Life changing news is by definition life changing. I received news that will significantly impact my day to day life. I always used to think that knowing a date in the future would be beneficial for planning. Now I understand the tradeoff of feeling like there is a cloud you can see off in the future, i.e. anxiety may be created. The only thing we can do is control today and our response. The thing I think we continue to struggle with is how much do we focus on setting the foundation versus just building the house. Not knowing what the outcome will really be makes our anxieties even more futile.
Source: Dan John’s Wandering Weights
Lesson: Wise advice for much of life’s short-term miseries: “Wait and hope”
Reflection: this was something that I needed to hear. I think it ties in nicely to my above concerns. The waiting is more the prayer that things will work themselves out. My initial thought is that it does not imply inactivity, but I think that is what it’s implying. At times my personality is still one which is focused on how much more I can do. I think a better mindset might be, live your life and let what happens happen.
Source: Black Swan – Nassim Taleb
Lesson: You need a story to displace a story. Metaphors and stories are far more potent than ideas; they are also easier to remember and more fun to read. If I have to go after what I call the narrative disciplines, my best tool is a narrative. Ideas come and go, stories stay.
Reflection: Maybe this makes these reflections futile as well. The only story here is of myself trying to apply readings to my own life through reflection. Maybe the other way of considering this quote is to see how to change people’s perceptions. I find more and more that people are unmoved by facts. They need a story to change their perception, they need to have an anecdote, it needs to become real to them.
Source: Five Levels of Attachment – Don Miguel Ruiz Jr
Lesson: There are five levels of attachment – true self, preference, identity, internalization, and fanaticism
Reflection: I enjoyed the Four Agreements and thought this book would be interesting. So far I’m about halfway through it. It will be more interesting to see if they discuss anyway on how to deal with those in each state of attachment. The sad part of going through this book was the immediate projection of the labels onto family members who are in the stages of internalization and fanaticism. The question that comes out of that is there a possible relationship when your ideology goes against the other person. My instinct says no. Is there a way to get a fanatic to change. Maybe this ties into the second lesson. They must be retaught a story. I think this is more consistent with the philosophy of cognitive behavioral therapy. We must reframe our story in order to ensure we can continue justifying that we’re good people. I would be curious to see what my own fanatical beliefs are and where I internalize. Maybe it would allow me more compassion for others.
Seeking Progress 