I’ve recently discovered a wonderful talk by Jonathan Harris at TED. He uses computer technology to find out what blogging people are feeling. The particular project is called We Feel Fine. Also view the talk on the project and the other projects from Jonathan Harris.
“The reason everything was better back when everything was worse, is that, when everything was worse, it was actually possible for people to have experiences that were a pleasant surprise.”
“The secret to happiness is low expectations.”
Barry Schwartz
View the video on the Paradox of Choice at TED.org.
Read in the Management book “The E-Myth Revisited” by Michael E. Gerber
Most people today are not getting what they want. Not from their jobs, not from their families, not from their religion, not from their government, and, most important, not from themselves.
Something is missing in most of our lives.
Part of what’s missing is purpose. Values. Worthwhile standards against which our lives can be measured. Part of what’s missing is a Game Worth Playing. What’s also missing is a sense of relationship. People suffer in isolation from one another.
In a world without purpose, without meaningful values, what have we to share but our emptiness, the needy fragments of our superficial selves ?
As a result, most of us scramble about hungrily seeking distraction, in music, in television, in people, in drugs.
And most of all we seek things. Things to wear and things to do. Things to fill the emptiness. Things to shore up our eroding sense of self. Things to which we can attach meaning, significance, life. We’ve fast become a world of things. And most people are being buried in the profusion.
Business and buddhism are obviously two completely different things, but that doesn’t mean that people in all layers of society can’t all see the same problems we’re facing. It’s not the analysis of our being where they differ, it’s the way they try to offer a solution. Difficult to see which solution works best for you.
From Stefan Sagmeister, an inspiring designer. View a video on designs that made him happy, and him explaining some of his life lessons.
Whether you like it or not, there will come a time in your life when you and someone else will be deadlocked glazing at the last remaining piece of delicious apple pie. A true altruistic being would value the desire of the other person higher than his own and therefore would never order up that ultimate slice. And in comes the sneaky bastard with its sneaky-bastardy-ism (I need to put in a serious effort to make this a common term) ways.
This weekend I was amazed by the amount of posts having to do with fear and anxiety. From intense criticism on society (see the Scream above) to seemingly ridiculous but nevertheless important personal fears (”I don’t travel because I’m afraid my ass won’t fit in the seats.”) people seem to be very afraid. Afraid that life isn’t interesting, afraid of making a fool of themselves, afraid of disappointing others, …
It is very natural to feel afraid of the unknown. People often tend to avoid situations in which they have no experience. Is this merely a heritage of our biology where the unknown equals danger, or is it our culture that puts pressure on us to behave, to fit in ? Although very natural, fear should not be that important anymore. Rather than getting killed by a lion waiting around the unknown corner, all we can embark is a slight hit in our self-confidence and self-image as we might feel like we’re making a fool of ourselves.
The truth is: nobody cares. We’re all just people who often don’t know what we should do. Don’t feel embarassed about yourself. Just remember we’re all people and we will all “enjoy” these kinds of situations. Never be afraid to make a fool of yourself. We’re all fools, some of us just try hiding it.
