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If by Rudyard Kipling

If

If you can keep your head when all about you
    Are losing theirs and blaming it on you,
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
    But make allowance for their doubting too;
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
    Or being lied about, don’t deal in lies,
Or being hated, don’t give way to hating,

    And yet don’t look too good, nor talk too wise:

If you can dream—and not make dreams your master;
    If you can think—and not make thoughts your aim;
If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster
    And treat those two impostors just the same;
If you can bear to hear the truth you’ve spoken
    Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,

    And stoop and build ’em up with worn-out tools:

If you can make one heap of all your winnings
    And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings
    And never breathe a word about your loss;
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
    To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you

    Except the Will which says to them: ‘Hold on!’

If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
    Or walk with Kings—nor lose the common touch,
If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you,
    If all men count with you, but none too much;
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
    With sixty seconds’ worth of distance run,
Yours is the Earth and everything that’s in it,

    And—which is more—you’ll be a Man, my son!

by Rudyard Kipling (born on 30 December 1865, in Bombay, India – died on 18 January 1936, aged 70, in London, UK)

Author adminPosted on 2018-11-142018-11-14Categories wowTags poem, rudyard kiplingLeave a comment on If by Rudyard Kipling

Dr. Gabor Maté

Yesterday I wrote about pain. Some people experience constant pain and find temporary relief in an activity that can be described as addiction. I recently listened to a podcast interview by Russel Brand who sat down with Dr. Gabor Maté.  They have a very honest conversation about addiction and the underlying trauma that has to do with it.

Russel Brand is an English comedian, actor, radio host, author and activist while Dr. Gabor Gabor Maté is a Hungarian-born Canadian physician who specializes in the study and treatment of addiction and is also widely recognized for his unique perspective on Attention Deficit Disorder and his firmly held belief in the connection between mind and body health.

I am following Gabor’s work for a few years now. I highly recommend watching one of his talks on YouTube, listening to the above mentioned podcast or picking up one of his books, e.g. “When the Body Says No: Exploring the Stress-Disease Connection“.

After having read it I immediately decided it goes onto my “I need to read this again soon“ shelf. In this book Gabor explains his view on the connection between the mind and the body, how it impacts health and the role that stress and one’s individual emotional makeup play in an array of common diseases.

Gabor sees addiction as something far broader than just illegal substances:„Addiction is manifested in any behavior that a person craves, finds temporary relief or pleasure in but suffers negative consequences as a result of, and yet has difficulty giving up. In brief: craving, relief, pleasure, suffering, impaired control. Note that this definition is not restricted to drugs but could encompass almost any human behavior, from sex to eating to shopping to gambling to extreme sports to TV to compulsive internet use: the list is endless.“ You can find the full text here.

I resonate with this definition. What about you?

P.S. I am following the work of one of Gabor’s sons, too. His name is Daniel and I recommend you check out his new website about a very special kind of service he is offering. This truly seems to be a calling for him.

#gratitude to Russel, Gabor and Daniel

Author adminPosted on 2018-11-13Categories teachersTags addiction, body, daniel mate, dr. gabor mate, medicine, mind, podcast, russel brand, spiritLeave a comment on Dr. Gabor Maté

The message of pain

Pain is a symptom of an underlying condition. Manifested in different forms, e.g. mental or physical pain, it will inevitably claim your attention by screaming for a solution. If you neglect it for too long it will rise in fortitude and challenge you even more.

Pain can break you if you are too stubborn to look yourself in the mirror and acknowledge its relevance. You might choose to see it as a natural occurrence instead that can serve as a trigger for important change, it is up to you.

Author adminPosted on 2018-11-12Categories uncategorizedTags change, painLeave a comment on The message of pain

Links

From time to time I will be sharing discoveries that made me say “wow“. Yesterday I googled “Cultural Creatives“ which led me to the following two sites.

a) Provocative figures expanding our consciousness by Blake Ward, via his news post about Cultural Creatives.

b) Zen Alarm Clocks and Zen Timers by Now & Zen. Here is an interview with the founder, Steve McIntosh.

 

Author adminPosted on 2018-11-112018-11-11Categories wow linksTags art, gift, product, sculptor, spirituality, zenLeave a comment on Links

Towards a knowledge society

Photo by Ryan Rush on Unsplash

For a while now, we as a human race are undergoing a huge societal shift, it is happening in many places and inside of many minds all around the world. This kind of change is not intentionally created, it is a change where a new kind of world is slowly emerging.

We are shifting from an industrial, modern world to a post-industrialist, transmodern world; transmodernity means Knowledge Society. These two worlds believe in opposing values.

Values of the Industrial Society vs. the Knowledge Society

In the Industrial Society we....In the Knowledge Society we....
strive for output (quantity, tangibles) strive for knowledge (quality, intangibles)
play «survival of the fittest»play «love»
foster exclusion and suspicionfoster openness and sharing
see humans as a problemput people first
sell objects without ethical valuecherish the ethical value of knowledge
conquer and dominatecooperate and sustain
focus on capitalnurture the brain (creativity, reflection)

How does this change impact your life?

Author adminPosted on 2018-11-102018-11-10Categories uncategorizedLeave a comment on Towards a knowledge society

The trap of being an expert

Photo by _HealthyMond . on Unsplash

If you grab a dictionary and look up “expert“ it will reveal something like “a person who is very knowledgeable about or skilful in a particular area.“

There are many experts out there. Their knowledge, particularly if it stems from actual experience, is a gift to the world and other people can learn from them. When it comes to mindset, though, it can lead to a dead-end. The more you convince yourself you know all there is to know in a particular field, the more you get stuck in being right.

If you are the kind of person open to learn and develop, you might want to cultivate a beginner’s mind instead: wonder, ask questions, explore, test things out and hopefully delight in the journey of discovery.

Maybe Charles Barkley, the former NBA player, is right when he says: “Only God is an expert.“

Author adminPosted on 2018-11-092018-11-10Categories uncategorizedLeave a comment on The trap of being an expert

Joseph Campbell

When I was a small boy I started to develop a love for stories about mythology, particularly Greek mythology. To this day one of my all time favourite books is Die schönsten Sagen des klassichen Altertums from Gustav Schwab.

I went on to take classes of Latin during seven out of my nine high school years. During this time I enjoyed reading so many remarkable mythological stories.

One of the great teachers within this realm is Joseph Campbell. To him mythology was “the song of the universe, the music of the spheres”. There exists a fabulous TV series, created by PBS, where he is interviewed by Bill Moyers. Here is a short intro video about it which lasts 0:31.

I wish I would have met him in person and listened to one of his lectures. What I can do, though, is to write about him and express my gratitude for all of his work. His book, The Power of Myth, is another of my all time favourites. It is a book that contains excerpts of his conversation with Bill Moyers.

Below is a great video, it lasts 11:28, by Tom Bilyeu, in which he is sharing his thoughts about how this book impacted his life.

Thank you Joseph, thank you Tom!

Author adminPosted on 2018-11-082018-11-09Categories teachersTags book, joseph campbell, mythology, spirit, teacher, tom bilyeu, videoLeave a comment on Joseph Campbell

Here we go

“A journey of a thousand miles starts with one step.” Lao Tzu

I have bought the domain, I chose WordPress, I got some technical help, a shout-out to Spajk, and voilà, this is the beginning of a new adventure.

Author adminPosted on 2018-11-072018-11-07Categories uncategorizedLeave a comment on Here we go

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This is the personal blog of Ivica Baraba. I’m an entrepreneur at PES, a creative workshop for eye-catching artisanal Point of Sale material drinks consumers notice.

Additionally, as co-founder of VAU, I’m exploring the connection betweeen everyday design objects and mindful living.

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