Tag: Buddha

If I don’t act, then my environment will continue changing, and I will be acted upon.  Pauses are necessary, but as part of a greater strategy—not out of fear, or the unwillingness to act.  

If the whole “warrior” paradigm is appealing—and I define that as a paradigm where you strive against an enemy, which could even be yourself—I don’t think you have to be [some cool thing] in order to express it.  Because with every passing second, a little more potential is being taken away; entropy is dismantling our…

Quite often, I’ve turned my nose up at an opportunity that I found too “low.”  One that would require me to work hard for no immediate reward, or was seemingly undignified.  Now, I realize that was pure ego; when you’re low, you take what you can get, and then you leverage your improved position into…

In my opinion, the best sacrifices I could offer up in pursuit of a goal are:  time, effort, and the most honest assessment of obstacles/methodology I’m capable of mustering.   If you do all that knowing that success isn’t guaranteed, I’d argue that you’ve demonstrated the vaunted quality known as “detachment.” 

In my mind, beating myself up is vastly different from effectively criticizing myself.  If I choose the first option, I wallow in ineffective thought patterns.  If I choose the second option, I’ve taken a step toward addressing a deficiency.  The first option is harmful, while the second is, IMHO, necessary.   Neither is pleasant.

Many luminaries (Buddha and Musashi, for example) eschewed etiquette/tradition/The Rules, and focused instead on evidence-based function.   And yet most people I’ve met who love to reference these luminaries seem to do the exact opposite:  they eschew evidence-based function, refuse to question/update their methodology, and stay wedded to etiquette/tradition/The Rules.  

From an immediate, sense-and-comfort driven perspective, there are countless reasons to not apply myself.  From a grander perspective, not so many.  I don’t make myself work through a noble romanticization of willpower and grit, but rather a simple, honest assessment:  I want to get certain things done, so that requires me to demonstrate a certain…

Writing is only lonely if I refuse to acknowledge the multitude of personas—from heroic to villainous and everything in between—that live in the nooks and crannies of my unexplored mind.

To me, the label “badass” is a function of the capability to produce results.  And for those who can produce quality results time and again, I suspect that “badass” is a trivial label—people are either effective or ineffective.