Man is least himself when he talks in his own person. Give him a mask, and he will tell you the truth.

OSCAR WILDE

When you are speaking from behind a mask, are you more likely to be truthful?

Social media has empowered everybody to begin to experience this phenomenon in which we are empowered to speak our respective minds behind the guise of an anonymous identification in social media.

This new chapter of humanity, further unleashed the monstrous process of which Oscar Wilde spoke, decades earlier, prior to there being social media of any kind. In this new phenomenon, people are far more apt to vocalize their true feelings, and thereby risk the prospect of being offensive to others. 

When we are liberated from the consequences of our perspectives, we are often times quick to unleash a deeper sentiment than we are remotely comfortable expressing in person. 

The anonymity creates the illusion of a protective barrier which presumably shields our being associated with or suffering the consequences of believing in any particular manner on any particular issue. 

It is not surprising that bullying escalated considerably when the opportunity to vocalize disapproval escalated with the birth of the Internet. 

There are moments in which we are confronted by others who are now empowered to challenge our beliefs or to specifically express controversial perspectives, which ultimately take the freedom of speech we still readily take for granted, to its ultimate extreme. 

Is there an upside to the discovery of the freedom of truth being released behind a fake profile or persona? 

If so, we would have to start with the freedom giving way to parties who might otherwise be too ashamed or shy to vocalize how they honestly feel, and, as a direct consequence, live in a continuous state of suppressed feelings, and perspectives, which had they’ve been shared, might have liberated them from circumstances which they are currently finding intolerable. 

As we head off into Halloween, there is a concerted value in understanding the true power of hiding behind a mask. 

Happy Halloween!

You should not be afraid of someone who has a library and reads many books; you should fear someone who has only one book; and he considers it sacred, but he has never read it. 

FRIEDRICH NIETZSCHE

Why do you suppose there has been a recent concerted effort to vilify intellectuals?

The more intellectual someone becomes, the more they question everything that they are exposed to by virtue of their training and learning.

Learning comes in so many different methodologies and practices, but almost all of them will inevitably come to a contrast and compare methodology.

Why is this particular procedure of such concern to those who are not spending their life learning and growing from multiple resources?

Is it perhaps the possibility that with a multitude of alternate sources of information comes the prospect of an individual formulating their own distinct opinions? And if so, why would that be of such concern to a group that only wanted them to stay focused on one source of information?

The pages of history are littered with continuous examples of humanity being overrun and dominated by a conquering force. Almost inevitably, this conquering force chooses to rape and plunder the resources of the community or civilization that it has overtaken.

If the members of the conquering force, as well as the members of the community that is being overrun were fully exposed to multitudes of disparate, perspectives and opinions, the likelihood of some of the most prevalent techniques that are used for dominance would be potentially overshadowed by pre-existing knowledge that the community that is being attacked would possess.

When we are very clear on this one particular variable, today’s aphorism becomes all the more prescient, for Nietzsche was witness to a world of atrocities that had preceded him and which appeared equally ominous during his lifetime.

If we are to remain a free and self determinant society, there is no one resource upon which we may wholly rely. Rather, we are well served to study history, and the words of great minds that have preceded us in order that we might do our very best to provide same for the generations that follow.

If you are an intellectual and you are feeling judged by those who did not do the hard work of learning that you have done, take the time to gently educate others in any area of which they may be interested.

You can blow out a candle

But you can’t blow out a fire

Once the flames begin to catch

The wind will blow it higher

Freedom can never be taken for granted, nor should it be expected as something that any one person, race, or civilization can automatically expect in their lives. Freedom must continuously be protected by each and everyone of us.

Happy Monday!

Happiness does not come from doing easy work but from the afterglow of satisfaction that comes after the achievement of a difficult task that demanded our best.

THEODORE ISAAC RUBIN

Which was the last difficult task that you opted to undertake that gave you immense satisfaction at the completion of the work?

When we are challenged to perform at our very top capacity and deliver an outcome worthy of such an expenditure of time, we are continuously balancing a high wire act that is the fine line between supreme success and failure.

The double-edged sword of such an endeavor hones our skills, sharpens our perspectives, gives us cause to improve and thereby level up in our overall life status. Conversely, knowing that a failure on this front will come with consequences, not necessarily of our choosing, gives additional motivation to persevere, regardless of circumstances.

So we are engaged in a series of actions that are, for all intent and purposes, a do or die scenario. Not that we will actually become deceased, should we not succeed, but rather, to abandon or fail to perform at such a task will come with significant consequences.

With those criteria established at the outset, we are then ready to give it all that we’ve got. To go far beyond the reasonable expectations that someone other that we might hold for ourselves and, in doing so, rise up to the level of brilliance we had hoped to achieve.

Then, and only then, are we fully confident of our base skills and our capacity to expect more of ourselves than we might have previously projected and thereby rise up to the new level of accomplishment that we have now established.

In that afterglow, we are replenished on a deeper, more spiritual level. We are readily convinced that we are an improved work in progress, inching that much closer to becoming all that we have hoped and prayed that we may become.

As you create these moments, remember to savor them. These are the true signposts in your life that continuously reinforce your inner beliefs that are the rocket fuel to delver you to your most outrageously conceived destinations.

Happy Sunday!

Just because something doesn’t do what you planned it to do doesn’t mean it’s useless.

THOMAS A. EDISON

Have you ever made a discovery from something that was entirely unintentional?

This theory extends far beyond a traditional invention, and is applicable to many different walks or experiences in life.

Often times we are working to pursue something with an expectation of our predetermined outcome. In the course of such an exploration, many opportune permutations identify themselves. We are so often myopically focused on what we are doing, that we may not even identify them as a result of our blinded perspective on what we perceive that we are doing.

Through that process, it is possible that we might be leaving far more on the table, metaphorically speaking, than we might first imagine. If we are less myopic and more broad-minded, in the way that we are perceiving ourselves within our quest, we are that much more likely to discover even better opportunities than might have first been projected.

It is only through our focus and determination, that we are more capable of seeing the other opportunities, and in the course of such an experience, we are enlightened by the more opportune choices that we had previously ignored.

From an inventor’s perspective, we are all the more willing and capable of recognizing that there are pieces of the equation that are serendipitously created in our continuous pursuit of our goal. In certain circumstances, the byproducts of our having spent our time and energy may prove to be considerably more valuable, long-term, than that which we had originally set our sights upon.

Certainly one of the greatest benefits of remaining open-minded during the invention process is the recognition that the creative exploration can in many ways, unlock different perspectives that might not have been readily identifiable at the outset of the project, but which become considerably more in focus as we, the inventors, transition further down our pathway.

When we are working our best to remain open-minded in our perspective, we unquestionably remain more ready and willing to entertain alternate possibilities as the experience matures.

When Edison invented the phonograph, he thought we was making an invention that would dictate letters or read books to the blind. It proved to have a few more valuable uses in the end.

Happy Saturday!

The world’s mine oyster, Which I with sword will open. 

WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE

Do you believe that you can achieve anything or go anywhere you wish in life,  because you have the opportunity or ability to do so?

If you are able to view the world through this filter, it empowers you to envision everything as an opportunity.

This perspective changes the entire way that we encounter variables in our world. Some may see obstacles as setbacks, whereas others envision them as solely a detour on a much larger trajectory upon which they have embarked.

This goes far beyond traditional optimism and open minded perspectives. It is a belief system that genuinely converts reality through the perceptual filters through which we process the reality.

With a perspective that everything is possible, we are transmitting such an unmistakeable energy field that things around us are quick to evolve in our favor.

Is that a coincidence or is our perspective helping to bring that to reality? When we are projecting a specific vibe, are we creating a frequency that is attractive to others in a way that gives them cause to engage and interact with us differently than had we not been projecting a vibe at all?

When you study a charismatic individual working a room, you can literally watch this phenomenon. As they walk with posture tall, smile genuine, into a room, they are quick to make intentional eye contact with whomever they are desirous of engaging with.

The magic starts right there.

They do not need to be the best dressed, or most attractive, or tallest and most fit person in the room.

It requires confidence. This confidence projects through the tone of voice, the shake of a hand, the genuine expressions, and the select humble words that open the door to new opportunities.

If your belief is solid, and your mindset secure, you will be able to transcend your current state of existence and evolve ever higher into the strata in which you believe that you belong.

This continued mindset is the sword that will open all oysters you set your mind upon.

Happy Friday!

Most of the important things in the world have been accomplished by people who have kept on trying when there seemed to be no hope at all.

DALE CARNEGIE

When was the last time you gave something your supreme effort?

I am not speaking of giving something the “good ole college try,” but rather, the moment when you realize that “with patience, the distant shore can still be reached by shaping oars from a broken mast.”

If you are unquestionably convinced that your ideas are sound, your perspective is focused and your inner being is screaming that you must accomplish whatever you have set your sights on accomplishing, then you really only have one option…Persistence.

Persistence sounds so commonplace, as to minimize it in the mind’s eye. The earth’s rotation around the sun and the moon’s rotation around earth are persistent. As are the tides of the oceans.

There may be variations in each of these, but the knowledge that they will continue to happen with regularity is as programmed into our being as any detail in life of that consistency, might be.

Presumably, none of these are creatures of will. The laws of physics and subatomic physics guide them through their predictability.

But as soon as we add will, a unique thing happens… partnered with will, comes the potential of won’t.

Once there is an awareness of the option of not choosing to remain consistent, comes the immediate luxury of opting out.

When we are pursuing the hardest of goals in life, no matter the field of discipline, or category of business, the intensity of such experiences have a way of chipping away at our inner resolve. The more difficult the task, the greater the likelihood of the task’s immensity finding a way of ultimately dwarfing your determination.

With that fluctuating variable, most sentient beings will eventually be detracted from the pursuit, and will eventually give up. Many would not even try.

Yet, all progress in life is entirely determined by the fraction of the group who stick it out when all hope seems to be memory, and success appears the only shore worth swimming towards.

As illogical and ideological as that would appear, it remains the core truth of the human progression in life.

Drill down on almost anyone of consequence, and you will find this immutable trait.

If you are swimming for a shore that others may not ever see, recognize that life has given you one of the greatest and most valuable of all gifts…. The passion to remain perpetually persistent…No matter what.

Happy Thursday!

Life has knocked me down a few times. It showed me things that I never wanted to see. I experienced sadness and failures. But, one thing for sure, I always get up.

What is the single biggest thing that you have learned from one of your failures?

We are very quick to tout our successes and espouse on how each and every one of them made us whom we are today, but we are far less likely to dispel the truth about each and every one of our failures, and how or why they have helped to create that which we have evolved into.

When we look back with perspective, we would be surprised to recognize how each of these, both good and bad, have been highly instrumental in the evolution of our whom we truly are.

When we learn from our mishaps, we are perhaps, even more ready for our success than we might have been, had this have not have happened.

The understanding that without darkness, the stars would not shine is so imperative to our core being as to warrant the complete understanding that it is through our evolutions, that our resolve strengthens, our perspective sharpens, and our determination increases.

Our desire to succeed catapults us through countless chapters of disparate circumstances, each of which is bringing another piece of the larger puzzle to our attention, and collectively, allowing us to mature, improve, and ultimately succeed.

When you are facing the mishaps of a perceived failure, you cannot lose sight of the fact that it is imperative, to fail forward.

Fall down seven times get up eight.

Happy Wednesday!

The greatest discovery of my generation is that human beings can alter their lives by altering their attitudes of mind.

WILLIAM JAMES

How many ways have you used your attitude to alter your life? 

When you stop to think about it, this is one of the earliest lessons that we are taught (presumably) in our lifetime. 

As an infant, when we are behaving in specific ways, our parents are likely to respond in kind, whereas, when we are changing those ways, we discover that our modified attitude is more likely to yield responses that we are happier for having received. 

The concept of being rewarded for our behavior could not be ingrained any earlier in life, than it currently is. Surprisingly, as we get older, we might be less willing or capable of recognizing that it is truly our own behavior that is giving rise to the outcomes in our lives. 

We are surprised at times, even delighted, to discover that with a slight adjustment to our overall approach, the outcomes can be so much more favorable. 

When this has transpired a few times in our lives, we would be foolish not to readily deploy this methodology in our favor, as often as we may. The ability to recognize that attitudes yield responses, is important to our overall success and should ultimately become incorporated in our own strategies in life, wherever possible. 

If we are able to change our particular mindset so that something that was previously irritating or annoying is no longer a variant of negativity, we are already in a position of neutralizing variables in our world that could ultimately leave us in the unfavorable position from which we would need to recover, as opposed to finding ourselves considerably further ahead in whatever pursuit we are engaging in. 

When we are in control of our attitude, we are allowing our mental energies to completely empower and strengthen our resolve in ways that might previously been unimaginable. 

Attitude is the one string we have to play upon.

Happy Tuesday!

You are free to choose, but you are not free from the consequences of your choice.

How many choices have you made in which you are bearing the consequences that you had not forecast at the outset of having made that choice?

In the course of our lifetime we probably make hundreds of thousands of choices, a vast majority of which have no long-term impact on our lives. Yet there remain a select few in which the choices we have made are directly correlated to significant ramifications that have had long-term (or even a lifetime of) consequences.

We can make an impulse choice at a wrong moment that we might regret for the rest of our lives, and yet we would have no concept at the impetus that our choice would ultimately create such an impact on our future.

Finding the capability of keeping these core realities top of mind as we navigate our way through life, could not be more important to our overall demeanor and well-being.

When we are working our way through a series of circumstances, our understanding of this immutable law could not be more important to our overall desire, in the sense that making any form of an uninformed choice will ultimately yield outcomes, not necessarily of our choosing.

When we have weathered the consequences of such decisions, we might ultimately discover that our own ability to maintain a high level of maturity in the face of the options that remain within our own control, could not be more important to the overall outcome of our lives.

We are perpetually working to improve our circumstances and better our lives through a continuous series of options that allow us to consider the potential permutations of such options and ultimately appreciate the freedom that comes from self-determination, which happens with the choices that we ourselves are making.

This self-determination is one of the core ingredients of living a truly free life.

Freedom comes with a tremendous responsibility. As a direct result, the responsibility can be mired in outcomes that are not necessarily desirous, giving us great motivation to take the time to contemplate what we are ultimately looking to achieve through any particular choice of our making.

Choose wisely, it ultimately makes a very large difference.

Happy Monday!

You never lost your power.

The one who did it before is still within you.

The one who believed anything is possible is still there. The one who dreamed big, trusted, felt motivated, had hope, and knew the magic side of life still exists within you.

You never lost your spark even if you forgot how to use it or got caught up in the events of life that pulled you out of your imagination.

This is a reminder to reignite you so you can return to being optimistic, a believer, and a powerful manifestor!

IDIL AHMED

How often have you lost contact with the internal spark that has been driving you since the very beginning?

What is it that gives us cause and reason to detach from something that has been such an important piece of our overall being?

As the drudgery of day-to-day life continues to weigh heavily upon us, are we continuously reconnecting with this most important of variables in our world?

Having a deep understanding that such a spark is capable of creating an impetus into a new life assertion, gives us the motivation to continuously find this variable deep within, and never lose grasp of its immeasurable power.

We are perpetually distracted, and often times those distractions carry negative messages that can potentially reduce our overall motivation to strive for ever greater opportunity and internal brilliance.

If we are continuously reaffirming the internal spark through our behaviors, actions and beliefs, we are that much more empowered to discover an internal reservoir of fortitude and tenacity… which is fully capable of propelling us into our brightest future.

Creating the stimuli in our world which continuously empowers us to come directly back into contact with such a personal force of nature could not be more important. It is only through these continuous efforts that we are all the more enlightened by our own internal being who continuously cries out to us to help propel our efforts in directions that facilitate our greatest embodiment of our spirit.

When we are feeling down in the doldrums, and we are seeking that magic, we must turn within and stoke the flame that is always burning and encourage our greater self to continuously improve and mature in ways that we may not be immediately cognizant of.

If all of humanity were in harmony with this single behavior, the evolution of mankind would rapidly accelerate in a positive direction.

Happy Sunday!