Tag: global understanding

Mindset: Don’t Be Defined By A Definition

Mindset: Don’t Be Defined By A Definition

Success is not about big goals that one accomplishes which are planned for years. It’s about getting out of bed in the morning when the only thing you want to do is sleep and hide from the world. It’s about rising up and putting your feet on the floor when yielding to a feeling of failure seems normal. It’s about forcing a laugh when crying feels more natural. It’s about living through each day when death seems the only way to peace. This is success!

Success is a relative term but most will agree that it is defined as the accomplishment of something, an achievement even. In other words, it’s something that is gained. To some this is all it will ever be. But to others, it is not about the gain, but about battling the losses and continuing the fight. Their success is not defined by moving forward, but by not falling backward. It’s a different world for those who give all just to maintain than it is for those who push forward with ease.

Success cannot be defined with one global meaning because individual meanings should only be defined by the particular obstacles each one of us must endure. There are as many worlds to live in as there are people on the planet. Each of us must overcome the obstacles in our own existence and each of must choose what we deem as a success based on those difficulties. Our happiness depends not on the obstacles in our lives but in the fact that we don’t allow them to keep us from us challenging them. Success should not be a definition for all to agree but a new cause each of us redefine every day.

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Mindset: Looking Beyond The Slivers

Mindset: Looking Beyond The Slivers

It is not from the evil of this world in which we are defined. Those acts of atrocity against humankind, the crimes of individuals in our everyday lives and the will of those to bring conflict and suffering are not who we are as a whole. They are mere slivers of a broken world which obstruct a clear view of what is mostly wholesome and good.

Our collective identity lies with those who work hard with pride and integrity to provide a living for those whom they love. It is apparent in the forgiveness that is given when forgiving is the most difficult of tasks and in the examples of our choices when the easiest choice is one that we choose not to be an option.

It is also in the kindness that we teach to our children who learn all too soon that the world is not a fair and just place and all too often not worthy of kindness and mercy. Further still, it lies the faith of those same children who continue the teachings of grace and mercy in spite of this knowledge.

So much of what we experience seems of a dark nature. We are engulfed in a world that appears to be crumbling but the fact that we still feel shocked and shame at the sight of evil is proof that immorality has not become commonplace in our hearts and minds and an accepted as a way of life. It is a belief that good does win out over evil and that we choose to rise above that which attempts to destroy us while building a future that will never crumble into dust.

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The Elements of A Miracle

The Elements of A Miracle

Everything in existence is made up of different elements coming together at different times to form a specific creation. There is always a process, a chain of inputs and actions that produce the smallest of insects to the largest of solar systems. We are constantly surrounded by these seemingly never-ending processes and rarely realize their significance.

We have become so numb to the miracles all around us that we don’t even see ourselves as a miraculous creation any longer. Our struggles, disappointments, and losses become our primary focus while we ignore the awesomeness of our own existence, simply take it for granted.

There is limited understanding and agreement as to our origins but there should be no disagreement as to the knowledge that we and our natural surroundings are incredible creations filled with wonder. Our ideas, drive, passion, love and trust are all just small parts of us that we use to further creation. The significance of existence is to use it. We are the elements that are used to fill tomorrows with new miracles.

To focus only on ourselves, steals what we can we can bring forth to those tomorrows that are created for us. Progress is a creative process that derives from pushing our negative selves out of focus and our desire to overcome within it. If we do this while acknowledging that we are a miracle, then we can always know that what we create becomes one too.

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Mindset Origin: Darkness is Where You Can See

Mindset Origin: Darkness is Where You Can See

The first part of understanding is acceptance. There can be no enlightenment through denial. What we allow ourselves to feel and experience are the seeds that become the trees of knowledge and wisdom.

There is growth in the darkness of despair just as there is in the light of prosperity. We shield ourselves from fears and tragedies in hopes of escaping the sorrows that befall humanity. We close our eyes and withdraw from others to find sanctuary within ourselves, trying to avoid the bleak times upon us.

This causes us to lose sight of our potential to expand our understanding of life. What we refuse to see and acknowledge becomes our fears and our boundaries. When we choose not to know it, we take away our choice and opportunity to rise up above it and become illuminated in every darkness that follows.

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Unite And Conquer

Unite And Conquer

We are divided in so many ways and history shows us that we have always been. What is the cost of such division and what do we gain or lose because of it? What do we do in the name of these divisions and do they save us or destroy us?

Does anyone believe that slavery is acceptable? And by this, I mean would they be willing to not only have slaves, but be one themselves. When men and women in the world took actions to eradicate slavery throughout history, there was always opposition. There were wars, murders and uprisings on both sides, but time would show us all that it was wrong. And along with the eradication of slavery also came the end of two sides. Countless people suffered and died because of two sides that would eventually be irrelevant and erased. Where is the common sense in such divisions?

We allow race, religion, political ideals and arbitrary lines in the sand to divide us. But how do another’s views actually affect us? Does it take away your right to practice your views or worship the way you choose? No. But it will divide us because we want to be right because we want to win because we are arrogant. We are prideful choosing pride over love, friendship, mutual respect and open-mindedness We divide and that division conquers us and defeats our unity.

What must it take for humanity to learn that who we are, what we are, is simply our identities our belief systems and not something that is given or taken by others? If we ask ourselves what we consider to be fair and just to both sides and then act accordingly, division begins to evaporate. Differences in opinion do not divide us; lack of acknowledgment and respect for differing opinion creates division. The price for harmony always comes at the cost of humility which favors no side.

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Mindset Origins: Grant Yourself A Pardon

Mindset Origins: Grant Yourself A Pardon

I have been writing Mindsets for 25 years. I thought I might take some time to explain exactly what they are and how they originated. For most, if not all of us, we have defining moments or experiences which mold us into who we become. For me, that was a clinical depression in early adulthood. I began writing to help me express and understand that depression. Initially, most of it was dark poetry, but the more I wrote the less about expression and the more about understanding and finding hope it became. Within a few years, the dark poetry became more, eventually morphing into what would become Mindsets. I had chosen to focus on what could be as opposed to what was. I chose to understand instead of escape into a vice or become completely lost in misery. I needed to believe that everything has meaning and that life is not a cosmic roll of the dice without rhyme and reason. Writing Mindsets has helped me to answer many of my questions and hopefully answer a few for others as well. In addition, it has allowed me to write about subjects for which I am passionate. I will be publishing a series of my early Mindsets that I hope you will enjoy. Most of what I usually publish are new ones that I have written recently and so you will see subtle differences in styles and context as my style has evolved over the years, Below is the second Mindset in this series.

Grant Yourself A Pardon

Life leaves scars, regrets, and sorrows that grow and integrate into our daily experiences. Because of this, they eventually become more than feelings, developing into an integral part of who we are. As they grow, they begin to mislead us causing us to believe their hold on us is stronger than our gift of choice.

If we simply resist the deception and remember that who we are and where we are going is our choice, then we can choose for every day to be a new beginning. What has brought us contempt and unhappiness in the past can feel erased by the mere choice to be free of them.

What we hold on to, holds on to us be it positive or negative. If we choose to keep the negative then it chooses to keep us in that darkness. Circumstances are not punishments or rewards. They are, however, prisons or freedoms we either build or grant ourselves.

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Mindset Origins

Mindset Origins

It Only Takes A Spark In The Darkness To See

So often it seems the root of humanity stems from what we want instead of what others need. The desire of tending to our own comforts can build walls separating us from those who need us the most. It is not always a conscious act of neglect but more of an unwilling blindness that keeps us from the most important issues and people in our lives.

It is a simple gesture to give, one that requires only the choices to see and then to act. This simplicity has an awesome effect on both the giver and the receiver because it brings positivity, which sparks an internal change that never ceases to evolve.

After truly experiencing the power of giving, we no longer see ourselves as individuals with personal desires but rather part of a large family whose needs lead us to the understanding that we are only as comfortable and secure as those to whom we give.

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In A New Light: Does God Ever Leave Us?

In A New Light: Does God Ever Leave Us?

C.L. Harmon

Many times while watching documentaries, I have heard Jewish survivors say that God was no there during that evil period we know as the Holocaust. Each time I would hear one of them say it, an uneasy feeling would pulse through me. I guess as a Christian who has been taught that God is always with me, it gave me pause and challenged my traditional beliefs. To have endured such evil, perhaps I too would feel the same way as these people. I don’t know. But I do know it bothered me. Is God sometimes absent from our lives? For people raised in Christianity, it must seem almost as blasphemy to think such a thought. But I want to know.

I am not sure that the question has an answer. At least not a complete answer we are privy to in this realm of existence. It is intriguing to me though that it’s possible humanity is sometimes responsible for dealing with its own messes. There must have been many people in the world at that time who knew that an evil regime was in power, yet only a few ever tried to stop it. Most in the Axis countries did nothing. Maybe God felt like that He had given enough. Maybe He thought that so much had been given to humanity already and that it was time for us to learn a lesson.

Although those persecuted by the Nazis suffered the greatest as a whole without a doubt, everyone involved in a war suffers to some extent. Each country and each person suffers during conflicts. Perhaps He did step back and expect humanity to step up and finally learn the words by Edmund Burke, “The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing,”. Maybe this was God’s way of saying that He did not allow this, but humanity allowed it by doing nothing when something had to be done.

If this were true, it would certainly explain a great deal about the miseries we suffer in our own lives. Perhaps free will carries a much greater meaning than we are willing to accept and thus accept its responsibility. As parents, do we not know that by allowing our children to make mistakes, we teach them? Does not requiring them to pay for those mistakes not teach them about the consequences of their actions or failure to act? I do not believe God punishes us for using our free will in poor judgment. I do, however, believe that he allows the consequences from it to serve as life lessons.

I further don’t believe that God ever abandons us entirely at any time. I believe He is always with us but remains silent and inactive while giving humanity the opportunity and the time to do what is right and noble. Perhaps those who believe God was absent in the concentration camps and occupied territories feel that way because God was silent just as he had been the 400 years between the Old Testament and the New Testament (Malachi’s Warning to the Jewish people). God did not abandon His children then; He remained silent while they found their way back to Him in their practices. Had He decided to abandon them, then what would have been the point of sending Malachi in 430 BC and Christ 430 years later?

These are simply my thoughts, nothing more. I find that writing allows me to explore the questions this life offers me. These writings are not proclamations of truth, but simply investigative writings which help me understand my world. It is always my hope to open up my mind and others’ as to new ways of seeing the world so that we may all have a better understanding of life and the role we play in it.

Thanks for Reading!

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Loss Is A Gain We Cannot Afford To Lose

Loss Is A Gain We Cannot Afford To Lose

We are these amazing creatures with passions, secrets, knowledge, and wisdom caught up in this essence of life, the only reality familiar to us. We learn to love and then must learn to accept that we lose it. We trust that goodness always prevails and yet ultimately discover that evil often wins the day. We must learn to control anger and violence when we feel passionate that it is warranted. We must learn to forgive when it is not deserved. We are compelled to build and create fully aware that destruction is inevitable. And we must learn and do all of these in order to grow.

We can survive without learning any of these expectations which are laid at our feet. We can prosper through evil deeds and achieve monetary trophies and titles, but we will never grow into anyone who truly appreciates the life which is given to us if we do not choose to accept what is difficult. Growth has always been the gift. It is the metamorphosis which defines the real meaning of free will and the reason for which it was given.

We never become any more than the years of our age without the choice to accept the growth which only comes through our willingness to accept the suffering which makes it possible. Your choice to accept and to learn is your reward. Everything worthwhile and lasting is only gained through loss and suffering. Without this knowledge, we will never comprehend the value of anything. What makes us so amazing is not only our ability to gain through loss but our choice to willingly accept a loss with only the belief that we gain.

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What Lies Within

What Lies Within

A sculptor looks at a piece of granite or stone with either a belief that there is a work of art within that stone that he will uncover. Or he looks at it with the belief that he will create a work of art from where there was none before.Although the creation may be the same in appearance as each artisan finishes toiling with the stone, the sculptures are very different to the sculptors. The artisan who uncovers what is hidden learns that he can see beyond what is on the surface.

He can chisel each sliver of stone to discover that beauty and creation are all around us if we choose to remove those layers which obscure them. He begins to understand that all things have depth and if we do not seek to uncover what lies beneath then we lose what has been hidden for us to find.

The artisan who creates from within to bring about something new understands that the origins of creations are mysteries locked up inside of us. He learns that the surface of the stone is an opportunity to carve, chip and then breathe life into a new creation.

But it is the artisans themselves who learn above all that they are simply a stone for another Creator. One who has hidden beauty and mystery within them awaiting discovery. Through our visions, toils, and patience, we all create and unearth the mysteries in our daily lives only to realize we were always the greatest works of art in the universe.

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