Reality Check

“Indeed you can usually tell when the concepts of democracy and citizenship are weakening. There is an increase in the role of charity and in the worship of volunteerism. These represent the élite citizen’s imitation of noblesse oblige; that is, of pretending to be aristocrats or oligarchs, as opposed to being citizens.” —John Ralston Saul

Blue or Red Pill: For those that remember the Matrix, the pill choice represents the choice between blissful ignorance (blue) or opening your eyes to what is sometimes painful reality (red). How long can we ignore the reality that corporations and the uber-rich should pay their fair share of taxes? Our corporate overlords would have us believe that teachers are the root of all evil and that history can be re-written (as was done by Texas School Board) or should just no longer receive funding (a proposed budget cut). We would not want to take too close a look at history or we might realize how the cuts being proposed (in lieu of corporate and uber-rich taxes) will end up costing our nation in the long run. Not to worry, a royal wedding will distract the masses long enough for the corporate overlords to continue to enslave us (taxing the working class to the benefit of the rich).

Winning?: Speaking of distractions, looks like the Charlie Sheen tour is finally coming to an end. The press is almost gloating now that he has lost one of his “goddesses” and his tour is not making as much money as expected. Throughout the coverage, Mr. Sheen was made out to be an insane lunatic and the basis for his insanity was primarily money-based. I fully realize that this man is no role-model by any stretch of the imagination (he has never claimed to be such). But, the focus of the news was always on how much money he was throwing away by breaking his contract. Like the crabs that tear the limbs off any crab that tries to escape a crab trap (a simple box with a hole on top that any crab can crawl out of), the news was on a feeding frenzy tearing into Mr. Sheen for daring to say “no mas”. I, for one, do not believe that Mr. Sheen’s success or failure depends on his paycheck. I wish him all the best.

Do not look at the wall …

This past month has been rough financially.  During tough times, we often reflect on certain lessons that help us to face the challenges before us. As I look forward to the challenges of the upcoming year, I remind myself to not “look at the wall”.

This past week I re-read the book where I first recall mention of this concept. Anthony Robbins mentions how he learned this lesson from race car drivers. They warned him that when his car is out of control not to focus on the wall. We tend to direct ourselves to where we look and looking at the wall creates a self-fulfilling prophecy of hitting the wall. Looking at the road and our intended goal helps us to straighten out our driving and we can succeed in achieving our objective.

Another approach is to say that focusing on the negative aspects of an experience makes the experience negative. Likewise, one can choose to be happy instead. So, my family focuses on the positive and adopts an attitude of gratitude. Yes, things have been tough this month, but we managed to make it through and everything will work out better in the long run. We have enjoyed some wondrous moments with our family this month and received assistance from some really great friends and family. We have also made some great new friends this past month.

If we do not “look at the wall” (that represents fears and negativity), we will survive and thrive. As Frank Sinatra once said “The best revenge is massive success.”

As for the book by Anthony Robbins, I totally recommend reading “Awaken the Giant Within”. Even if you do not share all of his beliefs, you will definitely find stories and examples that will inspire you.

Book: Awaking the Giant Within      
Author: Anthony Robbins
Title/Sub-Title: Meaning is Often a Matter of Focus, p. 161    
Key lesson: “Focus on where you want to go, not on what you fear”.
Link:Google Books