Go confidently into the direction of your dreams and other inspirational quotes

[Josiecat22222]

Today I read the following quote:

"YOU WILL EITHER STEP FORWARD INTO GROWTH, OR YOU WILL STEP BACKWARD INTO SAFETY" - Abraham Maslow

I think this quote perfectly conceptualizes the decision to separate from normal society and a regular job (and a paycheck) and the safety it provides (or the illusion of safety) and the choice to pursue the path less travelled towards self actualization.

I wanted to share it here and invite the comments of other MMMers and perhaps to see what words of wisdom inspire you.

Footnote on Maslow:

"American psychologist Abraham Maslow is best known for his theory of the “Hierarchy of Needs,” which outlined the basic human needs that must be met before one can seek social or spiritual fulfillment. Feeling that psychology didn’t take into account human creativity or potential, Maslow defined the concept of “self-actualization” as a process in which humans continually strive to reach our best selves. Choice played a prominent part in his theories: Here, he reminds us that our progress in life is up to us — as long as we have the courage to move forward into the unknown."

[Metalcat]

For me it's the Taoist parable about the useless tree:
https://ando.life/journal/the-useless-tree#:~:text=There%20is%20an%20ancient%20Taoist%20story%20about%20a,its%20lowest%20branches%20eighty%20feet%20from%20the%20ground.

Basically, society deems a tree most useful if it can be killed and used for something else, like a dresser. If a tree is considered "useless", no one will cut it down. It's left alone to live and grow for hundreds of years as a tree.

In this world of megacorps and burnout, we're all conditioned to want to be the trees that are useful, the ones that get cut down and used to make dressers. We don't get raised to even understand what it means to be a tree.

None of us are raised to want to be a useless tree, even though that is the only way to be protected and have a chance to thrive.

So what would your life look like if you were trying to be a tree and not a dresser? What does it mean as a human to thrive and grow and live our fullest lives instead of trying to be as useful as possible to forces that want to consume whatever we have that it defines as most useful to others?

[Mmm_Donuts]

For me it's the Taoist parable about the useless tree:
https://ando.life/journal/the-useless-tree#:~:text=There%20is%20an%20ancient%20Taoist%20story%20about%20a,its%20lowest%20branches%20eighty%20feet%20from%20the%20ground.

Basically, society deems a tree most useful if it can be killed and used for something else, like a dresser. If a tree is considered "useless", no one will cut it down. It's left alone to live and grow for hundreds of years as a tree.

In this world of megacorps and burnout, we're all conditioned to want to be the trees that are useful, the ones that get cut down and used to make dressers. We don't get raised to even understand what it means to be a tree.

None of us are raised to want to be a useless tree, even though that is the only way to be protected and have a chance to thrive.

So what would your life look like if you were trying to be a tree and not a dresser? What does it mean as a human to thrive and grow and live our fullest lives instead of trying to be as useful as possible to forces that want to consume whatever we have that it defines as most useful to others?

Love this.

I first encountered this parable of the useless tree in a book that I just have to recommend here, in a place for quotes, because the whole thing is freaking brilliant:

How to Do Nothing: Resisting the Attention Economy by Jenny Odell. Early in the book she talks about a tree called Old Survivor, a tree that was too ugly to be cut down, and lives in California, hidden away on a hill. Here's a bit more about the story:

https://www.nhpr.org/post/outsidein-how-do-nothing-jenny-odell#stream/0

It's a lovely book. It got me more into bird watching, nature walks, art, and feeling OK about doing nothing in a world where this practice is not generally appreciated.

[Metalcat]

For me it's the Taoist parable about the useless tree:
https://ando.life/journal/the-useless-tree#:~:text=There%20is%20an%20ancient%20Taoist%20story%20about%20a,its%20lowest%20branches%20eighty%20feet%20from%20the%20ground.

Basically, society deems a tree most useful if it can be killed and used for something else, like a dresser. If a tree is considered "useless", no one will cut it down. It's left alone to live and grow for hundreds of years as a tree.

In this world of megacorps and burnout, we're all conditioned to want to be the trees that are useful, the ones that get cut down and used to make dressers. We don't get raised to even understand what it means to be a tree.

None of us are raised to want to be a useless tree, even though that is the only way to be protected and have a chance to thrive.

So what would your life look like if you were trying to be a tree and not a dresser? What does it mean as a human to thrive and grow and live our fullest lives instead of trying to be as useful as possible to forces that want to consume whatever we have that it defines as most useful to others?

Love this.

I first encountered this parable of the useless tree in a book that I just have to recommend here, in a place for quotes, because the whole thing is freaking brilliant:

How to Do Nothing: Resisting the Attention Economy by Jenny Odell. Early in the book she talks about a tree called Old Survivor, a tree that was too ugly to be cut down, and lives in California, hidden away on a hill. Here's a bit more about the story:

https://www.nhpr.org/post/outsidein-how-do-nothing-jenny-odell#stream/0

It's a lovely book. It got me more into bird watching, nature walks, art, and feeling OK about doing nothing in a world where this practice is not generally appreciated.

Yeah, that's a great book.

[Dicey]

Lol, I have my own version of the Thoreau quote in my siggy line. I think that newcomers (welcome!) must to get to 100 posts before they can see them. It sounds unfriendly, but the new rules have eliminated most of the spammers, which is nice.

[Josiecat22222]

@Dicey- Thank you and nice to "meet" you.  I've been lurking for years and only recently began to post...looking forward to cracking the 100 to see the mysteries that await!

[pecunia]

For me it's the Taoist parable about the useless tree:
https://ando.life/journal/the-useless-tree#:~:text=There%20is%20an%20ancient%20Taoist%20story%20about%20a,its%20lowest%20branches%20eighty%20feet%20from%20the%20ground.

Basically, society deems a tree most useful if it can be killed and used for something else, like a dresser. If a tree is considered "useless", no one will cut it down. It's left alone to live and grow for hundreds of years as a tree.

In this world of megacorps and burnout, we're all conditioned to want to be the trees that are useful, the ones that get cut down and used to make dressers. We don't get raised to even understand what it means to be a tree.

None of us are raised to want to be a useless tree, even though that is the only way to be protected and have a chance to thrive.

So what would your life look like if you were trying to be a tree and not a dresser? What does it mean as a human to thrive and grow and live our fullest lives instead of trying to be as useful as possible to forces that want to consume whatever we have that it defines as most useful to others?

I liked it.  I'm thinking of laid back trailer trash.  Everybody pretty much leaves trailer trash alone except for the bill collectors.  No great expectations are made of trailer trash either.  Trailer trash folks can fish all day, play the guitar or upgrade their trucks and they are left alone.  Did they have trailers in ancient China?

[Metalcat]

For me it's the Taoist parable about the useless tree:
https://ando.life/journal/the-useless-tree#:~:text=There%20is%20an%20ancient%20Taoist%20story%20about%20a,its%20lowest%20branches%20eighty%20feet%20from%20the%20ground.

Basically, society deems a tree most useful if it can be killed and used for something else, like a dresser. If a tree is considered "useless", no one will cut it down. It's left alone to live and grow for hundreds of years as a tree.

In this world of megacorps and burnout, we're all conditioned to want to be the trees that are useful, the ones that get cut down and used to make dressers. We don't get raised to even understand what it means to be a tree.

None of us are raised to want to be a useless tree, even though that is the only way to be protected and have a chance to thrive.

So what would your life look like if you were trying to be a tree and not a dresser? What does it mean as a human to thrive and grow and live our fullest lives instead of trying to be as useful as possible to forces that want to consume whatever we have that it defines as most useful to others?

I liked it.  I'm thinking of laid back trailer trash.  Everybody pretty much leaves trailer trash alone except for the bill collectors.  No great expectations are made of trailer trash either.  Trailer trash folks can fish all day, play the guitar or upgrade their trucks and they are left alone.  Did they have trailers in ancient China?

Oof, I get your point, but I'm not a fan of calling anyone "trash". Also, I feel like you're missing the point of the story.

A better example is me.

I have a rare genetic disease that ended my medical career and dramatically limits what I can do.

The only way to manage my illness, which has no treatment, is to respect my body and well being as much as possible. I have to prioritize my wellness, I have to put effort into maintaining excellent mental health. I can't take on burdens that are too taxing.

Basically, I'm pretty "useless" by the standards of society because I can no longer do my job.

On the flip side, I'm a lot happier, and ironically healthier than most of my peers because I actually put my well being first. I'm not fooled into thinking that being a dresser is better than being a tree.

If I weren't so physically fragile, I would have ended up a raging workaholic suffering burnout, I would still be obese, definitely still drink alcohol, probably on my second divorce by now, and likely have a stroke in my 50s like a lot of the workaholics in my family. Not being able to live up to society's expectations of being cut down and used up has actually served me remarkably well.

For me figuring out how to be a tree, aka figuring out what it means to be a thriving human, has been remarkable. We're not just resources to be consumed by the system. But we're systematically brainwashed to believe that we are, and to be utterly clueless about what actual thriving and growing looks like.

[Josiecat22222]

Today's quote:

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

This one is pasted across my computer as my wall paper.    From the indomitable Mark Twain.

[SwordGuy]

"Success comes from going from failure to failure without losing enthusiasm."   Winston Churchill.   A shorthand way of saying that perseverance whilst learning how to do things well enough to succeed makes success possible.

"Improvise!   Adapt!    Overcome!"    -- 'Gunny' Highway.

"Never let the bastards get you down; drive you to your knees.    And if they do, headbutt them in the balls!”   -- Imaah Chehesti

"When there is a long-standing problem in an organization, it's generally because those who cause the pain are not those who feel the pain.  If it could be solved by just asking them to stop, it would have been solved already.   You must transfer the pain back to those who cause it."    This is the Wendelken Pain Theory of Management.    I will note that it can be a truly enjoyable, inspirational activity to find creative ways to transfer that pain back to the oh-so-deserving source.    Saul Alinsky was a master at this in the civil and social rights area; his name caused fear in the right quarters when he was called in to help a community out.

"Don't give the prick the satisfaction."  -- 'Gunny' Highway.   

[pecunia]

[

- HACK -

Oof, I get your point, but I'm not a fan of calling anyone "trash". Also, I feel like you're missing the point of the story.

A better example is me.

I have a rare genetic disease that ended my medical career and dramatically limits what I can do.

The only way to manage my illness, which has no treatment, is to respect my body and well being as much as possible. I have to prioritize my wellness, I have to put effort into maintaining excellent mental health. I can't take on burdens that are too taxing.

Basically, I'm pretty "useless" by the standards of society because I can no longer do my job.

On the flip side, I'm a lot happier, and ironically healthier than most of my peers because I actually put my well being first. I'm not fooled into thinking that being a dresser is better than being a tree.

If I weren't so physically fragile, I would have ended up a raging workaholic suffering burnout, I would still be obese, definitely still drink alcohol, probably on my second divorce by now, and likely have a stroke in my 50s like a lot of the workaholics in my family. Not being able to live up to society's expectations of being cut down and used up has actually served me remarkably well.

For me figuring out how to be a tree, aka figuring out what it means to be a thriving human, has been remarkable. We're not just resources to be consumed by the system. But we're systematically brainwashed to believe that we are, and to be utterly clueless about what actual thriving and growing looks like.

Keep at it.  Here's a quote that may not be exact.  It's from memory.

"The only thing one can control st your attitude." - Dale Carnegie.

I looked for the exact words, but didn't find them.

Your attitude is right.  I've worked in places where I've heard managers refer to people as "Warm bodies" and "grunts."  That never sat well with me.  Now that I'm retired, I'm beginning to question this whole capitalist thing a bit.  Businesses have human resource departments.  That fits your description.  Maybe, I'll get a T-shirt made to say I'm Not Your Resource, just Human

[GuitarStv]

This planet has - or rather had - a problem, which was this: most of the people living on it were unhappy for pretty much of the time. Many solutions were suggested for this problem, but most of these were largely concerned with the movement of small green pieces of paper, which was odd because on the whole it wasn't the small green pieces of paper that were unhappy.

For instance, on the planet Earth, man had always assumed that he was more intelligent than dolphins because he had achieved so much—the wheel, New York, wars and so on—whilst all the dolphins had ever done was muck about in the water having a good time. But conversely, the dolphins had always believed that they were far more intelligent than man—for precisely the same reasons.

“Since we decided a few weeks ago to adopt the leaf as legal tender, we have, of course, all become immensely rich.”
Ford stared in disbelief at the crowd who were murmuring appreciatively at this and greedily fingering the wads of leaves with which their track suits were stuffed.
“But we have also,” continued the management consultant, “run into a small inflation problem on account of the high level of leaf availability, which means that, I gather, the current going rate has something like three deciduous forests buying one ship’s peanut."
Murmurs of alarm came from the crowd. The management consultant waved them down.
“So in order to obviate this problem,” he continued, “and effectively revalue the leaf, we are about to embark on a massive defoliation campaign, and. . .er, burn down all the forests. I think you'll all agree that's a sensible move under the circumstances."
The crowd seemed a little uncertain about this for a second or two until someone pointed out how much this would increase the value of the leaves in their pockets whereupon they let out whoops of delight and gave the management consultant a standing ovation. The accountants among them looked forward to a profitable autumn aloft and it got an appreciative round from the crowd.

I've come up with a set of rules that describe our reactions to technologies:
1. Anything that is in the world when you’re born is normal and ordinary and is just a natural part of the way the world works.
2. Anything that's invented between when you’re fifteen and thirty-five is new and exciting and revolutionary and you can probably get a career in it.
3. Anything invented after you're thirty-five is against the natural order of things.

What to do if you find yourself stuck in a crack in the ground underneath a giant boulder you can't move, with no hope of rescue. Consider how lucky you are that life has been good to you so far. Alternatively, if life hasn't been good to you so far, which given your current circumstances seems more likely, consider how lucky you are that it won't be troubling you much longer.

Well, I mean, yes idealism, yes the dignity of pure research, yes the pursuit of truth in all its forms, but there comes a point I'm afraid where you begin to suspect that the entire multidimensional infinity of the Universe is almost certainly being run by a bunch of maniacs. And if it comes to a choice between spending yet another ten million years finding that out, and on the other hand just taking the money and running, then I for one could do with the exercise.

I think that it's possible to analyze the writings of Douglas Adams and come up with a consistent and workable philosophy of life, and often find myself drawing inspiration to go in the direction of my dreams from his work.

[Josiecat22222]

Today's thought:



"Between stimulus and response there is a space.  In that space is our power to choose our response. In our response lies our growth and our freedom."

Viktor E. Frankl

[DeniseNJ]

One of the posters on this forum has in their signature line something like:

You're trying to fill a tub but you haven't plugged the drain!

I love it. You suddenly realize why you can't save any money: you keep spending it! duh! It takes ppl years to realize this.

[Serendip]

Great thread..
on the subject of Taoist stories--I always liked this one--loosely remembered

A sage lived by the river, fishing and lounging on the muddy bank. Two administrators from the palace approached him with the request to come live in the palace and advise the king.
He replied "Wasn't there an old, sacred tortoise who was killed so his shell could be wrapped in silk and placed in the palace? Now tell me, would it have been better for the tortoise to spend his days alive, mucking around by the river rather than have ended up as a mere symbol in the palace?
Leave me here by the river to drag my own tail in the mud and be happy"

:)

[pecunia]

Looks like a place for the old classic:

Desiderata:

GO PLACIDLY amid the noise and the 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 to the dull and the ignorant; they too have their story.

Avoid loud and aggressive persons; they are vexatious to the spirit. If you compare yourself with others, you may become vain or 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 in your soul. With all its sham, drudgery and broken dreams, it is still a beautiful world. Be cheerful. Strive to be happy.

By Max Ehrmann © 1927
Original text

I had an engineering class years ago.  Parts of this were placed at the beginning of each chapter.  Sad to say I found the Desiderata more interesting than the class.

[Josiecat22222]

A gem from Jim Collins (@jlcollinsnh):

"A parable: The Monk and the Minister Two close boyhood friends grow up and go their separate ways. One becomes a humble monk, the other a rich and powerful minister to the king. Years later they meet. As they catch up, the portly minister (in his fine robes) takes pity on the thin and shabby monk. Seeking to help, he says: “You know, if you could learn to cater to the king, you wouldn’t have to live on rice and beans.” To which the monk replies: “If you could learn to live on rice and beans, you wouldn’t have to cater to the king.” Most all of us fall somewhere between the two. As for me, it is better to be closer to the monk.”

This is one of my favorites!  Not a quote, but a story which reminds me of my priorities!