritz, "The Path of Least Resistance", pp.7-9

The Principle of Mentalism, The Kybalion

2010-07-24T18:45:00.000-07:00

I. The Principle of Mentalism

"The ALL is MIND; The Universe is Mental." - The Kybalion

This principle embodies the truth that "All is Mind." It explains that THE ALL (which is the Substantial Reality underlying all the outward manifestations and appearnaces which we know under the terms of the "Material Universe"; the "Phenomena of Life"; "Matter"; "Energy" and, in short, all that is apparent to our material senses) is SPIRIT, which in itself is UNKNOWABLE and UNDEFINABLE, but which may be considered and thought of as AN UNIVERSAL, INFINITE, LIVING MIND.

It also explains that all the phenomenal world or universe is simply a MENTAL CREATION of THE ALL, subject to the Laws of Created Things, and that the universe, as a while, and in its parts or units, has its existence in the Mind of THE ALL, in which the Mind of THE ALL, in which the Mind we "live and move and have our being." This principle, by establishing the mental nature of the Universe, easily explains all the varied mental and psychic phenomena that occupy such a large portion of the public attention, and which, without such explanation, are non-understandable and defy scientific treatment. An understanding of this great hermetic Principle of Mentalism enables the individual to readily grasp the laws of the Mental Universe, and to apply the same to his well-being and advancement. The Hermetic Student is enabled to apply intelligently the Mental Laws, instead of using them in a haphazard manner. With this Master-Key in his possession, the student may unlock the many doors of the mental and psychic temple of knowledge, and enter the same freely and intelligently. This Principle explains the true nature of "Energy," "Power," and "Matter," and why and how all these are subordinate to the Mastery of the Mind. One of the old Hermetic Masters wrote, long ages ago: "He who grasps the truth of the Mental Nature of the Universe is well advanced on the path to Mastery." An these words are true today as at the time they were first written. Without this Master-Key, Mastery is impossible, and hte student knocks in vain at the many doors of the Temple.

Being, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

2010-07-20T14:37:00.001-07:00

"Sit in reverie, and watch the changing color of the waves that break upon the idle seashore of the mind."
-- Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Focus & Creativity, Robert Fritz

2010-07-15T22:51:00.000-07:00

[Some] approaches leave out the vital question of the creative process: "What do I want to create?" The inventiveness of the creative process does not come from generating alternatives, but from generating a path of the original concept of what you want you want to create in the final version of it in reality. A good test of any theory of creativity is: Can you write music using that theory? Can you imagine Mozart brainstorming alternatives for the overture of The Marriage of Figaro? If he'd used that approach, he could never have composed that music in the few hours it took him.

As Roger Sessions described, Beethoven's sketchbook is filled with themes and variations. However, these sketches represent neither free association nor generating alternatives, but rather a focused study of the way intervalic structures interact. "Modeling, then testing in systematic and apparently cold-blooded fashion." Beethoven's critical judgment was not suspended in his sketches, but enhanced.

The creative process is filled with a variety of styles, from highly controlled ones to very uncontrolled ones. But all these styles exist within the context of the results the creator has in mind.

Within this context there is a focus of critical judgment, not a suspension of it. As creators master their own creative processes, less and less is left to alternatives. The creator develops an economy of means. The more the mastery, the more direct the path from the original concept to final creation.

Freeing the mind is a different act from focusing the mind. Focus needs the object of attention. To a creator, the object of final focus is the final result that he or she wants to create.

Freeing the mind is a little like fishing in a pond where you hope there may be fish, without knowing what kind of fish you want or how to fish.

Creating is more like actual fishing. Before you go to the pond, you focus on the kind of fish you want to catch. If you want trout, your bring fly-casting equipment. If you want bass, you bring sinkers and bait.

There is always an unknown quality in the creative process, as there is in fishing, but when you are aware of the final results you want to create, you are able to focus the process, rather than make the process a random one.

--Robert Fritz
The Path of Least Resistance, pp, 38-39

Anger, Buddha

2010-07-15T11:44:00.001-07:00

"Holding on to anger is like grasping a hot coal with the intent of throwing it at someone else; you are the one who gets burned."
--Buddha

Courage, Keshavan Nair

2010-07-15T11:42:00.001-07:00

"With courage you will dare to take risks, have the strength to be compassionate, and the wisdom to be humble. Courage is the foundation of integrity. "
-- Keshavan Nair

Genius, David R. Hawkins, M.D., Ph.D.

2010-07-10T20:24:00.000-07:00

"Recognized geniuses may be rare, but genius resides within all of us. There's no such thing as "luck" or "accident" in the cosmos; and not only is everything connected to everything else, no one is excluded from the Universe - we are all members. Consciousness, like physicality, is a universal quality; because genius is a characteristic of consciousness, genius is also universal. It follows that that which is universal is available to each and every person.

The process of creativity and genius are inherent in human consciousness. Just as every human has within himself the same essence of consciousness, so is genius a potential that resides in everyone - it simply waits for the right circumstance to express itself. Each of us has had moments of genius in our lifetimes, perhaps only known to ourselves or those closest to us. We suddenly make a brilliant move or decision, or say exactly the right thing at the right moment, without quite knowing why. Sometimes we even like to congratulate ourselves for these fortunate events, but in truth we really don't know where they come from.

Genius is often expressed through a change of perception - a modifying of context or paradigm. The mind struggles with an unsolvable problem, poses a question, and is open to receive an answer. The source that this answer comes from has been given many names, varying from culture to culture and time to time; in the arts of Western civilization, it's traditionally been identified with the Greek goddesses of inspiration called the Muses. Those who are humble and grateful for illumination received tend to continue to have the capacity to access genius; those who credit the inspiration to their own ego soon lose this capacity, or are destroyed by their success. High power, like high voltage, must be handled with respect.

Genius and creativity, then, are subjectively experienced as a witnessing, it's a phenomenon that bypasses the individual self or ego. The capacity to finesse genius can be learned - though often only through painful surrender - when the phoenix of genius arises out of the ashes of despair after a fruitless struggle with the unsolvable. Out of defeat comes victory; out of failure, success; out of humbling, true self esteem.

One of the problems in attempting to understand genius is that it takes near-genius to recognize it. The world frequently fails to identify a genius altogether; society often gives acclaim to its work without noting the intrinsic genius of the creation itself. Until one acknowledges the intrinsic genius within oneself, one will have great difficulty recognizing it in others - we can only acknowledge without what we realize within. For example, Mikhail Gorbachev was the subject of enormous worldwide attention, but at the same time, the world never really did acknowledge his genius: Single-handedly, and in only a few short years, he completely revolutionized one of the greatest empires on Earth, and his only sources of power were his inspiration and vision. (Had the communist regime been based on power, nothing could have overturned it; because it was based on force, it was destined to come to an end under the hand of a charismatic leader who was aligned with power).

--David R. Hawkins, M.D., Ph.D.
Power vs. Force: The Hidden Determinants of Human Behavior, pp. 195-197

Victory, Robert Greene

2010-07-10T19:48:00.000-07:00

"The moment of victory is often the moment of greatest peril. In the heat of victory, arrogance and overconfidence can push you past the goal you aimed for, and by going too far, you make more enemies than you defeat. Do not allow success to go to your head. There is no substitute for strategy and careful planning. Set a goal, and when you reach it, stop."
--Robert Greene

Curiosity, Eleanor Roosevelt

2010-07-08T07:03:00.001-07:00

"Life was meant to be lived, and curiosity must be kept alive. One must never, for whatever reason, turn his back on life. "
--Eleanor Roosevelt

Unique, Herman Hesse

2010-07-06T12:54:00.000-07:00

"It is not our purpose to become each other; it is to recognize each other, to learn to see the other and honor him for what he is: each the other's opposite and complement."
--Herman Hesse

Change, Alan Cohen

2010-06-24T11:36:00.001-07:00

"A life without change is not a life; it is a stagnant pool. To change your mind frivolously is a cop-out. To change your mind under the direction of the wisdom of the heart is a brush stroke on the masterpiece you are delivering to the world."
--Alan Cohen

Perspective, Carl Jung

2010-06-23T10:06:00.000-07:00

"It all depends on how we look at things, and not on how things are in themselves. The least of things with a meaning is worth more in life than the greatest of things without it."
--Carl Jung

Judgment, Albert Camus

2010-06-22T13:19:00.001-07:00

"I shall tell you a great secret, my friend. Do not wait for the Last Judgment. It takes place every day."
--Albert Camus

Speed Reaching People: How to Communicate with All Types

2010-06-16T21:54:00.000-07:00

Excerpt from "The Art of Speed Reading People: How to Size People Up and Speak Their Language"

--Paul D. Tieger & Barbara Barron-Tieger

REWRITING THE GOLDEN RULE

We've all been taught the Golden Rule, "Do unto others as you would have done to you." However, when it comes to communicating effectively, this really should be modified to read: "Do unto others as they would like done to them." In other words, to be effective with others, you need to speak their language -- to deliver your message in the way they want, and will hear it.

Rewriting the Golden Rule means giving up our more egocentric approach to communicating for a more altruistic or responsive approach -- one that is more concerned with the other person than ourselves.

People who communicate egocentrically communicate the same way with everyone, requiring others to adapt to their style. If you this about it, this really makes very little sense. For example, you wouldn't speak the same way to a child of three as you would to an adult with a Ph.D. in philosophy. You would use a different vocabulary and pace, and greatly alter your message so that each person would understand it. Or if you were trying to communicate with someone who was hard of hearing, you might speak slower and louder to ensure that the person could hear you. Perhaps the clearest example is the change you must make to speak with someone from a foreign country. In order to really communicate well, you would have to speak their language.

Personality Type is such an effective tool for enhancing communication because people of different types prefer to communicate in profoundly (and predictably!) different ways. By understanding a person's preferred communication style, you significantly increase your chances of of reaching that person. For example, we know that Sensors naturally focus on the facts and details rather than on the big picture and possibilities. Therefore, when trying to connect with a Sensor, it only makes sense to emphasize what they themselves will think is most important.

KQ NOTE: In other and shorter words - Know Your Audience. :)

Do You Want to be an Effective Asshole? - Robert I. Sutton, Ph.D.

2010-06-16T21:35:00.000-07:00

Excerpt from "The No Asshole Rule - Building a Civilized Workplace and Surviving One That Isn't"
--Robert I. Sutton, Ph.D.

...I've distilled the main lessons from this chapter into a short list; if you want to be the best asshole that you can possibly be for yourself and your organization, see [below]. But I should warn you, as I did at the outset, that the ideas in this chapter are inherently dangerous. People who are destructive jerks can use these alleged virtues to justify and glorify their wicked ways. The weight of evidence shows that assholes, especially certified assholes, do far more harm than good.

Expressing anger, even nastiness, can be an effective method for grabbing and keeping power. Climb to the top of the heap by elbowing your colleagues out of the way through expressing anger rather than sadness or perfecting a "general's face" like George S. Patton.

Nastiness and intimidation are especially effective for vanquishing competitors. Follow in the footsteps of baseball legend Ty Cobb, and succeed by snarling at, bullying, putting down, threatening and psyching out your opponents.

If you demean your people to motivate them, alternate it with (at least occasional) encouragement and praise. Alternate the carrot and the stick; the contrast between the two makes your wrath seem harsher and your occasional kindness seem even sweeter.

Create a "toxic tandem". If you are nasty, team up with someone who can calm people down, clean up your mess, and extract favors and extra work from people because they are so grateful for the "good cop". If you are "too nice," you might "rent a jerk," perhaps a consultant, a manager from a temporary staffing firm, or a lawyer.

Being an asshole, all the time, won't work. Effective assholes have the ability to release their venom at just the right moment and turn it off when just enough destruction or humiliation has been inflicted on their victim.

*KQ NOTE: I am not advocating these techniques at all; I just find the advice fascinating and insightful.

Self Esteem, Nathaniel Branden

2010-06-16T21:17:00.000-07:00

“Self esteem is the reputation we acquire with ourselves.”
--Nathaniel Branden

Light, Viktor Frankl

2010-06-14T08:49:00.001-07:00

"What is to give light must endure burning."
--Viktor Frankl

Life & Love, Kassie Liner

2010-06-13T16:07:00.000-07:00

"Life is a risk, love is a compromise. If you aren't doing either, you're doing neither."
--Kassie Liner

Outlook, Dalai Lama

2010-06-09T11:36:00.000-07:00

"The most important thing is transforming our minds, for a new way of thinking, a new outlook: we should strive to develop a new inner world."
-- Dalai Lama

Emotion, Viktor E. Frankl

2010-06-08T10:00:00.001-07:00

"Between stimulus and response, there is a space. In that space lies our freedom and power to choose our response. In our response lies our growth and freedom."
-- Viktor E. Frankl

Winning, Robert Greene

2010-06-03T20:12:00.000-07:00

Win through your actions, never through argument.

"Any momentary triumph you think you have gained through argument is really a Pyrrhic victory: The resentment and ill will you stir up is stronger and lasts longer than any momentary change of opinion. It is much more powerful to get others to agree with you through your actions, without saying a word. Demonstrate, do not explicate."
--Robert Greene

The Path of Least Resistance, Robert Fritz

2010-06-03T20:03:00.000-07:00

Excerpt from "The Path of Least Resistance", by Robert Fritz

MOVING ALONG THE PATH
Once a structure exists, energy moves through that structure by the path of least resistance. In other words, energy moves where it is easiest for it to go.

This is true for all of nature. The water in a river flows along the path of least resistance. The wind blowing through the concrete canyons of Manhattan takes the path of least resistance. Electrical currents, whether in simple devices, such as light bulbs, or in the complex circuitry found in today's sophisticated computers, flow along paths of least resistance.

If you watch the flow of pedestrian traffic in time-lapse photography, you can track the patterns of people walking in a busy street, avoiding each other on their way. Sometimes a pedestrian's path of least resistance is to walk straight ahead, sometimes to move to the right or left, sometimes to walk faster, and sometimes to slow down or wait a moment.

You got to where you are in your life right now by moving along the path of least resistance.

THREE INSIGHTS
The rest of this book is built on three important insights. The first is this:

You are like a river. You go through life taking the path of least resistance. We all do - human beings and all of nature. It is important to know that. You may try to change the direction of your own flow in certain areas of your life - your eating habits, the way you relate to others, the way you treat yourself, the attitudes you have about life. And you may even succeed for a time. But eventually you will find you return to your original behavior and attitudes. This is because your life is determined, insofar as it is a law of nature for you to take the path of least resistance.

The second insight is just as fundamental. The underlying structure of your life determines the path of least resistance. Just as a riverbed determines the path of the water flowing through it, so the structures in your life determine your path of least resistance. Whether you are aware of these structures or not, they are there. The structure of the river remains the same whether there is water flowing through it or not.

You may barely notice the underlying structures in your life and how powerfully and naturally they determine the way you live.

Many continue to live the way they do, often feeling powerless and frustrated. They have attempted to make major changes in their relationships, their careers, their family, their health, the quality of their lives, only to find themselves, a short time later, back in the same old familiar situation. They are following their old entrenched patterns.

They may have indeed made some superficial changes in their lives, but somehow nothing seems to have really changed. They know that there is more to life than what they have experienced, but they don't know how to create it.

If a riverbed remains unchanged, the water will continue to flow along the path it always has, since that is the most natural route for it to take. If the underlying structures of your life remain unchanged, the greatest tendency is for you to follow the same direction your life has always taken.

The third insight is this: You can change the fundamental underlying structures of your life. Just as engineers change the path of a river by changing the structure of the terrain so that the river flows where they want it to go, you can change the very basic structure of your life so that you can create the life you want.

Furthermore, once a new basic structure is in place, the overall thrust of your life - like the power of the river's current - surges to form the results you truly want. And the direct path to those results becomes the path of least resistance. In fact, with an appropriate change in the underlying structure of your life, the path of least resistance cannot lead anywhere except in the direction you really want to go.

The guiding principle that emanates from these three insights is this: You can learn to recognize the structures at play in your life and change them so that you can create what you really want to create.

Life, Leonid S. Sukhorukov

2010-06-03T10:13:00.001-07:00

"Life is the distance between dreams and reality."
-- Leonid S. Sukhorukov

The Path of Most Resistance, Tom Rath

2010-06-02T20:58:00.000-07:00

Excerpt from "Strengths Finder 2.0", by Tom Rath:

THE PATH OF MOST RESISTANCE
At its fundamentally flawed core, the aim of almost any learning program is to help us become who we are not. If you don't have natural talent with numbers, you're still forced to spend time in that area to attain a degree. If you're not very empathetic, you get sent to a course designed to infuse empathy into your personality. From the cradle to the cubicle, we devote more time to our shortcomings than to our strengths.

This is quite apparent in the way we create icons out of people who struggle to overcome a lack of natural talent. Consider the true story of Rudy Ruettiger, the 23-year-old groundskeeper at Notre Dame's stadium, who was the protagonist of of the 1993 movie Rudy. At just 5'6" and 165 lbs., this young man clearly didn't possess the physical ability to play big-time college football, but he had ample "heart".

Rudy worked tirelessly to gain admission to Notre Dame so he could play football there. Eventually, after being rejected three times, he was accepted at Notre Dame and soon thereafter earned a spot on the football team's practice squad.

For two years, Rudy took a beating in daily practices, but he was never allowed to join his team on the sidelines. Then, after trying as hard as he could for two seasons, Rudy was finally invited to suit up for the final game of his senior year. In the last moments of this game, with a Notre Dame victory safely in hand, Rudy's teammates lobbied their coach to put him in the game. In the final seconds, the coach sent Rudy in for a single play - and he tackled the opposing team's quarterback.

It was a dramatic moment and, of course, Rudy became an instant hero. Fans chanted his name and carried him off the field. Ruettiger was later invited to the White House, where he met President Bill Clinton, Colin Powell and football legend Joe Montana. While Rudy's perseverance is admirable, in the end, he played a few seconds of college football and made a single tackle...after thousands of hours of practicing.

The inspirational nature of this story actually masks a significant problem: Overcoming deficits is an essential part of the fabric of our culture. Our books, movies and folklore are filled with stories of the underdog who beats the one-in-a-million odds. And this leads us to celebrate those who triumph over their lack of natural ability even more than we recognize those who capitalize on their innate talents. As a result, millions of people see these heroes as being the epitome of the American dream and set their sights on conquering major challenges. Unfortunately, this is taking the path of most resistance.

...

"You cannot be anything you want to be - but you can be a lot more of who you already are."

Life, Herbie Hancock

2010-06-02T20:36:00.001-07:00

"You would not exist if you did not have something to bring to the table of life."
--Herbie Hancock

Release, Lao Tzu

2010-06-02T20:35:00.001-07:00

"The world is ruled by letting things take their natural course. It cannot be ruled by going against nature or arrogance."
--Lao Tzu

Tenacity, Amelia Earhart

2010-05-20T21:14:00.000-07:00

“The most difficult thing is the decision to act, the rest is merely tenacity. The fears are paper tigers. You can do anything you decide to do. You can act to change and control your life; and the procedure, the process is its own reward.”
--Amelia Earhart