Day 293: Don’t Judge a shirt by its Design…

We all have our preferences to styles and types of clothing we like. Sure it’s sometimes mostly based on ideas created behind the point or social influences, other times it’s based on what is practical. For me I prefer wearing simple plain clothing.

 

Back when I was a teenager it was a different story. I was into whatever was cool based on social influences. I was a surfer/rockstar wannabe so that is the clothing I wore.  Had to be branded clothing. But as you know – things changes when you grow up and now clothing is simply soothing to cover my birthday suit.

Throughout the years there was one thing that did not change and something I brought with me since childhood – I will never wear a Vest.

With working around the farm your clothing does not last very long so every now and then I need new shirts. So off I went with my girlfriend and at the store she places a vest in my hands. I immediately and firmly announced my displeasure and told her I will not wear this. We walked og there with a few new shirts and the Vest.

I did not even realize at that point what my issue is with a vest until I looked at it. A memory  came up from when I was very young I found a box of clothes and in there was a vest, I put it on and went about my day. My parents saw me with this vest and they were all like “ wow, look at those muscles” and “ look at how strong you are”. I got fairly irritated with this and decided there I really don’t like vests.

What I did was linked wearing vests to people who want to look strong and show of their muscles. Like an Ego thing. And from There I avoided wearing Vests. 

It was only recently at the behest of my partner that I started wearing Vests again ad I got to say – when it comes to a very hot day a vest is much better to wear that a T-Shirt ( What?! Really?!).  So all those years I was sweating on hot days with my T-Shirt I could have worn a nice vest, but I created this idea and belief about the Vest and lived with that idea for many years.

So what beliefs and ideas are you living with currently? It’s hard to determine, because you already firmly believe it is real. Only way to find out if it’s real or not is to tests it out for yourself .

French Food Waste Ban Can Go a Step Further:

“Supermarkets in France have been banned from destroying unsold food in a bid to tackle the country's massive £14bn-worth of annual waste.

The French parliament passed a new law obliging the food retail giants to give any excess to charities or for other use.

The national assembly voted unanimously to pass the measure on Thursday which had been proposed by the Socialist deputy Guillaume Garot.
Mr Garot said: “It’s scandalous to see bleach being poured into supermarket dustbins along with edible foods."

The legislation prevents supermarkets deliberately spoiling unsold food so it can't be eaten, the Guardian reports.” - http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/world-news/france-bans-supermarkets-destroying-unsold-5742304

 
My first thought when reading this was why this was not done before? We are now in 2015 with more than half the world living in poverty. A very large amount of Perfectly edible food is thrown away – almost half the food that is produced in this world is thrown away.

It is a fact that the world produces enough food to feed every human being – yet millions die each year because of malnutrition. Making it a law to have supermarkets and big chains not have their leftover food thrown away is a great step forward. Now is it time for every supermarket in the world to follow this trend.

But there is another dark side to this and that is the reason why we have hungry people and food being wasted. And it’s simple – with half the world in poverty they cannot afford to BUY the food. Currently we rely on charities to feed the people. How to solve this?

With a Living Income Guaranteed where the people who before could not afford to buy food no have the money to do so. If we look at it globally with more than half the world unable to afford basic needs and now with the Living Income Guaranteed they are finally able to buy food and afford basic needs – this alone would greatly reduce the food being wasted currently. This would stop the dependency on charities as well by giving people purchasing power and would also be a huge boost in income for supermarkets.

We produce enough food to provide every person on Earth with 2,700 calories per day. Yet 842 million people still go to bed hungry– let’s stop this with LIG.

Day 291: Abdicating Responsibility – Its Human Nature!

Is this part of who we are? To give away our power and Self responsibility within everything we do. Let’s investigate by looking at a few popular examples.

Religion is a big one. Humans have recognized that we have some real problems within ourselves. Sometimes we do really bad stuff that we believe we have no control over, and sometimes we do really good stuff. So Let’s create a devil and make him responsible for all the bad stuff and then create a God that helps us be good. It’s easy to blame something outside ourselves for what is happening within us. But in reality – we are 100% responsible for our own actions.

To abdicate responsibility is a big part of who we are – we even created a whole world system from this point. From Having Kings and Queens dictate over us – to empowering governments to be responsible for us. So that when things go wrong we always have something else to blame for our problems.

The world as it exists today is a outward manifestation of human nature. We created this world based on how we are within. And one of those parts is not taking self-responsibility and gave us all things to blame. Let’s turn this inward and see why we did this – why do we not want to see and realize that we are responsible for ourselves?

Looking within yourself you will see this pattern. Look at the things we do in our daily lives. Look at how easy we get angry at people who we believe have wronged us. Look at how we judge others that we believe are different to us. Look at the nasty thoughts we create towards people we do not like. It’s like a constant blame point. We actually blame others for what we feel inside ourselves. That is not taking self-responsibility.

Another example is trying to change yourself. Within the point of self-change there is always one excuse or justification that seems like such a valid reason to not change. Within that we believe we are not strong enough to change or lack the power to change. Again that is a point of blame and not being self-responsible, because you give your power away to the excuse by allowing it to direct you. If we cannot realize that we are responsible for ourselves and start taking self-responsibility then we will always blame others and nothing will change.

Yes – abdicating Self responsibility is Human Nature – because it seemingly makes our lives easier. When things go wrong we can simply point fingers. But there will come a time when we can no longer point fingers at others and blame others for our problems. At some point you we have to stop and realize that each of us are actually responsible for what’s happening in our lives and in this world.

Day 290: Realizing your Authority in Life

 

“The Milgram experiment on obedience to authority figures was conducted by Yale University psychologist Stanley Milgram. They measured the willingness of study participants to obey an authority figure who instructed them to perform acts conflicting with their personal conscience.” - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Milgram_experiment

This experiment was redone by the Curiosity series and what they have founds is that most of the participants continued the shock administration despite not wanting to – they simply did what they were told by the authority figure.

What this showed is that most people will give in to Authority and obey despite their moral confliction. We can sit here and judge the participants and tell ourselves that if we were there we would not obey, but stand firm and say no to shocking, but that is not really true. The fact is that you would most likely have simply obeyed. We are doing this already.

From the very moment we enter this world and start participating we have accepted this world the way it is. We did not question why we needed to buy food, or why there are so many homeless – we simply accepted the system, never questioning it.

But what is authority really? Is Authority enforcement? Domination? Fear? Anger? Control? It’s not to control or to dominate or to enforce your will onto others – that is how authority is currently being abused in this world. No, that is not what Authority is. What does it mean to have Authority? What gives you Authority?

An example would be learning something from another. Let’s say you want to know how to plant a tree, and so you get someone who has the knowledge and experience on how to plant trees. Here this master tree planter shows you carefully how to do this tasks and the reason you are listening and doing what this master is showing you is because He has a greater understanding of the task at hand. And put simply that is what real Authority is. Its leadership based on supporting another and showing/teaching others what you have learned – you have the experience and within that you’re well versed with this task and thus have the Authority.

Don’t look at Authority and think about this world system or Law or police force or Government or fear. Those things are limited and abused expressions of the word authority. Real Authority is all about supporting others and yourself and sharing/teaching others things you have learned and have experience in.

Participate in the Weekly focus of Authority - find out more here: http://forum.desteni.org/viewtopic.php?f=14&p=58202#p58202

Day 289:Desire is the downfall of many relationships - how to make it REAL

 

Desire is the downfall of many relationships if not all. It’s because of this desire that you will overlook certain aspects of your partner just to keep the relationship going. Let’s say your partner tends to show irritation with dogs living in your house and do not like having them in the house. Now you really like this relationship of yours, so instead of keeping the dogs in the house you will keep them outside when he is around. This is a compromise and the reason behind this is fear – fear that this point will cause further conflict and might end the relationship. And so the poor dogs suffer because of your particular desire for relationships.

To live in fear like this – the fear of losing the relationship – is keeping you from expanding who you are and growing. Here is one the Principles that covers this:

“Relationships as Agreements: individuals coming together using agreements as a platform to one-on-one expand, grow and develop as individuals in life and living to support/assist each other unconditionally to reach their utmost potential where the agreement is a coming together of individuals understanding what it means to stand as equals and to stand as one.”

When it comes to supporting another person to be the best they can be there will most definitely be conflict involved, because that requires a point of change and with change there is friction since it does not come easy. So when your partner shows irritation to having dogs in the house and do not want them there – a point of support would be to find the source of the irritation. To open the point up and look at why dogs in the house cause irritation. Let’s say after some self-investigation and pushing and support from the other partner the reason for the irritation is a childhood memory of the partner’s parents who shouted at him whenever he let the dogs in the house. And throughout the years he developed that irritation within himself and projected it onto this situation.

And so you support the partner to overcome this irritation. This is what support means. It is to assist and support each other no matter what. Even if it will cause a bit of conflict – even if it means staring the person in the face and showing them what they are doing is unacceptable – to help them each other through it.

That is a real relationship – one with the sole purpose of assisting and supporting each other. Not because of some desire to have someone on your life or to fill an empty space in your heart, no. Being in a relationship is a commitment you make and a path you walk together to grow and expand. That is the real Deal.

Day 288: Family – Why this desire will destroy your life

 

This is so deep rooted within most – the desire to have a family. How many women and men out there dream about their perfect wedding from a young age? Why would this desire be the end of you? What makes this particular desire so dangerous?

One on my favorite Comedy TV shows is Scrubs . One of the characters ( Elliot) is your stereotypical girly girl. Ever since she was a kid she had dreamed of her perfect wedding and already had a book dedicated to wedding plans in case she ever gets a proposal. In one of the episodes she is engaged to a guy and having doubts whether she should marry this guy or not and asked advice from her friends. At one point a guy asks her a very important question: “Do you really want to marry this guy, or do you just want to be married?”

She had this desire to be married from a very young age as most people do. It’s something that’s ingrained from a young age – the purpose of life is to get educated to get a job to have money to raise a family and then die. So Elliot realized that she does not actually want to marry this guy – but that she just wanted to be married. It was not about the guy at all – only the idea of being married.

Just like the desire for relationships – it becomes all about the desire to be with someone no matter who it is. The same is for the Desire for family – it doesn’t matter who it is really it’s not about the actual person you are with but more just the idea of being married. And so many people compromise themselves and their lives just for the sake of fulfilling this desire. The desire takes over and all common sense and what is practical and all sense of living principles goes out of the window. It all becomes about the desire. What makes this so difficult for people to see is that we find any excuse or justification to make our desires a reality and in the end we are completely controlled by it.

Again – this is not real. Would you not rather be in a relationship that is supportive and not based on a need or desire? IF your starting point is desiring a relationship then all you have is a relationship with the desire. I will end with this from my previous blog and continue with it in the next:

A real relationship has nothing to do with fulfillment or desire – it’s taking responsibility for another being and supporting them to be the best they can be. Now, what does that mean exactly? Let us see the answer in the next blog

Day 287 - The insanity of cat punching and why we all are to blame

 

A guy created a Facebook page dedicated to punching cats. What followed was people posting videos and photos of abusing poor animals and the internet going crazy demanding the page be removed. After a petition of about 20 000 people Facebook removed the page and few days afterwards another one emerged.

There are so many points happening here. First thing we need to ask is what kind of person would create a page about abusing animals and then also what kind of person would find this page a great place to post videos and photos of abusing animals for the whole world to see? It’s easy to sit there and judge such a person, but such disregard for life is something that you grow up with. Some peoples parents teach their kids this – or some parents simply do not teach their children about how to care for animals. So who is to blame? The guy? The guys parents? The guys parents parents? Society? Humanity?

We are all actually responsible for this; because it’s a symptom of a broken society we all live and participate in. Animals have always been regarded as less. Even god told mankind to have dominion over them. The amount of care we give animals and the planet and far far far less than we do for humans and that is a problem. We are all equals and we need to treat the animals with the respect hey deserve.

Why does it take 20 000 people to remove a page like this? Or more why do we only care about removing a page about animal abuse and not stopping animals abuse at its source? Why are we not outraged about all the atrocities currently existing in the world? Where is that anger when it comes to things like the fur industry? Where is that outrage when it comes to things like war or poverty?

Its only when its right in our face when we will start doing something. if somebody opens a fur factory in your backyard you will be outraged and stop it. Or if a war breaks out in your lounge you will probably want to really stop it. But when its far away where it doesn’t affect us we simply do not care.

Imagine – all abuse happening right now. Right now somebody is being robbed and killed or raped. Right now somebody is in great pain and suffering dying from hunger. Right now an animal is being skinned. There are some really bad shit happening right now and the problem is human nature. That needs to change. The world needs to change. WE need to change. I need to change. Time to change this world for the better – it starts with you and me.

Day 286: Relationships – Why this Desire will be the end of you.

 

I  know the title may sound a tad bit dramatic, but so is life so sit back and relax and continue reading – you just might learn something. We all have this – the desire to be with someone. It becomes more prominent in our teenage years where most of that time is spent on chasing or finding “ THE ONE”. I know I had my fair share of chasing and trying to find somebody to love. It’s a dangerous thing really – Desire - and I’ll show you why.

Desire is something that will completely direct and control your life. Desire is such a feel good feeling that we simply give into without much fight. Desire is something that will override any common sense or particular principles you live by – you simply forget all of that and follow the desire no matter where the road ends. That is what makes Desire so dangerous – you lose direction in your life by giving in to desire.

I’m sure many of us had those moments – where the point of desire stares you right in the face and all you have to do is give in, lean in and grab it – no matter the consequences. And at that moment all common sense fades away and it just feels right.

For me it was a girl, a long time ago. You know the story: Boy meets girl, they become best friends, after time they become more. The only twist was that the girl had a boyfriend. Now I am what you would call a nice guy. I always saw myself as a person who would not date a girl who already has a boyfriend, but my desire showed me otherwise. I remember what went through my head – what made me do it. This desire for relationships simply took over any reasoning or common sense or morals or principles I lived by – I simply said F**k that and gave in. And so began a secret behind the scenes relationship rooted from desire.

So that’s a simple example of Desire. The problem with Desire and what makes it so dangerous is that it’s something we really really want. We do not want to look at it objectively and let it go when we know it will not benefit our lives or who we are. Instead we want to chase that desire, that feel good feeling. When it comes to the desire for relationships – we meet someone and we really want to make it work – simply because we desire having a relationship. What most do not see here is that it’s not the other person they actually like, but it’s the idea of having a relationship that they are after. So in the end it has very little to do with the actual person you found, but rather its all about having the desire of relationship fulfilled.

And that is no way of actually living – chasing this desire or idea of relationship. Would it not be better if it was real? Curing aloneness is not by being with somebody else. Chasing relationships is not the answer to filling the emptiness you feel. The first step is getting to know yourself, and being comfortable with yourself, and caring for yourself and loving yourself.

A real relationship has nothing to do with fulfillment or desire – it’s taking responsibility for another being and supporting them to be the best they can be. Now, what does that mean exactly? Let us see the answer in the next blog

Day 285 How do you expand your comfort zone?

 

I wrote previously on how some of us get stuck in our ways, in doing things a specific way and always following the same patterns. Another point that comes from this is never trying something new that is outside your comfort zone.

In our lives we have created zones. And in our comfort zones we like to stay. Anything that might bring us out of these comfort zones we will stay away from. For example for me personally my comfort zone is being by myself and stepping out of that comfort zone is being around allot of people.

The problem with comfort zones is that if you stay there you will never expand yourself. You will stay the same, because you keep on doing the same things and never venture out to explore new things. Sometimes opportunities present themselves to me, they come along and then I have an option to choose – but sometimes these opportunities will take me out of my comfort zone and thus I will not take it and rather let it pass.

That is why the comfort zone can be so dangerous to stay in. The point is to not be stuck in your comfort zone, but to expand the comfort zone. But before you can expand it you need to first step out of it. If I use my example again, being around allot of people is outside my comfort zone, so what I do is put more effort to engage in large groups where possible so that I can learn to become more comfortable around a group of people. Then what happens is that I will eventually build confidence and become comfortable and thus I would have expanded my comfort zone.

It’s like this with all things. We really like our comfy zones and do not want to get out of it. It’s like being in a nice and warm bed and needing to wake up, but it’s so cold and dark outside and you really just want to stay in the nice and warm bed. Wake up and get up – Expand that comfort zone. Life Begins and the end of your comfort Zone

Day 284 - Stuck in old ways

 

There seems to be a point in your life, especially as you get older, where the prospect of doing something differently or trying something new is met with a sense of contempt. This is partly due to the belief that as you get older you get wiser, therefor you have lived and know what works and what doesn’t, so when someone wants to try and change the way you do things you tend to become really stubborn.

So can you teach an old dog new tricks?

The question is why do people become so closed to new ideas and new way of doing things? Or trying to do something differently than what you normally do? Why is the reaction to change met with scorn?

You can see this especially in older people, this gets worse the older you get. I remember when I was a kid I used to make fires for cooking meat allot. And one time we were ate a get together and a person was trying to a fire started, but the wood was a little damp and he was struggling and becoming really frustrated. So I’m seeing this and went over to help him and suggested that he should blow on the flames to get the fire going. Now understand this is an adult and I’m a young kid, and he has been struggling with this fire for a while now – he looks at me and said “ YOU try and blow on it” and then left. Can’t remember what happened next.

The point is that sometimes we get so stuck in doing things one way that we do not even want to consider that there is another way to do things. And whenever someone comes along to help or assist you with a new suggestion you immediately react with scorn and ignore what they said to keep doing things YOUR way.

Don’t be so closed Minded. Open yourself up to new things. We need to ne ok with trying something new once in a while. Maybe there is another way or more effective way of doing something, so don’t close the door on new suggestions, try it out. Expand your life and realize that you do not know everything.