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Change the World for the Better by Taking Responsibility for all Challenges in Life

Jason Cooper — Wed, 24 Mar 2010 09:33:00 +0000

We Must all Feel Responsible for Change Within Ourselves and the World

Let me start this post with a couple of questions:

What does it mean to be responsible in life?

How can one feel responsible in a world filled with nothing but irresponsibility?

Allow me to give the late Spiritual Philosopher Jiddu Krishnamurti the opportunity to answer the previous two questions in the following quote,

“And if one sees the truth of this matter, then what is our responsibility? Not only one has a family, wife and children, one has to be responsible for those naturally, but what is your responsibility globally? You understand my question? For the whole of mankind, because you are the mankind, you have your illusions, your images of god, your images of heaven and so on and so on. You have your rituals, you know, the whole business, exactly like the rest of the world, only in different names, they don’t call themselves Christians they call themselves Muslims, or Hindus, or Buddhists, but the pattern is the same. Right?

So when you realise that, what is our responsibility? That is, how do you respond to the challenge? You understand my question? How do you answer? What is your reaction when you feel that you are humanity? This is a challenge – you understand? How do you meet a challenge? If you meet it from your old individual conditioning, your response will naturally be totally inadequate. Right? It will be fragmentary, it will be rather shoddy. So one has to find out what is our response to this great challenge? Does your mind meet it greatly, or with your fears, with your anxieties? You follow? The little concern about yourself?

So the responsibility depends, if I may point out, upon the response to the challenge. If one says this is your responsibility, join – not the League of Nations but some other nations, form a group, do this and do that, that is not an adequate challenge. How do you respond to this challenge psychologically? Inwardly? Is it just a flutter, a romantic appeal? Or something profound that will transform your whole way of looking at life? Then you are no longer British, American, French – you follow? Will you give up all that? Or merely play with the idea that it is a marvelous Utopian concept? Right?

So the responsibility to this challenge depends on you, whether your mind is capable of meeting this enormous human wholeness, this human current.”

Eloquently said, my old boy!

As you can see, there will always be challenges in life that will prompt us to respond the best way we can. We can either let certain challenges overwhelm us, or we can assume the mantle of responsibility and show courage by dealing with them head on.

The one thing we should not do is to remain ignorant and shirk all responsibilities in our midst, or we may find worse troubles ahead that can lead to great detriment to our lives.

Maybe this is the main reason why we were put on this seemingly unforgiving planet. Maybe the true purpose of our existence is for our very characters and spirits to be put through their paces with the many trials and tribulations of life.

How one deals with their particular test depends on what permeates through their mind. At one end of the scale, we have a mind filled with ignorance and that will no doubt attach itself to irresponsibility and fail to deal with any major challenges adequately, but at the other end we have a mind filled with wisdom which is capable of responding successfully to any test life throws at it.

The question is, can we develop the presence of mind, individually and collectively, to use wisdom when it’s called upon, so that we can learn from the experience of dealing with challenges? If we do decide to tip the scales in favour of wisdom it should immensely help to cultivate growth and improvement for the better throughout.

Challenges of Parenthood

One such responsibility that challenges me presently in life is parenthood. There is perhaps no greater challenge than bringing up a child to be wise, peaceful and compassionate in a violent nonsensical world. Obviously it requires you to have a healthy relationship with your child and a whole lot of luck.

What I have learned since my boy was born is that not only am I responsible for him, but at the same time, I must also be responsible for myself.

Why? Because children are an impressionable lot, so I must be careful not to set a bad example. If I am somehow found wanting in my efforts of providing positive guidance to my son, then I can have no complaints if he becomes irresponsible in his behavior by the time he reaches adulthood.

So having a responsibility in life can be a motivating factor, but can also cause stress through the pressure of being constantly attentive to something.

This however, should not stop you invoking action in overcoming challenges, as well as it giving you a sense of duty to see through every situation to the end – this will more than likely be to your advantage in the long run.

Challenges of Ourselves and the World

However, other than parenthood, another unavoidable challenge that we will face in our life is ironically ourselves. We seem to think that challenges come at us from only external situations, and if we can somehow conquer these we would have been successful towards our goals. But we seem to forget that it is usually our own minds that can debilitate us and that cause conflict whenever an obstacle needs to be surmounted.

Hence the imperative need to develop the motivation and determination within ourselves to rise above the difficult challenges that lie ahead, especially in regard the problems that we have unwittingly created to begin with.

We as a whole must feel responsible for a world which has suffered by our hands since history began because of the past folly of wars and ignorance which still continues to haunts us today. So there is an urgent need for wise cooperation and not bellicose competition to deal with the present problems that humankind now faces.

We seem to have been forever standing on the brink of the precipice. So trying not to tempt fate, I have no wish for us to fall into the abyss just yet. Peace and wisdom seem to be the only possible solutions for our salvation.

I now leave you with a enlightening quote that perfectly describes the true meaning of why we all should be responsible in life,

“Life ultimately means taking the responsibility to find the right answers to its problems and to fulfill the tasks which it constantly sets for each individual.”

~ Viktor E. Frankl, from the book ‘Man’s Search For Meaning’

Friedrich Nietzsche’s Key Concept Of Wellness For Us All To Follow

Jason Cooper — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 09:28:03 +0000

The following excerpt is from an interesting article by Donald B Ardell, who feels that we can all learn to develop our minds and achieve general well-being if we applied practical philosophy at the workplace and to our everyday lives.

Ardell calls upon none other than the iconoclastic philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche to demonstrate a key concept in his own philosophy on overcoming difficulties toward finding total fulfillment in life:

‘If REAL wellness were offered at worksite wellness functions, employees would learn life skills large and small, particularly in the areas of philosophy and human happiness. As it is, worksite wellness is largely a medical endeavor focused on risk reduction and prevention, neither of which contributes much to the work setting as a learning environment. If philosophy were on the worksite wellness agenda, workers would have continuous opportunities to increase their capacities for reason, exuberance and liberty toward higher quality of life.

I’m often asked for practical examples of what employees might learn if skills taught included meaning and purpose, global awareness, personal responsibility, happiness, applied ethics and philosophy, to name just a few quality of life-type topics.

Here is one illustration from the rich field of practical philosophy.The example draws on a key concept of Friedrich Nietzsche.’

Read the full article here…

Develop a Boxer’s Heart Towards Overcoming Adversity

Jason Cooper — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 13:06:48 +0000

You maybe asking, what has boxing got to do with self improvement, wisdom and overcoming adversity? Well, assuming the guise of a boxer in life brings with it many virtues that any would be philosopher will be proud of.

Who wouldn’t envy a person who has in their possession; courage, determination, and strength of will? These form the beneficial qualities of a champion pugilist, and are what is needed to stand up against the many difficulties we face daily in our lives.

Difficulties in life can happen to all of us at the best of times due to unforeseeable circumstances and through our own ignorance. Many of these difficulties can be endured or even avoided if we had the heart and foresight to deal with them.

We can learn many a wise lesson from boxing, and can apply both the wisdom of mental focus and a warrior’s spirit to our own lives. So let us develop a boxer’s heart to withstand the devastating blows of life towards coping with whatever fate chooses to use to dent our unbeaten records.

Thank the heavens for the fighting spirit that can be inspired from movies,

“Never stop fighting till the fight is done!”

~ Elliot Ness from the movie ‘Untouchables’

A true champion is one who, despite being knocked out in defeat, gloriously and bravely comes back stronger to take on his former conqueror. We must have the heart and willpower of a champion to erode fear and to dull the pain so that we can face any difficulty that stands in our way with equanimity.

Although we can initially be defeated by adversity, the most important thing is how we react to it, and must find the determination to come back from any devastating loss,

“He that fights and runs away, may live to fight another day.”

I’ll leave the final inspirational words to none other than movie Heavyweight Champion of the World, Rocky Balboa,

“Let me tell you something you already know. The world ain’t all sunshine and rainbows. It is a very mean and nasty place and it will beat you to your knees and keep you there permanently if you let it. You, me, or nobody is gonna hit as hard as life. But it ain’t how hard you hit; it’s about how hard you can get hit, and keep moving forward. How much you can take, and keep moving forward. That’s how winning is done. Now, if you know what you’re worth, then go out and get what you’re worth. But you gotta be willing to take the hit, and not pointing fingers saying you ain’t where you are because of him, or her, or anybody. Cowards do that and that ain’t you. You’re better than that!”

~ Rocky Balboa

Follow these wise steps towards dealing with adversity:

Always prepare yourself mentally (be philosophical) for the worse before it actually happens – it will soften the blow. Life is unpredictable and you must understand that both good and bad can happen.
Most difficulties are caused by our own ignorance or impulses. Develop your mental focus (consciousness and reason) so that you can make the right decisions and to choose as simple a path as possible when negotiating life, which will avoid much difficulty later
If an unforeseen disaster should happen, develop your strength in heart (spiritual motivation) by accepting the situation immediately. One thing you must remember is that you are still alive and have the opportunity to overcome the present situation towards making a brighter future

You can be a World Champion in your life – and don’t you forget it!