"That's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind."
Perhaps one of the greatest quotes in American history. Neil Armstrong will not be forgotten.
This quote, although iconic, has so much more meaning to what people credit it to. In fact, this quote is quite reminiscent of humanity in its entirety. When you sit back and reflect on what we as humans have accomplished, it can be monumentally disappointing. Out of all of the intuition we possess, we have been able to create some of the most evil and cruel concepts. We have the capacity to take away other human's lives, the ability to deceive and to break hearts, the mindset to cheat and steal and be so self centered that nothing else matters and a caste system is formed. Corruption has worked its way into humanity, ignorance and regret, ultimate sins that we all look back in retrospect that are simply evil. Even to think about the concept of war, fighting with another human being for a lost cause...the sorrow flows throughout the body even thinking about such tyranny.
But don't get me wrong. Humanity is awesome.
Look around. Look at what we have been able to accomplish with our ingenuity and our dedication. We have created a world that simply radiates with abundant accomplishment. We have forged great nations and have become a species like none other. As humans, we have so much talent, so much compassion and so much to live for, things that truly make humanity something to be proud of. We have harnessed the vastness of the universe, discovered the origins of our own existence, and simply accomplished the impossible. The human race has yet to uncover some of the most incredible things that our minds aren't even capable of trying to comprehend the unfathomable secrets that this unpredictable universe has to offer for us. Humanity has so much left for us to learn.
Keep leaping.
Sunday, August 26, 2012
Saturday, August 18, 2012
The Empty Room
I encourage you to try something.
Go into a secluded place. Your room perhaps, any place that enables meditation to occur. Make sure there is zero outside sound. Absolutely no sound at all. Close your eyes. What do you see? What do you hear? In fact, it is impossible to hear nothing. It is impossible to not create images within our subconscious that mimic what we portray the world around us to be. We hear the sounds that our brain wants us to hear, our feeble ears are not trained to deal with an absence of absolute sound. Our minds prohibit such an action. Instead, we are filled with what we think we hear, what we want to hear.
Emptiness is not what humanity is taught to transmit.
Yet, like an empty room, white walls surrounding you, nothing but you and your thoughts, I have felt emptiness. Something that disconnects me from the social norm and sparks a plethora of emotions from the depths of my mind. To be painfully presented with the images of what I desire, what I portray my life to be. It is similar to looking at a prized object through a window, in all of its esteemed glory, its beauty, the meaning it has within the chambers of your heart and mind, and you cannot have it, for what reason is up to circumstance. One of the most terrible human emotions to feel is regret. Knowing that one action could have resulted in something completely different, or perhaps not. No one knows.
This is what eats away at the mind.
This has driven me to the point of insanity, coupled with the figments of imagination that my brain spawns from silence and the sounds that soothe my ears when in actuality I hear nothing. Nothingness is the reality that I live in, where I cannot trust any perception to be reality nor falsified. Not even the concept of emptiness is safe from my own twisted perception, which is perhaps not twisted from my perspective, but maybe everyone else twists their perspective for myself, who knows at this point.
Perhaps I'm too far into emptiness.
Go into a secluded place. Your room perhaps, any place that enables meditation to occur. Make sure there is zero outside sound. Absolutely no sound at all. Close your eyes. What do you see? What do you hear? In fact, it is impossible to hear nothing. It is impossible to not create images within our subconscious that mimic what we portray the world around us to be. We hear the sounds that our brain wants us to hear, our feeble ears are not trained to deal with an absence of absolute sound. Our minds prohibit such an action. Instead, we are filled with what we think we hear, what we want to hear.
Emptiness is not what humanity is taught to transmit.
Yet, like an empty room, white walls surrounding you, nothing but you and your thoughts, I have felt emptiness. Something that disconnects me from the social norm and sparks a plethora of emotions from the depths of my mind. To be painfully presented with the images of what I desire, what I portray my life to be. It is similar to looking at a prized object through a window, in all of its esteemed glory, its beauty, the meaning it has within the chambers of your heart and mind, and you cannot have it, for what reason is up to circumstance. One of the most terrible human emotions to feel is regret. Knowing that one action could have resulted in something completely different, or perhaps not. No one knows.
This is what eats away at the mind.
This has driven me to the point of insanity, coupled with the figments of imagination that my brain spawns from silence and the sounds that soothe my ears when in actuality I hear nothing. Nothingness is the reality that I live in, where I cannot trust any perception to be reality nor falsified. Not even the concept of emptiness is safe from my own twisted perception, which is perhaps not twisted from my perspective, but maybe everyone else twists their perspective for myself, who knows at this point.
Perhaps I'm too far into emptiness.
Sunday, August 12, 2012
Commitment to Excellence
"We are what we repeatedly do. Therefore, excellence is not an act, but a habit."
This quote is often related to the teachings of Aristotle.
What influences the experience of excellence in human nature? Excellence, as we have established, is something more than just an action, rather a habitual trait. This must mean that we achieve excellence through experience, just as any other quality in life. To establish a passion that embeds itself into not only one event, but through our own lifestyle. It must start somewhere, and I believe that starts with a drive. Any sort of outside force, a motive that inspires an individual to pursue the desires that they set out for personally with a mentality that focus on the overall goal.
This transgresses into an eventual enlightenment of the situation through experience.
This passion is what leads us to achieving excellence in our lifestyle, but what defines excellence in itself? There is no true way to define a standard of excellence, once more this is all based on perspective of the individual. But in the mindset of an individual, there should be some sort of standard that enables someone to excel in everything that is done. To know what needs to be done, to understand that though passionate pursuit comes the reward of satisfaction, a sensation that surmounts to none other, and without diligence and dedication, cannot truly be achieved. Excellence is only derived from the blood, the sweat, the tears that are produced by one who truly is willing to dedicate themselves to reach their ultimate goal, and beyond.
Commit yourself to excellence. Not only in what you do, in what you are.
This quote is often related to the teachings of Aristotle.
What influences the experience of excellence in human nature? Excellence, as we have established, is something more than just an action, rather a habitual trait. This must mean that we achieve excellence through experience, just as any other quality in life. To establish a passion that embeds itself into not only one event, but through our own lifestyle. It must start somewhere, and I believe that starts with a drive. Any sort of outside force, a motive that inspires an individual to pursue the desires that they set out for personally with a mentality that focus on the overall goal.
This transgresses into an eventual enlightenment of the situation through experience.
This passion is what leads us to achieving excellence in our lifestyle, but what defines excellence in itself? There is no true way to define a standard of excellence, once more this is all based on perspective of the individual. But in the mindset of an individual, there should be some sort of standard that enables someone to excel in everything that is done. To know what needs to be done, to understand that though passionate pursuit comes the reward of satisfaction, a sensation that surmounts to none other, and without diligence and dedication, cannot truly be achieved. Excellence is only derived from the blood, the sweat, the tears that are produced by one who truly is willing to dedicate themselves to reach their ultimate goal, and beyond.
Commit yourself to excellence. Not only in what you do, in what you are.
Friday, August 03, 2012
Smile
When I was 5 years old, my mother always told me that happiness was the key to life. When I went to school, they asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up. I wrote down 'happy'. They told me I didn't understand the assignment, and I told them they didn't understand life.
That is a quote from John Lennon.
I read this quote, and recently I have been dealing with a lot of human ignorance. I sat down for a bit and really delved into the topic of happiness, and how it associates itself into our lives. Yet as I have discovered before, there is a lot that stands in the way of reaching personal happiness and enlightenment, both internally and externally. One of the strongest external forces that prohibits happiness is ignorance, in oneself and in others. Consider this: ignorance is often claimed in spite. However, ignorance is a tool that works both ways. Are those who claim others are ignorant just as ignorant as the accused? It's a lot to take in. But perhaps, it is indeed true.
But why be ignorant?
Ignorance is defined as a lack of knowledge or information, but what information is there to be lacking in? That of the accused, the other side that is so harshly judged by he who claims ignorance. A big part of life, at least to me, is tolerance. Learning how to accept things from other points of view and setting aside your point of view in order to understand others who feel differently about an issue. Isn't that how we all get along? I related that to the quote, how people defined Lennon's statement, how they were ignorant to what he was trying to say, that happiness is the key to life. What reason is there to be ignorant? Ignorant is only a method of stubborn nature, to claim that one belief is higher than another. That certainly isn't untrue, it only prohibits the progression of life. Happiness.
Just smile. It's what John would have wanted.
That is a quote from John Lennon.
I read this quote, and recently I have been dealing with a lot of human ignorance. I sat down for a bit and really delved into the topic of happiness, and how it associates itself into our lives. Yet as I have discovered before, there is a lot that stands in the way of reaching personal happiness and enlightenment, both internally and externally. One of the strongest external forces that prohibits happiness is ignorance, in oneself and in others. Consider this: ignorance is often claimed in spite. However, ignorance is a tool that works both ways. Are those who claim others are ignorant just as ignorant as the accused? It's a lot to take in. But perhaps, it is indeed true.
But why be ignorant?
Ignorance is defined as a lack of knowledge or information, but what information is there to be lacking in? That of the accused, the other side that is so harshly judged by he who claims ignorance. A big part of life, at least to me, is tolerance. Learning how to accept things from other points of view and setting aside your point of view in order to understand others who feel differently about an issue. Isn't that how we all get along? I related that to the quote, how people defined Lennon's statement, how they were ignorant to what he was trying to say, that happiness is the key to life. What reason is there to be ignorant? Ignorant is only a method of stubborn nature, to claim that one belief is higher than another. That certainly isn't untrue, it only prohibits the progression of life. Happiness.
Just smile. It's what John would have wanted.
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