Self Concious Non-Conformist

A long time ago I took a personality test which told me I was an INFP. After much pondering and reflection, I've re-diagnosed myself as a SCNC. That is, a non conformist but too self conscious to fully express my nonconformity.

Detached Awareness

From henceforth, I plan to be more conscious of my awareness. When is my mind on autopilot? When am I most perceptive? Hopefully by recognizing my level of detachment or attachment, I can learn to control them more voluntarily. I am thinking that by mentally detaching myself from daily physical abstractions, it will lead to more of a broad understanding of everything. Kind of like seeing the forest through the trees.

Love, Truth and Kindness

"Truth, Love and Kindness". My trinity.

Two Roads

The wanderer was becoming more conscious as he crept ahead in years and began to discern two roads before him...

The first was an interstate highway where mobs of like-minded travelers were swept along in a ceaseless cycle of struggle and survival in order to reach a vague destination purported to lie just around the next bend. He noticed that the road's obstacles helped produced confidently opinionated individuals who seemed to have all the answers but, only to unimportant and trivial questions. They reminded him of automatons as they offered unsolicited stories and advice regarding their experience along the way. But, to him, the stories they told rang hollow. Candy-coated in embellishments and superficiality, he found them void of hope and sustenance.

The second road was unpaved. Narrow sections of unkempt grass and ancient trees casting dark shadows offered little solace for companionship. Nevertheless, he could hear the lonely beauty of this path speak to his heart. He noticed the sporadic flow of individuals appeared weathered and weary on the outside, but had eyes that smiled revealing a quiet wisdom and contentedness. These travelers had stories too, but a disconnect with society destined most of them to take their experience to their graves.  Perhaps a lack of interest in exploring their depth or they were just unready to embrace the truth.

Trust in Karma

Life is rife with those lacking kindness and compassion. When someone of this nature, crosses your path, it is important to maintain composure. In doing so, you may discover they unwittingly leave behind compelling opportunities for strategic recourse. And it may seem like this vindictive reciprocation screams out as the most valid and destined solution. This is but a test. No matter how tempting the opportunity to retaliate may seem, it is nonetheless best to trust Karma to do the job for you.

Phenomena of the Mind?

When I was younger, I'd envision God as an wise, old magician-like guy with a long white beard. Now that I'm older, I sense anthropomorphizing God still prevails as the pre-eminent method of trying to understand and relate to "Him".

Even today there is a lot of debate on how best to describe God.  Most of this debate presumes some visual depiction or literal description.  But this academic approach of using facts or an appeal to common knowledge is the wrong vehicle to bring true understanding.  Labeling him with words or images and amassing an enviable factual knowledge only promotes a limited understanding -- it's akin to erecting a roadblock; not opening a doorway.

So, at the risk of dissenting with 95% of the human population, I have begun to think that perhaps the best way to understand God is to stop thinking of God.  Instead, try to start sensing and feeling Him as one with yourself.

The Irony Imperfection

Recognizing and reflecting on our imperfections helps advance us down the road toward perfection.  It is a painstaking never-ending road by design, but the alternative of ignoring imperfection leads you down the path of delusion.

Suffer the Delusion

Humans are rational, ego-driven creatures and it is natural for us to rationalize our actions and behaviors. But, unfortunately, our egos often sneak in and surreptitiously taint this process by disguising wrong as right or surreptitiously swapping truth for lies. I think a lifetime of habitually deluding oneself, is what causes so many old folks to cling to some wildly crazy, obsessive and irrational beliefs.

Therefore, from henceforth (before I too succumb), I vow to consciously increase my awareness of when I enter this "rationalization-mode". Through insightful and conscious intervention, I can then attempt to thwart the attempts of my mind to compromise the rationalization process.

Hopefully this will develop into a habit and the thoughts circulating my mind will remain free of such self-induced ignorance.

Freewill - A Definition

Freewill is the illusion that you control your destiny.

But a Test

From henceforth, I resolve to never let others' irrationally accusatory behavior spark a defensive or retaliatory response. I will respond to such acrimony with calm and indifferent apathy -- and a smile.

Thoughts Carve Perception

From henceforth, I will make a continuous effort to refine all thoughts and thinking to terms of undefined possibility. Worry and doubt will shrivel and starve and I will begin to see paths where none were unapparent before.

Possibility

"Every problem, dilemma and dead end we find ourselves facing in life, only appears insolvable inside a particular frame of mind or point of view. We must learn to break through the barriers of our assumptions."

- From the book, The Art of Possibility

Magnet for Pessimism?

I can't escape the sense that our nation's economic foundation is rotting beneath us. I find it hard to deny the feeling of impending crisis that is beginning to resonate with undeniable clarity. The message is gradually organizing itself in my brain like pieces to a puzzle. Its all fitting together reinforcing a sense of impending catastrophe.

I feel like a minority, but I'd rather be a realistic pessimist than an ignorant optimist.

All Insane

I am intrigued by the persistent disconnect some people have between reality and perception. Yesterday Bush admitted the economy had some "storm clouds" but persisted in stating that the economy is "sound". Today, on Kudlow, McCain mentioned essentially the same thing... that the economy is sound. Most television-economists insist the same thing.

They are all insane.

Unarticulated Knowledge

Human judgment and understanding are at their best when they are tempered by intuition. By maintaining an unfettered openness to social, political and cultural conditions we are able to enter a realm which evokes unsolicited glimpses of truth. Gradually you learn to trust these feelings as they tend to result in better decision-making than any amount of intellectual reasoning or logic.

A Humble Goal

From henceforth, I strive to rise above the mass of organisms whose restricted thought and limited insight provide no other purpose than to nourish their ego.

Faith Hypothesis

Faith is an elusive level of thought, so powerful, it prevails over reality in terms of certainty. In addition, there is a sense of energy and connectedness that surpasses anything reality can offer. You begin to understand the truth behind the saying that faith is the path to knowing God.

That is my goal. How to get there, I'm in the dark. But I am confident in one thing.  Religion does not have a monopoly on Faith.

Irrascible Puppets

There is an element of the population hindering the spread of love and kindness in the world. It is the responsibility of calm, collected people to yank their strings, thereby present them with opportunities to overcome their choleric disposition, shed their Pinocchio bodies and truly become human.

Trapped in a World of Minutiae

There is always more to the picture than what you realize. Don't let your thoughts remain trapped in a world of minutiae.

Limited Thinking

Its human nature to mentally attach limits to our endeavors. From henceforth, I will strive to be conscious of any limiting thoughts and dispense them from my thinking.