There is a beautiful quote by Plato which goes – “A wise man speaks because he has something to say, but a fool speaks because he want to say something.” This is so relatable.
This is same as saying an empty container makes a lot of noise. Those who have knowledge don’t speak too much they just listen. A person without any knowledge just speak for the sake of speaking.
A container full of water does not make a lot of noise
What goes around comes around. In the same way what you appreciate appreciates you in return.
If you appreciate your struggle, your failure, your accomplishments, it’ll certainly give a positive result. But if you avoid it, it can destroy you as well.
The more we appreciate our weakness, the more we can overcome it. The more we move away from our weakness, the more it rule over us. Appreciating everything we encounter is what makes us more jovial and more fulfilled.
Ray Bradbury once said, “We’re all fools, all the time. It’s just we’re a different kind each day. We think, I’m not a fool today. I’ve learned my lesson. I was a fool yesterday but not this morning. Then tomorrow we find out that, yes, we were fool yesterday too. I think the only way we can grow and get on in this world is to accept the fact we’re not perfect and live accordingly.”
We always want to be perfect in all the things we do that’s why we end up becoming depressed and broke because we won’t be able to attain that level of perfection.
The greatest realization is that we’re always in the process of approaching truth and perfection without actually ever reaching there.
It is said that the solution to every problem is available. It’s just that we need to be patient and listen to the successor.
We need to be open minded…
Experimenting different things is the way we get the solutions. So keep experimenting. It will obviously gives the direction.
Human talents are not craved in the stone, they can be cultivated. Most of us quit our startups, our job and even relationships, feeling that we are not worthy for it.
But the truth is we weren’t worthy of anything unless we tried to be. Everything can be cultivated. Every human qualities from love and emotions to grit and perseverance can be cultivated.
Reality is harsh. It’s hard to accept it sometimes.
But when we start to embrace reality not only in the good time but also in hard times then we start to see world differently. In other word, we won’t struggle with any problems or we won’t get stuck with any difficulties. All pain and discomfort cease.
Embracing reality is tough, but it doesn’t mean it’s unattainable. We can start embracing reality by being conscious of the present moment. It makes us live in the present moment, which is the only controllable moment
"A good person dyes events with his own color…and turns whatever happens to his own benefit.” – Seneca
During this unprecedented time of coronavirus and the world situation, getting the things your way is very difficult.
I have been interested in stoicism which I believe has the power to change the way we look ourselves. It makes ourselves more strong and determined.
If you want to be antifragile like Thomas Jefferson, Marcus Aurelius, Bill Belichick, and many of the most dominant investors in history, Stoicism offers a real playbook. If you want to make better decisions, if you want to smile when other people cower, it offers real tools.
Andy Grove, former CEO of Intel said, “Bad companies are destroyed by crisis. Good companies survive them. Great companies are improved by them.” What if we could be a person who is improved by crisis? It could make us a happier human being.
Colin Powell once said, “Trying to get everyone to like you is a sign of mediocrity.” It does not put you in a situation to improve yourself. Receiving compliment is one of the things that makes us grow.
Cato, who Seneca believed to be the perfect stoic, practiced this by wearing darker robes than was customary and by wearing no tunic. His goal was not to impress other to like him. But he was content to to be thought foolish and stupid.
If you treat everyone the same and respond to everyone by apologizing or agreeing, you’re not going to be recognizing the best performers, and you’re not going to be improving the worst performers said the world class performer Tim Ferriss.
Ethics is a moral principle that governs a person's behavior while consciousness is the state of being awake and aware of present moment (internal and external). This is how Wikipedia defines ethics and consciousness.
But the truth is it's hard to define both ethics and consciousness and this struggle will remain for some time.
The question here is do we need an ethics of consciousness?
Philosopher Thomas Metzinger believes we need an ethics of consciousness. He introduced the phenomenal self-model (PMS) which allows human to recognize themselves and others as a whole. We know: we know we know; we know that others know. Just like our brain maps our body , our mind maps our body moving through space. He writes,
" We do not see the windows but only a bird flying by. We do not see neurons firing away in our brain nut only what they represent for us"
Ethics and consciousness are related in the sense that the greater we are aware the wider range of possibilities for both ethical and unethical behavior exists.
Mind is in the state of constant thinking. Minding our mind simply means taking control over our mind. Whatever we think, we create the thoughts, which creates words. These words are the building blocks of our life; in fact, they shape our life.
Inner peace is the state attained when we take control over our mind because it (inner peace) depends on inner state, and our mind becomes tranquil and outer peace finally follows.
Minding our minds shape our life and nourishes us to live happy, prosperous, fulfilling and peaceful life. What more do we need?
When we start taking control over our mind, life start to happen from us not to us- we start creating something purposeful, something fulfilling, something meaningful and valuable. But, it leaves us with choice.