Philosophy

Focus Means Saying “No” Often

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“There are measures of focus and one of them is how often you say no.”

— Steve Jobs  

Almost everything cries out for your attention.  

They say:

Look at me!  

Think of me! 

Listen to me! 

Your parents want your attention. 

Your teachers want your attention.

Your children want your attention.

Your government wants your attention. 

Your friends want your attention. 

Celebrities want your attention.

Mr Potato Head wants your attention. 

And so there’s a certain balance needed in giving our attention to others. 

It’s healthy to give your attention to people you trust, people who are helping, and people you help. 

But we don’t need to give our attention to everyone. 

And most importantly, we must attend to ourselves as much as possible. 

Listen to yourself. 

What do you think? What do you actually think? (Don’t just repeat something you’ve heard) 

What do you want? 

It’s healthy to not give our attention to everything. It’s healthy to say no.  

It’s healthy to focus on your life path & to not be distracted by all the noise and people outside of ourselves.  

So, go your way. 

Trust your path. 

And say no to any strangers who go out of their way to get your attention. (Even if they’re in the government …governments should be here to protect and serve – & not to scare people…) 

Too Much Fear Is Slavery

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“The slavery of fear has made men afraid to think.”

— Thomas Paine  

Fear is not always bad, but too much fear is unhealthy for your brain and body.  

It’s okay to be afraid of lions and tigers and bears. Oh my.  

But you should not ever be afraid to use your brain – to think. 

Governments go out of their way to make their own people afraid to think – and most people quietly surrender their minds – and since almost everybody does it, it’s easy to conform. 

But that is irrational & impractical to give up your mind to “fit in.”

The military also uses fear to destroy the minds of the people who just joined the military. Boot camp, etc. They scream and shout. They wake people up at different times throughout the night. 

They break your mind and spirit until you are so disconnected from yourself that you literally cannot think anymore. Your brain is in fear mode. Now those fearful soldiers are only obedient to their superiors and do as they say, without question.  

Fear fear fear. 

The antidote to fear is education. 

The more you learn, the less you have to be afraid of. 

But also the more you learn – the more of a threat you may appear to be to any tyrants and cruel governments. 

Intelligence should not be a threat – but it is to governments who only desire power & control.  

Dare to think. 

Relax Into Yourself

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“Tension is who you think you should be. Relaxation is who you are.”

— Chinese Proverb 

We live in tense, fast paced societies. 

So fast that some people & organizations appear as if they are on a train going full speed – with an unbreakable mountain ahead that they will inevitably crash into. 

Society persuades its citizens to hop on this train, and most people do, but it’s not going anywhere. 

What is the antidote? Slowing down. Not getting on that train. Relaxing. 

But even if you get further than most and are able to relax in these restless societies – ignorant fools will inevitably go out of their way to try and bother you. Try to disturb your inner peace – since they have no peace within themselves. 

Observe those fools like they are demons sent from hell – and treat them as such. Just as Jesus did, and live your life. 

Stand up for your inner peace and don’t conform to being a miserable, ignorant fool.

Dare To Use Your Mind

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“The man who obeys his own mind is accused of rebellion by those who never used theirs.” 

Education is powerful – real education – and not just repeating something you hear.  

Real education involves using your own mind. Reading. Thinking. Learning. 

And to not just conform to being a mindless lifeless nothing of a person. 

Governments love mindless obedient servants, and if a real genius or real spiritual teachers arrives on the planet – the government does what it can to shut them up, since the government doesn’t want educated citizens. They want scared obedient slaves. 

They want people to give up their own mind, their own education, to conform to being an ignorant, scared, anxious, person. 

And then you can take all the prescription pills from big pharma to make it so you’re numb to what the government has actually done to you.  

OR!! You can say no. To the government. They do not own you, or me, or anyone. 

Well maybe they own you, but they don’t own me. 

I am my own master. I use my mind. I learn. 

I lead my life, and I don’t let any mindless ignorant fearful conformists get in my way. Trust me, they’ve tried. 

And for a year or two I really wondered how so many people have given up their own mind – and why they did so… 

fear, probably. Maybe to fit in with all the other no-minded “people” .. 

who knows, but I will never ever give up my mind and my education to fit in with ignorant, mindless, dead-minded people.

Expand Your Mind Beyond The Times

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“Every man is a creature of the age in which he lives and few are able to to raise themselves above the ideas of the time.”

— Voltaire  

Humans are products of their environment, and few are able to perceive beyond current times.  

One of the best ways to start thinking beyond current times is to study history. 

Who are your favorite humans from the past? From 2,000 years ago. 

From 500 years ago. 

200 years ago.  

Think of your favorite humans and then go read about them. 

Learn about the lifestyle they lived. 

Learn about how there were no bathrooms or running water. Learn about the slaves & emperors in Egypt, and the Kings of Scotland. 

Learn about Shakespeare and da Vinci & artists throughout the years.  

As you do your research you will be able to (in your mind) transport yourself to the time & era of those people.  

You’ll learn that things are always changing – and that the things today that so many people cling to as absolutely true – may not be true at all, and time will tell. 

Conformity is strong and always has been – but dare to think beyond today’s beliefs. 

Dare to think. 

Dare to research and come up with your own beliefs. 

Whose Expectations Are You Living For?

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“I’m not in this world to live up to your expectations and you’re not in this world to live up to mine.”

— Bruce Lee  

What does the world expect of you? Nothing much.   

What do your parents expect of you? It’s different for each household.  

What do your friends & peers expect of you? Probably to be like them.  

What are your expectations for yourself? Have you taken time to think about not what others expect of you, but what you expect of yourself? 

I am still figuring out what I expect from myself.  

I feel the pressure from the external world to be a certain way, but what way do I want to be?   

A professional. An artist. A leader. A philosopher. 

I’m still growing in each of these areas. 

There’s always more to read, more to learn, more to discover, more to imagine, more to share.  

A Reason To Meditate

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“Fortune and blessing gather where there is stillness. But if you do not keep still—this is what is called sitting but racing around.”

— Zhuangzi  

Where there is stillness, fortune and blessings gather.  

Do you have stillness in your mind heart body? 

Here’s a guide to get you started. 

Home Is Within, Everywhere

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“But do not ask me where I am going, as I travel in this limitless world, where every step I take is my home.”

— Dogen  

Wherever you go, there you are. 

If you are at peace within yourself – you will be at peace wherever you travel. 

Your physical home may be a comfortable place, but are you at home within yourself?  

Can you travel and still feel that you yourself are your true home? 

Your body and mind a temple in which you reside. 

Dive Into The Depths of Yourself (To Find Gold)

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“I have no fear of depths, and a great fear of shallow living.”

— Anaïs Nin  

Ralph Waldo Emerson also said “It is not length of life, but depth.” 

Depth has multiple definitions, one of them is: “a point far below the surface.”   

People dig into the Earth to find gold, minerals, things that will help themselves. But who digs into themselves to find gold within? Almost no one. 

There is gold within you – there is gold within all of us, but most will never find or seek the gold within. 

“Pearls don’t lie on the seashore; if you want one, you must dive for it.”  

It’s easy to do what everyone else is doing – to follow the crowd, to conform, to let someone else tell you the meaning of life.  But that is living on the surface; shallow living. 

You will get by on the surface, but you won’t find or experience gold within your life.  

You must dive within yourself to reach the gold, and it really does take years. 

But you have to start somewhere.  

Meditation is the place to begin.  

You can be like the majority of people & live life on the surface, or you can begin your journey to the gold within yourself.  

Begin with this meditation guide. 

Look For Opportunities, NOT For Problems

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“Effective people are not problem-minded; they’re opportunity minded.”

— Stephen Covey   

Do you look for problems? 

Or do you look for opportunities?  

Seek and you shall find – if you’re looking for problems you will find them. 

And if you look for opportunities, you’ll also find them. 

But let’s look at the problem seeking for a moment…  

It is so easy to find problems if you look for them – & it seems like the older people get the more they look for problems (especially problems about other people).  

This is true for me at least – not me looking for faults in people, but realizing that people were looking for faults in me & my life.  

I never wasted my time or energy thinking about what’s wrong with someone – but I found out that people do that all the time. 

Some or many people are actively seeking scapegoats. Seeking someone to blame or find fault with.  

And I didn’t know that people were doing that until I ran into a brick wall of people’s opinions about me & my eccentric ways, as I prepared for fame.  

All of a sudden I went from opportunity & joy minded to problem minded. I went from living in peace to living in fear, and I began seeing problems with everyone & everything – which I wasn’t looking at before. 

I lost my energy and my mind in looking outside of myself, towards potential problems, and I’ve been working hard to get my mind back with myself since then. It’s been 3 years.  

I’m re-learning to lead my life & be true to myself. 

I’m re-learning to NOT be like the problem-seeking people. 

And I’m learning to NOT take on the fearful projections of the problem-seekers. 

I’m re-learning a lot. 

And I’m embracing MY perspective and MY beliefs. 

And not worrying if people see a problem with me having my own perspective – because they will. 

But some will love it too, and to those fans I say thank you.