One of my favorite movies is 'City Slickers'. I watched it yesterday and had forgotten this one very profound moment when Curly is telling Mitch the secret of life. He says it's "One Thing, just One Thing". Mitch asks him what the one thing is, and Curly replies "That's what you have to find out." This hit me so hard that I have seen in it an immutable Law, Curly's Principle I'll call it. When we pursue money, a paycheck, above the pursuit of what our 'One Thing' is we hurtle down the Road of Time towards a random end, most likely to leave us somehow unfulfilled, unhappy, and with little money.
We're taught from a young age to pick a profession, think about what we want to be when we grow up. In our childhood very few of us know just what it is we want to be and by the time we are young adults we've been conditioned to believe that what we want to be is tied somehow to a paycheck.
We feel great when we get a 'good paying' job, and somehow inferior when we do not. We go to school, we work hard, we try to get noticed by The Boss. We hope someday to climb some imaginary ladder that will lead us to wealth, security, and therefore, happiness.
Yet, those of us who have pursued that path are rarely happy, rarely wealthy, rarely secure. I believe this is because we did not first heed Curly's Principal.
We should be teaching our kids to look for that one thing, and to never ever give in to earning a living at the cost of forgoing what it is we want to do in our lives.
Somehow, I think some of you are going to see this as pie in the sky, sounds to good to be true, or that could never happen to me. The only thing I can tell you is that whatever you believe in regards to your One Thing; it is absolutely the truth. It is the truth because for you, and your life, what you believe to be true becomes your truth.
No matter what others perceive as the truth about you, none of their opinions matter unless you give them permission to matter. No one else can set your dreams and goals for you without you giving them the go ahead to do so. You are in control, You have the ability to set truth for your life whether that means abdication or self control.
So, look at what it is you are doing with your life. If it's not something you love, then begin to search for your One Thing. Be passionate about your life and where you want it to go. Be loving and supportive of those who are in your life, but accept their advice only if it confirms the truth you have set for yourself.
Find that One Thing and you will find all wealth, happiness, security that you could wish for.
Happy Search!
Tuesday, October 21, 2008
Thursday, September 25, 2008
Corporations and the little guy
September 25, 2008
I must admit to having mixed feelings regarding the current broohaha over bailing out financial corporations. A few things surface in my head:
1. These giants need to take their medicine for the mistakes made.
2. Why doesn't the government bail ME out too?
3. why should I care about a bunch of rich greedy assholes who couldn't care less about where they were going to end up as long as the money was flowing?
After all, it's us vs them right? The big bad bullies on the cultural block or the little Davids with their slings. I have to admit though, that if you really look at who it might affect should these financial giants stumble, some of the faces look very familiar. We all have strings tied to several large corporations in one form or another.
There really is no way of getting away from corporations in today's world. If you buy anything, goods or services, somehow a large corporation has it's stamp on some or all parts of the process ending in your purchase. Unless you live in the woods and subsist on game you hunt yourself, or forgaged plants, it's impossible to get away from making a direct or indirect purchase from a major corporation.(even then, what are you hunting with? a stick or a knife you bought at Walmart?) In large part, should the financial corps go down, these other giants will also falter as they find sources of credit drying up. If that happens, we all suffer through loss of jobs, loss of income, loss of the (God given American) ability to consume.
Now would this be a bad thing is the question we must ask ourselves? Is it worth the expense and danger of involving large government in saving them to avoid the pain of a slow down or possible depression in this country?
It seems to me that we cycle near danger every few years. Going from boom to bust continuously over and over again. The problem isn't with the criminal minded, it is with the myopically stupid minded who follow the dollar no matter what the consequences are for our future. The problem is none of us really recognizes the danger we flirt with. Really, even those of us who have grandparents that may have told us about living in the 30's don't really get the point do we? We are all about getting what we want NOW, damn if we don't have the money. Use the credit card!
Perhaps we need experience to teach us all as a nation, again, what it means to sacrifice and how important it is to save rather than to continue in our mode of instant gratification.
Perhaps the human animal is simply incapable of learning from other's experiences.
I must admit to having mixed feelings regarding the current broohaha over bailing out financial corporations. A few things surface in my head:
1. These giants need to take their medicine for the mistakes made.
2. Why doesn't the government bail ME out too?
3. why should I care about a bunch of rich greedy assholes who couldn't care less about where they were going to end up as long as the money was flowing?
After all, it's us vs them right? The big bad bullies on the cultural block or the little Davids with their slings. I have to admit though, that if you really look at who it might affect should these financial giants stumble, some of the faces look very familiar. We all have strings tied to several large corporations in one form or another.
There really is no way of getting away from corporations in today's world. If you buy anything, goods or services, somehow a large corporation has it's stamp on some or all parts of the process ending in your purchase. Unless you live in the woods and subsist on game you hunt yourself, or forgaged plants, it's impossible to get away from making a direct or indirect purchase from a major corporation.(even then, what are you hunting with? a stick or a knife you bought at Walmart?) In large part, should the financial corps go down, these other giants will also falter as they find sources of credit drying up. If that happens, we all suffer through loss of jobs, loss of income, loss of the (God given American) ability to consume.
Now would this be a bad thing is the question we must ask ourselves? Is it worth the expense and danger of involving large government in saving them to avoid the pain of a slow down or possible depression in this country?
It seems to me that we cycle near danger every few years. Going from boom to bust continuously over and over again. The problem isn't with the criminal minded, it is with the myopically stupid minded who follow the dollar no matter what the consequences are for our future. The problem is none of us really recognizes the danger we flirt with. Really, even those of us who have grandparents that may have told us about living in the 30's don't really get the point do we? We are all about getting what we want NOW, damn if we don't have the money. Use the credit card!
Perhaps we need experience to teach us all as a nation, again, what it means to sacrifice and how important it is to save rather than to continue in our mode of instant gratification.
Perhaps the human animal is simply incapable of learning from other's experiences.
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