“He who can no longer pause to wonder and stand rapt in awe, is as good as dead; his eyes are closed.” -Albert Einstein
Einstein's quote serves as a banner at Raptitude and the mantra is 'getting better at being human.'
David Cain writes, "It's just so hard to be human. We’re plagued with incessant needs, worries and nasty feelings, and nobody is necessarily going to teach us how to deal with them. Even the kindest among us still get angry, jealous, lonely, and resentful. Our newspapers and history books are filled with war, addiction, desperation and suffering — all the result of people dealing very poorly with the conundrum of being human."
Cain continues, "I see being human as a skillset — something you can get better at if you take it upon yourself to do so. You can learn to temper rotten moods, shed your insecurities, shore up your weak points and sharpen your strong ones...
And such glittering prizes await! Consistently agreeable moods. Unshakable gratitude. Strengthened relationships. Abundant days and sleepful nights. Capabilities you never imagined were in you. Relief from boredom, envy, frustration and complacency."
One of Cain's posts at his excellent site is entitled "88 Important Truths I Have Learned about Life."
They include:
-Children are remarkably honest creatures until we teach them not to be.
-Yelling always makes things worse.
-There are not enough women in positions of power. The world has suffered from this deficit for a long time.
-Anyone can be calmed in an instant by looking at the ocean or the stars.
-When you’re sick of your own life, that’s a good time to pick up a book.
It's an interesting exercise to consider writing some statements of truth.
But, a word of caution?
Ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you mad. ~Aldous Huxley
Thanks to Holy Kaw for the link.
