Job Sucks? This Is What You Do

By JP Chartier

It’s Sunday night, and you’re about to go to bed, a brand new work week is only hours away, how does this make you feel? If you answered this question with words like: crappy, depressed, miserable, unmotivated, uninspired or angry, then it’s a safe bet that your job sucks.

It’s time you did something about it!

A few months ago, Gallup released the findings of their “2013 State of the American Work[place” poll and it’s grisly. According to the Gallup study, 70% of Americans either “hate” their jobs, or are “completely disengaged.”

This is a damn travesty and doesn’t bode well for mankind!

I know this was a poll on the American workplace, but I checked around and those in Europe and Canada don’t fair much better. Most people dislike their jobs and it’s a global epidemic!

So how does one start doing work they actually enjoy?

CREATE A LIST OF “PROS” & “CONS”

So you’ve come to the conclusion that your job sucks.First things first – lets make a list of all the things you like about your job, and all the things you dislike about your job. The object here is to get all this down on paper (or in the computer) so you can see them all together and contemplate them. You may find by comparing your pros and cons, that you really don’t have it too bad after all.

I found a pretty cool pro/con calculator here: http://www2.elc.polyu.edu.hk/cill/tools/prosandcons.htm to help you with this. You simply type in all the good and bad about your job, then you rank each of them 1 – 5, with 5 being something you feel strongly about. When you’re through with all this, it gives you a score which helps you decide if you should stay or go. You can use this calculator to help you decide anything, not just jobs.

REALLY EXAMINE WHAT IT IS YOU WANT TO DO

Now you have some real information before you, by completing the list above you now have a better understanding of what it is that you truly dislike and like about your job. Take the time to really examine and contemplate this list.

IT TAKES MORE THAN PASSION

It has been said by some really intelligent people that if you can find work that you have a passion for, you will never work a day again in your life. Some out there will lead you to believe that passion alone is all you need to succeed and be happy, but I disagree with this. Take for example the contestants on American Idol, they all no doubt have a deep passion for making music and becoming famous, but if all they have is passion and not any talent, they will most likely fail.

So passion is not all you need.

You need to ask the right questions so your passion doesn’t have you sprinting in the wrong direction, effectively wasting your life. Remember, there are millions of folks out there who work at a job they don’t especially love but they use their free time after work or on weekends to do what they have passion for.

CHANGE OF PERSPECTIVE

I always thought that when I found myself in a less than desirable situation, it was in my best interest to remove myself from said situation/job immediately. But when the discussion is centered around quitting your job, that’s a major life-changing event, so it makes no sense to take such a dramatic move without thinking deeply about the alternatives first, and then decide some sort of “leaving strategy.”

But there is another way to look at it, without taking such dramatic steps, just change your perspective of the views and opinions you’ve formed about your place of employment.

Is it really that bad? Or is it that your attitude just needs a little adjusting? The way you perceive the events around you throughout the day will determine your well-being, and directly effects your health too. Maybe all that is needed is some basic knowledge on how to learn to handle the way you let what is happening effect you and your thoughts?

TALK TO THE DECISION MAKER

Why don’t you consider the options for making the job work before leaving. Speak to the person who makes the decisions- your boss, the owner etc. and talk about a transfer, a change in hours, or something along those lines.

A FEW THINGS FOR YOU TO CONTEMPLATE

When you’re struggling with a job you hate, it can seem like the end of the world. The key to your survival is having a vision beyond the troubles of today. Enduring a job you hate by trying to force yourself to love it isn’t necessary, and you don’t need to have all the answers for the problems either. You just need to cope long enough to find a new job.

Below I’ve listed a few suggestions that will help you cope with your less-than-ideal job. Who knows, you might even find that things aren’t all that bad after all.

• Set small goals for yourself
• Perform one act every day that will bring you closer to your dream job
• Think about the possibilities your job can lead to
• Give yourself something to look forward to at the end of the day, or week
• Try cultivating some work relationships
• Take breaks at work. I notice hard-working people all the time not taking their breaks, and I see that it affects them negatively. Your body and mind need the break. Take your lunch break away from work if you can, just getting away from work for 30 minutes or an hour can really help with your attitude
• Take care of yourself. Everything else we do affects how we feel at work. If we don’t get the proper amount of sleep, or we’re not eating right, our work life will suffer guaranteed.

PREPARE FOR DEPARTURE

Ok, so you’ve done all you can do and you believe that it’s in your best interest to find another job. So now it’s time to plan your escape! Start a secret job search while you’re still employed. Here are a few search programs to help you in your search: Indeed, Simply Hired, Link Up, Job Central, US.jobs, Career Jet, JuJu, Mployd, Just Jobs and Job Miner.

TAKE FLIGHT!

You’ve done all of the above and you’ve decided that this job really does suck and you can do better somewhere else. You’ve got another job lined up, it’s just a matter of leaving your old job and starting the new one. Do your future self a favor and give them a two-week notice.

REMINDER: Have you done something today that will move you closer to living the life of passion you desire? If not, what are you waiting for?

7 Tremendously Audacious Women

By JP Chartier

I recently wrote an article called “7 Terribly Interesting People” (which you can read here http://wp.me/p3MMo6-a7) that told the adventurous tales of 7 men. In the article I’ve written here, I focus solely on the ladies.

Without further ado, I now bring you “7 Tremendously Audacious Women.”

Nellie Bly (1864-1922)

Nellie Bly was the pen-name of American journalist and adventurer, Elizabeth June Cochrane. As a journalist, Bly would go to almost any length to get the story, once she faked mental illness so she would be admitted to Bellevue Hospital, a mental institute in NY, so she could write an expose about the abuses there. After the release of the expose, many positive changes took place at the hospital, making Bly famous. Two years later, chasing yet another story, Bly set a then world record by circumnavigating the globe in 72 days, beating the fictional account in Jules Verne’s novel, “Around the World in 80 Days.”

Renata Chlumska (1973- )

Chlumska was the first Swedish woman to climb Mount Everest. During 2005-2006, she took the “Around America Adventure.”  Starting out in Seattle, she paddled a kayak down to San Diego, CA, where she hopped on a bike and with the kayak in tow, rode to Brownsville, TX. From Brownsville she was back in the kayak, this time paddling across the Gulf of Mexico, around Florida, then onward up the east coast of America, all the way up to Maine. Back on her bicycle once again, Chlumska pedaled from Maine, cross-country back to Seattle! I bow down to you Mrs. Chlumska.

Kira Salak (1971- )

Unlike Nellie Bly, who took on adventure to sell articles, Salak does it not only because she’s adventurous, but because she likes to prove the people wrong who told her she couldn’t do it. Salak has ventured to some of the worlds most hospitable places, like when she hiked around Africa mostly alone, ultimately ending up in the middle of a civil war! She holds the record for being the first documented person to Kayak alone down the Niger River and was the first woman to backpack across Papua New Guinea. Salak’s life of adventure includes surviving wars, coup attempts and life threatening bouts of malaria and cholera. She has explored several countries like Iran, Rwanda, Libya, Burma, Borneo, Uganda and Peru. And finally, Salak is an excellent writer who has penned several books about her adventures. What an amazing woman!

Annie “Londonderry” Kopchovsky (1870-1947)

Kopchovsky was a consummate self-promoter, and a skillful creator of her own myth, who became a global celebrity after bicycling around the world alone, the first woman to do so. During her bicycle journey, she hunted tigers, was caught in the Sino-Japanese War of 1895 (where she was imprisoned), was robbed and even shot by a Chinaman during the trek. Here’s an excellent article about Annie http://www.csmonitor.com/2006/0828/p20s01-algn.html

Krystyna Chojnowska-Liskiewicz (1936- )

After several failed attempts at pronouncing Krystyna’s last names, I gave up! I just refer to her as “KCL” now. During 1976-78, KCL became the “First Lady of the Oceans” by sailing alone around the world, a feat which comprised 31,166 miles and 401 days. Check out this article about her here http://en.poland.gov.pl/?document=1982

Mary Kingsley (1862-1900) –

In the photo above of Mary Kingsley, she looks like your average everyday 19th century loving housewife, whose only adventure is gardening on the weekend. Oh how photos can lie!  Kingsley had an adventurists soul, exploration and adventure were not seen as fitting roles for women in the Victorian era, but this didn’t stop her. She arrived alone in a very dangerous Africa in 1894 to study the natives and to study “cannibal” people. Kingsley had all sorts of adventures while in Africa. Here is a more detailed look at this courageous lady http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Kingsley

Rosie Swale-Pole (1946- )

I have saved the best for last, for Rosie Swale-Pole has got to be the “World’s Most Amazing Woman!” She is an author, adventurer, marathon runner and motivational speaker. In 2007, she completed a 5-year around-the-world run covering an incredible 20,000 miles, and she did it while in her late 50’s! Earlier in her life, Rosie did the following: She sailed around the world with her husband and child in the 70’s in a 30′ catamaran covering 30,000 miles in two years. Later in 1983, she sailed solo across the Atlantic Ocean in a small 17′ cutter, where she was nearly killed during a violent storm that swept her overboard. As if all this weren’t enough, “The Amazing Rosie” rode alone on horseback through the entire 3,000 miles of Chile in 14 months. She almost starved to death after becoming lost in the southern rainforest. In 1987, Rosie walked through Wales, sleeping in a tent and carrying a backpack for 1,375 miles. She has also ran through the following countries: Romania, Iceland, S. Africa, the Balkans (nearly killed by robbers), Cuba and Nepal. The list of amazing feats Rosie has accomplished are by no means all covered here, her life reads like a female version of Indiana Jones. I not only bow down to you Rosie Swale-Pole, I admire and look up to you, you are a LEGEND! Click here for more about Rosie here http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rosie_Swale-Pole

7 Terribly Interesting People

By JP Chartier

Listed below are seven terribly interesting people. Their heroic achievements stand in direct defiance of the accepted standards and behaviors of the time, which is what makes them so intriguing. They did things most only talk about or dream of. They had the courage to stare life in the eyes and demand more from it, a normal human existence would not be exceptible!

Included on this list are individuals who braved through impossible conditions to conquer their dreams and ultimately inspire people like myself.

Mike Horn (1966- )

Horn is a Swiss explorer and adventurist. He became famous after completing a solo journey around the equator without motorized transport. He then completed a two-year circumnavigation of the Arctic Circle by himself. In 2006, he and a Norwegian explorer named Borge Ousland became the first men to travel without dog or motorized transport to the North Pole during permanent darkness. He also led a team on a three-year, around the world voyage called the Pangaea Expedition. During this teaching and study trek they used only a yacht, canoes, kayaks, bikes, paraglides, skis and a sail boat to explore the South Pole, Australia, Asia, Russia, Iceland, Greenland, the Himalayas and the North  Pole! Because of his life experiences and gift of gab, Horn is sought after today by sports teams and businesses for his motivational skills. Here is a link to learn more about Mike Horn at http://www.mikehorn.com

John Goddard (1924-2013)

Goddard has lived an unbelievable life, dare I say, quite possibly the most amazing life ever! When he was 15 years old, Goddard decided that he would not live a life filled with regrets, so he wrote down a bucket list of 127 things he wanted to accomplish in his life. This list includes climbing the worlds most perilous peaks, navigating its major rivers and exploring its most remote regions. Here is the link to see his bucket list http://www.johngoddard.info/life_list.htm  You’ve got to see it, he’s marked off everything he accomplished, unfortunately he wasn’t able to complete the whole list before his death, though he got very close. More about his incredible life here http://www.johngoddard.info/

John Fairfax (1937-2012)

Fairfax was an ocean rower and adventurists who in 1969 became the first person to row across an ocean by himself. In 1971 he became the first person to row alone across the Pacific Ocean. Besides rowing across oceans all alone, Fairfax was quite the adventurists in all aspects of his life. At 13 years of age, Fairfax left his home in Argentina to live in the jungle like “Tarzan,” where he survived by hunting and bartering skins with local peasants. At 22 years old, Fairfax drove across America to San Fransisco, when he ran out of money he returned to his mother in Argentina by bicycle! Then a short time later he fell in with pirates and was apprenticed for the next three years in the smuggling of whiskey, cigarettes and guns. After escaping from the pirates, Fairfax became the first person to row solo across the Atlantic Ocean, a feat which took him 180 days. During the journey, he had to dive underneath the vessel to clean off the barnacles, while chipping away underwater, a shark tried to attack him but Fairfax ended up killing it with his bare hands and a large knife! Two years later, he and Sylvia Cook became the first people to row across the Pacific Ocean, and they did it in 361 days. Learn more about the fascinating life of John Fairfax here http://www.oceanrowing.com/Oceanrowers/fairfax.htm

Lakpa Tsheri & Babu Sunuwar

These two men are listed together because the two of them went on the ultimate adventure in 2011. First they climbed the largest mountain in the world, Mount Everest, then the two of them paraglided of the mountain down to sea level, a 45 minute flight.  But this was just the beginning of their journey, after paragliding they bicycled to the headwaters of a mountain stream which led them to the Kosi River in Nepal. From the Kosi they paddled to the Ganges River in India, then finally onward to the Bay of Bengal, a 37 day trek. Here’s more about their quest http://blogs.canoe.ca/parker/tag/lakpa-tsheri-sherpa/

Ranulph Fiennes (1944- )

The Guinness Book of World Records says he’s the World’s Greatest Living Explorer, enough said. Fiennes undertook several expeditions and was the first person to visit both the North Pole and South Pole by surface, and he was the first to completely cross Antarctica on foot. At the age of 65, he climbed Mount Everest, becoming the oldest Briton to do so. Despite suffering a heart-attack and undergoing double bypass heart surgery just four months prior, Fiennes completed seven marathons in seven days on seven continents! On top of all this, he is also a prolific author, politician and speaker. Check out http://www.wideworldmag.com/2010/03/16/sir-ranulph-fiennes-part-1/

William Montgomery McGovern (1897-1964)

McGovern was an American adventurer who was credited for exploring uncharted areas of the Amazon, Peru and the Himalaya’s. He reported on the Mexican Revolution from the front, then became a Buddhist Priest, all by the age of twenty. When WWII broke out, he served four years operating behind enemy lines at Guadalcanal, and during the closing days of the war he crossed the Rhine with General Patton. McGovern was a very intelligent man and could speak 17 languages. Here are a few of the other professions he dabbled in: He was a professor at Northwestern University, an anthropologist, a journalist, lecturer, military strategist, plus the author of several books. And it is reputed that he was the inspiration for the character Indiana Jones. All I can say is, what a life! Learn more here http://www.northwestern.edu/magazine/spring2010/feature/williammcgovern.html

The seven men I’ve listed above are great adventurists, however they aren’t household names like the Lewis & Clarks or the Marco Polo’s of the world, but great adventurists who lived life to the fullest none the less.

A Short-Story To Make You Think

“If we do not hang together, we shall surely hang separately.”  -Ben Franklin

I wanted to share this fantastic short-story that a friend of mine, Chuck Gallozzi, shared with me. It’s a story about the importance of working together, the way it gets its point across is priceless! For when we refuse to cooperate with others, we only deepen our suffering and make life that much more difficult. Here’s the story…

A Young Monk and His Mentor

A young Buddhist initiate asked his mentor to describe hell. “Ah, hell.” the monk said, “it is like a large banquet hall with countless rows of tables laden with sumptuous meals and delicious drinks.” But Teacher, the surprised initiate said, “I thought those in hell would suffer.” “Oh, they do,” answered the monk.  “You see, there are four-foot long chopsticks permanently attached to their hands. Although they can pick up the food, the length of the chopsticks makes it impossible to reach their mouths.”

“That’s horrible. Teacher, tell me about heaven,” the initiate pleaded. “Ah, heaven,” the monk sighed, “it is like a large banquet hall with countless rows of tables laden with sumptuous meals and delicious drinks, and permanetly attached to everyone’s hands are four-foot long chopsticks.” “But Teacher, isn’t that the same as hell?” the initiate stuttered. “No,” the monk replied, “the people are different, although they cannot feed themselves, they can feed each other!”

I hope this resonated with you like it did with me!

THE ONE THING YOU SHOULD HAVE!

 

By JP Chartier

What would you say is the one thing that is absolutely essential in order to lead a meaningful and enjoyable life?

I feel that ONE essential thing is a well thought out and ever-morphing “Philosophy of Life.” It’s ever-morphing because it’s always being added to or slightly changed in some way due to the situations and the circumstances being played out at the time.

If you truly want an understanding of what it is that makes you who you are, and if you’re looking for a way to help make sense of your life here on earth, than I feel it’s important that you develop a philosophy for your life. This philosophy can be thought of as a “roadmap,” this roadmap can be followed in any situation and will help guide you through to a place of safety, happiness and well-being.

In short, our “Philosophy of Life” is our most basic beliefs and concepts, it’s how we choose to view the world and deal with its ever changing landscape. And most importantly, it’s understanding how that ever changing landscape affects us as a person.

What a Philosophy of Life will do for you:

1.   Fulfill your basic needs for survival.

2.   Make you feel good.

3.   Help you through the tough times.

4.   Give your life meaning.

5.   Make you feel useful and valuable.

6.   Give you a respect for others and for their belongings.

7.   Enable you to sum up your life, and who you are in one fairly short sentence.

8.   Give you an approach to the way you live your life.

9.   Help you lead a more inspired life.

10. Help you make better choices.

11. Help you deal with change.

12. Help you deal with disappointment.

13. Will be a deeply rewarding life experience.

14. Allow you to be Pro-active in life instead of re-active.

15. Help you comprehend the significance of not only your life, but of life as a whole.

16. Give you an understanding of the association between mankind and nature and between the individual and society.

Jon Mertz came up with the following 6 questions (listed below) which is an excellent way to get started on your Philosophy of Life.

To define your personal Life Philosophy, answer the following questions:

1.   When you awake in the morning, what is it that you want to do?

2.   What directs your actions and decisions, especially the impulsive ones?

3.   What gives you a sense of satisfaction at the end of the day?

4.   What feeling is in the core of your soul, that you know to be self-evident?

5.   Why are your beliefs important to you?

6.   How does your philosophy measure up to higher standards and beliefs?

A sample Life Philosophy someone wrote:

“To live simply and always lead with spirit, to always try and do the right things right, and take time to re-soul.”

How to develop a Philosophy of Life:

1.   Think deeply about your beliefs, values, and goals then write them down.

2.   Think about the strategies you use to handle fear, anger, jealousy, change, unforeseen problems.

3.   Write a list of facts, experiences and characteristics that make you unique.

4.   Write down what inspires you.

5.   Study others philosophies.

6.   Decide how your life will be meaningful.

7.   Collect and research quotes that resonate with you.

8.   Write down those you admire and why.

9.   Find a mentor and learn all you can from them.

10. Write down what you want to accomplish in life and the roadmap to getting there.

11. Think about how you’ve dealt with adversity and painful moments in the past, now think about how you would handle them today. Develop a way you will handle instances like these in the future.

MY PHILOSOPHY OF LIFE:

Try to leave people and situations better than I found them.

Think before acting.

Remember, slow and easy.

Find beauty.

Enjoy life first and foremost.

Always be creating something.

Never stop learning.

Except change with class.

Remain humble.

Keep life simple, and enjoy those simple things.

Gather knowledge rather than material things.

Others first.

In times of turmoil, the way you act and the things you say is what others will remember about you.

Good luck developing your Philosophy of Life, I’ve listed mine above for reference, and remember nothing is written in stone! You can always add to or delete items on your list as you see fit.

I’ll leave you with the wise words of Nietzsche…

“He who has a why to live can bear almost any how.”  ~Friedrich Nietzsche

The Wise Understand That…

By JP Chartier

THE WISE UNDERSTAND THAT…

YOU are the result of your decisions.

To get people to take an interest in you, you must first take a genuine interest in them.

Hurt people hurt people.

Everyone loves to work on their strengths, but only the great ones work on their weaknesses.

Sometimes you need to give up the wheel and enjoy the ride.

You aren’t punished for your sins, but by your sins.

Much can be done in the time it takes to gossip.

Life is a limited time offer.

You can’t always change the circumstances in your life, but you can change your perception of those circumstances.

We teach people how to treat us.

Sometimes you make the right decision and sometimes you have to make the decisions right.

The rest of your life will go by if you’re doing something to improve it or not.

Good or bad is nothing until you assign meaning to it.

There is no TRUE REALITY, only your PERCEPTION.

Winners do the things losers don’t want to do.

You measure people by their actions, not their words.

You base the quality of your life on results – not intentions.

Not choosing is a choice.

 

You get what you give.

 

Thoughts are behaviors too.

Whatever your life experiences are, you’re accountable.

You must protect or enhance a person’s self-esteem to effectively manage them.

Criticism is futile because it puts a man on the defensive and usually makes him strive to justify himself.

The most important thing you can learn is to see things from the others point of view.

People are not interested in you, they are interested in themselves.

To be interesting, be interested.

Your first step to happiness is to stop blaming others and your circumstances.

Left to themselves, things have a tendency to go from bad to worse.

Being defeated is often a temporary condition, giving up makes it permanent.

The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy.

 

Don’t practice until you get it right. Practice until you can’t get it wrong.

 

Judge a man by his questions rather than his answers.

If this were the last day of your life, would you want to do what you are about to do today?

Meeting God

By Anonymous

You were on your way home when you died.

It was a car accident. Nothing particularly remarkable, but fatal nonetheless. You left behind a wife and two children. It was a painless death. The EMTs tried their best to save you, but to no avail. Your body was so utterly shattered you were better off, trust me.

And that’s when you met me.

“What… what happened?” You asked. “Where am I?”

“You died,” I said, matter-of-factly. No point mincing words.

“There was a… a truck and it was skidding…”

“Yup.” I said.

“I… I died?”

“Yup. But don’t feel bad about it. Everyone dies.” I said.

You looked around. There was nothingness. Just you and me. “What is this place?” You asked. “Is this the afterlife?”

“More or less,” I said.

“Are you god?” You asked.

“Yup.” I replied. “I’m God.”

“My kids… my wife,” you said.

“What about them?”

“Will they be alright?”

“That’s what I like to see,” I said. “You just died and your main concern is your family. That’s good stuff right there.”

You looked at me with fascination. To you, I didn’t look like God. I just looked like some man. Some vague authority figure. More of a a grammar school teacher than the almighty.

“Don’t worry,” I said. “They’ll be fine. Your kids will remember you as perfect in every way. They didn’t have time to grow contempt for you. Your wife will cry on the outside, but will be secretly relieved.” “To be fair, your marriage was falling apart. If it’s any consolation, she’ll feel very guilty for feeling relieved.”

“Oh,” you said. “So what happens now? Do I go to heaven or hell or something?”

“Neither,” I said. “You’ll be reincarnated.”

“Ah,” you said. “So the Hindus were right.”

“All the religions are right in their own way,” I said. “Walk with me.”

You followed along as we strolled in the void. “Where are we going?”

“Nowhere in particular,” I said. “It’s just nice to walk while we talk.”

“So what’s the point, then?” You asked. “When I get reborn, I’ll just be a blank slate, right? A baby. So all my experiences and everything I did in this life won’t matter?”

“Not so!” I said. “You have within you all the knowledge and experiences of all your past lives. You just don’t remember them right now.”

I stopped walking and took you by the shoulders. “Your soul is more magnificent, beautiful, and gigantic than you can possibly imagine. A human mind can only contain a tiny fraction of what you are. It’s like sticking your finger in a glass of water to see if it’s hot or cold. You put a tiny part of yourself into the vessel, and when you bring it back out, you’ve gained all the experiences it had.”

“You’ve been a human for the last 34 years, so you haven’t stretched out yet and felt the rest of your immense consciousness. If we hung out here for longer, you’d start remembering everything. But there’s no point doing that between each life.”

“How many times have I been reincarnated then?”

“Oh, lots. Lots and lots. And into lots of different lives.” I said. “This time around you’ll be a Chinese peasant girl in 540 A.D.”

“Wait, what?” You stammered. “You’re sending me back in time?”

“Well, I guess technically. Time, as you know it, only exists in your universe. Things are different where I come from.”

“Where you come from?” You pondered.

“Oh, sure!” I explained. “I come from somewhere. Somewhere else. And there’s others like me. I know you’ll want to know what it’s like there but you honestly won’t understand.”

“Oh.” You said, a little let down. “But wait, if I get reincarnated to other places in time, could I have interacted with myself at some point?”

“Sure. Happens all the time. And with both lives only aware of their own timespan, you don’t even know its happening.”

“So what’s the point of it all?”

“Seriously?” I asked. “Seriously? You’re asking me for the meaning of life? Isn’t that a little stereotypical?”

“Well, it’s a reasonable question.” You persisted.

I looked in your eye. “The meaning of life, the reason I made this whole universe, is for you to mature.”

“You mean mankind? You want us to mature?”

“No. Just you. I made this whole universe for you. With each new life you grow and mature, and become a larger and greater intellect.”

“Just me? What about everyone else?”

“There is no one else,” I said. “In this universe, there’s just you, and me.”

You stared blankly at me. “But all the people on Earth…”

“All you. Different incarnations of you.”

“Wait. I’m everyone!?”

“Now you’re getting it.” I said, with a congratulatory slap on the back.

“I’m every human who ever lived?”

“Or who will ever live, yes.”

“I’m Abraham Lincoln?”

“And you’re John Wilkes Booth.” I added.

“I’m Hitler?” You said, appalled.

“And you’re the millions he killed.”

“I’m Jesus?”

“And you’re everyone who followed him.”

You fell silent.

“Every time you victimized someone,” I said, “You were victimizing yourself. Every act of kindness you’ve done, you’ve done to yourself. Every happy and sad moment ever experienced by any human was, or will be, experienced by you.”

“Why?” You asked me. “Why do all this?”

“Because someday, you will become like me. Because that’s what you are. You’re one of my kind. You’re my child.”

“Whoa.” You said, incredulous. “You mean I’m a god?”

“No. Not yet. You’re a fetus You’re still growing. Once you’ve lived every human life throughout all time, you will have grown enough to be born.”

“So the whole universe,” you said. “It’s just…”

“An egg of sorts.” I answered. “Now it’s time for you to move on to your next life.”

And I sent you on your way.

By Anonymous. Transcribed by Mac Davis for Philosophy Circle’s reading catalogue.

People Come and Go

By JP Chartier

sarasosa99@hotmail.com

I find myself in a new city inhabited by total strangers, where every passing face is unrecognizable to me and every unfamiliar road leads to an unknown destination.

I recently relocated to a place foreign to me, away from family and friends and favorite restaurants.

This is actually a feeling I’m quite familiar with, and one I enjoy immensely. Much of my existence has been nomadic in nature, giving me my gypsy disposition. It all started when I was just a child – my family moved around a lot and it seemed I was always the ‘new kid’ in school.

So here I am, in this obscure, not too far-away land for a much needed change, I stand ready for the next chapter in my life. I await my destiny.

While I was contemplating the imminent changes soon to become my reality, I couldn’t help but think of all the people that have come and gone in my life throughout the years. Of the thousands of people that have crossed paths with mine, most were gone in the blink of an eye, never to be seen or heard from again. But there are a special few who have hung around for an extended stay, leaving an indelible mark on my life, forever changing it in one way or another. And I am grateful for each and every one of them!

Our Job is to Find Out Why

It’s important we understand that the people in our lives are there for a specific reason, and it’s up to us to make the effort to find out what that purpose is. Some people are there to teach us an important lesson we need to learn, another may be there to help assist you through a difficulty, or a troublesome time, another may be in your life to provide you with guidance or support, and there will be those that will simply be there to serve as a warning for you.

It’s our job to welcome the lesson, to accept and love the person giving it, and to use the lesson learned to benefit our lives in some important way. When we welcome and accept the lesson someone is attempting to give us, we facilitate in one another a higher state of consciousness.

A Technique to Help You Out

There is a technique I learned from the late Richard Carlson that I use to help me deal with people, especially difficult people – and it works beautifully.

I want you to imagine all the people in your world are enlightened masters and completely aware of what they’re doing to you, and they’re doing it only to teach you something valuable. Your task is to figure out what.

If you think about it a true master won’t simply come out and tell you what he thinks you should know. He’s far too wise to say, “Always be considerate,” and expect that it will make you a considerate person. Instead, he’ll devise a lesson that challenges you to see if you know what to do.

This technique is a very empowering way to manage whatever life throws your way. The reason it works so well is because your mentality changes from that of a know-it-all, to that of a student.

If you respond to the behavior of others with the mindset of a student instead of a know-it-all, you will develop the habit of self-inquiry that will gradually replace your habit of condemning others for being less aware than you are.

It’s as easy as changing your perspective from “Why are they doing this?” to “What are they attempting to teach me?”

Give it a try and see how you feel when you pretend everyone is enlightened but you Grasshopper!

Is Life A Big Lie?

By JP Chartier

sarasosa99@hotmail.com

Are we living in a real world or is our existence just an elaborate illusion force-fed to us by our brains? We assume that all we encounter in our day-to-day lives is real, and all we see and experience is the same that everyone else is seeing and experiencing… But is it?

The theories that attempt to explain our reality are unquestionably bizarre and unfathomable! And I’ll touch on a few of these later in this article.

Science has uncovered some unbelievable facts about our mysterious existence and our fragile reality, and all the data seems to point to the fact that our life is no more than an intricate illusion. What this means is that everything you see, smell, touch, taste or hear is nothing more than a fabrication of your mind. This can be expanded to include society and all of its mind games too. This is some pretty spooky stuff when you realize that everything you thought was one way isn’t really that way at all.

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The Lie Starts with our Senses

We are only given a meager five senses in which to understand all of reality and to navigate our world, not much considering the complexity of our life. Our five sensory systems gather information and then interact with one another within our brain to fabricate a fictitious story to tell us, one which the whole of the world agrees to call reality. The problem is this reality is nowhere near a complete picture of what’s really going on.

Underneath our awareness other information floods into the brain as well, but much of it goes ignored because there is simply too much of it to process, so most of reality goes unnoticed by us. We mistakenly believe that when we look at something, we understand it, but we really don’t. The human animal was constructed to believe in this false reality manufactured by our senses.

The notion that some esoteric region of the brain see’s things that aren’t really there, and then constructs a movie to play back to us, complete with cartoon-like flesh-buggies (people) moving about and interacting with other cartoon-like flesh-buggies is beyond mind-boggling!

Reality isn’t defined solely by how you or I see the world, it’s something that WE all share. Everyone checks their observations against the observations of others to determine what reality is. Our society is tied together by these shared beliefs, as false as most of them are, to create an understanding of how reality really is, and we do this by interpreting what we learn and what we see etc.

We are all part of a community of minds, billions of them working together over thousands of years to create the world in which we now live. We as a people must believe the same things to have society work.

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At the smallest known level of reality, the subatomic world, particles like electrons don’t obey the laws of common sense. They obey the laws of quantum mechanics. An electron can appear as a particle or a wave, but never as both at the same time. We determine if it will be a particle or a wave by just looking at it! How crazy is that??

Some scientists believe that when you’re not looking at something, it isn’t there, it disappears! So the answer to the question: “If a tree falls out in the middle of the forest and no one is around, does it make a sound” is no, it doesn’t make a sound.

Things get even stranger when you hear some of the theories that are out there about what our reality might really be. I’ll just touch briefly on a few of them.

First, we have the “Holographic Principle,” which says that our three-dimensional world may actually only be a two-dimensional world. Everything we perceive as three-dimensional may in actuality be a holographic projection of two-dimensional images from a surface somewhere in the universe which creates the illusion of three dimensions.

Next, there are those that believe we may all be “living in a dream.” Think about this for a second… Are you really 100% sure that this morning when you woke up it wasn’t just a dream of you waking up? Pretty freaky huh? But the truth is you really don’t.

There is a very smart guy out there by the name of Jan Westerhoff who has even punched the numbers and come up with a 10 percent likelihood that you are at this very moment dreaming. Which means you could only be dreaming that you are reading this article.

While the two theories I talked about above are mind-blowing in and of themselves, there is another theory that I would like to share with you that in my opinion takes the subatomic cake! What if reality isn’t a dream or a holographic image but it’s a “computer simulation?”

Say what?!?

When I first heard this theory a while back my first reaction was to say “no way man, this can’t be!” However, after really giving this one some thought I can’t rightfully dismiss the possibility of the validity of some aspects of this theory.

Ok, so let’s look at this a bit closer.

In 200 years, when our computers are thousands of times more powerful than they are now, the chances that someone will write a program that mimics reality is almost certain and isn’t that far-fetched. You know someone would eventually do it. And if this program is written well, and enough attention to detail is strictly adhered to there would be no way we would know the difference, unless the programmers wrote that into the code.

Nick Bostrom, a British philosopher, put forth the notion that the universe we live in might in fact be a computer simulation run by our descendants. A super civilization of the future may have gone back in time using computer programs to see how we, their ancestors lived. He thinks that if this hasn’t happened by now, it must mean that humanity never evolved far enough to do so for whatever reason.

Computer simulation would theoretically make the programmers our gods! The code they write would determine our life situation, our loves, our hates, our ups and downs – everything.

Bostrom says the chances our world is a fake is around 5%. But it doesn’t really matter what the odds are, the fact that there is a chance at all means you can’t dismiss the possibility that your reality and everything in it is simulated. Or maybe our existence is played out on the end of a giant eraser, as my father playfully suggested to me once, and if God ever makes a mistake he would erase us all!

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Just live your life the best you can

The way I choose to look at this reality conundrum, is that it doesn’t really matter to me which theory, if any, turns out to be true. If this is all a dream or an elaborate computer simulated program, or if we live out our lives on the tip of a gigantic eraser the fact remains the same – I can still plan my life, my actions will still have consequences and causes will still have effects. So the mechanics of it all mean little. But it’s still awe-inspiring and a bit frightening to ponder wouldn’t you agree?

If life is a big lie, and we choose to buy in to the lie, and we don’t know the difference – then so be it! Let life be a liar.

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A cool video about computer simulated life:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/12/24/universe-computer-simulation_n_2339109.html

20 Questions to Ask Yourself

By JP Chartier

Sarasosa99@hotmail.com

How well do you know yourself? It’s surprising to find that very few people really know themselves. Socrates stated the importance of doing so more than 2,000 years ago when he famously said, “Know thyself.” You don’t get to know ‘thyself’ simply by growing up and growing old though, it takes a conscious effort – you do it with intention and purpose. I believe that getting to know yourself is one of the most important things you can do to improve the quality of your life.

How you choose to answer the following questions can influence and direct the path of your life. Your answers will show you specific areas in your life that need special attention. By placing attention on these specific areas you will understand what it means to be fully aligned and true to yourself. Understanding your answers will allow you to give the best to yourself, to others and to the things you find most important in life.

It has been said that your Inner Wisdom whispers while your Inner Critic yells, so it’s vital that you find a quiet place where you can ponder your answers.

Answering these 20 questions will help you to build a strong foundation on which you can build a happier, more fulfilling and satisfying life. So what are you waiting for?

1. What is your purpose in life?
2. What would it take for you to be perfectly happy?
3. What values give life meaning? Then list them in order of importance.
4. When you look over your life, where and when have you been the happiest? Where were you, with whom were you with and what were you doing?
5. What things (or pastimes, people, occupations) would you be better off letting go of?
6. What would you like to be focusing your energy on if you had any choices available to you?
7. How would you like each day to unfold?
8. What do you want your story to be after you die?
9. What makes you experience joy?
10. What energizes you?
11. What makes you feel balance?
12. What issues do you feel strongly about?
13. What character traits do you need to develop?
14. What skills do you want to master?
15. What characteristics keep you from success?
16. In what situations in your life, and with whom are you not perfectly happy? Think about your whole day from morning to night.
17. Do you enter into a situation expecting a negative outcome?
18. Is your life “on hold” for any reason? If so why?
19. If you were to rate yourself as a life manager, how would you rate?
20. Admit to yourself what needs to be changed in your life, are you bitter? Lazy? Angry?

To help you to get to know yourself better, here is a pretty cool personality test you can take in less than 15 minutes. http://www.personalitylab.org/tests/ccq_self.htm

Feel free to share in the comments below some things you feel can help someone on the path to self discovery.