The Path

Half of life is covered by the advice: Let go. Be Open.

The other is addressed by the words: Stay firm. Be Brave.

Following both pairs of reminders, each in its way, is the path. Discerning the proper time and aspect for each is wisdom. Both are ultimately best applied, in their own apt forms, at every time. And the sun will rise on you with new energy each day.

Three Kinds of People

There's an old philosophy joke, more illuminating than actually funny, unsurprisingly like almost every philosophy joke. It specifies that there are three kinds of people in the world: (1) Those that watch things happen, (2) Those that make things happen, and (3) Those who wander around saying "What happened?" The astute advice we’re then given is to be firmly and reliably in the second category. Make things happen. It’s cool bumper sticker level wisdom. But the problem is that it's not exactly right, is it?

We should be at various times in each of these categories: observing, creating, and seeking. Anything else is a one dimensional life, and will be full of problems. Take it all in. Use what you see. Inquire further. Observe, make, seek. Today's wisdom nugget.

Now I've got some watching, making, and some very serious asking to do. I bet you do, too.

My Father's Advice

My father was a country boy who didn't act or sound like one, and a high school graduate who read all the time. The few books he owned were mostly by philosophers. He led me to believe that there’s more to life than meets the eye, and that we cal all know more and do more than we think. He gave me some great advice about life that has helped me every step of the way. Here's a small sample.

Do a job as long as you love it and you think you have something distinctive to contribute. If either of those things changes, you need to make a change.

Life is supposed to be a series of adventures. Each one is preparing you for the next one in ways you sometimes can't even imagine. Be open for what's coming.

When you learn how to relax your body, you'll learn how to relax your mind.

Never forget the small joys of childhood. Never outgrow your eagerness to play. Try to have a little fun every day.

The Power of your mind is greater than you know. Learn how to use it. Quiet your racing thoughts. Turn down the volume. Then, the deeper areas of your mind can percolate upward and tell you what you need to hear.

Nature can be our best classroom. We can learn from its ways. But to do that well, we have to get outside and pay attention to what we see in the smallest natural things. And we have to remember that nature is not just around us, but also in us, too.

Take your time. Patience in your work allows your art, whatever it is, to grow and reach its capacity for beauty and usefulness.

Go fly a kite. Skip a stone across some water. Use a Yo-Yo. Try target practice with a sling shot. Build something just for fun. Your childhood is still inside you and needs a little care and attention now and then.

You never have to ask "What do I want to do for the rest of my life?" You just have to ask "What do I want to do next?" The rest of your life will take care of itself.

Read good books. Life is too short to read bad books, and too important and challenging not to read books at all. Invest in yourself. Read good books.

Friday Thoughts.

Aim at lofty goals. The higher and farther away they are, the more likely you'll fall short. But the aspiration will alter and ennoble you.

The wheel of worldly fortune will turn and whip you from high to low unless you let wisdom center you at the hub. There, you can be calm and steady.

We too often see what we want to see, and what we expect to see, not what's actually there to be seen.

Anyone who thinks they have access to all the facts is kidding you. Anyone who denies there are any facts is seeking to harm you, or help themselves to something that's not rightfully theirs.

When people are afraid to tell the truth or just don't want to, they start saying there's no such thing as truth. Beware. Withdraw trust.

Opinion can be a good place to start but never a good place to end. Knowledge is always better, and that takes evidence and reason.

If we exist for eternities but are here only for decades, that stunning fact alone should help to put things into perspective.

Why is it so hard to have good and deep conversations with people? There's so much we could learn from each other. We need to find a way.

To live in the present moment, enriched by both past and future, and yet never diminished by either, is the secret to contentment.

To engage fully in a task that demands your talent and skill and strong mental focus is a step along the path of personal fulfillment.

Evil is typically noisy. Goodness is more often quiet. But only goodness can last.

We're here in this life with matches. Some of us try to strike them and hold them up to illumine the dark. Others seek to burn things down.

Who do you look to, and even emulate? We're all formed by those we admire and who spark our aspirations. We all need mentors who are wise.

Surround yourself with wisdom. Surround yourself with love. That's the only way to surround yourself with proper support and encouragement.

One of the greatest tests of spiritual maturity is patience. And, yeah, I know.

When God called Abraham, Moses, and Isaiah, each said, "Here I am." The Hebrew word signaled an attentiveness and a readiness to serve.

Life is best lived as a conduit for those great good energies that come from far beyond us and inspire us as we use them to lift others up.

One day can bring both charms and alarms. We should cultivate our ability to appreciate the former and tolerate the latter, unruffled.

They say we become what we think about. Not really. But our habitual thoughts do begin to color us, or stain us, with their tonalities.

Inner strength is different from physical strength. It's about being open to power from beyond yourself that you can spiritually leverage .

Find What Matters

Have you noticed that advertisements are becoming more philosophical? I've blogged the noble sentiments of a recent Cadillac ad. Now let me post the content of an ad for Spyder.com:

Find what matters and free yourself from the rest. That's invincibility.

Why invincibility? Because when you focus on what matters, you really can't be defeated. All failures either feed you or take you out of the game. You won't stay in it to lose. What matters most, of course, are the matters of creative love, or loving creativity, as I explored in the book If Aristotle Ran General Motors: The New Soul of Business, a book that was published in 1997, but that reflects what only now many leaders in the corporate world are beginning to realize. 

Focus matters. A focus on the right things matters more. Freeing yourself from the rest is the most liberating act, and ongoing habit, that you can develop. And it's a key to your highest potential - the only route to the only invincibility there is.

Urgent Valentine Advice

Guys, this is for you. Ladies, please pass it on to any significant other or clueless man you think could use it. Quickly.

I decided in the early days of knowing my wife that I'd have a theme for the special Valentine's Day gifts I'd buy her every year. My theme would be Red. I'd get her something red for this special celebration each time around. That was it. Very simple. And, themes are good, right?

There's always a red enamel bracelet to be found, or a cute red T shirt or sweater. Red shoes are nice. A ruby anything is always appreciated. A bright red Prada bag can be a hit, as I discovered one year by sheer luck. And, yeah, sports cars do come in that color, too. But let's not get carried away. 

I'm writing to you today for a very important reason. Over the years, I have learned something vital about gifts appropriate to the occasion.

You can't always go with your first instincts on these things, as I've found out the hard way. Not every red gift works. The bright red Swiss Army Knife didn't quite cut it, after all, as I had imagined it would. I ended up explaining at great length all the cool things she could do with it - other than stabbing me, of course. And I hate to even mention this - I suppose I should promise I'm not kidding - but the novelty store wind-up chattering white teeth with very red plastic lips and gums didn't evoke quite the level and warmth of unrestrained merriment that I was aiming for, either.

Rule One. Think this thing through in advance.

Rule Two: If the gift will take ANY AMOUNT OF EXPLAINING, get another one. The romance holiday of the year is not a good time for explaining - an activity most of us engage in mainly when we're in trouble and something has gone badly wrong.

Rule Three: If you're even thinking about a funny gift, examine all facets of the potential humor or lack thereof. Again, this might not be the occasion for bold risk taking of this particular sort. It can work, but tread carefully.

My ultimate lesson about all this was the year I thought I was really showing ultimate love and concern by getting my wife something for her safety in the kitchen. Again, gentlemen: Take Note.

Rule Four: Kitchen gifts are not generally ideal for Valentine's Day. It's maybe not the right message, regardless of your sterling intentions. A older friend bought his wife what he thought was a super nice personal gift - the very best, top of the line frying pan he could find, with no expense spared. And, as he later reported to me, "She cried a lot, but not in a good way."

If you even consider anything practical, you might want to get a really nice card instead. And champagne. Or a nice Spanish Cava. Otherwise, you're in danger of entering the territory of Platonic Love, and I'm guessing that's not the philosophical consequence you want on this particular day.

My ultimate lesson came about as a result of what I thought was incredible creativity on my part. I bought my wife a bright red fire extinguisher for kitchen use - to show, as I've mentioned, my love and concern for her safety. And I have to tell you, it put out the fire in ways I had not anticipated. Honestly, it never occurred to me that this particular gift might be taken as a commentary on her culinary skills, which are, I should add, exceptionally excellent.

Please let me repeat myself on this one. It's not a day to go for practical. And in relation to this particular holiday, forget that you even have a kitchen unless YOU plan to cook in it and clean up perfectly afterwards.

It's not too late to take back that well intentioned practical item you've already gotten that even monumental explaining won't make work.

Remember, my friends: It's all about showing love in a way that your special person will immediately see as a show of love, and one that's not about you or what you love.

And, now that I say this, maybe I need to go back and do a little more shopping.

Happy Love Day in Advance.

The Two Hardest Things

We're told that the holiest spot in ancient Greece, the Oracle at Delphi, had two inscriptions of advice chiseled into marble to welcome all visitors, who typically came for advice. They were:

Know Yourself.

Nothing in Excess.

The longer I live, the more I come to appreciate the depth and practicality of these two recommendations. Ironically, knowing yourself may be the hardest thing in the world. And why? Nothing is closer to you than your own self. But it's protected by layers of obliviousness and self-deception. Getting to really know yourself is like peeling back the layers of an onion. And it might bring tears. But nothing is more important for living a good, successful, and happy life.

As hard as self knowledge has been for me, avoiding excess has been even tougher. I'll eat too much, drink too much, work too much, exercise too much, and talk too much. I may even blog too much. But that's me. I'm lucky I lived through my twenties, with all the stupid excessive things I did. And I'm just coming off two months' worth of muscle strains from taking a perfectly good exercise in the gym, and doing an insane amount of it in an excessively short time.

Aristotle nailed it. Excellence is always somehow about identifying the too little and the too much and equally avoiding them both. Virtue, as he said, or strength, in a more modern idiom, is about finding what's just right. 

And the two recommendations at the Oracle are of course connected. You don't know yourself unless you understand your limits and what counts for you in any domain as "excess." And you can't avoid excess unless you truly know yourself, what motivates you, what prompts you, and when you're most likely to make bad decisions that cross the line.

So here we are millennia later, and I can't think of much better advice than what was carved out of that marble so long ago. Maybe these ancient admonitions could be the basis for some 2015 New Year's Resolutions. Maybe they'd be good guides for the days to come. But, knowing myself as I do, I have to avoid implementing them ... excessively.