July 19, 2023 by Brian Weiner No CommentsChanging The World One Thought At A Time., Lessons From The Mountain

It is well to remember that the entire universe, with one trifling exception, is made of others.

Is it possible that you are overtly self centered?

With few exceptions, I think it is safe to assess most human beings as having a certain degree of selfishness.

This may be residual from our survival instinct, or it might be behavioral conditioning or other stimuli that give rise to such behavior. A more interesting question, perhaps, is how often we are capable of putting our own selfish needs on the back burner in favor of being altruistic, and doing something solely for the benefit of someone else.

We live in a chaotic society. One that makes us very aware of all of the others with whom we share this planet. We get doses of this, waiting in line at a retail establishment or sitting in traffic, or waiting for some legislation to pass in our favor.

Regardless of where our personal needs become diminished, in contrast to the larger population, we are all subject to feeling a certain degree of disappointment that things are not resolving exactly as they might, were we in control of all variables.

The opportunity to see ourselves as a tiny drop in the ocean instead of the mighty ocean in a single drop, gives us opportunity to shelve our more selfish nature in favor of something that is much more balanced in relation to society at large.

We may not always like having to acquiesce to such a reality, but our like or dislike of this is wholly immaterial in light of the harsh reality that we are going to have to accept it or take considerable steps to change that variable in our lives, should it become too oppressive to live within.

The next time you find yourself in one of those moments of wishing that you could just easily have things the way you want them, my advice is take a deep breath and recognize that we are fortunate to be sharing our planet with so many diverse and interesting people. Otherwise, we might find ourselves bored to death, trying to keep ourselves interested and amused, living alone on this isolated pale blue dot in the universe.

Happy Wednesday!

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Written by Brian Weiner

When I was 5 years old, I discovered that the lemon tree in the backyard + dixie cups + water and sugar and I was in business. I have been hooked on that ever since. In 1979, I borrowed $14,000 to create a brand new product... photographic greeting cards with no text on the inside, called Paradise Photography. That was the start of The Illusion Factory. Since then, The Illusion Factory has been entrusted by all of the major studios and broadcasters with the advertising and marketing of over $7 billion in filmed, live, broadcast, gaming, AR, VR and regulated gaming forms of entertainment, generating more than $100 Billion in revenue and 265 awards for creativity and technology for our clients. When I took a break from film school at UCLA to move to Hawaii, my mother did not lecture me. Instead, she took 150 of her favorite aphorisms and in her beautiful calligraphy, wrote them artistically throughout a blank journal. That is the origin of the Lessons from the Mountain series. Since then, on my journeys to the top of a mountain to watch the sunrise, I have spent countless hours contemplating words of wisdom from the sages of all races, genders and political persuasions, constantly accumulating the thoughts to guide me on my life path. I hope you enjoy my books. Please let me know your thoughts, as I highly value your feedback!