If I offend, I am sorry.
If I bring awareness, I am glad.
If I seem angry, I am not.
Personally, there are two choices for me in living life.
1. Apathetic life.
The life of apathy is one that is uninspired by virtue, and content with mediocrity. It means taking the road most traveled filled with compulsive anxieties and fixations that are directed by biology, societal patterns, and habits that enslave us to follow our emotions irrespective of how inappropriate, destructive, or self serving as they may be.
If the masses follow…then so be it.
2. Passionate life.
To live the passionate life is to intensely move forward on the road less traveled with intention and resolve. It is demanding consistency in what you profess, and continuity with what you do. It is not leading by example so that others will admire you…It is leading by example because you can’t imagine living any other way. The passionate life will often seem aggressive or pessimistic by traditional standards…but that is only because traditional standards cannot hold up to the unyielding expectations that passionate people demand, and expect, in “every” area of their lives.
If the masses are uncomfortable by it…then so be it.
Now you may say that there is a way to be both…But I would propose that passion with apathy is like fire with ice…eventually the fire will melt the ice that puts out the flame and creates luke warm water. You either are... or you are not.
"I prefer to be true to myself, even at the hazard of incurring the ridicule of others, rather than to be false, and to incur my own abhorrence... "
Frederick Douglass
I am of the opinion that my life belongs to the whole community and as long as I live it is my privilege to do for it whatever I can. I want to be thoroughly used up when I die. For the harder I work the more I live. I rejoice in life for its own sake. Life is no brief candle to me. It’s a sort of splendid torch which I’ve got to hold up for the moment and I want to make it burn as brightly as possible before handing it on to future generations”
George Bernard Shaw
7 comments:
"Far better it is tod are mighty things than to take rank with those poor, timid sould who know neither victory or defeat..." TR, 1899
"Defeat in this world is no disgrace if you fought well and fought for the right thing." Katherine Ann Porter
"When it comes time to die, be sure that all you have to do is die." Jim Eliot, 1956
and you may like this last one best:
“A soldier surrounded by enemies, if he is to cut his way out, needs to combine a strong desire for living with a strange carelessness about dying. He must not merely wait for death, for them he will be a suicide and will not escape. He must not merely cling to life, for then he will be a coward, and will not escape., He must seek out his life in a spirit of furious indifference to it: he must desire life like water and yet drink death like wine.”
GK Chesterton, Orthodoxy
Thank you so much for the quotes...I will add to my list!
I really like that last quote, Chris. I believe that to be very true.
And Kelly, I like what you said very much, as well. Although I do believe there can be a lot more to beating the apathetic life you described, for some people. Depending on the way a person is raised and taught to function, it can be increasingly difficult to move past their own anxieties, patterns, and habits--due to how long they were told otherwise, or forced to do the wrong things. Or the lack of any structure in their early developmental years. But I completely agree that a person's success towards living a passionate and healthy life depends on them finding their way to beat those destructive patterns. And each person's way may be different or need a different approach. But regardless of how, I too think one can only succeed by finding their method of maintaining their own healthy motivations and keeping that resolve. I believe for most this means living the life they profess, and know to be right. What I have seen from you, you do this very well. I've respected that unbelievably since we met. I can personally say that it has motivated me to be more like this, seeing that although most don't live the way they tell others to--their are inspirational people who do and can. I think that is the largest thing we can do for our clients. To show them that although the masses take a more destructive or apathetic path they've already shown to know is wrong, there are those out here who have found a way to achieve the strength needed and want to help others achieve the same. Thanks for emailing me this one!
Hello Chris,
I’m not sure we ever beat the apathetic tendencies…we just learn how to control them. Let’s face it; it would be much easier to just go with the flow. (I’m sure I have done this a time or two)
And I agree that we each come from different beginnings that can make change very difficult. (I plan on telling my own personal journey)
But change can occur.
I would somewhat disagree with us "all needing a different approach." I would contend (actually Dr. Phil would) that you can’t change what you do not acknowledge. I believe honest dialogue is the first and most important step in our journey for change. (i.e. introspection)
“Self awareness precedes self transformation”
My purpose in writing these blogs is to bring awareness (consciousness-raising) to the consequences that accompany impulsive behaviors. That is the basic objective of psychoanalysis…”to make the unconscious conscious.”
This type of discourse in person can be very uncomfortable, and most times, is not solicited. (I’m no therapist)
This blog allows me to offer my unique perspective from my readings and from my personal perspectives, so that I may bring light to the many challenges we face… not only with our physical health, but emotional as well.
Thank you for your kind words. I do try to lead by example…as should we all.
It is silly to think we are all going to agree about everything all of the time. If we did, then we would be automatons and that would be pointless. Life is the universes way of examining itself. It is our purpose to perceive and to try to understand and interpret our perceptions. By doing so we give meaning to things. We don't all give the same meaning to things because our perceptions are all different. If this weren't so, then there would only need to be one being in existence at any given time. So to say you are sorry for having ideas about what you see is as silly as saying you are sorry for fulfilling your purpose in life. I'm not sorry for seeing things the way that I see them. I should be sorry if I went my whole life without examining things for myself. Then I would have wasted this gift of life. I hope that the people who are upset with you can with realize that it takes some courage to put your perceptions out there for everyone to see because you run the risk of rejection. The gain for yourself is nonexistent if you do it. You already know what you think you know. But if you care about others you want to offer them your viewpoint even if it is different than their own because it might show them something that they might have missed or forgotten. To me people who rush to conform just to please others seem so much less alive. I think that's because they have given up their purpose.
Besides guys, it's a blog. It's supposed to be extremely informal and have an open dialogue so that we can offer our thoughts more honestly and effortlessly. So everybody who gets upset about the content, just chill out and if you disagree with anything that's in here then publish it as a comment so that we can see your point of view. Open our eyes to what you see so that we can have more points of view. That would be awesome (and I promise not to get upset by what you see) haha.
Right on Danny...
"We dont see things as they are...we see them as we are"
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