Many many years ago, small human tribes of hunter gatherers could know another and share a common identity.
Agriculture brought larger societies, where humans might know their immediate neighbors but not the neighboring society.
Industrialization brought increased economic growth, and urbanization created cities where humans don't even know their next door neighbor.
The information age is bringing new rules. Our tribe can be online and around the world. It's up to us to know our neighbors.
I wonder how individuality transforms throughout this human journey.
How are you, the remarkable individual, choosing to co create your community?
What an abundant world I live in. This morning I woke up with the feeling that God-created this world so fully then I might never have to create anything. And yet I spend much of my days struggling to create.
Isn't it funny how we seem to have been built to create and yet put in a world where doing so is not necessary?
Acceptance and injustice
There have been times in my life where lessons have included wrongdoing by others. Malicious or thoughtless acts have helped to shape who I am. It is very difficult for me to accept wrongdoing as a part of what has shaped my experiences.
Yet at times it seems that the moments when I feel most wronged are also the moments where I am learning and growing the most.
Perhaps my sense of right and wrong is a source of resistance to change. That is a hard one to accept and let go of!
Practice makes perfect?
No. It does not.
Practice is a practice. Perfection is an unattainable outcome.
Practice makes practice.
Perfection makes false promises.
Extrinsic happiness and intrinsic joy
As the singer-songwriter Alanis Morissette once said, “It's not getting what you want it's wanting what you've got.”
How often do you find happiness in extrinsic ways? Happiness in the achievements or accomplishments or acquisition.
How often do you find joy in intrinsic ways? Appreciating the beauty of that which is before you. Acknowledging the richness of something you've always had. Appreciating the gifts inherent in who you are.
Online and active living
For thousands of years humans have been living actively. For a few years we have been increasingly living via the internet. I am fairly certain I spend more time on email lately than I do walking or exercising, which over time I hope to see tilt in the opposite direction.
How is your balance between online and active living?
Let's take a break from the screen and go for a walk, shall we?
Early to bed and early to rise, makes a man healthy wealthy and wise.
Late to bed and early to rise makes a man crazy and reddens his eyes.
Late to bed and late to rise makes a man hazy and missed the prize.
Early to bed and late to rise makes a man lazy and full of sighs.
Indivisible reality?
I was once told that reality is flawed, because any distance between two points can be divided into an infinite number of smaller distances. Nothing can cross an infinite number of distances, no matter how small, therefore reality is flawed. Supposedly this came from Einstein.
But it's not reality that's flawed, it's mathematics! Math beautifully captures most of reality in some way, but falls short in this particular circumstance. I think Einstein know this well. Let us keep in mind that the map is never actually the territory.
Fear – Courage = Paralysis
Courage – Fear = Numbness
Fear + Courage = Confidence
Delayed gratification and procrastination
There was a famous research study conducted years ago that involved young children and cookies. If the child could wait with a cookie in front of them, then they got another cookie. Apparently the children who delayed gratification, and thus got an extra cookie, were more successful later in life.
I judge myself to be good at delaying gratification, both by my nature and by my training. But at times this seems to intersect with an adult tendency to procrastinate. Sure one in the hand are better than two in the bush, but what if I believe I have a plan to get the two in the bush? The plan suddenly becomes more attractive than one in the hand, even though it is not yet realized.
Where are you living in plans instead of the present reality?