I am of the opinion that material prosperity must be accompanied by internal growth if there is to be true progress. One without the other gives the appearance of progress, but look closely and you see that what appears from the outside to be an old western town is nothing more than a movie set, …
Tag: William George Jordan
Self-Reliance II
Your apprenticeship to life provides you with the opportunity to discover your weaknesses and overcome them before the stakes are raised. It matters not if your apprenticeship begins at 15 or 50, for life is merciful to those who yield to its fortifying spirit. Overcoming weaknesses does much more than simply fill in weak spots. …
Self-Reliance I
My uncle and I had a short discussion about the Bildungsroman the other day, a genre of novel that focuses on the moral and psychological development of its main character. It is what we might call a "coming of age story," where the protagonist matures to find his place in society. Goethe's Wilhelm Meister is …
Power of Personal Influence III
Awakening into an increasingly expansive awareness of one's surroundings as well as one's own influence on the world is one of the greatest joys in growing up. Life, in this sense, is an ever-expanding spiral of scope and influence, beginning with the small seed of potential and ending in a glorious culmination of a lifetime …
Power of Personal Influence II
Ignorance is no excuse for violation of any law. Realizing this, we must take greater care to educate ourselves on the power of personal influence, for people often undermine their own stated goals and desires without even knowing it. William George Jordan offers a plateful of food for thought on the matter in Chapter 3 …
Power of Personal Influence I
What can one man do? Asking such a question is more often a display of false humility than the precursor to the revelation of tremendous personal influence. When you rise into the place that is only yours to occupy - through humility, calmness and courage - you no longer have faith in the weakness of …
Alchemy of Calmness IV
When you hear the term "standard of living" what do you think of? The phrase is most commonly used to describe a level of material comfort as measured by the goods, services and luxuries available to an individual. It is a scale upon which what you have can be weighed against the possessions and access …
Alchemy of Calmness III
A friend of mine was demonstrating a number of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu moves to me the other day, in support of his argument that you are most effective in self-defense when you are calm. If you are in a head lock, for instance, you are wise not to focus on the points of restriction that you …
Alchemy of Calmness II
People have gone to great lengths to achieve the elusive state of being called calmness. They've surrendered, medicated, denied, avoided, distracted and withdrawn themselves to death, trying desperately to wrap their hands and heads around what appears to be a fleeting experience. Calmness, like happiness, cannot be pasted on from the outside. It must emerge …
Alchemy of Calmness I
In my recent post, You are an Alchemist, I had an unusual sensing of the presence of something that was formless, shapeless, but not void. I've had the feeling before, often in relation to the daily blog posts I write, and although I find myself fumbling for words to describe it, the feeling is akin …
Gregory Hake 