Is too much stuff really a problem? Or is it more the ratio of time and energy we spend acquiring things to the amount of time and energy we spend using those things that counts.

Here is a little something from Jagad Guru Chris Butler:

“In his book Small Is Beautiful, noted British economist E. F. Schumacher wrote:

Insights of wisdom … enable us to see the hollowness and fundamental unsatisfactoriness of a life devoted primarily to the pursuit of material ends, to the neglect of the spiritual. Such a life necessarily sets man against man and nation against nation, because man’s needs are infinite and infinitude can be achieved only in the spiritual realm, never in the material.*

It is a fact that no matter how much sense gratification a person gets, he will never be satisfied. Material food, material things, material sense gratification cannot satisfy the atma (spirit soul). Just as the body needs material food, so the spirit soul needs spiritual food. To try to satisfy one’s spiritual craving with material things leads to endless consumption, greed, envy, violence, and war. Western people have as much sense gratification as one could ever want, yet they are not satisfied. Why? Because they are spiritually empty.”

Jagad Guru Chris Butler – wisdom in daily life

© 2007 Science of Identity Foundation

* E. F. Schumacher, Small Is Beautiful: Economics as if People Mattered (New York: Harper and Row, 1973), p. 38

“Things” are highly overrated. It’s not that we should not want things, but craving them and having to have them and spending so much of our life energy pursuing them is really a waste of time. The main use of things is to give us life energy, yet so many things only sap it up.

Maybe less focus on things we don’t have and more on those we do, would do the trick.  Perhaps it is the ratio of time and energy we spend acquiring things (and fixing and maintaining them, of course) to the amount of time and energy we spend using those things that counts.  Maybe we should acquire fewer things and use those things we do have more.

Image courtesy of Bill Longshaw / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

People tend to read what they want into religious texts. I want to read gratitude into them. Here is why.

I just read a fascinating interview with A.J. Jacobs, a “Jewish” agnostic who decided to live the bible quite literally for a year, then write a book about it.  Here are just a couple excerpts from the interview:

Trying to follow the Bible, you learn how much you sin during a day.  It’s really quite shocking.  You tell so many lies just trying to keep a conversation going….As a parent, I couldn’t believe how much I lied: “Oh, Oh, the toy store’s closed today, we can’t go there,” or, “The TV’s broken.”

Here’s another…

The bible is really focused on giving thanks, and that was a huge lesson for me.  By the end, I was an extreme thanker–I was thanking when the elevator came on time.  It’s a great way to live, to focus on the hundreds of things that go right during the day rather than the three or four things that went wrong.

Most of us read what we want to out of the Bible, or any other holy text.

Ever wonder why some Muslims will tell you that Islam is a religion of peace, while others commit atrocities in the name of Allah?  Don’t blame it on the holy text, but on what different people want to read from it.

Ever wonder why some people love Jesus, the “Prince of Peace”, while other teach their kids to fear God? Don’t blame it on the holy text, but on what different people want to read from it.

For my part, I like A.J. Jacobs’ approach.  Give thanks.  Feel the gratitude.  I can’t help but feel that this is the way God would like me to live, rather than wasting our days hating His other children. Most of us spend far too much time wishing for things we don’t have, and nowhere near enough time appreciating all that we do have.

I kind of think our lives are a bit like this Bible verse, Mark 6:41-43

41 Taking the five loaves and the two fish and looking up to heaven, he gave thanks and broke the loaves. Then he gave them to his disciples to set before the people. He also divided the two fish among them all.

42 They all ate and were satisfied,

43 and the disciples picked up twelve basketfuls of broken pieces of bread and fish.

We have all we want.  We have all we need.  And if we would just be more appreciative, we would feel like we always have more than we need.

We are not always who we appear to be. In fact, even to people close at hand, we might seem to be different than we really are. So who are we to judge others?

I have to share this little story from my friend Thea Westra’s blog:

I want to share with you Erin’s philosophy statement at the Brockovich blog, written by Erin Brockovich. It is so inspiring and affirming, as is Erin. She shares the following message better than I would have said it.

When you visit her blog site, it is also worth the time to read her personal account of her life, in her bio.

“People ask me all the time what I think and what my opinion is. Well, here are a few of my thoughts and beliefs:

Everyone believes, because of the movie, that I am an environmental activist. I am often referred to as the environmentalist with cleavage. I do care a great deal about the environment but my real work and my greatest challenge is trying to overcome deceits that end up jeopardizing public health and safety.”

Read more: http://www.apsense.com/article/103710.html

How many times has it happened to you that you were misrepresented by people around you? Perhaps people think you are cold, but in reality you are just shy. Or perhaps they think you are being selfish when you are protecting somebody else’s secrets or honour or friendship.

Let’s turn that question around and ask ourselves how often we judge others incorrectly. Of course, we can’t answer that question. But rumors abound and we might tend to believe them.

Even more so with people we know less well, such as other people in our workplace or school or neighborhood. Or celebrities or political leaders. We might be tempted to believe every hearsay that gossipers spread around about them. Or we might be inclined to believe carefully crafted images that bear no resemblance to their real lives.

The bottom line is that we know so little about people in the spotlight, and perhaps less than we think about people closer to home. In fact, sometimes we don’t even know ourselves all that well. The less we judge, the better.

What’s with self-help, anyway? Is it about your weaknesses or your strengths?

Far too often, self-help asks, “What’s wrong with me?”  This is only natural, we most often seek help when we see a problem.  And if we see a problem, it is a good thing to want to correct it or manage it.

But self-help should also be about asking, “What’s right with me?”  It should be about finding our strengths and building on them – about finding ways to leverage our strengths to live happier, more fulfilling lives and make life a wonderful experience  for everyone.

That is what any coach would tell you.  Yes, look for the weak spots.  Yes, try to correct as many weaknesses as possible.  Yes, find alternatives when you can’t correct a weakness sufficiently.

But you don’t win a game by just not being weak.  You win by being strong.

Self-help should focus on your strengths at least as much as your weaknesses.  What do you do well?  What could you be doing more of?  How can you use your strengths in new ways, in creative ways, to get the things out of life that you crave? How can your strengths bring the best out of people around you?

Look at both your weaknesses and your strengths.  You just might find a lot of exciting opportunities for a better life in both areas.

George Carlin: “I went to a bookstore and asked the saleswoman, ‘Where’s the self-help section?’ She said if she told me, it would defeat the purpose.”

Vera Nazarian: “A fine glass vase goes from treasure to trash, the moment it is broken. Fortunately, something else happens to you and me. Pick up your pieces. Then, help me gather mine.”

Henry Ford: “If you think you can or you think you can’t either way you are right.”

Mark Twain: “Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.”