It can be wearying to only learn through trial by fire, but to do so occasionally can be quite invigorating if not downright fun. It's all in the way you approach the challenge. If you have practiced keeping your cool in the little things - by resisting the temptation to react to petty matters, obvious …
Tag: postaday
Declare Yourself
In each and every moment - every thought, every word and every deed - you declare yourself, that is, you add to the body of evidence which points to your central orientation. No matter how religious, kind-hearted, sweet-natured or altruistic you may feel you are, this evidence proves unequivocally whether you are fundamentally centered in …
Respect Yourself
"He that respects himself is safe from others; he wears a coat of mail that none can pierce." - Henry Wadsworth Longfellow There is no greater loss than the loss of self-respect. Without it you cannot respect others; you merely envy them or use their relative success as a reason for never reaching for yours. …
Civilized? A Jamaican Perspective
When Mahatma Gandhi was asked what he thought of Western civilization, he was reported to have said: "I think it would be a good idea." Thumbing through the last five centuries, I am inclined to agree. Consider this slice of history from the Jamaican perspective, for example. Jamaica, or Xaymaca as it was called by …
Your Inmost Concern
"To put the world right in order, we must first put the nation in order; to put the nation in order, we must first put the family in order; to put the family in order, we must first cultivate our personal life; we must first set our hearts right." - Confucius As much as I …
Career Advice
One of the most important pieces of advice I received when I was striking off on my own was to get a broad base of experience before I made any hard and fast decisions about my career. I was not one who knew from birth what I would do and in many ways I am …
Personal Growth
In my experience I've found my most significant personal growth opportunities came when I was least expecting them. Moreover, they often came when I was at my busiest. Either God is sadistic or there is a principle hidden from sight that could usefully be uncovered and brought to light through a focused consideration. I suspect …
Thoughtlessness to Neurosis
An article entitled "Healthy, Meet Delicious" in the New York Times on American dietary habits caught my eye and interest yesterday. I liked it because it encapsulated to a certain degree my approach to eating and indeed living, but also because of the author's mention of a spectrum - from thoughtlessness to neurosis - along …
Meticulous Forbearance
Forbearance by Ralph Waldo Emerson Hast thou named all the birds without a gun? Loved the wood-rose, and left it on its stalk? At rich men's tables eaten bread and pulse? Unarmed, faced danger with a heart of trust? And loved so well a high behavior, In man or maid, that thou from speech refrained, …
Forbearance
Forbearance by Samuel Taylor Coleridge Gently I took that which ungently came, And without scorn forgave:--Do thou the same. A wrong done to thee think a cat's-eye spark Thou wouldst not see, were not thine own heart dark Thine own keen sense of wrong that thirsts for sin, Fear that--the spark self-kindled from within, Which …
Gregory Hake 