You did.
If you don't mind I will not quote you in this reply, not in full anyways. It saves scrolling time, mouse/hand wear&tear, energy and by doing all that I firmly believe I saved a kitten somewhere too.
Personally, I found that if I need to explain something more than twice or so my audience is not ready for the message. It is like forcing people to listen and there is a huge difference between teaching and imposing. The uneducated but eager to learn can be a exception to this, some need to have things explained to them in a multitude of ways and could need multiple teachers to educate them.
I admit to editing it a bit but I learned that little gem on a site I am not allowed to mention on this forum and if it was allowed I would have an avalanche of replies telling me it can't be so. Just like with Wagner, many people seem to think you can't be a genius because you don't like strawberries. One aspect defines the whole to them.
Also, a lot of people like to repeat without thinking about what it is they are repeating...
When saying I don't worry about my ego I don't mean I let it run freely. I acknowledge negativity and find it useful in some ways but I wonder why I have those feelings. Then, I analyze and figure out if it is useful, and why.
People can tell you smoking is a bad habit but without actually understanding what it does to you it will be harder to just say no. A bad metaphor but what I am trying to say is you can't really change your behavior without understanding why you should and be genuinely convinced it is the path you wish to take. If not, it is like saying sorry because Mum told ya.
A better way could perhaps be the core value you find all over the globe: "Don't do onto others what you don't wish upon yourself."
The funny part about this though is that the more you understand yourself, the more you understand others. But again, this is a personal opinion. The hard part to it is that changing people is impossible if they don't see the error of their ways and that can be extremely frustrating...
Almost all wise people that have put some thought in about life and how to improve it will tell you to let go of your ego and they are right. The thing that is not always so clear is how you should accomplish that, how to get the understanding that most of what people worry about is totally pointless. (fame, power, pat on the back, money etc etc) Just saying no is not my path.
I will, I will, let the words form sentences that can explain our deepest thoughts and let the stormy weather make them fall down on earth, so that we information-hybrids of human beings can discover them, look at them and then interpret them. Lets see if all of us information-hybrids is standing at the end of the same road, when the war has been faught, and think that "my answer is the right one". As I stood there I realized that, none of us were right. All of our answers and interpretations were right. Because as long as it gave value and meaning to our life, it was correct. In all greatness I think that we should embrace this kind of thinking, and stop trying to make every other info-hybrid believe in OUR cause. And instead try to get a broader perspective on things, and see if we could learn a thing or two from our fellow thinkers.
While I agree with this as you might have gathered from the above, the thing that bugs me is it is stated so poetically and with its own dictionary it makes it hard to understand. Concerning this I agree with Albert Einstein who said that if someone can't explain the most complex topic in simple terms he doesn't understand the topic himself.
The problem with most guru's today is they seem to need their own dictionary with words like grounding, inner ego, alter ego, true self and more of those terms that have no real meaning. It just makes it sound profound and with that people start to believe it, even if they shouldn't. You will see it happening everywhere though, in fact it is even part of a proven sales tactic. (create inner circle of people "in the know" to then rob 'm blind.)
But again, that is an opinion.
I love the "aha" moments.
Still, when analyzing them I found it is mostly the latter part you said that does it for me: It finally sunk in what others have said. With over 12.000 years of knowledge it seems a lot of things have been mentioned by others too.
I can only claim to have found out about one thing on my own and this because of age. I didn't know the things at age six that I know today.
The thing I taught myself, through experience I have to admit, is that: Violence is pointless, you can force people to do as you wish but they will ignore you the first chance they get, even hate you for imposing your rules upon them. It is better to make them understand why they should do as you want them to do. That way they will continue to do it in your absence and even thank you for teaching them...
I hope you will forgive me for not replying in full to all you wrote and am honored you feel my thoughts are worth storing.
Please do and spread them as you like. If there is a copyright that applies it would be the open source license.
Anyways, this forum is about IM, not the meaning of life. lol
Learning about IM, while helping others when I can, that is my purpose here. If you want to teach me about IM I am very open to suggestions and am looking forward to your first guide.
Right: Time for coffee.
