Is the meaning of life about discovering who we are? I think it is, and because we are constantly changing as a result of our experiences, it becomes a lifelong process.
Everything you have experienced to date has made you who you are; don’t allow anybody to make you feel inferior, including you.
There’s always a reason why I get upset, unfortunately it’s rarely a good reason.
I normally get upset because of impatience; I want something done in a particular way as efficiently as possible. That’s great if I’m the one doing the work, but when other people are involved, it’s different; I’m the kind of person who shows the most efficient way of doing something and then expects the watcher to follow my lead. When they go and do it in their own way, and make it look like hard work, that makes me upset. I now know that I’m not upset with them, I’m actually upset with myself for not explaining and showing them in a way they will understand exactly what I wanted them to do. I’m old enough to know that everybody learns at their pace, some people are naturally gifted in some areas and not in others, as Einstein’s quote suggests, “Everybody is a genius, but if you judge a fish on its ability to climb a tree, it will spend its whole life believing it is stupid.”
Nobody in this life deserves to see you being upset with yourself and taking it out on them, the secret to avoiding this situation is understanding; Understand the people you’re working with so that you can give them all the information and time they require to do the task as efficiently you can. I’ll leave you with one final thought;
When you learn to be patient with yourself, you will be patient with everybody else.
P.S. Being upset because of external factors such as a death in the family will always be a good reason to be upset.
The ability to listen is a skill few people master in their adult lives, this behaviour normally starts around the onset of puberty, they decide they know everything that they need to know about life, and should therefore stop listening. The funny thing is, they don’t realise they got to where they are by listening to everybody, and in the process learned how to be an adult. I am, of course being a little bit dramatic, they do listen to some people, normally it’s the famous ones on the telly who are famous for acting stupid (I mean cool), there are so many to mention, I wouldn’t know where to start, but I believe Kanye West is one of them.
I could write a paragraph or two on the importance of listening to learn, rather than reply, but there are some famous people who have done it already, and far more elegantly than I. They are;
“Courage is what it takes to stand up and speak; courage is also what it takes to sit down and listen.” ~Winston Churchill
“A wise man can learn more from a foolish question than a fool can learn from a wise answer.” ~Bruce Lee.
Listening is such a simple act. It requires us to be present, and that takes practice, but we don’t have to do anything else. We don’t have to advise, or coach, or sound wise. We just have to be willing to sit there and listen.” ~ Margaret J Wheatley.
“We have two ears and one mouth so that we may listen twice as much as we speak.” ~ Epictetus.
“I like to listen, I have learned a great deal by listening carefully. Most people never listen” ~ Ernest Hemingway.
“When you talk, you are only repeating what you already know. But if you listen, you may learn something new.” ~ The Dalai Lama.
*”It’s a wise man that knows how little he knows and can always learn more from listening than talking.” ~ Unknown.
Gratitude begins with appreciating all the stuff you get for nothing because, if you don’t appreciate those things, you will not appreciate all the stuff you have to pay for.
Let’s look at some of the things we get for nothing but often take for granted.
Oxygen: It’s all around us, and we get as much as we need for nothing. Some people take it for granted, but others treasure it as a way to relax; when they feel under pressure for any reason, they go outside and breathe deeply, after a couple of minutes everything is under control again. It truly is a wonderful substance.
Light: The Sun brightens everybody’s mood, it’s a lot easier to smile on those days; it also provides us with the light we need, it helps us by providing the means to create vitamin D, and yes, it’s free. Without the sun, our planet would not exist at all. Mind you, too much Sun is not good for you, but that’s a story for another day.
Life: There is no turnstile on the way into this world. No passports or tickets need to be bought. There might be times in your life when you wish it was otherwise, but in reality, those events are few; we normally spend a lot more time thinking about sad times than experiencing them.
Health: The majority of people are healthy, but they rarely appreciate that good health until it is taken away. Then all you hear is, why didn’t I look after myself when the choice was mine.
Water: The most plentiful substance on the planet, approx 75% of the Earth’s surface is covered in the stuff, and if you live in a place called Ireland, you will find it falling out of the clouds most days.
The ability to learn: Everybody, regardless of their station in life has the ability to learn; we learn to communicate with our mothers first, then we learn how to get around, first it’s a swim backwards across the floor before we master the art of moving forward, this it’s followed by gaining control of our hands and knees to get where we’re going a little bit faster, we then find something solid to stand beside and take our first tentative steps, more than likely this will be along the couch, then it’s that first step to independence which is followed by a pirouette and a rough landing on the floor; the first of many; after a while we learn to waddle, walk and run.
You get the idea; we are remarkable creatures, capable of learning anything and everything.
Nature: We are surrounded by plants and animals; yes, even the weeds flower in wonderful colours for us to enjoy if we choose to see them as flowers instead of something that needs to be killed.
In life, there is a great deal to be grateful for, but like anything you get for nothing; nothing can be what is thought of it.
I’ve been to a few interviews over the years looking for a role to finance my preferred lifestyle, and during those interviews I have been asked a few questions which left me baffled as to what answer they were actually looking for, a good example is the following question;
Q. What did your previous work colleagues think of you?
When I was asked that question, the first thought that went through my mind was, did I make a mistake about the position I was applying for, it wasn’t a sales position, it was in fact a position where psychic powers were required, because I know for a fact I can’t read minds, so it was going to be impossible for me to answer the question as it was asked.
Then I starting thinking about what they were really looking for; did they want me to say, they thought I was brilliant at everything I did, and could do no wrong; or that they didn’t think about me that much because they were busy carrying out their own tasks. At the time I didn’t know what information they were looking for.
over time I have given it some thought, and now I think the question they could have asked was;
Q. What was the atmosphere like in the office where you last worked?
Or
Q. Do you interact well with other people?
Both questions are simple, direct, easily answered and relevant to the position being filled.
I did learn a valuable lesson that day, don’t concentrate so much on the question being asked that you forget to provide the information they’re looking for.
I also learned; When you have interesting people asking interesting questions; they are going to hire interesting people.
