Some years ago I attended a couple of personal development seminars held by Alan Austin-Smith. They were insightful and helpful. More recently we have become "friends" on Facebook.
The other day he posted the following advice aphorism picture, with a quotation attributed to the Buddah.
I felt compelled to respond and the following exchanged ensued, which I feel like sharing here.
.
For the full shebang click here.
The other day he posted the following advice aphorism picture, with a quotation attributed to the Buddah.
I felt compelled to respond and the following exchanged ensued, which I feel like sharing here.
.
James Collett You are not born again each day.
#JustSaying
#JustSaying
Alan Austin-Smith How on earth did you ever end up on my courses James haha
James Collett Alan, me old mucker - I get your point. I made it to your courses because I want to make myself a better me. And they probably helped me in that pursuit.
I confess to having a predilection for trite aphorisms. However, I have become increasingly frustrated with the ones that state something that is plainly wrong, in order to convey something that might have value.
I get the sense with some of these that simply because a trite statement is aphoristic and clearly intended to be "deep" or insightful, it demands that we accept it as such without analysing or questioning it; and I refuse to do that.
They are trying to make a point. I get that. So I say, "Make the point."
Each morning we are given a fresh day. It's unmarked, unwritten. But it is not a new life, free of obligations and complications from the past; it is a new day, but with shadows cast from yesterday. What we do today is the only thing we can do. We cannot travel backwards in time. So our focus needs to be at least partly on the immediate.
However, stuff in the past matters. Sometimes the stuff in the past is in fact what "matters most" - an example being grieving for a lost relative, say. How we do the grieving would be the immediate thing.
In that this little ditty from the unquestioned wisdom of the Buddah has got me to explore and express these thoughts, I'd say it has been useful.
I confess to having a predilection for trite aphorisms. However, I have become increasingly frustrated with the ones that state something that is plainly wrong, in order to convey something that might have value.
I get the sense with some of these that simply because a trite statement is aphoristic and clearly intended to be "deep" or insightful, it demands that we accept it as such without analysing or questioning it; and I refuse to do that.
They are trying to make a point. I get that. So I say, "Make the point."
Each morning we are given a fresh day. It's unmarked, unwritten. But it is not a new life, free of obligations and complications from the past; it is a new day, but with shadows cast from yesterday. What we do today is the only thing we can do. We cannot travel backwards in time. So our focus needs to be at least partly on the immediate.
However, stuff in the past matters. Sometimes the stuff in the past is in fact what "matters most" - an example being grieving for a lost relative, say. How we do the grieving would be the immediate thing.
In that this little ditty from the unquestioned wisdom of the Buddah has got me to explore and express these thoughts, I'd say it has been useful.
For the full shebang click here.
10:37 PM
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