I have been mesmerized with the word pursue after the famous movie:
"pursuit of happiness"
The phrase originally comes form the United States Declaration of Independence, the complete phrase is:
"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness."
The pursuit of happiness is the right of a man, and it is his choice to take it up or not.
Today I read an article in Forbes about how leadership in its true nature is a pursuit and this is the determining factor that can make a leader out of you.
The ideology is that once you are in pursuit then you are a leader by nature, if one is in pursuit of excellence, happiness, change, discovery, innovation, fulfillment and any life quality goal then he will lead himself to wards it and those who wish to be lead along the way. If there be a single characteristic in a person to make him a leader that definitely is pursuing a value. The determination and passion of the seeker in his pursuit will make the prefect leader. Maybe this is why it is said, management skills can be thought and learned by practice but not leadership.
سفر
به کجا چنین شتابان؟
گون از نسیم پرسید
دل من گرفته زینجا , هوس سفر نداری؟
ز غبار این بیابان؟
همه آرزویم اما.... چه کنم که بسته پایم....
به کجا چنین شتابان؟
به هر آن کجا که باشد بجز این سرا سرایم
سفرت به خیر اما تو و دوستی خدا را
چو از این کویر وحشت به سلامتی گذشتی
به شکوفه ها به باران
Consciousness
What does it mean to be self-conscious? or preferably have "self-awareness"?
It sounds a bit religious or spiritual to a certain degree, we usually hear it from zen masters and the Buddhist in their pursuit of enlightenment. Somehow it is the path to enlightenment; the ultimate virtue to be attained on one's way to unity.
I have found self-awareness such a valuable practice in daily life, when I put it in a question form:
why am I doing what I am doing?
why I need love or caring?
why am I offended?
why does it matter anyway?
why am I defining myself?
the last question is the killing one, give me a single rational reason for the time and energy we put into defining ourselves for others. We give them detailed description of what we did, do and will do, along with how, when and where. Then our reasons behind it with full description of what we think and why we think like that. But why we do this?
For me, we always follow the prime rule of nature: "whatever we do or we are tempted to do has a biological survival reason behind it". With regard to self definition, I wonder maybe this automatic behavior is due to a need created by brain to communicate as brain cells sustain their liveliness by activities such as talking, communicating, and engagement in intellectually demanding activities. It is the optimum way to keep brain engaged without heavily loading it. Another analogy could be our lack of trust in others, in getting to know ourselves from their perspective. We want them to know us and see us from the angel we wish them to see, like those expert photographers that will make all the necessary settings on the camera and find the suitable angle and then ask you to just press the shoot button! voila, this is how I wish you to see me...
The natural need to talk and share ideas is one thing and the need to continuously define oneself is another. If this need is practiced without enough consideration, it can become a destructive habit! People will feel that you are talking too much about yourself, you are telling them how to think and feel about you and yet they do not see the image you wish them to see, and they start to distance themselves from you and become less interested to interact with you and this is the point you define yourself even more...
It sounds a bit religious or spiritual to a certain degree, we usually hear it from zen masters and the Buddhist in their pursuit of enlightenment. Somehow it is the path to enlightenment; the ultimate virtue to be attained on one's way to unity.
I have found self-awareness such a valuable practice in daily life, when I put it in a question form:
why am I doing what I am doing?
why I need love or caring?
why am I offended?
why does it matter anyway?
why am I defining myself?
the last question is the killing one, give me a single rational reason for the time and energy we put into defining ourselves for others. We give them detailed description of what we did, do and will do, along with how, when and where. Then our reasons behind it with full description of what we think and why we think like that. But why we do this?
For me, we always follow the prime rule of nature: "whatever we do or we are tempted to do has a biological survival reason behind it". With regard to self definition, I wonder maybe this automatic behavior is due to a need created by brain to communicate as brain cells sustain their liveliness by activities such as talking, communicating, and engagement in intellectually demanding activities. It is the optimum way to keep brain engaged without heavily loading it. Another analogy could be our lack of trust in others, in getting to know ourselves from their perspective. We want them to know us and see us from the angel we wish them to see, like those expert photographers that will make all the necessary settings on the camera and find the suitable angle and then ask you to just press the shoot button! voila, this is how I wish you to see me...
The natural need to talk and share ideas is one thing and the need to continuously define oneself is another. If this need is practiced without enough consideration, it can become a destructive habit! People will feel that you are talking too much about yourself, you are telling them how to think and feel about you and yet they do not see the image you wish them to see, and they start to distance themselves from you and become less interested to interact with you and this is the point you define yourself even more...
Recession 2011
When you are excused form your services in an office, which phrase will you use?
I was sacked!
I was discharged!
I was dismissed!
I was entrenched!
This lay off thing!
The recession again ...
What about the other party who is doing it, what phrase will they use to describe what they are doing? Actually they prefer not to talk about it! I assure you they will just keep silent about what is going on. How bad is it? use your imagination...
Just imagine what a daunting task a lay off can be, imagine you are asked to cross people's name in an employment list, imagine you are given the responsibility to stop someone's income with a single stroke of a pen, imagine you are trusted to choose who stays and who does not?
This is the third round in three years, and I have had enough of going through lists and wiping out people's name as if I am removing an item form a shopping cart; in recession times you clearly know that you are wiping out a pay cheque from a family's life altogether with little hope for a replacement pay cheque in short time!
I was sacked!
I was discharged!
I was dismissed!
I was entrenched!
This lay off thing!
The recession again ...
What about the other party who is doing it, what phrase will they use to describe what they are doing? Actually they prefer not to talk about it! I assure you they will just keep silent about what is going on. How bad is it? use your imagination...
Just imagine what a daunting task a lay off can be, imagine you are asked to cross people's name in an employment list, imagine you are given the responsibility to stop someone's income with a single stroke of a pen, imagine you are trusted to choose who stays and who does not?
This is the third round in three years, and I have had enough of going through lists and wiping out people's name as if I am removing an item form a shopping cart; in recession times you clearly know that you are wiping out a pay cheque from a family's life altogether with little hope for a replacement pay cheque in short time!
Passive Listener
A while back I decided to stop watching hollywood movies and I have been quite faithful to this vow except for few directors' works that nobody should miss same as I.
Anyhow, I believe Americans did the same thing to movie industry as they did to all other industries: INDUSTRIALIZE IT which is to provide all the means of making good money out of it, easily and risk-free. They have done a great deal of research and experiment to find all the themes and types of stories, plots, programs and shows that are favored by majority and can be easily sold; they have also laid the foundation for cheap production of such programs by making film industry look lucrative and appealing especially for youngsters, when there are many who will give anything just to be part of the game, then competition will be immense.
What is good about such competition? ask any business graduate for Porter's five forces and immediate answer will be: intensify competition to reduce cost, improve quality, and increase innovativeness in order to me most out of the industry. This is how Americans make money out of anything you may imagine and this is how they have successfully managed to make TV and movies industry a great money maker. In this equation we are the customers, the good old customers, we have made TV and movies an inseparable part of our lives. We just have comfortably changed into coach potatoes, whether at home or in a movie theatre!
Why I dare say this so bluntly? or actually why I believe in it so confidently?
Ask yourself when was the last time you made a good critique for a movie you spent two hours to watch! I specifically exclude the repetition of a specific dialogue or reciting of a scene or discussing the quality of cinematographic and artistic aspects. I am exclusively referring to intellectual, emotional and physical engagement similar to what we do in real life situations in order to be entertained, I am talking about the urge and effort we have in real life scenarios to contribute and be part of the activity. Compare this with passively sitting in the coach and watching a movie!
I can read your face: now this is ridiculous! It is not! I am not like this! Believe me, we have all turned into PASSIVE LISTENERS, we have lost our critical thinking and analysis skills; we just want to be entertained which is by all means is a good thing but by active engagement and participation in the process of being entertained rathe than passive listening with the perception that we are being entertained!
Vicky, Cristina, Barcelona
Can we take tri-some?
Can we give into none exclusive love?
Can we love someone who also has interested in someone else?
Can we make love to someone who is in love with someone else?
Can we have sex with him?
what is the extend to which we reserve the right to exclusivity?
100%, or 95%?
what specifically need to be exclusive, caress, look, flirt, touch, love making?
Do we change exclusivity domain over time?
Its coverage as well as depth?
Do we give in and accept none-exclusive relations, seeing we are not gonna get it anyway?
or Do we mature and realize that it does not really matter?
Isn't maturity all about being more realistic or say getting to know what is achievable and what is not?
Isn't it about being honest with oneself about possibilities and to stop day dreaming?
What kind of movies could put so many un-answered questions into my head but something by Woody Allen!
Don't ever emotionally mess up @work
Whatever you do, do not emotionally mess up with your boss, manger, subordinate, colleague...
Whoever it be, does not really matter, keep your love affair out! Out of the premises that money is made
Do not mess up with your boss, cause you never know if you are using him or liking him. You will never know is it a role you are playing or is it your true feeling, either of them you become vulnerable and exposed. Technically you can never love someone who always sits at the other side of the table and writes your KPI
Do not let your boss mess up with you, you will never know if he is using you or likes you! He might take your politeness and loyalty mask as attention and caring and then fall for you; at the end of the day, the boss gets what he wants, but you don't!
Devil of all: do not ever messup with your subordinate, a smart employee worth falling in love with, will be well quipped with all the necessary masks: politeness, loyalty, caring, attentiveness, respect, and dependability, the smarter the guy, the tougher it will be to tell the difference between his genuine feelings and masks he is wearing. Just stay away from subordinates
Whoever it be, does not really matter, keep your love affair out! Out of the premises that money is made
Do not mess up with your boss, cause you never know if you are using him or liking him. You will never know is it a role you are playing or is it your true feeling, either of them you become vulnerable and exposed. Technically you can never love someone who always sits at the other side of the table and writes your KPI
Do not let your boss mess up with you, you will never know if he is using you or likes you! He might take your politeness and loyalty mask as attention and caring and then fall for you; at the end of the day, the boss gets what he wants, but you don't!
Devil of all: do not ever messup with your subordinate, a smart employee worth falling in love with, will be well quipped with all the necessary masks: politeness, loyalty, caring, attentiveness, respect, and dependability, the smarter the guy, the tougher it will be to tell the difference between his genuine feelings and masks he is wearing. Just stay away from subordinates
Act of Life - Role play
Imagine roles we play throughout the day; we play role of cool romantic companion for our boyfriend, good girl for our mother. loyal and trustworthy employee for our boss, caring leader to our subordinates, reliable friend to our buddies, trustworthy citizen to our neighbors, ...
I think it is alright as long as we do not mix up one role with the other, somehow if we get to play either of the roles more seriously, say the roles we play at work or at home then we might be drawn completely into the role and tend to unite with it and stick to it for longer than we should.
Mother of all disasters is when we become the role, then the role and who we are become inseparable and life will be screwed as we live the life of an actor, that perhaps is not us at all, but one the masks we used to put on for one of the circumstances of life
Whatever you do, remember to play smart, play consciously and play joyfully, enjoy it the most, write your own screen play and play it, but do not play just for the sake of being on the scene.
Manhattan -Woody Allen
why is life worth living?
That's a very good question.
Well, there are certain things, I guess, that make it worthwhile.
Like what?
OK... for me...
Ooh, I would say Groucho Marx, to name one thing.
And Willie Mays.
And... the second movement of the Jupiter Symphony.
And... Louis Armstrong's recording of Potato Head Blues.
Swedish movies, naturally.
Sentimental Education by Flaubert.
Marlon Brando, Frank Sinatra.
Those incredible apples and pears by C?anne.
The crabs at Sam Wo's.
.
.
.
Tracy's face.
That's a very good question.
Well, there are certain things, I guess, that make it worthwhile.
Like what?
OK... for me...
Ooh, I would say Groucho Marx, to name one thing.
And Willie Mays.
And... the second movement of the Jupiter Symphony.
And... Louis Armstrong's recording of Potato Head Blues.
Swedish movies, naturally.
Sentimental Education by Flaubert.
Marlon Brando, Frank Sinatra.
Those incredible apples and pears by C?anne.
The crabs at Sam Wo's.
.
.
.
Tracy's face.
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