Tag Archives: self-help

Why books are no good in philosophy

Posted by writetothepoint1960 on

To use the Socratic method requires being a good guide and connecting with people face to face.

Old technology like books and new stuff like FaceTime, just won’t work.

It is all about making better thoughts to help people make themselves better.

This is the true definition of prosperity or philosophy.

Stoics like Epictetus used the same methods.

Technology isn’t going to advance humanity, humanity is.

Okay, you may not get it.  People only connect, face to face.

This sense of connection delutes isolation and helps with authenticity.

There are many qualities to person to person connections.  Trust is just one of them.

What Is Philosophy?

Posted by writetothepoint1960 on

The consolation of the human soul or mind.
The use of proper impressions to reduce vice and increase virtue in the practitioner.
To learn the art of learning, living and loving by doing no harm.
To reduce lose of human life through these good practices in oneself and encouraging same practice in those who are a willing recipient.

What philosophy is not!
It is not an intellectual practice.
It is not a religion.
It is not a cult.
It is not a tool to do harm.

Isolation Epidemic

Posted by writetothepoint1960 on

Who wants to collaborate in order to live a longer, healthier life?

The health authority believes we are all slowly dying from a lonely life.

Everyone is so plugged into isolation by driving, working online, using devices like cell phones, tablets, other DVD and cd like devices, the computer is isolating us from each other.

Have you ever noticed the increasing lack of contact when walking through the city streets.

There is a lack of planning for social events with neighbors with in so called community.

People are stopping from touching and feeling each other.

The hug and the kiss are being used less often and with fewer and fewer people.

Don't go touchy-feely on me!

People need to reconnect.

People need to share devices, spaces, watch each other's kids.

A good place to start is at home with a better form of community living.

How do you want to live?

Who do you want to connect with in our dying way?

People die, cities are becoming isolation hubs.

This epidemic is a 'writing on the wall' moment.

We need to reconnect and learn how to live in each other's lives again.

So, unplug from your devices more often, join in on community more often, be in a coop, eat together, play together, learn together.

We need to become better neighbor and friends and co-workers.

We need to reverse the isolation trend.

Anonymity (and good)

Posted by writetothepoint1960 on

You may never see me, but I am present for you.

You may not sense me as a threat and therefore ignore me.  But I shall be ready to help.

You could be emotionally spent.  But I will give you patience and understanding.

You have good and bad behaviour.  But I will be with you when things are good, bad, and ugly.

You may never know my name.

You may never pay me back.

Routine As A Base

Posted by writetothepoint1960 on

Each day has one for each of us.
Mine is what I make of it:
Breakfast, prepare for the day, washroom break, brisk walk to work, workday, supper, read and write, chores, prepare for bed, a good night's sleep. Maybe play my guitar, go for a walk, perhaps a half dozen more things. Meditation, exercise, healthy lifestyle consisting of daily good habits.

Each week has one set for each of us.
Mine is made up of work, sleep, exercise, good meals, family and friends, a routine filled with all the above.

Each month has one set for me.
Pay my monthly bills because I am fortunate enough to work and earn a monthly sum that meets my needs and then some.
I wake up each morning with my routine, each day and evening too, each week and month and year.

It is like an active meditation. It helps to practice and I receive good outcomes: peace of mind, good focus, a healthy lifestyle.

A routine is not enough to live a healthy life, but it is something to be grateful for when one is blessed with family, friends, and health. Lastly, a rather thorny omission or core to living is having a belief system. I describe mine as good enough for me, but not recommended for others. I say I am mostly philosophical by nature and believe in respecting other people's belief system to the best of my ability. Mine you would find through getting to know me like I would by getting to know you.

Balcony

Posted by writetothepoint1960 on

Sounds of traffic…

Flocks of flying birds

A cool breeze on a summer night

Being happy to be unplugged from all the technology.
There are many devices to unplug from in an average working class home:  TV, computers, Tablets, cell phones, land lines, microwaves, electrical stuff and automobiles.

To use manual labor to get from a to b is a good break for the evening.

It is good to plug into nature and the sight and sounds of the city.  And, the restful place of home.

Time to seal another day with a full night of sleep.

[Teacher and Student], Build Your Brain

Posted by writetothepoint1960 on

In this dialogue, neuroplasticity and behavior is discussed with those learning to live and love.  They explore the responsibility we have to receive fruitful outcomes or growing problems.

Teacher:  There is no good behavior there is only behavior. 

Student:  What does that mean.

T:  Everything you learn, good or bad will change your brain.  The best habits for you may not work on your friend.  The best habits for you today, may not work for you tomorrow.

S:  Does that mean that I may be a good learner today and a bad one tomorrow?

T:  Essentially, yes.  If you do harm, like consume drugs every day.  You may create a bad habit.  If you do good, like learn your work.  You may create a good habit.

S:  Will meditation and exercise and healthy eating and good routine help my overall ability to have better results.

T:  Yes.  And so will a supportive community and connections with people in your life.

S:  Is not this a recipe for Success and failure?

T:  In a way,  we still need to study and learn what is best for ourselves on the day to day basis.  There is no magic about it.  You still need to do the work.

Live, love, learn

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What broadband thing do you love, or live or learn?

What is your best belief?

I believe in improving or growing through experience.

If I can learn how to learn, to live, to love…

At my core, I am very thirsty about these three treasures.

I practice by learning something that will improve my ability to live, love and learn.

I strive to stay curious, thirsty and connected to growing in these areas of life.

[Pythagorus, Student], What It Means To Lead The Inner Life In A Community

Posted by writetothepoint1960 on

In this dialogue, the father of philosophy, tells his student how to live.  He explores the love of wisdom, love of community and the love of people.  He explains why he left no record or had no answers and made no false promises.  He explains that he does not want to be an enigma but a true student of life and a true collaborator.  

Pythagorus:  What do you want and how can you get it?

Student:  I want to be a philosopher and a great student who lives the simple life and helps with the community to build a better world.

P:  This is good.  But to be a philosopher you must learn to learn.  To learn the simple life, you must have a thirst to know and believe.  To build a better world, you must build a better you!

S:  How can I do all this?

P:  Just live, love and learn.

S:  I believe we are the first to live the inner-life so openly in our community.  We prosper as a group because we build from the inside out.

P:  This is true.  And our word of mouth and brotherhood and sisterhood will grow around the world. I am not going to leave a legacy, I will leave an idea.  Many will believe it is my math because in time, all will see the fruit of this great work.  But it is less obvious what a life well lived will do for the world.   

S:  I thirst to love, learn and live.

P:  We are indeed fortunate that we eat the fruit that will build a heaven within each of us.

Happiness Defined

Posted by writetothepoint1960 on

The Formula For Happiness

1.  Decide.

2.  Deconstruct it into basic parts to research.

3.  Search and discover the answer  to learn these parts.

4.  Practice learning to do these parts.

5.  Make a pre-commitment.

If I told you, you could have immense success with finding happiness by working for it 20 minutes a day, twice a day for a month, would you try the experiment?  Would you be willing and able to make this pre-commitment?

Decide

Do you want to be happy?  Be specific, I want to be healthy, wealthy and wise.  There are sub skills to these basic parts.  To be healthy you need a good sleep, eat well, and exercise on the regular basis.  To exercise can be emotion, mental and spiritual.  On a basic level, we all need to slow down and smell the roses.  To chit-chat with a friend or a relative can help us sort out our daily problems.  A combination of journal writing and chit-chat can work just as well.

Deconstruct your desire to be happy into parts.

Everyone wants to be happy.  The basic problem is to practice the good habit or doing the work.  Science proves to most of us the value and worth and how to complete the habit.  How do I practice the good habits of sleep, eating and exercise?  Basically, it is important to plan for a good sleep.  And to produce the good habit we must learn to adjust to the slips or mistakes that circumstances and poor habits produce in our daily lives.  Adjusting our environment will ease the workload and set us up for a good sleep every night.  You know, unplug the gadgets and phone, draw the curtains, don’t eat in bed, get to sleep at a decent hour.  If you don’t know, research ‘how to’.

It may sound overly simplistic to practice these skills and master the habits to meet our core needs.  Psychology today is very exact.  It says we need a list of things to strive and thrive.  One is to self-actualize or practice being who we are.

Some people have a good understanding of who they are.  That can be encapsulated by the ancient philosophy of Epictetus.  Know Thyself or work within our limits.  Skim through the book for a better understanding of this concept or any concept.  Again, it is hard to believe this basic concept is part of such a basic need for life.  Yet, this skill is essential for happiness.

It Is Easy To Do.

Now all these good habits can be found in a basic text of psychology.  The realization that we use these habits everyday is obvious.  The simple truth is that we complicate it by trying to do too much or beyond our ability.  We fail to sleep, eat or exercise.  If we are willing to ‘go back to school’ and practice these good habits on the regular basis, we will become happy.

Pre-commit.

Lastly, you need to repeatedly tell yourself to make the sacrifices needed to create these good habits.  One simple method by Author Josh Kaufman is called The First 20 Hours.  I saw him plugging his book on accelerated learning and decided to use the concept to describe happiness.

So, to reiterate, I have been playing a bit of a mind game.  I have used an excellent learning method to help breakdown happiness into basic skill and habits.  I could have said try to be good at performing your basic needs to be happy.  But common sense is obliterated in every age.  Writing is all about framing the truth for everyone to see.  So I brushed off the fleas to convince you to practice good habits.  There are so many truths said in clichés:  life is a gift, time is flitting, sharing is the bond that keeps us all together.  Good luck!