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Not everyone will understand your journey. That’s fine. It’s not their journey to make sense of. It’s yours.

Zero Dean

Author | Photographer | CG Artist | Filmmaker

One less idiot

I’m an optimist. I like to see the best in people. I believe human beings are inherently good. I believe people are capable of achieving far more than they believe. I encourage tolerance, kindness, and open minds.

That said, knowing this one simple fact may prove beneficial in getting through life:

Idiots are everywhere.
(And sometimes we are those idiots.)

That probably won’t change.

But what can change is who we are and how we act when we cross paths with idiots. Because, sadly, we often let other idiots turn us into idiots without thinking.

The more we resist the urge to let others control our emotions and our actions in a negative way, the less likely we are to let idiots turn us into idiots (and the happier and more in control of our lives we will be).

Our attitude and how we handle ourselves is always our responsibility.

We may not always know what to do when we cross paths with idiots, but we can always choose the type of person we want to be.

And if you choose not to let an idiot turn you into an idiot, that’s one less idiot there will be in the world.

Originally published on: Feb 12, 2014

One less idiot.

“Never argue with an idiot. He will drag you down to his level and beat you with experience.” — Mark Twain

Never wrestle with pigs. You both get dirty and the pig likes it.” — George Bernard Shaw

“Stop attaching so much weight to being right. In the grand scheme of things, being right is insignificant compared to being happy.” — Deepak Chopra

“Be selective in your battles sometimes peace is better than being right.” — Ritu Ghatourey

Related:

Where’s your respect?

One of the most significant aspects of living a happy, healthy, and fulfilling life comes down to respect.

Respect for yourself, your body, and your goals. Respect for other people, their property, and their beliefs. Respect for your time and other people’s time. Respect for your relationships, your community, and your environment. And countless other things.

Nearly every important aspect of life deteriorates without respect.

Where is your respect (or lack thereof) reflected in your life?

The ocean has receded

A tsunami survivor is on the beach. They see the ocean recede into the distance and realize what it means.

So they start alerting people to what’s coming. But rather than listen, the people ask their friends what the water receding could mean. And their friends give them all kinds of answers. And many of them are reassuring.

“It’s a hoax.” “We haven’t had a tsunami for 100 years.” “I’m sure it will be fine.”

So they do very little when they could be doing a lot.

And then the tsunami comes.

Related:

People who are good at what they do don’t have to tell you

How a person behaves & what they do is far more reflective of the truth than what they say.

Strong leadership & caring for others involves a lot more than simply stating you care for others.

People who are good at what they do don’t have to tell you — they show it.

If you now lack confidence that your elected officials are working 100% for the people they are responsible for leading, protecting, and representing — this is why it’s important to vote for competent people who do more than just try to personally benefit from their position.

Related:

It doesn’t affect me

We live in a world where an unfortunate number of people believe that if something isn’t affecting them directly, it doesn’t matter.

And so people who could avoid making a problem worse don’t take action because they must be personally inconvenienced by something before deciding to do anything about it. And by then, the consequences are worse than they would have been — sometimes catastrophically & irreversibly.

Related:

Corona virus is not overhyped

While you may think the Corona Virus is overhyped — and remain unconcerned because you’re not at a high risk of dying from it — that doesn’t mean the people you could give it to who could die from it feel the same way. The people dying are part of someone’s family.

This “I don’t care if I get the #coronavirus” attitude is a lot like the “I’ve had a few drinks but I’m good to drive” or “I’m good at texting & driving.”

It’s not always about *you* — it’s about the people you put at risk by being irresponsible.

The path towards a better life

Excerpt from my book:

If you want to get on the path towards a better life, you must decide that taking steps down that path is more important than the things that are keeping you from it.

You must no longer allow yourself to be held back by a lack of discipline, a lack of resources, a lack of motivation, or a lack of initiative. And you must no longer allow yourself to be held back by fear.