A BENEFIT OF SELF-AWARENESS (inspired by the writings of Maxwell Maltz)

By becoming observers of ourselves,
we can increase our awareness of how we react
in various situations.

When we see ourselves
doing anything which is not constructive
and which we wish to change,
or thinking negative thoughts,
we take note of it and remind ourselves
that these are old ideas, thoughts, or acts
which we wish to let go.

We presently replace these negative
or self-destructive old ideas
with more positive or more constructive ideas,
thoughts, or acts.

BEING MATURE

A physically mature person has a body that has naturally maximized its development with age.

A mentally mature person has developed a cognitive ability to think accurately, adequately, and independently.

A socially mature individual is a person who is willing to respond appropriately to his or her own needs and to respond benevolently to the needs and wants of others for whom he or she is responsible.

An emotionally mature person is one who accepts reality and continuously adjusts his or her perspective to changes in ways that enable him or her to do the best he or she can while enjoying every moment.

WINNING TAKES DETERMINATION, PERSISTENCE, COURAGE, AND PERSEVERANCE--EVEN IN THE FACE OF ADVERSITY

Don't You Quit (Author Unknown)

When things go wrong, as they sometimes will, When the road you're trudging seems all uphill, When the funds are low and the debts are high, And you want to smile, but you have to sigh, When care is pressing you down a bit- Rest if you must, but don't you quit. Life is queer with its twists and turns, As every one of us sometimes learns, And many a fellow turns about When he might have won had he stuck it out. Don't give up though the pace seems slow - You may succeed with another blow. Often the goal is nearer than It seems to a faint and faltering man; Often the struggler has given up When he might have captured the victor's cup; And he learned too late when the night came down, How close he was to the golden crown. Success is failure turned inside out - The silver tint in the clouds of doubt, And you never can tell how close you are, It might be near when it seems afar; So stick to the fight when you're hardest hit - It's when things seem worst that you must not quit.

TWELVE VIRTUES WITH THEIR PRECEPTS (by Benjamin Franklin)

These Names of Virtues with their Precepts:

1. TEMPERANCE. Eat not to Dullness. Drink not to Elevation.

2. SILENCE. Speak not but what may benefit others or your self. Avoid trifling Conversation.

3. ORDER. Let all your Things have their Places. Let each part of your Business have its Time.

4. RESOLUTION. Resolve to perform what you ought. Perform without fail what you resolve.

5. FRUGALITY. Make no Expense but to do good to others or yourself; i.e. Waste nothing.

6. INDUSTRY. Lose no Time. Be always employ'd in something useful. Cut off all unnecessary actions.

7. SINCERITY. Use no hurtful Deceit. Think innocently and justly; and, if you speak, speak accordingly.

8. JUSTICE. Wrong none, by doing Injuries or omitting the Benefits that are your Duty.

9. MODERATION. Avoid Extremes. Forbear resenting Injuries so much as you think they deserve.

10. CLEANLINESS. Tolerate no Uncleanliness in Body, Clothes, or Habitation.

11. TRANQUILITY. Be not disturbed at Trifles, or at Accidents common or unavoidable.

12. CHASTITY. Rarely use Venery [sexual indulgence] but for Health or Offspring; Never to Dullness, Weakness, or the injury of your own or another's peace or reputation.

DEISM MAKES MORE SENSE THAN THEISM

For the Arguments of the Deists which were quoted to be refuted, appeared to me much Stronger than the Refutations. In short I soon became a thorough Deist. ~ Benjamin Franklin

Deism is belief in the existence of a supreme being, specifically of a creator who does not intervene in the universe.

The term is used chiefly of an intellectual movement of the 17th and 18th centuries that accepted the existence of a creator on the basis of reason but rejected belief in a supernatural deity who interacts with humankind.

WHY AMERICA IS NOT THE GREATEST COUNTRY IN THE WORLD

U.S.A. PROPAGANDIST WOULD HAVE EVERYBODY BELIEVE THAT AMERICA IS THE GREATEST COUNTRY IN THE WORLD.

But, there is presently no evidence to support that assertion; of course, if you think that a country that is the most powerful and most capable of defeating other countries in war is the greatest, then "yes" America is the greatest country in the world because America spends more on WAR than the next 25 countries combined.

The U.S.A. leads the world in only five categories:

(1) RACISM: The American Dream and the Land of the Free turn out to be oxymorons as the United States, despite being integrated with people from around the world, also happens to be one of the most racist countries in the world. The problem of racial discrimination is strongest in the Deep South and Midwest regions, where racism is an everyday thing. Cases of hate and hate due to skin color are ever-increasing. And unless this mentality is modified through early education, no law is ever going to change anything. Racial discrimination in the U.S. has become a major issue and national embarrassment.

(2) WAR COST: The U.S.A. spends more than the next 26 countries combined. It is called defense spending but that is a euphemism because it is the U.S.A. that has been in the attack mode not the defense mode.

(3) THE NUMBER OF CITIZENS INCARCERATED.

(4) THE NUMBER OF ADULTS WHO BELIEVE ANGELS ARE REAL.

THE EUROPEAN AGE OF ENLIGHTENMENT

The Age of Enlightenment (or simply the Enlightenment, or Age of Reason) is an era from the 1650s to the 1780s in which cultural and intellectual forces in Western Europe emphasized reason, analysis, and individualism rather than traditional lines of authority (i.e., Christianity and the Bible).

It was promoted by philosophers and local thinkers in urban coffee houses, salons, and Masonic lodges. It challenged the authority of institutions that were deeply rooted in society, such as the Christian Church; there was much talk of ways to reform society with toleration of heretics and non-believers in Christianity, with science and with skepticism based on or in accordance with reason or logic.

Philosophers including Francis Bacon (1562–1626), René Descartes(1596–1650), John Locke(1632–1704), Baruch Spinoza (1632–1677), Pierre Bayle (1647–1706), Voltaire (1694–1778), David Hume (1711–1776), Cesare Beccaria (1738–1794), Immanuel Kant (1724–1804), and Sir Isaac Newton (1642–1727) influenced society by publishing widely read works.

AN ACCURATE THINKER TEACHING ACCURATE THINKING (Chris Redford)

PROVISIONAL HYPOTHESES
[a proposition, or set of propositions, set forth as an explanation for the occurrence of some specified group of phenomena, either asserted merely as a provisional conjecture to guide investigation (working hypothesis) or accepted as highly probable in the light of established facts.]

1.  I exist. [I think, therefore I am. ~ Rene Descartes]

2.  My senses are sometimes accurate. [All justified beliefs are justified by physical evidence.]

3a.  Only beliefs that are justified by evidence are valid.

3b.  Belief strength is proportional to evidence amount.

3c.  Evidence-based beliefs are validated through re-examination.


ALL THIS (AND MORE) IS EXPLAINED IN THE FOLLOWING TWO VIDEOS:

IF YOU UNDERSTAND PATRICK HENRY, YOU CAN UNDERSTAND EL-HAJJ MALIK EL-SHABAZZ

It may indeed be difficult for some people (even some Black people)

to understand El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz (better known as Malcolm X)

The best way that I can describe him as he was in his days before his death is to say that he was truly American--in the most ideal sense of what it means to be an American. 

He firmly believed in freedom, justice, equality, and morality for ALL people. And, he believed in manhood and womanhood.

I can relate to Malcolm as the U.S. history books portray Patrick Henry. Patrick Henry was an American attorney, planter and politician who became known as an orator during the movement for independence in Virginia in the 1770s. 

During the colonial days, the White people in the America were not slaves to England, but most of them wanted their independence enough to fight and to die trying to get it.

Patrick Henry is one of them whom I have admired ever since reading his famous speech. Following is the end portion of it:

"What is it that gentlemen wish? What would they have? Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God! I know not what course others may take; but as for me, GIVE ME LIBERTY OR GIVE ME DEATH!"

To me, El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz was just as noble and just as ideally American as portrayed by Patrick Henry in the final words of this great speech.

IT'S NO FUN TO FEEL ENVY OR JEALOUS

It's no fun to feel envy or jealousy because both make you feel inadequate.

ENVY is a negative emotion that is felt by a person when that person wants what someone else has.

Jealousy is when a person is worried that he or she may lose what he or she has to some other person.

Thus, in the original meanings, JEALOUSY is distinct from ENVY, though the two terms have popularly become synonymous in the English language, with JEALOUSY now also taking on the definition originally used for envy alone. 

The following video, 'How To Stop Being Jealous--Techniques To End Jealousy Forever' uses the word jealousy to include envy.

SELF-RESPONSIBILITY (5): AIM DAILY FOR SELF-FULFILLMENT

IN ORDER TO BE SELF-FULFILLED, YOU MUST POSSESS:

(1)  SELF-AWARENESS - "Know thyself."

(2)  SELF-CONTROL - Motivate yourself.

(3)  SELF-DETERMINATION - Be the best that you can be.


Self-awareness is conscious knowledge of your own character, feelings, motives, and desires.

Self-control is the quality that allows you to stop yourself from doing things you want to do but that might not be in your best interest.

Self-determination is to make your own decision to do, not do, and think for yourself.

Self-fulfillment is a satisfied feeling that one's talents, desires, and potentialities have been or are being achieved to the extent that one feels that his or her life has been or is being worthwhile.

In order to achieve and maintain self-fulfillment one needs to continuously actualize oneself in body and/or mind with self-awareness, self-control, and self-determination.