Not everyone will understand your journey. That’s fine. It’s not their journey to make sense of. It’s yours.
Author | Photographer | CG Artist | Filmmaker
Not all problems are equal. There are many problems that if we invested more time & money in solving would be of much greater benefit & value in our lives than those we & others sometimes fixate on fixing.
Originally Published on: Jan 6, 2019 @ 10:21
Few people ever actively take the time to just stop. To listen. To feel. To breathe. To use the full extent of their senses. And be aware of and fully immersed in the experience of life.
Because it’s a beautiful thing. And powerful.
“Looking at beauty in the world is the first step of purifying the mind.” — Amit Ray
Just taking a moment to connect with the world around you in an intimate way is enough to help provide new insights, a new perspective, and to actively experience the interconnectedness of all things.
It’s enough to realize that we are all playing background characters in each other’s lives — and if we wish, we can not only choose to play a larger role in those lives, we can choose what kind of impact we have.
That we can have a positive impact on someone’s day. That we can make a difference.
That there’s more to life than what most choose to see.
Excerpt from a post originally published on: Apr 8, 2015 @ 16:49
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You are not what other people say about you. And you are not other people’s opinions of you unless you choose to accept them. You don’t have to let the stories that other people tell about you become your own.
It’s your life and you can choose to write your life story any way you wish, but to do so, you must make the decision to not to let other people write your story for you.
You are who you choose to be.
Excerpt from a post originally published: Oct 24, 2011 @ 16:13
Related:
Seen in a meme:
“Sometimes I think I’m crazy because I see things differently than everyone else.”
You’re not crazy if you don’t always agree with the crowd. Group dynamics is one of the most powerful forces in human psychology.
The Asch conformity experiments demonstrate that even the most seemingly logical of people can be influenced to make bad decisions due to one’s internal desire to conform to group expectations.
“Groupthink is a psychological phenomenon that occurs within groups of people, in which the desire for harmony in a decision-making group overrides a realistic appraisal of alternatives. Group members try to minimize conflict and reach a consensus decision without critical evaluation of alternative ideas or viewpoints.
…The primary socially negative cost of groupthink is the loss of individual creativity, uniqueness, and independent thinking.” — Wikipedia
Group dynamics can cause people to act irrationally and at their own expense or the expense of others.
Group dynamics can cloud the truth, cause us to desire junk, turn us against people we love, and even follow & support leaders who would do us harm.
Group dynamics is often at the core of prejudice and discrimination.
Independent thinking is far less common than it should be. It should be praised.
It takes an exceptional kind of integrity to stick up for what you believe is right and true when facing a group.
Being able to see things differently is a valuable skill and is often what allows us to make great strides in technologies and processes that benefit all. Due to group dynamics, however, truly new and original ideas are often ridiculed before they are accepted.
“For a work to be truly creative, it has to depart from the status quo at some point. That departure makes many people uncomfortable.” — David Burkus (99u)
The ability to see things differently than the crowd and maintain one’s integrity despite pressure to conform is a gift. Being able to see things differently than other people doesn’t make you crazy. It makes you valuable.
“The person who follows the crowd will usually get no further than the crowd. The person who walks alone is likely to find himself in places no one has ever been before.” — *Francis Phillip Wernig
Originally Published on: May 5, 2015 @ 08:41
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Happiness is more likely to manifest itself in one’s life as a result of making a positive difference in other people’s lives than it is by solely seeking to benefit one’s own.
Excerpt from: Want to feel better?
Originally Published on: Aug 21, 2015 @ 06:05
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Eleanor Roosevelt once said, “The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams.” It’s a nice quote, but it’s missing something vital — an element of action.
You can’t just sit around believing in the beauty of your dreams or hoping opportunity will show up at your door. That’s not how opportunity works. That’s just wishful thinking.
The quote would be more complete if it ended with “and take action to make them a reality.”
We don’t so much attract opportunities out of the blue as we create them by taking action. So when you say or think, “I have no opportunities.” (and, be careful with the kind of thinking), it’s important to make sure you are not just sitting around thinking, “I’ve done my work.”, “I have my degree.”, or “I’ve tried everything.” and now simply waiting for an opportunity to come calling.
“They always say time changes things, but you actually have to change them yourself.” — Andy Warhol
Yes, sometimes opportunity will come knocking. But most of the time, it’s you that has to get off your butt, go door to door, and do the knocking yourself.
You create opportunities with your actions. Every day you that sit around saying you have no opportunities is a day full of opportunities wasted.
“I know of no more encouraging fact than the unquestionable ability of man to elevate his life by conscious endeavor.” — Henry David Thoreau
If you want more opportunities in your life, one of the most effective ways to create them is by either focus on bettering yourself in some way or by taking the time to help solve someone else’s problem.
The world is full of people who are trying to solve a problem — be it large or small — that you may be able to help find a solution to. And by making yourself more open to assisting others, you open up a whole new world of potential opportunities as a result — and you create a tremendous amount of goodwill in the process.
“You can have everything in life you want if you will just help enough other people get what they want.” — Zig Ziglar
As for bettering yourself, people who are committed to excellence know that there is always room for improvement.
From improving a set of skills to expanding your knowledge, doing career-related research, focusing on your health or fitness, nearly everything you do to actively improve yourself will reap benefits and opportunities in your life.
While you may not always see results right away, no amount of effort you expend to improve yourself in some meaningful fashion is ever wasted.
And this is certainly more productive than sitting around saying you have no opportunities.
“Don’t let what you can’t do stand in the way of what you can do.”
Originally Published on: Sep 7, 2014 @ 15:20
Related:
When a person learns to recognize the difference between something that’s actually broken and something that is simply unassembled or unsolved, the manner and attitude with which they approach that thing can have a dramatic impact on its outcome.
If you’ve ever referred to yourself or someone else as broken, understand that the same concept applies.
