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A Death Sentence Awaits

If you do not consider yourself the most positive person you have ever known, don’t worry. The secret is that most of the perky people lie about how positive they are. There’s no person who is truly positive or absolutely negative. People who suggest a positive mental attitude have been able to convince a lot of the world that unless your are positive all the time you are an inferior being. The pressure of following this attitude, so optimistic and cheerful, is worse than actually experiencing negativity. Following this logic will lead to only one conclusion: “I am just not good enough.”

All of us since the moment of birth have been given a death sentence- only the date is unknown. The fact of death is always present in the deepest part of our subconscious mind. Between the time of birth and the time of death, we do the best we know how. If we act to the best of our abilities, at the time of judgment, it will more than be enough to fulfill our lives and let us depart without regret.

Misfortune Loves Company

The divine guidance often comes when the horizon is the blackest. – Mahatma Gandhi

Misery loves company. Sulking and self destruction seems to be more prominent in the USA than any where I’ve seen e.g. all the homeless using drugs and tented near a major highway. Misery reforms to choice – to justify self destruction.

Working through agony and grief could have the most positive impact on anyones life. When tragedy strikes, there is no point in me telling you not to grieve and instead to live life as if it were a dream. Life may be a dream and a play in the eyes of God, but we are stuck with the nightmares.

During times of stress, work out your grief, because until you are able to thoroughly experience you pain, it will be harder to deal with any new possibilities. However, avoid indulging in excess misery. Keep you misfortune private and only share it with those who can truly support you.

Reed received his layoff notice from recent layoffs just before Christmas. He felt devastated and hurt when he walked out of his office, but when he got home he tried to tell his wife about his ill fate with dignity and courage. He wanted to act like a “man,” to suppress his emotions. However, his wife, Charlotte, knew he hurt deeply, so she tried to get him to talk about the incident. At first she had tremendous difficulty getting him to open up, but finally he wept out loud and continued uncontrollably. As he wept, he poured out his worries – the guilt he felt over losing his job and other problems that he had carried hidden in him for a long time. He cried for three days.

The second day, after a sleepless night, he went out in the morning to the corner liquor store. The shop clerk, an intelligent-looking middle-aged man, asked him if he was celebrating Christmas early. Reed told him no, but that he had just lost his job.

“I understand,” the clerk said. “I was in marketing and sales at a large corporation. But after I lost my job, my wife and kids left me, and I ended up working here.”

Instantly the tears welled up in both of their eyes. At that instant, they both felt the depth of their wounds.

Reed normally didn’t drink much, but after finishing off his beer that afternoon he wished to return to the liquor store, replenish his supply, and continue his conversation with the clerk. Charlotte told him not to commiserate with the liquor store clerk because it would only exacerbate Reed’s own feelings of failure. She felt that Reed might develop the idea that he shared the same fate and would end up like the clerk. “Misery loves company,” she said. “Visiting the clerk will only compound the pain for both of you.”

After three days of weeping and drinking, Reed was emotionally and physically depleted, but he picked himself up and started talking with Charlotte about what he should do next. They scoured job ads, took inventory of their assets, borrowed books from the library on how to change careers, and read up on ways to write a dynamic résumé. Reed made finding a job his full-time work. Within three weeks, he had five interviews and eventually landed a better position than his old job – one with a higher salary, two weeks more vacation time, and only four workdays a week.

When you are in times of pain, this is the moment when you need your most focus – which is incredibly difficult to collect. It’s highly important to only share with those you truly trust, because anyone else will acknowledge your pain then keep their distance from you. Hide your vulnerability from people outside your circle of trust. Then use your time of inactivity to conjure strength because this type of strength is rare and character building. The divine guidance from our nightmares are sometimes missed completely.

Corey Stevenson, 2/10/2024

The Intelligent Practitioner

In many ways I’m jealous of the new Jiu-Jitsu practitioner or the new investor or the new music learner, the new poker player, the new salesperson, the new interview practitioner.  Because the concept are new and after reading and studying.  Then failing comes understanding.  With the understand become the foundation of that persons’ practice which that person will find themselves new.

A new perspective a new character and understanding that develops their practice in any direction they choose.  When the material is read for the first time it begins, then digested the second, 5th, 6th.  It makes no difference how many times because the practitioner will understand what direction to go.  With the direction and conviction in their own belief they will achieve the status of genius in their respective craft. 

That is why I’m jealous because I was that person and after developing my foundation there is something less than exciting for practice.  Also in turn, I take way of sensei, or business professional, card shark, professional seller, musician a master of many crafts.  From the excitement of development comes the strength of confidence and from that I appreciate.  

The Victim

“I’ll be the victim.” Says the girl from summer camp.  “All your life.” Replies Wednesday Adams. – Adams Family Values

A false concept of virtue bring about vanity and then is distilled into victimizing the person, an individual or a community. Many time people use virtue and vanity to portray themselves as victim.  This is from a dose of ignorance and adhering to misinterpretation and misguided volleys of authoritative rants.  Misguided ignorance is the truth of the victim and the falsified virtue.  

It isn’t what we know we don’t know or what we don’t know we don’t know that will bring us into turmoil   It is what we believe we know that just isn’t so that will misguide and destroy the individual or community.  –  Inspired by Mark Twain.

Effort

All effort is sacred.

Between the most negative, foolish and ignorant of people,

and the most positive, confident, self-assured,

there lies a space so small that the universe regards it with a smile.

— Inspired by ELIZABETH WATERHOUSE

A Holy Man’s Sacred Vow

      A holy man was meditating beneath a tree at the crossing of two roads. His meditation was interrupted by a young man running

         frantically down the road toward him.

      “Help me,” the young man pleaded. “A man has wrongly accused me of stealing. He is pursuing me with a great crowd of people.

         If they catch me, they will chop off my hands.”

      The young man climbed the tree beneath which the sage had been meditating and hid himself in the branches. “Please don’t tell

         them where I am hiding,” he begged.

      The holy man saw with the clear vision of a saint that the young man was telling him the truth. The lad was not a thief. 

         A few moments later, the crowd of villagers approached, and the leader asked, “Have you seen a young man run by here?”

      Many years earlier, the holy man had taken a vow to always speak the truth, so he said that he had.

      “Where did he go?” the leader asked.

      The holy man did not want to betray the innocent young man, but his vow was sacred to him. He pointed up into the tree. The

         villagers dragged the young man out of the tree and chopped off his hands.

      When the holy man died and stood before Judgment, he was condemned for his behavior in regard to the

the truth. I was bound to act as I did.”

      “On that day,” came the reply, “you loved vanity more than virtue. It was not for virtue’s sake that you delivered the innocent

         man over to his persecutors, but to preserve a vain image of yourself as a virtuous person.”

      The limited human wisdom that guides our concept of virtue often becomes our compelling force for evil. Our false concept of virtue often is nothing but vanity and an attempt to gain praise or to be self-righteous about how “virtuous” we are, so we may feel superior to others. So many times, because this false virtue is accompanied by a dose of human ignorance, virtue becomes an effective weapon in making humanity a victim.

What Life Matters

The protest of police brutally to blacks in America is spurred through subjugation from an individual deeply hurting proud black Americans.  To see one of your own disgraced and seeing yourself in that person will draw any proud member of a race to action.  Any other opposition to black lives matter or suggesting that all lives matter are hypocrite to their own race.  The subjugation is a separate issue.   The issue is black America vs police brutality.  

People are proud of their race.  It is healthy and gives purpose to be proud of your sports team, country, ethnicity and race.  Disrespecting a proud race would draw the same anger as if a foreign nation were to destroy a part of America.  The death of Floyd, Martin, Wilson, Crawford, and others are destroyed parts of black America. These truths, people are created equal and easier to see why the outcry for justice must be answered. Police in America will be rebuilt regardless of objectors. 

A short sighted person would argue that all lives matter and police brutality doesn’t only affect black America.  While this is true, it does not hold merit as a single proud race. Immigrant families separated and put in unsatisfactory situations deserve justice and could spur destruction but that community would need to form them selves as an individual. Like black America or police in America. 

A black person in America is a part of a proud culture.  Each individual has a right to be proud of their race.  All cultures should respect each culture on this merit.

The Systematic Approach

A person live way through his system.  The guy can set a goal as a jewel and fall astray to be seen as the fool.  Goals are for losers. A goal set 30 days away must be lost 29 time before achieving that goal – if the loser is able to achieve it at all.  To focus on the future is a lofty bit faulty.  This would steer away from the present and away from your initial intention of reaching your goal.  The paradox is real and the failure cycle persists.  Only in the mans own conviction and burning desire of achieving his goal will he succeed after failing each day until then.  The man with the same conviction and burning desire could achieve his goal with more enthusiasm and victory than the former.  A system will incorporate repetition and consideration and allow time away when the aim isn’t practical in the present.  Focus win in the system.  The man carrying the distraction of a goal will fail many times and may never succeed at all.  The person with the system has focus, conviction and application of repetition which will spawn success and success leads to motivation and motivation leads to more success. The snowball is just as real.  More present; less distracted.  System is to win and goal is to lose.  Repetition and muscle memory are in the systems repertoire.