When we think about ourselves we most likely think we are smart or pretty smart or at least smart enough. We have gotten this far... however far that is and I/we are ok, fine, happy, healthy, etc. etc.. I/we have access to a computer and the internet and the time and ability to read and maybe write, too. We even have the time to think about ourselves and we do.
If we were stupid we might not think about ourselves. We might not have resources and time and abilities to look at someone's blog. We might feel lost and not good. We might not be healthy, etc.
BUT - to BE smart or stupid is less the issue then to act smartly or act stupidly.
Self-interest, self-awareness, self, self, self are often smart ways and things to do and be. The first wise statement to consider is "If I am not for myself, who will be for me?" A beginning!
Cooperation, support, collaboration, community..... are all things/places we have come from and are in. It is the nature of us being mammals. It is the nature of all animals and plants, too. We all have a mother and a father and we are nurtured, too, especially as mammals. So - another wise statement follows the first one: "If I am only for myself, what am I?"
Being with others is the radical essence of being NOT G-d yet being creative. G-d created alone. We create with partners and others.
Now acting and even being STUPID would be to act or try to act alone. SMART is seeing the need for other(s). Acting with others and being with others.
SO - who is smart and who is stupid. What is acting smart or what is acting stupid?
There is a third wise statement and it is: "If not now, when?"
A personal disclaimer/statement -- I often feel alone. I have thought of myself as a lone wolf or a lone lion (I'm a Leo, astrologically) and I have to be reminded sometimes that I am not alone, that I have friends, I am liked and even loved. I have difficulties with being with others and I have some ideas as to why and where those difficulties came from and I have been in therapy for a while to work though it AND what I wrote above feels therapeutic! Even as I am sitting alone writing this. The fact is I hope others read this and learn from it and are helped by it... YOU ARE THERE! Are you there?
African wisdom is in the word Ubuntu "often translated as "I am because we are,""
Does the tree falling in the forest make a sound? Of course it does... but who knows?
Doubt was a major word in my first months in college. Doubt is very related to trust. Trust is very related to faith and faith in G-d is both comforting and in this modern 21st century world... challenging as it is hard to simply believe. P.T. Barnum said: "More persons, on the whole, are humbugged by believing nothing, than by believing too much."
What is smart and what is stupid... for myself and for all of us? I hope thinking about both myself and others and coming together in cooperation, collaboration, and community will be The Way.
(and check my basic thought about choices by clicking here)
© Ken Firestein - 2018
If we were stupid we might not think about ourselves. We might not have resources and time and abilities to look at someone's blog. We might feel lost and not good. We might not be healthy, etc.
BUT - to BE smart or stupid is less the issue then to act smartly or act stupidly.
Self-interest, self-awareness, self, self, self are often smart ways and things to do and be. The first wise statement to consider is "If I am not for myself, who will be for me?" A beginning!
Cooperation, support, collaboration, community..... are all things/places we have come from and are in. It is the nature of us being mammals. It is the nature of all animals and plants, too. We all have a mother and a father and we are nurtured, too, especially as mammals. So - another wise statement follows the first one: "If I am only for myself, what am I?"
Being with others is the radical essence of being NOT G-d yet being creative. G-d created alone. We create with partners and others.
Now acting and even being STUPID would be to act or try to act alone. SMART is seeing the need for other(s). Acting with others and being with others.
SO - who is smart and who is stupid. What is acting smart or what is acting stupid?
There is a third wise statement and it is: "If not now, when?"
A personal disclaimer/statement -- I often feel alone. I have thought of myself as a lone wolf or a lone lion (I'm a Leo, astrologically) and I have to be reminded sometimes that I am not alone, that I have friends, I am liked and even loved. I have difficulties with being with others and I have some ideas as to why and where those difficulties came from and I have been in therapy for a while to work though it AND what I wrote above feels therapeutic! Even as I am sitting alone writing this. The fact is I hope others read this and learn from it and are helped by it... YOU ARE THERE! Are you there?
African wisdom is in the word Ubuntu "often translated as "I am because we are,""
Does the tree falling in the forest make a sound? Of course it does... but who knows?
Doubt was a major word in my first months in college. Doubt is very related to trust. Trust is very related to faith and faith in G-d is both comforting and in this modern 21st century world... challenging as it is hard to simply believe. P.T. Barnum said: "More persons, on the whole, are humbugged by believing nothing, than by believing too much."
What is smart and what is stupid... for myself and for all of us? I hope thinking about both myself and others and coming together in cooperation, collaboration, and community will be The Way.
(and check my basic thought about choices by clicking here)
© Ken Firestein - 2018
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