Lessons From A Dog: On Constancy.

"The secret of success is constancy to purpose." Benjamin Disraeli.

When a dog I owned long ago wanted to go outside, he scratched the door. If no one responded, he hit the door. When we continued to sit doing whatever we humans think it’s so important to do, at the dinner table or desk, or in front of the television, he would then bark. He would look at us hard. Then he'd bark louder. He'd often even come over and scratch my leg. He’d be up in my face in no time, with extremely loud, and very insistent barking. And guess what? 

No matter what was going on, regardless of what else might be demanding my attention, the door would get opened and he would get out.

Did Disraeli ever watch dogs like that? I suspect he just saw what universally works, in his own life as well as in the careers of other highly successful people. Constancy to purpose is a version of focused tenacity, a persistence that will not give up or be distracted from its intended aim.

Too many people think that the secret of success is luck. Disraeli was more on target. Constancy of purpose will make its own luck. Remember that today. And watch dogged determination work.

Ideas, Dreams, and Action

Let's hear from Ralph Waldo, Quotable Quotes Guy, Emerson:

"Ideas must work through the brains and arms of good and brave men, or they are no better than dreams." 

Yeah, and good and brave women, Ralph. Don't forget that.

My slogan for the big intro philosophy class I taught at Notre Dame for many years was “Ideas rock the world.” Because they do. But only through people and relationships. 

My professional mantra is “Relationships rule the world.” No one ever accomplishes anything really important alone. It takes a network of friends and colleagues, collaborators and believers to make anything big happen.

We need to put these two insights together. As Plato saw, ideas are tremendously important realities, because they can lead the way into a better future. But ideas need to work through us every day in order to do their good in the world.

Do you have some dream of the future based on ideas about how things could be different? Don’t let it remain unrealized. Use your neural capacities to think out some supporting ideas - the implementation strategies you'll need. And then get into motion with arms and legs to make it happen. 

You know the dream I’m talking about.  Do something about it.

Today.

Defeat, Rejection, and Victory

"No matter how often you are defeated, you are born to victory." Emerson.

No one is in the world for the purpose of failure. No one was born because there was a need for more rejection, dismissal, and defeat.

Too many people operate on the old “Three strikes and you’re out” mentality. I once had a professor who gave me some unsolicited but very helpful advice about submitting articles to professional philosophy journals for possible publication. He said: “Don’t even THINK about being discouraged until you’ve been rejected at least six times!” Shortly after that conversation, my first book was rejected thirty six times. At that point, I must admit that I was thinking very seriously about being discouraged. It was an obvious option. Depression was even a possibility. But the thirty seventh publisher I approached said yes. And I was a published author at the age of twenty-two.

One author I’ve heard about has wall-papered his office with rejection letters. Some of the top all time hit songs have been recorded by performers who were told repeatedly that they had no chance at all. There are great actors whose first two or three or seven movies were all bombs.  We won't even speak of all the actors who dream about being in any kind of movie, even a terrible one, while they finish yet another long shift as waiters in LA restaurants, or clerks in stores there. How many times have they heard "No"? 

A professor out west mailed his prized manuscript to a major publisher hoping for a quick ascent to fame and fortune. A month later, an envelope arrived by return mail containing literally the ashes of his hard work.

Don’t let little defeats get you down. Even repeated defeats. As Emerson said a hundred and fifty years ago, we are indeed all born to victory. We can rise again from any ashes we encounter.

Difficulty: How Much Can You Take?

"Nothing happens to anyone that he's not formed by nature to bear." Marcus Aurelius.

We are all, in one way or another, products of nature, whether you view the universe as a realm of divinely created nature, or in some other way. Calamities and disappointments, pains and troubles are then all also offshoots of the overall system of nature as well, viewed in the broadest possible scope. Any bad thing is then in some sense nature affecting nature. I think this is part of the background of Emperor Marcus Aurelius’ assurance that we are prepared by nature to deal with anything that comes our way.

From this point of view, there's not a problem for which no solution exists. The system that's given rise to the problem has also provided the resources we can access to deal with the problem. So we can be comforted in this assurance, however difficult our experience at times might be.

We fear being overwhelmed. We need not ever be. We have major resources, beyond what we understand.

The devout have been saying it longer than determined stoics like Marcus have. God will never put on you more than you can bear. Struggle is meant to elicit strength. Difficulty never exceeds the possibility for hope. And sometimes, the best way to deal with a difficulty is release.

In one of my favorite books ever, The Measure of My Days, Florida Scott Maxwell reflects back on her life from her eighties and expresses how surprised she is that the things hardest for her to bear, those difficulties, or developments in life that she least liked at the time, eventually gave rise to the qualities of character within her that she most treasures. That's the way it's supposed to work.

Have you been feeling overwhelmed by a problem, or do you know anyone who’s feeling that way? If you can put into use this great stoic philosopher’s insight, you can open yourself to the inner peace and confidence you need to face the future well and without fear.

The Art of the Question

The other day, a friend mentioned that he was reading a great new book, just out, called A More Beautiful Question, by Warren Berger, based on his website of the same name. Berger is a careful student of innovation. And he's discovered something interesting. Creative solutions to longstanding problems often come when someone thinks to ask the right questions.

Berger suggests that we benefit most from asking three types of questions:

Why? What if? How?

For example:

Why do we do things this way? What if we tried a different approach? How could we do it?

Why do we assume that this is the best process? What if we looked at the problem in a new way? How could we implement a new perspective here?

Sometimes, the only thing standing between you and the breakthrough in your life or career that you need is the right question, or set of questions.

So let me ask you something: Why do you take for granted the things that you do? What if you asked more questions? How would you go about this in a productive way?

Today.

Success Envy

"The world envies success." Thus spake Barbara Streisand, as quoted in the Sunday New York Times.

Is that true? It may well be. In any case, let's suppose it is. Then we have the question: Why?

Well, for one thing, I've seen far too many people pursue success in what becomes an almost totally selfish way - presenting the specter of one small ego ludicrously inflating itself and fighting hard to rise above all others, who are often either doing the same, or keeping busy resenting those who are. An old Hindu proverb says, "True nobility consists not in being better than some other man, but in being better than your previous self." From a deeper perspective, success isn't about beating others. It's about developing yourself.

An Australian once told me that, in her culture, people resented stand-out success, almost always seeing it as an unfortunate and unseemly assertion of the self over others. But could Streisand be right that it's ultimately envy that underlies even such resentment?

I've come to believe that we're all born to flourish and succeed, with our own talents, in our own ways, and on whatever stage is right for us. That success could look very small from the world's point of view, or large. But consider the possibility that any such appearances that seem to equate size with importance are just wrong. When we unconsciously believe that bigger is always better, and judge size by physical parameters such as money, fame, and power, then we put ourselves into a position where unnecessary and inappropriate envy can indeed arise.

Consider the possibility that common standards of success are just crude measures that sometimes manage to mark real achievement and life impact, but that also just as often miss the heart of the matter altogether. A humble person with a small life may be a huge success in things that really matter. And perhaps that's the sort of success that should be envied.

Are you making the positive difference that you're here to make? Don't waste your time worrying about whether your current form of success is big enough by the standards of the culture around you. Just be concerned about whether it's right for you. And if you're not yet where you truly want to be, you'll have a clearer sense of the direction you need to move in.

Know yourself. Know your proper form of success. And work toward it with a mindset that allows others their own suitable forms, however different, and without resentment or misplaced envy.

Today.

The Schopenhauer Plan and You

If there is any merit or importance attaching to a man’s career, if he lays himself out carefully for some special work, it is all the more necessary and advisable for him to turn his attention now and then to its plan, that is to say, the miniature sketch of its general outlines ... If he maps out important work for himself on great lines, a glance at this miniature plan of his life will, more than anything else, stimulate, rouse, and enable him, urge him on to action, and keep him from false paths.  Arthur Schopenhauer

Authorities on success have recommended for decades that we all write down goals for ourselves, and that we frequently review what we’ve written. More recently, personal growth experts have suggested that individuals and families as well as businesses create mission statements to express what they see themselves here in this world to accomplish. The great nineteenth century German philosopher Schopenhauer said something interesting about the importance of laying out a big picture plan for our lives or careers. It serves to focus and refocus us amid the demands and distractions of life.  It stimulates us, ennobles us, and motivates us to do what we ought to do, and helps clarify what we ought to avoid. It can act as a useful reminder of our own sense of who we are and what we should be about.

Let's go through the philosopher's list. Do you have a plan for yourself that will:

Stimulate you - Catch your interest, grab your attention, wake you up;

Rouse you - Get you excited, elicit your passion, work you up;

Enable you - Offer you guidance, help, and assistance;

Urge you on to action - Suggest what's next and get you moving;

Keep you from false paths - Help with consistency and focus?

What do you hope to accomplish? How would you like to see it happen? Take the philosopher’s advice today, if you haven’t done this already, and sketch out in miniature a big picture plan for your life or work, or even the next challenge you face. Consider it a first draft. And go back to it tomorrow for expansion or change. Then use it as an adaptable map for moving forward.

Rational Plans in a CrAzY wOrLd

When schemes are laid in advance, it is surprising how often the circumstances fit in with them.  Sir William Osler (1849-1919)

Have you ever despaired of making plans and setting long term goals in a rapidly changing world? Long ago, I once asked my CPA how I could plan rationally for retirement.  She said “Unfortunately, that’s impossible.” I now have a new accountant. 

That old CPA’s worry was that things change too fast and too unpredictably to allow for reasonable advance planning. But the best plans resiliently anticipate a changing future. The best plans themselves often need to be changed and tweaked in light of what develops, and what we come to discover as we implement them. But it's amazing how often a well thought through and resilient plan will fit in with developments that could never have been anticipated with any degree of specificity or certainty. Osler was right. Circumstances will somehow fit them.

When a good plan is laid out in a rich and complex world, it can indeed sometimes surprise us how well things work out. So don’t hesistate to plan for the future. Just plan to adapt as your plan develops.

Endure and Persist

Endure and persist. This pain will turn to your good, by and by. Ovid

Have you been hurt, in body or soul? Is there some pain due to difficulty in your life right now? The ancient poet Ovid wants us to know that every pain can produce positive results if we respond to it properly.

We must endure and persist, he says. Persistence is a forgotten concept in our quick time culture. We do indeed want instant gratification, and we’re often strangely surprised when it isn’t forthcoming. But the ancients saw more deeply. Anything of value takes time, and persistence. The word itself comes from two Latin roots that mean, “standing through.” To persist is to stand firm through time and challenge and difficulty. To endure is to take up a purpose or set yourself a goal and stick with it, regardless of the inconvenience or pain that may come between you and it.

Endure and persist.

Enjoyment, gratitude, and even a celebratory attitude toward the small daily joys of life, along with wonder at life itself should be important parts of our experience. But so should persistent effort toward worthy goals, and the ability to endure difficulty, buttressed by the realization that any the pain we experience can be a deep opportunity for growth, and a rich source of wisdom for the future.

Your Life and Your Thoughts

Your life is what your thoughts make it.  Marcus Aurelius

Stoic philosopher and Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius had some of his greatest insights about life while he was away from the palace and out on military campaigns. He would always stay up just late enough to reflect on the lessons of the day. Every night he'd ask: "What have I learned today?"  And he’d write down the answer. Marcus seemed to believe that if you and I live life with eyes wide open, we can learn something every day. He also believed that if we don't write it down, we'll likely forget it. So he made notes on life. Sometimes just a sentence, sometimes a paragraph. Those notes went on to become one of the best selling books in all of history, The Meditations of Marcus Aurelius, a book I recommend to everyone.

I think it’s metaphorically true of all of us that, like the emperor, we learn the most on the battlefields of life, out in the world struggling to accomplish something worthwhile. If more of us would adopt his habit of ending the day with a meditative reflection on what we've learned from what we've experienced, we’d all be much better philosophers and wiser adventurers in life.

In my own opinion, this wise man's greatest message for us now is simple: What's most important in life is not so much what happens to us, but how we think about what happens to us. Our inner attitudes and thoughts are ultimately most crucial for the development of our careers in this world. With the right thoughts, we can thrive and accomplish amazing things, even in the midst of trouble and challenge.

How are you thinking about your own life now? Your life is indeed in so many ways what your thoughts make it. So, see to it that you make it as great as it can be, starting from inside your own heart and mind. That's the royal path to better living. Today.

The Mirror Advice

"I celebrate myself and sing myself." - Walt Whitman

Many years ago, I heard Dr Ruth Westheimer, America's most famous sex therapist ever, give a talk to a hundred corporation presidents and their spouses. She was hilarious. And wise. At one point, she really surprised the group by recommending to all the men that, as soon as possible, they find a full length mirror, take off all their clothes in front of it, and just stand there admiring themselves for a couple of minutes. She explained that we don’t celebrate ourselves enough.

That got quite a reaction. Hours later, I was scheduled to go out to dinner with Dr Ruth, and was to meet her at a specified time in front of the table where she was signing books for all the presidents. I had dashed down the hall to the Men’s Room, and ended up having a couple of philosophical conversations along the way, as often happens in public places, and I got to Dr. Ruth about three minutes later than scheduled.  When I suddenly appeared, she made a face and pointed to her watch. I said “Sorry, Ruth, I passed a full length mirror along the way.”

I don't necessarily recommend what she advised. And in an age of ego and narcisism, we do have to be careful with Whitman's sentiment, as well. But I do believe that it's important to aproach life with a celebratory attitude and an appreciation for what we've been given, on the inside or out. 

Think about the uniqueness that is you. Celebrate the being you have, whether in proximity to a reflective surface, or not. And find a new way to be thankful for all that is you. 

Today.

The Treasure Within Trials

The gem cannot be polished without friction,

nor man perfected without trials.

Confucius

Life is sometimes a strange proposition. The things we enjoy the least are often the very things that we benefit from the most. Suffering can deepen us. Difficulties can help us grow.

The philosophical individual doesn’t go looking for trouble, but has this consolation when it comes knocking. Wisdom is never to be found except through the door of experience, and it tends to greet us most often after trouble. So take this attitude toward any trial:  It can be a friend in disguise. Ask yourself “What can I learn from this?” And don’t let any difficulty or temporary defeat stop your pilgrimage toward what really matters.

The Dangers of Knowledge Without Wisdom

Knowledge can be dangerous. Smart people can do monumentally stupid things. Intelligence can be put to a bad use. But this doesn't mean that knowledge and intelligence are to be avoided. It means only that they need the proper accompaniment - wisdom.

I've written often recently about wisdom. And that's because it's so misunderstood in our time. Because it's misunderstood, it's severely undervalued. And there may be nothing more valuable, in business and life, than true wisdom.

Of course, we use the word 'wisdom,' and its adjectival form 'wise,' in two different ways. It can be used of a statement, an aphorism, or a book. "There is a lot of wisdom in that book." Or: "What he said was very wise." In this sense, the word wisdom means, simply, articulated insight.

But it's possible to know a lot of wise aphorisms, epigrams, and witticisms, while doing foolish things. There was a time in my life where I was a living demonstration of that possibility. And that leads us to an important distinction.

When a person, as distinct from a statement or book, is said to be wise, or to have great wisdom, we mean to refer not to articulated insight, but rather to embodied discernment. A wise person discerns good from bad, right from wrong, appropriate from inappropriate, better from worse, and favorable from unfavorable, as well as many other differences, in a way that foolish people can't. And that's a matter of judgment and understanding. But wisdom, when attributed to a person, has to be embodied in action of some sort, or it isn't genuine. There are, you see, two sides to personal wisdom, a side that involves understanding, and a side that involves doing. One side without the other isn't wisdom. Good judgment without good action is surely foolish. And the failure can go the other way, too. Good action that doesn't come from good judgment is just from luck or habit, and not a direct manifestation of wisdom. For true wisdom to be present, thought and action have to mesh.

Knowledge without wisdom, just like action without wisdom, can take a person, or an organization, off the rails as quickly as anything. Because of this, as well as for many more reasons, we ought to be hiring for wisdom, training for wisdom, promoting wisdom, and encouraging it in every way we can, in business, politics, and our personal lives. Any other course is, of course, unwise.

The Tent and the Tower

I wanted to share today a brief passage from one of my novels that I'm editing this week. It's all about outer things and our inner lives. The conversation is taking place in Cairo, in 1934.

The wise, older Ali Shabeezar is speaking to young Walid and his friend Mafulla. They're discussing a man who has immersed himself in criminal activity, because of a lifetime focus on the wrong things. Ali sees the man's life as a cautionary tale and says to the boys:

“One of the great surprises of life is that when you focus and fixate on external things like money, power, status, or fame as your main goals, your ultimate ends, the values that drive you, you diminish yourself, and to the point that, if you actually attain any of these things, you’ll be less likely to handle them well than a person who gains them almost by accident, as a by-product of good work well done. The individual who pursues things of the spirit, and the wellbeing of others, is different. If, along the way, any of these highly regarded external things comes to him, or all of them, for that matter, then he will much more likely be able to be their master, and not their slave. There will be healthy, and not harmful, results.”

“Why do things work this way, Uncle?” Walid was always curious to understand.

“Well, you see, the inner must be the foundation for the outer, or nothing really goes well. Any large building that’s without deep and solid foundations is unstable and can collapse in a storm, or when it’s otherwise pounded and stressed by external forces. A tent needs no foundation. It’s temporary. A tower does. In a similar way, if you want your life to rise high and last long, you must anchor it deeply. Dig down beneath the shifting sands of worldly fortune, glamour, and fame. Establish footings deep in the soul. That way, you can truly flourish. Then, all the riches of the world can come to you, and you’ll never be diminished as a result. You will, by contrast, flourish. A man or woman with inner strength can use all outer things for good purpose, and with beneficial consequences. The world works this way to help remind us where the most important things are to be found.”

Our Daily Routines

Whatever your daily routine is, it's important to remember that there are immense numbers of people alive today whose routines are radically different. It helps us all to keep in mind the vast differences that exist on earth, the amazingly divergent lifestyles that flourish, and the variety of beliefs and assumptions that keep people going. We could all benefit from an expanded mindset, a broader sense of what's possible, what is, and what could be.

It could well be that your routine is exactly right for you, that it will help you to be and do your best in the world. Or it could be, instead, that you need to open your mind and broaden your sense of the possible. We all get in ruts. We all have habits of thought, as well as action. But an expansion of these thoughts and actions can often be a good and beneficial thing.

Wouldn't it be amazing if we could live with the ongoing realization that we're all here to learn and to contribute our own syntheses of understandings to the larger whole? The longer I live, the more convinced I am that there is no one exactly like you, or me, and that if we make the most of our uniqueness, in a positive way, we can change the world for the better, regardless of our jobs, our incomes, our place in the great scheme of things, or the ways others might view us.

Open yourself today. Embrace possibilities. And make your mark.

The Structure of Goals

Yesterday, I wrote a short blog post on having clear goals. I'd like to follow up on that today. The great novelist Dostoyevsky wrote:

Without some goal, and some effort to reach it, no man can live.

You certainly know the old story: Two college friends had moved to Los Angeles on a quest to become actors. But they couldn’t find work. Sitting around their dingy little apartment, hanging out with friends, they finally came to the conclusion that they needed something worthwhile to structure their days. Since no one would cast them in a movie, they decided they’d write their own screenplay. That goal, and their daily effort toward reaching the goal, put Matt Damon and Ben Affleck on the road to movie stardom, a life they continue to enjoy years later. Their film, Good Will Hunting, launched it all. They used their power of will, did some hunting, and good resulted.

And, of course, the great comedian and actor Robin Williams totally changed their lives by agreeing to act in the film, and thereby also gained for himself an Oscar.

So, yeah, Ok - it doesn't always go like this. Stardom, wealth, and fame don't lurk around every corner of goal-oriented activity. And some people preach the virtues of what they call "Goal-less Living" - as if it's their goal to convince the rest of us not to have any.

We need times of structure and times of no structure. We need time to just be, as well as time to do. But the doing should be congruent with our being, and it should be structured as such.

It’s often said that there are three kinds of people in this world - Those who make things happen, those who just watch things happen, and those who go around wondering “What happened?” Do whatever you can today to place yourself in the midst of that first category.  Focus your day and your week around some worthy goal or goals and the effort it takes to move in the right direction, making useful things happen as the result of your energies. It's indeed good hunting for the will.

Exceptional People Around Us

I’ve been exercising my memory for the past 6 months by memorizing Shakespeare soliloquies, mainly the famous ones. It all started with a short passage from Hamlet. I remember the day I had just learned it – it wasn’t easy – and I still had to practice it all the time.

So. I was in line at the grocery store, a Fresh Market near my house, and the lady in front of me turned around and apologized for having so many items in her cart. I promise I wasn’t counting. I said, “No problem. Take your time. I’m rehearsing in my head a famous literary passage I just learned.”

The man who was ringing up her items stopped and looked at me with an expression of appreciation, almost of deep brotherhood, and said,

Whan that Aprille with his shoures soote, the droghte of Marche hath perced to the roote.

Well. That was unexpected at a grocery store checkout counter. But, it was the slow line. So, the clerk went on for a few more seconds of recitation and then stopped and looked at me with a big smile, and I just had to say,

And smale fowles maken melodye, That slepen al the night with open ye.

The guy looked really surprised and said, “You KNOW that?” I said, “Yeah, Chaucer, Prologue to the Canterbury Tales. Good job.” And a lady behind me gave me a look that “perced to the roote” because I think her ice cream was melting through all this.

Just two days later, I’m in a Harris Teeter, and the young lady checking out my groceries said something to me that I didn’t catch. I said, “I’m sorry. I didn’t hear you. I was practicing a passage from Hamlet in my head.”

She said, “Oh! Really? I memorized Hamlet once.”

I said, “You mean you memorized a passage from Hamlet?”

She said, “No, the whole thing.”

“The whole thing? The whole play?”

“Yeah,” she said, “But not in English.”

“What do you mean, not in English? It’s an English play.”

“Yeah, I know, but I memorized it in Klingon.”

“The Star Trek Language?”

“Yeah, it was more fun that way. But it took, like, four months.”

Well.

And then, last week, a different grocery store cashier spontaneously performed a Shakespeare Sonnet for me. I mean, it was Senior Discount Day at the store, so I think she took off a few lines. But it was most of Sonnet 116. In case you’re interested.

Maybe I shouldn’t be allowed to leave the house. Strange things happen.

But I came away from these recent conversations with a new realization – and not just about where our English majors are getting jobs these days – the market for literature grads is surprisingly fresh.

My realization was, that we’re surrounded by exceptional people in the world. They’re all around us. And that’s easy to forget. But when we break through the background hum of habit, poke a hole in the ordinary, and really talk to people, and give them a chance, they can sometimes shine in unexpected ways. And then, we learn.

Break through that background hum today, in some way. Poke your own little hole in the ordinary, and see what you discover.

"We Forget How to Fall."

Reflecting on the fact that older people often sustain serious injury when they fall down, my workout partner mused one day that, "We forget how to fall." He's a lifetime surfer and skateboarder. At the age of 51, he falls all the time. And he heartily recommends it. "When you know how to fall, you don't get hurt so badly."

As kids, we fell down all the time. It was just a part of daily life. We fell down and we got back up. We fell running, and on our bikes, and in all kinds of ways. We didn't get discouraged, or distraught, or too badly bruised, at least most of the time. But, as adults, we forget how to fall, both literally and metaphorically, and so, when it does happen, we get seriously hurt, discouraged, and distraught.

Falling is, of course, a well known and much used image for failure. As kids, we tried new things all the time, and rarely got them right the first time. But, for the most part, we didn't let that bother us. We adjusted, adapted, and usually, after a time, prevailed. Sure, someone had to patch the knees of our pants, but that was almost a sign of honor, wasn't it? We were out there in the world doing things. We were active. We were brave. Falling down was just a natural part of it.

And it always is. Don't be afraid to fall down. In fact, try new little things so that maybe you can get some practice again at falling down, if you haven't had a tumble in a while. And then roll with it. Don't be tense. Be flexible, and go with it. Then just get up and try again.

The importance of those childhood lessons never goes away. Just remember: Falling is a stage of learning, and an early stepping stone to mastery. Fall often. And fall well.

The Breathtaking Joy of Existence

Check out Albert Einstein musing on the faith of his birth and how he expands out from it:

Judaism appears to me to be almost exclusively concerned with the moral attitude in and toward life. […] The essence of the Jewish concept of life seems to me to be the affirmation of life for all creatures. […} There remains, however, something more in the Jewish tradition, so gloriously revealed in certain of the psalms; namely a kind of drunken joy and surprise at the beauty and incomprehensible sublimity of this world, of which man can attain but a faint intimation. It is the feeling from which genuine research draws its intellectual strength, but which also seems to manifest itself in the song of birds…

That one clause made me smile: "a kind of drunken joy and surprise at the beauty and incomprehensible sublimity of this world, of which man can attain but a faint intimation."

Here's what's both humbling and exciting to ponder: We can sometimes have a huge, intense, soul enlarging experience of that beauty and incomprehensible sublimity, a mystical realization coming to us unheralded, and stopping us in our tracks. I recently wrote on one such experience I had during a daily walk, some weeks ago (click here). And sometimes, like Saul, on the road to Damascus, it's a life changing experience that reorients everything for us, opening us up anew and turning us onto a path we hadn't really seen before.

Just like the Psalmist, we can feel that "drunken joy and surprise at the beauty and incomprehensible sublimity of the world." And yet, however great and overwhelming the experience might be, Albert E considers it merely "a faint intimation" of the true reality that encompasses us. Just think about that, and its implications.

Wouldn't it be great to carry with us every day that sense that we're living and working amid immensities whose grandeur and scope are so great that our highest mystical experiences capture only a glancing glimpse of the hem of its garment? Then, perhaps, we'd really have a new moral attitude, and an affirmation of all life that would make us lights in the darkness that so sadly seems to engulf many in our time.

Truth is a wildly blazing sun. Carry with you at least a small candle in its honor. Cast light in the darkness wherever you go.

Fame and True Success

Scottish philosopher Thomas Carlyle wrote long ago about fame. He said, "Fame, we may understand, is no sure test of merit, but only a probability of such: It is an accident, not a property of man."

Fast forward to now, when fame bears almost no relation to merit. You can be an instant celebrity online with no more than a knack for getting people's attention. What's the relationship, really, between widespread attention and what we know, deep down, to be success?

True success resides, first and foremost, in who we are, not in what other people say about us, or even in whether they know we exist. The deepest form of success is always a result of three things: (1) Discovering our talents, (2)  Developing those talents, and (3) Deploying them into the world for the good of others as well as ourselves. I call this “The 3-D Approach to Life.” It's first about being, second about doing and becoming, and only third about getting or having.

We live in a culture obsessed with fame. It's the famous who get our attention and too often fuel our imaginations. But back in the nineteenth century, Tom Carlyle saw more deeply. Fame may or may not signal real accomplishment of substance, and even when it does, it does so accidently.  A person’s real properties, the accomplishments they truly own in virtue of who they are and what they’ve done, are always distinct from any recognition they’ve received. 

Of course, there's nothing inherently wrong with fame, however heavily it may weigh on many shoulders. Like most things, it can be a resource or an obstacle. But it should never be pursued in absence of worthier aims that are more intrinsically within our control. In fact, the world is full of good things done to no acclaim whatsoever. And they are often the things that make the most difference. 

Today, think about doing something good anonymously, with no thought about how it makes you look, and however small it might be. There, as Carlyle might say, is where you'll find true merit, and a small piece of true success.