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A new phenomenon that arises from our insatiable appetites is the sense of entitlement; now everyone thinks they deserve to be a winner.
Those of us who aren’t on the brink of starvation or elimination or living in squalor are condemned to a life of worrying about trivia.
It all went wrong when some deluded optimist wrote the words, ‘All men are created equal’.
Uncertainty is our biggest fear so we keep up the idea that our vision of the world is reality. We use our minds to construct a picture of the world, judging it, making sure it fits with our past image of things and then anticipating how our past behaviours might affect the future. We never see the world as it really is but only how we see it. And because we’re trapped in our own interpretation, we are prepared to go to war with other people caught in their view of reality – and never the twain shall meet. All this is the sound of people embedded in their own lives, believing their reality is
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We have to try to see what other people see, through their eyes, only then can we come up with some cohesive resolution.
If you don’t think of yourself as special no one else does either.
This mish mash of three brains, called the lizard-squirrel-monkey brain, all trying to function at once is one reason why we’re nuts. This is why there are women who read Heidegger but also want to screw the plumber.
‘Man was built for survival, not for happiness’. Sorry to be the bearer of bad news but our pets are happier than us. So cats, happy happy. Dogs, happy happy. Human beings, screwed. Completely screwed.
The routine practices of mindfulness and physical exercise are the most effective ways to a better life but most of us would do anything to avoid them.
Focused attention builds up grey matter in the brain, which increases the ability to remember, attend, inhibit and execute actions, no matter what age you are.
Many people use exercise to try to literally run away from their uncomfortable emotions or thoughts. Out they jump at 5 a.m. and do whatever they have to do to cut themselves off from their voices.
The bottom line is that you have to exercise your brain as much as you do your body.
It’s the mental training of attention, not pure physical training that increases memory and learning capabilities.
