Sloth is not what I thought it was

I've always thought of sloth as being lazy but it's been redefined for me.

Sloth is not using your talents or gifts...and that's a true sin.

Not using your talents is self-punishment and it punishes us all.

We're all born with one talent, maybe more. But there is one that defines us, defines our role in society and life in general. The issue is that we're not educated to identify or even harness this talent. We're not shown the way. Some are luckier than others and their talent shines so brightly, so strongly, that it comes out, sometimes even against their wills.

This is not the case for everyone.

Most of us need to identify that talent, develop it, nurture it and expand it to its extreme (though not too far ; ) Having a gift is truly not enough. You need to think and work at it all the time. It will never end. And that for most people is scary.

Identifying your talent will take you in areas that you're not comfortable with. It will challenge your thinking and redefine your entire life and the lives of those around you. 

Sound like fun?

Maybe, but not always. 

The alternative, not fulfilling your talent, is worse. That's the true sin.

Do you see yourself as a brand?

Let me help you...you are a brand.

If you don't see, that's your problem cause the world sees (and judges you) as a brand.

Your name, famous or not, your lifestyle, your choices, your actions, your vision, your mission, everything you do, say or think cry "this is my brand," 'this is who I am."

Now that we've established that you're a brand. Let's see how you can develop it into something you want (rather than let others define it.)

The first step is fairly easy. You have to decide who you're targeting your brand at. It could be your family, your boss, your friends, a boy, a girl, consumers, etc. You probably won't have just one target or, depending at which stage in your life you are, you might. 

Either way, you'll need to define precisely who your target is and then define your message. 

The second step, the message, is important as it represents who you are for life, or at least for a long time till you reach your goal. It has to be congruent with your personal beliefs whether material or spiritual. Creating a fake brand will fail cause you won't have the stamina to carry it through. You need to be honest with yourself (not always easy) and define it in relations to the world you're aiming at. If you can summarise your brand into a tagline, even better. 

These two steps are the most crucial.

Once done, you'll need to define your strategy, tactics, develop a schedule and measurements (maybe even a budget : )

Let everyone know who you are, what your brand is and work on it everyday.

The journey is worth it. 

Staying in touch is hard

Staying in touch is hard. It's a discipline, an art, a science. We can't assume that friends will stay friends forever. We need to keep at it. We need to talk about nothing, remember a birthday and introduce others. It's true technology has made us more connected than ever before, even turning introverts into social butterflies, but it can only go so far. 

Face to face is still the strongest form to connect with others. Nothing's better than to meet someone and discussing things. The subject matters not, as long as we connect, we're alive. For some odd reason, we need to see someone to talk with  them (not 'to' them.) Their facial expression, their eye, their smile make all the difference. Not that we need to be with friends all the time, being alone has its value, but give me a good conversation with people who like each other anytime : )

Brain, brainy, brainless

The brain is a terrible thing to waste...though once you waste it, you won't know the difference.

We spend our entire childhood learning even though we don't really know what our learning style is. We then learn some more to practice a trade, profession or simply run around naked for a few years (a learning of its own.) 

Then we face two choices: Stop learning or learn forever.

Frankly, the most interesting of the two is the latter. No doubt. 

What scares me most are people who stop learning as they become dogmatic, sure of themselves (often beyond reason) and simply stubborn. Let's face it, it's much more fun to be stubborn while you keep on learning.

The good news is that if you've chosen point one, you won't be reading this. 

For those who keep on learning I say keep on challenging yourself. Never stop. Read, talk, write, question, ask, challenge, agree, disagree, push the envelope, fight, give-in, try, do, etc.

It never ends. And the more we know, the more you'll realise how little we actually know. The more we push our brains, the more they expend. 

What other mission should one have in life?

Well, to put such wisdom and mental capabilities to the benefit of others but that's another post : )

Never go to be the same person you were in the morning.

Opportunities

The world is full of opportunities, of possibilities, whether in good times or bad ones.

But which one is right for you?

We tend to dismiss what looks too good to be true, even for the right reasons. We further justify why something won't work simply because that's the way our family, friends or teachers think. We evaluate what's coming our way and decide it will take too much time, too much money, too many people. We think of what we'll give-up to reach this goal and decide it's not worth it.

In a nutshell, we are the problem.

What about when we try too many things? We forget to focus simply because we don't want to miss a good opportunity. So we enter in all sorts of partnerships, ventures or develop new ideas even before we've seen one to fruition.

Again, we are the main problem.

The world is full of opportunities. It's almost endless. To recognise the right one is a gift we must hone.

Then all we need is to put it to the acid test: Passion and commitment.

- Can you do something with passion so that waking-up in the morning won't be a issue?

- Can you commit to it day-in, day-out till it succeeds?

Answer these and you'll be on your way. 

Stress, stressful and stressed

Stress is external they say, a situation is only stressful if you let it affect you, blah, blah, blah

Stress is stressful. We need it. We strive under it. Too little of it kills us. Too much of it kills us.

Stress is not the issue. It's a life fixture. Our reaction is the issue.

No doubt you are currently experiencing stress and the current conditions are but a part of it. A simple fight with your spouse will make any market crash look like a walk in the park. A friend dropping you will be more felt than a country going bankrupt (unless you also live in that country and then you're screwed.)

What shall you do?

Well, you can ignore stress and build-up tensions that will eventually show-up as disease or psychological troubles. You can deflect it towards someone else and act like a jerk. In this case, it's your relationships that will be in trouble. You can blame someone else thinking that it can't be your fault (it might not be entirely yours but we do have some responsibilities every time we vote, talk or act.) 

The best way is to embrace it. To build it as part of your life. To expect it at all time. To break it down, even share it, when it's too big. To avoid making a mountain out of it when it's too small. 

Have you noticed that when we don't have stress coming our way we create some?

Doing nothing

Doing nothing can be a curse, a way to avoid responsibility and let evil have its way. When there is a choice between right and wrong, doing the right thing is the only course of action that makes sense.

But this is not what this is about. 

Doing nothing is often the only way to develop yourself.

The ability to do nothing is hard for most people. We prefer to be active, to think things through and get things done. We have to have a plan, a strategy, tactics and a timeline. We need to close, conclude, achieve, finish and move on. We can simply rest and do nothing. There is so much to do.

And there will be so much to do tomorrow too.

When the grand questions of life pop-up in your mind (they will) you can search the world without and your world within to find the answer. If you're lucky, you'll find it. If you're not, you might still find it. Or not. All paths are the right ones. 

It has been said 'seek, and you shall find' and to us the word 'seek' takes on an active role. We need to do something to find what we want, what we need. It's true in a way. The first step though is to know what you want (oh, wait. That's the hardest step though.) 

Doing nothing is not natural (procrastinators beware...and apologies in advance :) The ability to do nothing and be still takes time. You'll know it by the expression "stop and smell the roses" and to some this means activity. But at the right time, this is doing nothing at its best.

The Wisdom Chain

Can you become wise? Or are you born with it?

There is a wisdom chain that we can follow to become wiser:

Data -> Information -> Knowledge -> Wisdom

So the more we learn, the more we read, listen to others, experience, see, understand, the wiser we become. Still, it could leave us short of being wise. If this was the only road, we'd all be better off but still short of our true potential.

Wisdom is innate. It's comes from what we have within and the beauty is, we all have it. There is no segregation in wisdom. Only people who stop along the way.

The most beautiful thing about wisdom is, just like knowledge, when it is shared, both parties are wiser. The giver doesn't loose anything and the recipient blossoms.

Now, why do we keep it all for ourselves if we know the way?

Books. Myself. No! books

I use to think that books had all the answers...so I read everything I could find (and still didn't make a dent in the flurry of books we now have.) 

Then I learned that all the answers I was looking for were inside of me. 

And now I heard that books have all the answers.

I'm a tad confused. 

The reality is both are true. We do possess the ability to find most of the answers we need within. And books also have most of the answers cause, chances are, somebody, somewhere, has experienced what we're going through, learned from it, and wrote about it.

The problem is that neither are easy.

You might have to read a hundred book before you find the right answer. You might a hundred hours thinking or meditating on a problem and get nowhere. 

So we need both.

Meditate?

Easier said than done.

The mind plays trick on us and constantly busy itself with serious or useless stories. It likes to chat. To solve problems. To create others. Anything as long as it not silence.

The subconscious likes silence. Order. Creativity. To be asked and to answer. To define our world and change it at will. It connects with others. Listens and reacts. Speaks and wait. It's all encompassing and yet alone in all. 

Quieting the mind is a worthy goal. Opening ourselves to our deeper self even worthier. Trying to change the soul, however, is a useless waste of time. It's already perfect. We just need to remove the ego to let it shine.  All it asks is to be left alone to run it's own course. Thinking against it wastes our lives. Thinking to support it makes us great.

Meditate. Quiet your mind. Let your subconscious show you the way, let it teach you what your soul knew all along. You are great, you are worthy. You know what you're doing.