Success

"Human progress is neither automatic nor inevitable... Every step toward the goal of justice requires sacrifice, suffering, and struggle; the tireless exertions and passionate concern of dedicated individuals."
Martin Luther King Jr.

 

The pursuit of happiness is never a easy road to travel, but worth the sweat and tears.

Martin Luther King Jr.'s words are brutally true.  The recipe for success requires struggle and sacrifice -- a combination of discomfort and passion.  To struggle for progress is perhaps the most aesthetic quality of humanity.  Why is this?  To have the ability to shape one's future within the limitations of the human-being is simply incomprehensible.  How can the human-being create what is unknown to us?  The sciences, the arts;  how can our minds develop these abstract ideas into practice?  Because people across the world have a conviction to understand their existence and pursue knowledge and peace.  The true test of success is convincing the people around us to see life through your lens.  This requires not only an incredible amount of trust, but blind faith for most people.  Conflict occurs when two opposing philosophies clash, when two passionate parties proclaim they possess the truth.  In the end, the victor will be the one who will struggle and suffers the most -- assuming both arguments are valid.  

An incomplete thought,

Dan

I Am a Reflection of You

“It is every man's obligation to put back into the world at least the equivalent of what he takes out of it.”
Albert Einstein

An artistic way to state the First Law of Thermodynamics. 

Reciprocation allows growth for one another.  If the world consisted of only you, you will never grow to understand your surroundings as well as yourself.  The human population is a reflection of you and that is why we have come so far to understand the physics and beauty of this world.  Yes, of course, we are all unique individuals.  Then how are we 'reflections' of each other?  We all have the will, the determination to succeed in our own endeavors and become the most successful individual in the eyes of others, not for pride, but for pure joy for the one's who have placed hope in you. 

Now a leader, an individual who has had many successes and failures in his life, has the obligation to lead those who have previously placed hope in him.  In other words, he must give back, now that he has utilized the investments from others.  From here, the leader inspires the people to go on to do great things and thus new leaders are born.

An incomplete thought,
Dan

Detachment

“To spare oneself from grief at all cost can be achieved only at the price of total detachment, which excludes the ability to experience happiness”
Erich Fromm

The immediate cure to grief is detachment.  To send yourself deep into a void of despair and emptiness protects your thoughts from grief, however detachment also prevents any other emotion to incur, such as happiness.  When in the state of solitude, your humanity ceases to exist and a broken record player will continuously torture your thoughts -- all the happy memories will dissipate into sadness.  In other words, detachment does not serve to completely cure one's grief, however it is the natural step to emotionally heal yourself whether it may be a loss of a loved one or heart-broken.

Once someone goes through detachment, they will encounter a fork in the road: harden your emotions or accept the past and search for something new.  The saddest human-being, personally, is the hardened individual, one who cannot and will not move forward from his current state and refuse to be open-minded.  To refuse the opinion, the company of another, social interaction is simply the epitome of a depressed individual.  The ones who tread this path are the ones who traveled alone without the support of another.  They become hardened through the mind's natural defenses in order to continue living, never giving themselves time to understand the past events. 

With the support of your friends and family, we can move onwards from tragedy.  With the affection of another, we can redirect our grief towards a hope for a better future. 

Trust me,
Dan

No Room For Hate

“Hate is too great a burden to bear. It injures the hater more than it injures the hated.”
Correta Scott King

 
Hate will never lead to a happy ending.  No matter how much reason one has to despise a task or human-being, hate will blind your humanity and refrain your happiness.  Because our lives are limited and actions are temporary, to bear a repulsive emotion is simply not worth the mental anguish one will undergo.  Should we live in ecstasy? No.  Hate must be used to define our boundaries, but cannot be used to draw the boundaries of others. Our energy should be directed towards the pursuit of happiness and in the end, our lives as well as the lives of the future will thrive in joy.

Why does hate exist if it is not the mode of interest?  Expression and freedom allows us to relieve our suppressed compulsions, our urges and hate is one of the most powerful emotions any human-being may express.  To relieve these urges through hate is an immense stress-reliever, however hate ignites hate in others.  Hate can act as an infectious virus that can invade the minds of an entire people, depriving their ability to function their daily tasks, depriving them from living.

This summer has allowed me to relieve my daily stresses and encouraged me to observe interactions of others as well as my own. More posts will follow soon.

With love,
Dan

Education

"Education is an ornament in prosperity and a refuge in adversity."
Aristotle


In the best of times, in the worst of times, knowledge shines brighter than it's environment.


The most beautiful gift to a human-being is educational independence; someone who will take the effort to cure his curiosity through a book, a teacher, or a friend; it is an endless gift that will forever leave us eager for more.  In our compassionate world we live in, we continuously surge to provide a basic education to all eager eyes to the darkest corners in the world, just so we can give a people the opportunity to become independent in their existence, to strive to answer their common questions.  Because our brains have the uncanny ability to store an unlimited network of information, individuals have the natural urge to learn more, however if the opportunity is not available, they will find other means to stimulate their minds.  That is why it is our duty to globalize information, primarily because we have the technology to transport books and supplements, to share our opinions among other eager in order to generate masses of opinion and in the midst of all the questions, an answer, an undisputed truth.

But if we as a people want to optimize the search for a truth, whether may be in forms of rhetoric or science,  we must globalize education.  We must present the opportunity for underprivileged children to see the expanse of knowledge and the power it contains.  For those with a monetary or situational advantage, take the advantage and nurture it, but because it is humanity's duty to globalize education, be the guide towards this humanitarian goal; if sacrifice is needed, a hero will be discovered, but it is not necessary to do so. 


(Part 1)

Fear

"The only thing we have to fear is fear itself."
Franklin D. Roosevelt

Amazing how a combination of simple words can inspire a grief stricken nation.

Leaders have the charisma to reshape, repackage their words into beautiful works of art.  Call it romantic, call it inspiring, but it taps into the human soul (a discussion that will be saved for a future post).

Why do humans develop fears?  Speaking in a psychological sense, perhaps they had a traumatizing event in their childhood, if they logically assess their fears as credible threats, or whatever they fear may not stimulate them in any way -- but I will spare you the scientific talk and give you a philosophical spin on it (that's the point of this blog isn't?).  Fear may provide both positive and negative depending on how they rationalize their fears.  Then naturally, someone will ask whether fear defines our humanity, creates individualism, variation amongst us.  Do we need our fears to rationalize our reality?  What if our fears disappeared?  Would we be no better than machines who methodically, mindlessly accomplish our goals?  Fear is a unique emotional mechanism individuals utilize to adapt to uncertain environments -- rationalizing the situation the individual is involved.  A unique form of resisting stresses on our environment; however a safe haven must be established to separate our fears and desires.  If one is subject to fear for extended periods of time, the mind will be rusted, the mind will deteriorate, fear will be forever burnt into the neurons and synapses of the brain.  One cannot function anymore because fear will consume his identity. 

So what is the right balance?  How much can we handle this stress, handle the changes in life?  Should we constantly compete against our fears or should we reevaluate our issues and approach them logically? 

Questions that I need to meditate on and answers I will find.

'Til next time,

Dan

Infinite Universe

"Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not sure about the former."
~Albert Einstein  

So...is that a good thing?

If the Universe is truly infinite, then imagine how far the human race can progress.  If we have the given ability to adapt to our surroundings, to understand and utilize what is given to us, imagine what we can achieve.  I'm pretty sure Einstein meant to be ironic, but I'll turn around his meaning of his statement.  If human stupidity is infinite, then human knowledge is infinite.  Since we have the capacity to be infinitely unreasonable, our capacity to be reasonable is comparable.  Why?  In the midst of confusion, of every stupid action, a truth will rise from the rubble.  Whether it may be a truth to our existence, a truth about a lie, a truth to our stupidity, we will learn from out mistakes.  Thus, we will infinitely learn from our mistakes because of humanity's nature to adapt.

Merry Christmas,

Dan