“Catastrophe here does not mean disaster. Rather, it means the poignant enormity of our life experience. It includes crisis and disaster, the unthinkable and the unacceptable, but it also includes all the little things that go wrong and that add up. The phrase reminds us that life is always in flux, that everything we think is permanent is actually only temporary and constantly changing. This includes our ideas, our opinions, our relationships, our jobs, our possessions, our creations, our bodies, everything.”
― Jon Kabat-Zinn, Full Catastrophe Living, Revised Edition: How to cope with stress, pain and illness using mindfulness meditation
“We all have limitations. They are worth befriending. They teach us a lot. They can show us what we most need to pay attention to and honor. They become our cutting edge for learning and growing and gentling ourselves into the present moment as it is.”
“Mindfulness means paying attention in a particular way: on purpose, in the present moment, and nonjudgmentally.” ― Jon Kabat-Zinn, Wherever You Go, There You Are
Do not struggle. Go with the flow of things, and you will find yourself at one with the mysterious unity of the Universe.
Zhuangzi
The effect of life in society is to complicate and confuse our existence, making us forget who we really are by causing us to become obsessed with what we are not.
Zhuangzi
Do not struggle. Go with the flow of things, and you will find yourself at one with the mysterious unity of the Universe.
Zhuangzi
Do not seek fame. Do not make plans. Do not be absorbed by activities. Do not think that you know. Be aware of all that is and dwell in the infinite. Wander where there is no path. Be all that heaven gave you, but act as though you have received nothing. Be empty, that is all.
Yuval Noah Harari is a historian and the bestselling author of the books that include Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind. His book for kids, Unstoppable Us, Volume 1: How Humans Took Over the World is a NY Times Best Book of 2022. Yuval is also a professor of History at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, and the co-founder of the social impact company Sapienship. In this episode the conversation gets deep between the need for your mental flexibility, how much narrative is influencing the world we experience, and the best way you can embrace change.
“It is much worse psychologically to feel worthless than to feel exploited” -Yuval Noah Harari
Check out his latest book, Unstoppable Us:How Humans Took Over the World: https://www.amazon.com/Unstoppable-Us...
QUOTES:
“We have to keep learning and keep changing throughout our lives otherwise we will be left behind.”
“Old jobs disappear, but new jobs emerge. The real difficult thing will be the transition.”
“Almost all people are liberal. Even the conservatives…”
“The ideological differences are small on the ground, but they are very big in people’s imagination. People have fantasies about what the other side is planning to do which are completely divorced from reality.”
“Fantasies often shape history and cause people to do terrible things.”
“Instead of leaders who are trying to heal the national community you see leaders that try to destroy it and get power by kind of leading just one tribe.”
“I think the big narrative is the biological narrative that we are all homo sapiens, that we all have the same basic experiences, [...] these are things that are common to all humans.”
“A sacred place is a place plus a story about the place, and this is at the bottom of most conflicts in the world.”
“On the level of the body, we can relate to every other human being in the world because biologically we are all the same. What creates this huge distance between us is the fantasies that the mind imagines and produces.”
Desiderata are, technically, things considered necessary or highly desirable OR something lacked and wanted. The poem is a list of things desirable in life.
Go placidly amid the noise and haste, and remember what peace there may be in silence. As far as possible without surrender be on good terms with all persons. Speak your truth quietly and clearly; and listen to others, even the dull and the ignorant; they too have their story.
Avoid loud and aggressive persons, they are vexations to the spirit. If you compare yourself with others, you may become vain and bitter; for always there will be greater and lesser persons than yourself. Enjoy your achievements as well as your plans.
Keep interested in your own career, however humble; it is a real possession in the changing fortunes of time. Exercise caution in your business affairs; for the world is full of trickery. But let this not blind you to what virtue there is; many persons strive for high ideals; and everywhere life is full of heroism.
Be yourself. Especially, do not feign affection. Neither be cynical about love; for in the face of all aridity and disenchantment it is as perennial as the grass.
Take kindly the counsel of the years, gracefully surrendering the things of youth. Nurture strength of spirit to shield you in sudden misfortune. But do not distress yourself with dark imaginings. Many fears are born of fatigue and loneliness. Beyond a wholesome discipline, be gentle with yourself.
You are a child of the universe, no less than the trees and the stars; you have a right to be here. And whether or not it is clear to you, no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should.
Therefore be at peace with God, whatever you conceive Him to be, and whatever your labors and aspirations, in the noisy confusion of life keep peace with your soul.
With all its sham, drudgery, and broken dreams, it is still a beautiful world. Be cheerful. Strive to be happy.
"To improve is to change; to be perfect is to change often."
- Winston Churchill
Churchill said this in response to criticisms about the fact that he changed political parties. Indeed, this quote is the essence of Change Intelligence: to lead change, we must start with ourselves first.
