Sunday, May 29, 2011
Nothing Other Than Dust
Professor Yaakov (Jack) Hanoka once announced at a board meeting that “everyone should walk around with two pieces of paper in their pockets. On one piece it should say: All I am is ashes and dust. And on the other: Everything in the universe G d created for me. The challenge for everyone is to hold these two disparate concepts in harmony.”
Monday, May 23, 2011
Why Do I Stay Stuck?
Question:
After much contemplation I have had time to realize that the reason I remain stuck in certain actions is because I am afraid of change. That means that so long as I can occupy myself with something that does not move me outside of my current situation than I have all the desire in the world to do it. After all, I t is always preferable to do something than nothing. But when it comes time to do something that may move me out of my current situation I become debilitated. When I maintain status quo, I feel like it is in my control to do something about changing my situation. But what if I do something and the situation stays the same or gets worse. Then it is no longer in my control and I have failed. It is better to be in the known situation no matter what the situation is rather that the unknown. The unknown in this case being, "what if I do something and fail, then what will I do?"
Answer:
Consider what your options are now in your current situation. Make a physical list of your options. Now, tell yourself, out loud, or write down on a piece of paper, "change brings opportunity". This means that no matter what your situation is, by taking action and doing something you are moved out of your current situation and into a situation with more options. The one step you take will automatically bring you more opportunity and thereby more control than you had before.
Remember: there are two types of movements those that keep you stuck where you are and those that move you outside of your current static state. The key word here is outside doing outside of yourself. Outside your current state etc.
Once a guy named Jeff wanted to start a business and he knew that he needed to make up a list of all the things that his business would do. In order to make up this list, he would have to dig inside himself and really find all that he was capable of offering as a business. For some reason he kept doing on line searches about businesses. These online searches would take him all day, day in and day out. He was not able to move past this stage. Finally he realized that he was procrastinating because he was afraid to make a move. Once he realized this he made a plan. This was his first step. After that it really began to flow. More and more options began to open up for him.
Once a lady named Janet wanted to be a singer. She kept worrying about what would happen if people started calling her for shows. Would she have the strength to sing so much? In the meantime she wasn't singing at all. Once she realized this she also made a plan and slowly step by step things began to move and she remained in control of her situation. There was no longer anything to fear.
After much contemplation I have had time to realize that the reason I remain stuck in certain actions is because I am afraid of change. That means that so long as I can occupy myself with something that does not move me outside of my current situation than I have all the desire in the world to do it. After all, I t is always preferable to do something than nothing. But when it comes time to do something that may move me out of my current situation I become debilitated. When I maintain status quo, I feel like it is in my control to do something about changing my situation. But what if I do something and the situation stays the same or gets worse. Then it is no longer in my control and I have failed. It is better to be in the known situation no matter what the situation is rather that the unknown. The unknown in this case being, "what if I do something and fail, then what will I do?"
Answer:
Consider what your options are now in your current situation. Make a physical list of your options. Now, tell yourself, out loud, or write down on a piece of paper, "change brings opportunity". This means that no matter what your situation is, by taking action and doing something you are moved out of your current situation and into a situation with more options. The one step you take will automatically bring you more opportunity and thereby more control than you had before.
Remember: there are two types of movements those that keep you stuck where you are and those that move you outside of your current static state. The key word here is outside doing outside of yourself. Outside your current state etc.
Once a guy named Jeff wanted to start a business and he knew that he needed to make up a list of all the things that his business would do. In order to make up this list, he would have to dig inside himself and really find all that he was capable of offering as a business. For some reason he kept doing on line searches about businesses. These online searches would take him all day, day in and day out. He was not able to move past this stage. Finally he realized that he was procrastinating because he was afraid to make a move. Once he realized this he made a plan. This was his first step. After that it really began to flow. More and more options began to open up for him.
Once a lady named Janet wanted to be a singer. She kept worrying about what would happen if people started calling her for shows. Would she have the strength to sing so much? In the meantime she wasn't singing at all. Once she realized this she also made a plan and slowly step by step things began to move and she remained in control of her situation. There was no longer anything to fear.
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