Stoicism and Job hunting

It can happen to any of us. That sudden meeting you are called into without notice, or in my case a teams invitation from Human Resources seemingly out of the blue. Except it wasn’t. My former employer gave the employees and program offices plenty of notice, that force reductions were in progress. Although a bit hurtful when my turn came, it was not really surprising to hear what no one wants to hear….we are downsizing and your position is being eliminated.

I put in 22 years with my former employer and that kind of longevity is now unheard of in the work world. A relic of the past where you did your 20 years and got the “gold watch” and retired. I picked a black one on my 20th anniversary, just because I like the color black. I consider it an accomplishment that I managed to do so well for so long. But now it is time to move on.

For some that is going to cause a lot of fear and uncertainty, but it doesn’t have to.

The Stoic Seneca is wrote: “We suffer more in imagination than in reality.” There is a lot of wisdom in that one sentence. Another way of looking at it is; suffering is optional. Losing a job can be a somewhat like losing some someone you care about. Putting effort into a career especially a long career and then losing it is going to challenge you in ways you may not be prepared for. However there is hope even in the worst of situations.

I suggest you take some time in between your job searches, resume building and polishing, interviews and the like to read the Stoic masters such as Marcus Aurelius, Seneca, and Epictetus. These men went through hell and used the philosophy of Stoicism to get them through the worst that life can bring to us. These men endured wars, pandemics, losing loved ones to disease and in Seneca’s case, slavery. Far worse than losing your job don’t you think?

Perspective. Things may be looking bleak, but just how much of that is in your head? Have you taken stock of what you can do in your individual circumstances? Or like many people right now in the midst of a world wide pandemic, are you sitting at home frustrated that you were “kicked to the curb” by a company that you did so much for?

You have realize that what happened isn’t personal, it’s business. There are other things for you to do, other employers and opportunities. But you have to do the work, and in order to do that work, your attitude can’t be that of a victim. Stoicism will help you tremendously if you not only read it but internalize this practical way of thinking.

I will conclude this post from The Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius: You have power over your mind – not outside events. Realize this, and you will find strength.

Be well,

JP

Form

What form will I take in the next life? What kind of person will I be? A lawyer, thief, soldier or maybe a farmer, addict or killer.

Thinking that you have been more in another life than you are in this life, are the thoughts of a fool. All that is, moves and changes constantly as its soulful journey fuels the artwork that is creation itself. You are the unique and authentic expression of life.

The power of the universe resides in each one of us whether we be animal, plant, rock or beast. It is from the same Earth that we spring forth, a feminine cradle of life that flows in each of us; a river flowing throughout time and space, life its companion.

Tread lightly, not only for the land but for yourself. The generations to come depend on the imprint we leave behind us, be it a paradise or a garbage dump.

Harm none, revere life of all kinds, make choices that matter for those that await. Be at peace, first within your own soul, reaching out only when ready to engage the flow.

Evolution of thought and deed, progress in the change that this world needs. Endless chatter yields to the calm for it has no choice but to keep moving to the cycles set forth by God, Nature, you pick your label.

Fortune lies not in money or some such trivial pursuit, but in the experiences that make us who we are, be it a lawyer, thief, soldier or maybe a farmer, addict or killer.

JP ~ August 2015

There is no fate

There is no fate but what we make for ourselves. As hard as it is for some to hear, it is just that simple. We control our fate. The small choices that we make everyday that end up compiling into the larger choices in the long run determine our destiny.

There are no cosmic forces to balance the scales of what you do or do not do. The Universe doesn’t care if you are a good person or a bad person. Fate is what fate is. Or more precisely, your fate in the end is what you make it.

I know you may be thinking that this all sounds fatalistic, but is it really? I find it empowering to know that I am in complete control of my choices. When to get up, when to go to bed, how to take care of my health and how to treat others, and how I want to be treated, are all choices that determine our “fate” in the long run.

Giving your personal power away to the “fates” is simplistic and lazy. You are in control of your attitude, actions and choices, no one else. Giving yourself permission to try something new, to fail,  or to succeed are all actions that will lead to a much better outcome for you in the end.

Failure is not final, it is a learning experience. Failure is finding out who you really are. Failure is good, for if you never failed it would be an indicator that life is too easy. When life is easy we become passive, soft and ineffectual.

So many of us go through life with blinders on, not planning more than to the next meal time or when the next television show comes on. We forget that our time here is limited and then end up at the mercy of others decisions and actions, all the while decrying how unfair life has treated us. Fate is something that we determine, not God(s) or any outside forces.

No one owes you anything. Decide now to stop being a victim, set boundaries and learn to say NO to those who would waste your precious time. Your life and fate are in the hands of the person most qualified to determine what is best for you….and that is you.

You must show up for life though gentle reader, no one else is going to fix this for you. That is your power to determine your “fate”, get up, show up and make positive decision every single day. It matters not how old you are or what you have been through.

Every single day starts anew, each time you awaken you are presented with a choice. I have talked enough. Go change your fate, you have the power. Exercise your sovereign right as a human being and move forward in a positive direction.

~JP~

Why do you do it

Why do you do what you do? It is for yourself? It is it for others? Is it for your boss or employer? Have you ever asked yourself, as I am sure that many of us have….why the hell am I doing this?

It is a valid question, a question that you should ask yourself from time to time always being mindful of the encroachment of ego into your answers. If  the answer to the question is from the ego, it may look something like this; “because no one else can do it better than me”

Rubbish. Anyone can be replaced, it happens everyday.

If you answer the question to from non-egotistic state of mind, it may resemble something akin to this; “The effort is enough and I am not attached to the outcome”.

Better. However; the honesty in this answer takes a lot more thought and effort to be true.

Just how much of what we do is ego driven? I would say a most of it, because ego has a way of inflating our self-importance when we don’t put it in check. Everything we do affects something or someone else, once that activity or work is out in the world, we no longer hold sway over it. It can be critiqued or criticized, there is nothing we can do about that.

Let’s say you have a project or a process at work that you worked on really hard for a long period of time and it happens to turn out really well. But your employer doesn’t give you the “positive” feedback that you expected. Do you get angry and rant to your boss that you worked really hard on said project? Do you even go so far as to “demand” that you should be recognized and “hint” that maybe you should get a bonus or a raise for your “extra” efforts?

That my friends is ego talking loud and clear. I challenge you to look at this simple example from a different angle. Approach it as a source of personal pride in your own ability to do a good job, to overcome adversity, to teach and to learn…but more importantly as an opportunity to NOT BE ATTACHED TO AN OUTCOME. Look at your struggle from the perspective of “the effort was enough”.

I’m sorry/not sorry to say this to anyone who may read this who still thinks that others owe you, simply because you try. As Depak Chopra once said on national television, “The Universe doesn’t care”.  Life does not care if you are having a bad day. Life doesn’t care if you are in financial straits. Life doesn’t care if you are having problems with your wife or husband. “The Universe doesn’t care”

Harsh but it is the way it is. In order to manage this paradigm successfully you must change your mindset. If not, you risk being or continuing to be a victim. If you do your best and you accomplish the task at hand, then let that be enough. Let go of the outcome. Sometimes you will fail. A quote by the fictional character Jean Luc Picard from the television show Star Trek The Next Generation is precisely what I am getting at here, “Sometimes you can do everything right and still lose, that’s life”.

The difference between being a victor or a victim is mostly a change in perspective and attitude. Change the things you can, and if you can’t then let it be. Life isn’t fair. Why would you make it worse by trying to change things you cannot? Ego. Check your ego at the door folks, it just makes things worse. Sometimes all of the “wanting” and “needing” in the world isn’t going to change anything.

Let your effort be enough.

 

~JP~

Stop complicating everything

Humans have a very bad habit. We take the simple and make it complicated. An example that I find humorous, speaking on the subject of simplicity, is a quote that has been attributed to Thoreau….. Henry David Thoreau, once wrote to his teacher, Ralph Waldo Emerson…. “Simplify, simplify, simplify.” Emerson wrote back, “Don’t you think one ‘simplify’ is enough”?

This statement illustrates my point. We make everything in our lives too complicated. We complicate our jobs, our homes and relationships, not to mention our interactions with others. Human intercommunication until the last few years been a mostly verbal (phone calls) or face to face encounters.

In the 20th and 21st century’s we have text, email, Facebook, Instagram, Snap chat, the list goes on and on. All wonderful time-saving ways to disseminate information. However; in this dizzying variety of technology that allows us to communicate to thousands instantly, we have lost the human element of just simply talking to each other.

I as much as anyone am guilty of having sent a text or email that wasn’t really what I wanted to say. The delivery not as well stated as it needed to be, because I hurried through the thought and writing process that honest communication takes. In the end I have hurt those that I care about the most. Simply due to the fact I didn’t have the conversation, but instead sent an electronic communication. I did not take into account how my words might impact another person before hitting the send button.

Funny as it sounds complicating things is simple. It is frankly too easy to over think a problem and then go to the internet and find 15 solutions to that problem. When admittedly a few minutes of contemplation or verbal/face to face communication with another person, may really be the answer. At the very least you can get going in the right direction.

Restraint demands that we slow down. Slowing our minds and bodies and taking our eyes off of a screen such as your phone, computer, T.V. and allowing ideas and solutions to come from our inner-selves, our innate intelligence. A walk in nature is a great way slow the “monkey brain” down, allowing the real you to come forth.

The next time you feel stressed and emotional, hit your “pause button” and try not to find a solution right away. Sit with your emotions for a while and ask yourself questions. Inquiry’s such as “How am I going to deal with this?” and “What are the impacts on others if I enact this solution”? Listen to your own inner wisdom. The answers will come to you in due time. Trust yourself and don’t over complicate the answers you receive. Then you may act not from emotion but from wisdom. It’s that “simple”.

 

~JP~

 

The State of Affairs

I’m not one to publicly post anything about politics but this time I think I will make an exception. For the last two years I have watched the war or words, false stories, anger, protest and physical abuse of people exercising their first amendment rights go on. Yet I have said nothing of my opinion, but only to my wife and co-workers.

I will state upfront for anyone who reads this. I am a conservative and I did vote for President Trump. Do I like everything that he has done? Have I agreed with some of his personal behavior and the way he speaks to others? No.

That being said, I am one that always looks for results. Our economy is better than it has been since President Reagan was in office, the stock market is doing well and there are more jobs available for anyone who wants to work. To me those are results that speak for themselves.

Regardless of your political leanings one way or the other, ask yourself a question. Are you doing better financially than you were even two years ago? If not maybe you haven’t taken advantage of some of the benefits of a growing economy. Remember no political figure (notice I did not say leader) has all the answers and is not going to make 100% of the people happy 100% of the time. They are people just like you and me, with their own agendas. That agenda is not always what is stated to the constituents and voters at primary and general election times. Sad but true and shown to be the case again and again over time.

Trends are what matters and that is why we have elections. If you don’t like a political figure you can vote them out of office and elect the person who you think will do a better job. What a wonderful system a representative republic is! Try that in a communist, fascist or socialist system and you may lose something important, like your life.

Each of us must look into our hearts and decide for ourselves where we want our county to go. Each vote matters and I suggest that you read about history, not only American history but World history as well. Look for trends, which civilizations failed, and why? Which societies thrived and still thrive, and why? What are the reasons and how did the people of those nations influence the outcomes? What factors matter?

I think it is safe to say that extreme views such as communism, fascism and socialism have failed over and over again. Why? Because they don’t take into account the individual citizen and their worth, other than being a tool of the state. Don’t believe me? Pick up a book from your local library, Amazon etc, and read, not just one book but many. Extreme views always fail. Always.

The world is wondrous place that consists of more than just the United States of America. Americas actions by our political figures have an impact on the rest of the world. Every nation including the United States of America has the right to defend its own borders. Every nation has the right to set its own policies. Every nation has the right to defend itself from outside influence or attack. This is what is known as nation sovereignty.

Take some time to read, and to think without the influence of angry voices on the TV, internet and radio. Decide for yourself what kind of people you want in your local, regional and national offices. Which way do you want history to go? You do have a say, a say that many Americans seem to forget they have, a right that was and is soaked in the blood of those who would defend it.

Manipulation

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“There is nothing outside of yourself that can ever enable you to get better, stronger, richer, quicker or smarter. Everything is within. Everything exists. Seek nothing outside of yourself.”

 

~ Miyamoto Musashi ~

 

The modern life with all of its wisdom as wonderful as it can be at times is hollow. Advertising agencies, government, public institutions and the like would have you believe that you have to seek all of your answers and information from them. When you seek “your” truth by looking outside of self (heart-self), you become a volunteer (notice I did not say victim), nay a willing participant in manipulation and hypnosis.

Notice how you feel after watching a television commercial. Do you want what they are advertising? Are you hungry after that burger commercial? Are you feeling a sense of discontent? Do the words or images go through your mind like a song stuck in your head? Congratulations! The advertisers of said product have hooked you. They manipulated your attention; put you into a suggestable state of mind with a catchy tune and bright flashy colors, and you never even noticed.

 

Now imagine if you will a young child maybe 2-4 years old. That young child is still developing mentally as well as physically. A precious child, which we as parents unknowingly throw to the wolves of consumerism every time we let them watch television or go on the internet without supervision.  That young child will be bombarded by thousands of advertisements and influences blasting through our televisions until they are adults. All the while a lesson is being taught…consume.

 

Manipulation comes from outside of us and television and the internet are just two of the newest and sadly most effective ways to influence and manipulate the masses. Stop participating in the manipulation of your life. Stop believing everything that you are told without thought. Stop looking to politicians to fix your problems. Wake up! The politicians and media want you to stay asleep; that way the manipulation is easier and you feel nothing.

 

You are the only one that can change your life, by work, by struggle; by thought and deep consideration of what is “your” truth and what it means to you. Seek nothing outside of yourself.

 

JP

 

 

Alone with the rocks

Alone with the rocks.

Sitting on the rocks at the end of his days, the only feeling left to him was abandonment.

His children had long ago left him behind. Believing their mothers lies about his life.

The time passed and hardened the old man into a rock, very much like the ones that he sat on now.

Rocks know nothing of pain and loss, or do they?

They have seen every kind of creature that this world could make and the rise of civilizations… their fall as well.

Reflecting on his life, he did feel like a stone, heavy, burdened and ready to sink into the Earth, to be received by the mother. To rest.

The feelings of what others think of him had long ago been overcome, the echoes of that song a mist.

What matter is it to a rock? Rocks have their brothers and sisters and the Earth mother for company.

I have not one person left that I can trust, to share or to talk to he thought.

It was then at his lowest point he realized that his presence is no longer needed here.

I have served my purpose here. Nothing left to do but to wait for the Earth to rotate into the lonely darkness.

As the shadows grow longer, I will wait here sitting alone with my friends the rocks.

They will tell me what I should do.

Lost

Lost in a sea of doubt. Unsure of my next move.

The world so fearful, so dangerous, so out of the groove.

The media pushes fear, rage and our hopes are dashed like waves crashing against the rocks.

Once protectors, now our seeming oppressors, a tool of the desperate state…the cops.

Safety is an illusion it has been said. It is just as true today as in the past.

We are only as safe as we can make ourselves, to no avail at times.

For the worst of us keep committing crimes. They care not for you, but what they can take.

Train and arm yourself, to keep your family and home safe.

Give up the fantasy my friends, safety is never guaranteed.

Learn to use the gun, the knife, they are tools that you will need.

Success and Failure

Success is just failing over and over again, until you succeed. ~ JP ~

Let’s face it. No one likes to fail. In fact failure in western society is looked down upon with disdain. We are taught from an early age that we should do certain things in life to “succeed”, examples of this are that we should go to school and get good grades moving from grade to grade getting ever more “successful.”

Success in our culture means winning. Losing is not even a thought amongst most of us, because losing is failure. Failure is painful because most of us have been trained from a very early age to believe that failure is bad, that failure is to be avoided at all costs.

We have been lied to by our parents, teachers, employers and society.  It really isn’t their fault though, the “failure is a bad thing” mentality was taught to them from their parents, teachers, employers and society, and
so it was passed on to us like a virus. Failure is not a bad thing and with the right mindset “failures” can be a launching pad for further reflection and subsequent course changes in our life.

Failing must be looked at with an eye towards change instead of an end game. We all fail, every single day. Everyday millions of people beat themselves up for not doing something the “right” way.  The Greek philosopher Socrates has been attributed with the quote, “The unexamined life is not worth living.”

I agree. When we do or don’t do something and then feel like we have failed, instead of berating ourselves we should take Socrates advice and examine our actions with an dispassionate observer’s point of view. Examining and thinking through actions/inactions will help in discovering the real reasons for the supposed failure.

Failure is only as permanent as we let it be. Failure is a teaching tool, a moment in time and should be dwelled on it order to grow and change, but not to wallow in. The next time you feel like you have failed yourself or another, give yourself the space to step back and realize that you are human and that it happens to everyone. Failure can defeat you or propel you onto bigger and better things with the mindset of self-forgiveness and inner reflection.

Go out into the world and fail big! Success however you define it is always built on the ruins of failure. Always.

JP