FAILURE IS A NOBLE VIRTUE

Some people think failure is a disgrace and try to do everything in their power to avoid it. Actually, it is one of the best learning experiences that you can possibly have. It is not something to be avoided but rather something to be embraced. We can learn as much from something that does not work as from one that does. That is a lesson from science that can benefit your daily life. You should aim for success while being prepared to learn from a series of failures. A failure tolerant attitude liberates success. Something is learned each time things fail. You might say, it is a matter of failing forward!

Wrapped up in the idea of embracing failure is the related notion of breaking things to make them better. Often the only way to improve a complex system is to probe its limits by forcing it to fail. For example, software is improved by engineers systematically finding ways to crash it. Eventually, it is very difficult to make it fail. That is a part of the quality control process. The habit of embracing negative results is one of the most essential tricks to gaining success. So stop worrying about making mistakes. Get out there and break something! Have a failure and turn it into success!!

CAN IT GET ANY WORSE?

Natural disasters, Middle Eastern revolutions, wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, bankrupt local and national governments, lingering economic recessions, and freezing rain this morning. Can it get any worse?  The answer is, yes, it can. There have been worse times in the history of the world. Life has always been an adventure with ups and downs. You get your good times and your bad times. Hope springs eternal for the human race and Spring- time makes me feel hopeful. I believe that better times are coming. Since the beginning of time, progress has been made by taking two steps forward and one step back. The future is bright and it is time for two steps forward. The tulips are up and we will be OK!

SUB-CONSCIENCE THINKING CONTROLS YOU

David Brooks, columnist for the New York Times, has written a new book entitled, The Social Animal: The Hidden Sources O Love, Character, and Achievement. I just finished reading it last night and found it to be very interesting. Mr. Brooks did a ton of research about the unconscious mind. His resources were geneticists, neuroscientists, psychologist, sociologist, anthropologist, and many others. He claims that the latest scientific studies indicate that we are not the products of our conscious thinking. We are products of thinking that happens below the level of awareness. The unconscious realm of emotions, intuitions, biases, longings, genetic predispositions, character traits, and social norms are the things that shape are character and motivate us. The unconscious mind does all the work and our conscious will may be an illusion. Maybe Flip Wilson was right, “the devil made me do it”.

Anyway, it is a fascinating theory that seems to prove the importance of passions and perception that are instilled in us by family, friends, and teachers and our beginning environment. “Just as Galileo removed the earth from the center of the universe, this intellectual revolution removes the conscience mind from its privileged place at the center of human behavior. Mr. Brooks has some ideas about what this means for our future. Parents, educators, and political theorist should read this book and pay attention. It is kind of scary but, “we may know more than we know!”

IN HONOR OF FAT TUESDAY

A friend of mine has a theory about why Americans are overweight. It makes so much sense and made me feel so good that I am going to share it with you. With time, we accumulate so much information and wisdom in our heads that when there is no more room, it distributes out to the rest of our bodies. So we aren’t heavy, we are enormously cultured, educated and happy. Now, when I look at my backside in the mirror, I think, good grief, look how smart I am!

So you see, we do not eat too much. We just have information overload. Doesn’t that make you feel better? We need to cut down on information and maybe exercise a little more. The smartest man I ever did know was Victor Buono. He said, “Show me the light that I may bear witness, To the President’s Council on Physical Fitness.

I had my paczki; did you have yours?

WHO WAS TOLSTOY?

I am sure you know that Leo Tolstoy was one of the world’s greatest Novelists. His masterpiece, War and Peace, gave a vivid depiction of 19^th-century Russian life and attitudes. It was extraordinary realist fiction. But did you know that his ideas on nonviolent resistance had a profound impact on Mahatma Gandhi? Gandhi acknowledged in his autobiography that he considered Tolstoy “the greatest apostle of non-violence that the present age has produced”.

Tolstoy started out in life as a wealthy member of the Russian nobility who dropped out of university after his teachers described him as “both unable and unwilling to learn.” After leaving his studies, he ran up heavy gambling debts and joined the army. His conversion from a dissolute, privileged society boy was brought about by his experience in the army. He served as a second lieutenant in an artillery regiment during the Crimean war. His experiences in battle helped stir his later pacifism and gave him material for realistic depiction of the horrors of war.

Tolstoy’s Christian beliefs, particularly the injunction to turn the other cheek, moved him to pacifism, nonviolence, and nonresistance. Eventually, he became a wandering ascetic who abandoned his family and wealth. He also became an anarchist who described the state as, “the wicked ones, supported by brutal force. Robbers are far less dangerous than a well-organized government.” My favorite quote from Tolstoy’s work is: “Seize the moments of happiness, love and be loved! That is the only reality in the world, all else is folly.”