In answer to yesterday's riddle—How does acknowledging vulnerability openly strengthen leadership skills—I'd say—
Openly acknowledging one's own mistakes in judgement tends to deepen empathy for mistakes in judgment made by others. As empathy injects generosity of spirit into our relationships, those with opposite points of view increase their chance to deepen meaningful friendships—and it's a fact that closed mindsets open more readily on both sides when we feel that we're conversing with friends rather than foe :)
Just as one insight leads to another, the same holds true for riddles. This string of riddles, serves as an example:
If you ask me to choose one vulnerability that interferes with embracing humility while questing to deepen our most meaningful relationships, I'd reply—an ego that feels wounded, because as soon as the ego feels the slightest bit slighted, our thought processors react defensively.
How does a defensive ego block the thought processor from considering that which had been said with an open mind? As soon as the ego feels slighted, the survival instinct of fight, flee or freeze—none of which connect with objective reflection—is aroused. If the instinct to survive deems defensive reactions to be nature's way then it's natural for egos, which feel wounded, to raise shields of false pride. And it's this shield of false pride that blocks the thought processor from considering that which has been said with an open mind
To what does a shield of false pride blind the thought processor from seeing?
The shield of false pride blocks the thought processor from identifying how often Mother Nature offers up the same lesson, again and again.
What does Mother Nature do when the shield of false pride causes intelligent, well educated folk to react defensively, repeatedly?
If the eyes are the window to our souls then each time Will's eyes meet mine, his spirit sensed the tenderness of my desire to nurture him in his time of need. And as Will plainly felt my heart embracing his own, my husband placed the mail, unopened, on the counter and surprised me with that kiss.
After holding each other for a bit longer, I take Will by the hand and lead my husband to the other side of this expansive room, which conjoins our kitchen and family room. If you glance around our cheerfully colored family room, you'll see a comfy couch, flanked by two over-stuffed club chairs on one side, and a fabric ottoman on the other, creating a U shaped setting that surrounds a travertine coffee table on three sides. This arrangement welcomes conversation in a similar manner to that which had been described in an earlier post, concerning our living room, with two exceptions. First of all, the U shaped, conversational arrangement in our living room is composed of a couch and two love seats. And whereas our living room walls showcase the majority of our art collection, our family room's conversational setting is surrounded by white book shelves that climb all the way up to our fourteen foot ceiling. In addition to this voracious reader's vast collection of books, smiles, captured in photos of family and beloved friends, dot the shelves, here and there. And as Will and I sit down on the family room couch— upholstered, cheerily in wide rainbowed stripes of red, royal, cream, yellow and green, I cuddle close to my husband, in readiness to partake in our game of twenty questions, again.
BTW if you're wondering how books are placed on shelves that climb up to ceilings, which prove fourteen feet high, well, both Will and I had always dreamed of installing a rolling library ladder. And when we poured over plans for building this house, our mutual dream came true. Each time insight into human commonality lights up inside my mind, answers to many of life's most confounding riddles grow clear.
Throughout each stage of life, Mother Nature tosses unexpected experiences into every person's path. Each of these experiences present us with opportunities to know our strengths and vulnerabilities in greater depth.
In order to muster humility readily, I've come to view my experiences as experiments, suggesting that I expect to fall short of achieving heartfelt, long range goals until my mind develops the 'right' combination of fully baked strengths necessary to accomplish specific tasks with a greater sense of success today than yesterday :)
In hopes of heightening my level of success in arenas where my thought processor had fallen short before, I work to identify and absorb an endless string of insights, which intertwine until I see my way clear toward expanding old mindsets, based in narrow perceptions in need of updating. Being human, there are times when I move two steps forward—one step back. Though that reality feels acceptable, other experiences simulate the game of Candyland in that I feel as shocked as Jack and Jill, who tumbled all the way downhill.
Actually that makes me ask: Must we always prove so strong under fire as to deny ownership of human vulnerability, as though it does not exist in one and all?
And that makes me ask: How many egos are still in need of believing that a weaker sex exists? Having been raised by a man, remembered by one and all as having been as openly loving as my father had been, I'll not believe that women are more emotional than men. Here's what I believe instead: Beginning when guys are highly impressionable tots, society very carefully teaches (brainwashes) little boys in shorts to cloak their emotions or exchange long pants for skirts. As the human brain is known to absorb childhood's 'lessons' all too well, both genders grow up to become adults, whose conscious minds successfully tuck our most powerful emotions deep inside hidden pockets of our minds. You see, denial is the frightened ego's right hand man.
If asked how denial is like a magician, I'd reply: Denial is empowered to fool us into believing that our most powerful emotions have disappeared in a puff of smoke.
Personally, experience cautions me to awaken my awareness to this deeper truth, which repeatedly falls back to sleep: Passion is a wild thing that can be tamed to a certain degree. Tame it to the point of caging it, and watch it's high flying spirit deflate—little by little—sometimes so slowly that you don't even realize that you're about to emulate—Jack and Jill—climbing uphill only to tumble back down, again and again. Though I'm sure you agree that it makes no sense to repeat painful experiences unnecessarily, reality suggests that each one harbors an ego, and thus does denial recreate that scenerio until insight directs the window to our souls to spy the light at the end of that tunnel, at last.
Knowing full well how many throughout the world choose self involvement, which produces pain, over working consciously in hopes of gaining self awareness, I believe both genders are capable of developing fully baked, inner strengths by questing toward clarifying, acknowledging, accepting, embracing and disciplining vulnerabilities, common to mankind and womankind as a whole.
Upon embracing a step by step process, culminating in change for the better, all around, we can work toward minimizing negatively focused, fear-based judgements in favor of maximizing a melodic sense of trust, based in developing a strong foundation of mutual respect. Holy cow! Did you just sense something shatter as Socrates' spirit breezed by? Something like a glass ceiling, perhaps? Amazing what can happen when logic holds hands with passion :)
Isn't it grand to know that a life, unafraid to embrace the unknown with delight, does not grow dull though we grow old :)
And what, I ask, could feel better than figuring out how to bake so many cakes that we can have our cake and and our just desserts, as well! :)
(No clue that my stream of consciousness would track this train of thought upon awakening, this morning. Fortunately, by way of journaling … or in my case, blogging, I awaken, each day, hungry to open a tureen of oysters until my mind's eye spies a pearl of an insight, here or there. Good thing I'm not one to clam up once the metronome that empowers my spirit to rebalance itself calms the turbulence of emotional turmoil down. (Corny to the unbitter end :)
Openly acknowledging one's own mistakes in judgement tends to deepen empathy for mistakes in judgment made by others. As empathy injects generosity of spirit into our relationships, those with opposite points of view increase their chance to deepen meaningful friendships—and it's a fact that closed mindsets open more readily on both sides when we feel that we're conversing with friends rather than foe :)
Just as one insight leads to another, the same holds true for riddles. This string of riddles, serves as an example:
If you ask me to choose one vulnerability that interferes with embracing humility while questing to deepen our most meaningful relationships, I'd reply—an ego that feels wounded, because as soon as the ego feels the slightest bit slighted, our thought processors react defensively.
How does a defensive ego block the thought processor from considering that which had been said with an open mind? As soon as the ego feels slighted, the survival instinct of fight, flee or freeze—none of which connect with objective reflection—is aroused. If the instinct to survive deems defensive reactions to be nature's way then it's natural for egos, which feel wounded, to raise shields of false pride. And it's this shield of false pride that blocks the thought processor from considering that which has been said with an open mind
To what does a shield of false pride blind the thought processor from seeing?
The shield of false pride blocks the thought processor from identifying how often Mother Nature offers up the same lesson, again and again.
What does Mother Nature do when the shield of false pride causes intelligent, well educated folk to react defensively, repeatedly?
She does what any loving mother would do: Mother Nature sends the same life's lesson knocking at our doors until we 'get it' right. And I 'got it'.
I got what?
I got Mother Nature's message, concerning setting my ego in time out in order to consider constructive criticism with an open mind.
What was Mother Nature's message concerning growing aware of my ego's defensive reactions?
I got what?
I got Mother Nature's message, concerning setting my ego in time out in order to consider constructive criticism with an open mind.
What was Mother Nature's message concerning growing aware of my ego's defensive reactions?
Rein it in or watch little monkey faces mimic that which I did not realize I did, because my brain was so busy focusing on their reactions that I failed to see my own.
How did I tame my who's defensive reactions? (Here comes an unpaid political announcement :)
By inventing five tools, one of which I named THE LINE OF CONTROL, which cools down my ego's instinctive reactions in record time, thus allowing my thought processor to reflect with objectivity on the spot :)
Here's an example of THE LINE OF CONTROL calming my mind to think smart when frustration arises (and most especially during moments of crises):
Upon employing THE LINE OF CONTROL, consistently, in the aftermath of Will's diagnosis, emotional reactiveness did not get the best of me, suggesting that my thought processor considered Will's needs above mine. And in this way did I manage to cut any tension, which might have arisen between us, in half. If inner tension caused Will to be short with me, THE LINE OF CONTROL soothed my wild thing instead of biting back.
How did I tame my who's defensive reactions? (Here comes an unpaid political announcement :)
By inventing five tools, one of which I named THE LINE OF CONTROL, which cools down my ego's instinctive reactions in record time, thus allowing my thought processor to reflect with objectivity on the spot :)
Here's an example of THE LINE OF CONTROL calming my mind to think smart when frustration arises (and most especially during moments of crises):
Upon employing THE LINE OF CONTROL, consistently, in the aftermath of Will's diagnosis, emotional reactiveness did not get the best of me, suggesting that my thought processor considered Will's needs above mine. And in this way did I manage to cut any tension, which might have arisen between us, in half. If inner tension caused Will to be short with me, THE LINE OF CONTROL soothed my wild thing instead of biting back.
If the eyes are the window to our souls then each time Will's eyes meet mine, his spirit sensed the tenderness of my desire to nurture him in his time of need. And as Will plainly felt my heart embracing his own, my husband placed the mail, unopened, on the counter and surprised me with that kiss.
After holding each other for a bit longer, I take Will by the hand and lead my husband to the other side of this expansive room, which conjoins our kitchen and family room. If you glance around our cheerfully colored family room, you'll see a comfy couch, flanked by two over-stuffed club chairs on one side, and a fabric ottoman on the other, creating a U shaped setting that surrounds a travertine coffee table on three sides. This arrangement welcomes conversation in a similar manner to that which had been described in an earlier post, concerning our living room, with two exceptions. First of all, the U shaped, conversational arrangement in our living room is composed of a couch and two love seats. And whereas our living room walls showcase the majority of our art collection, our family room's conversational setting is surrounded by white book shelves that climb all the way up to our fourteen foot ceiling. In addition to this voracious reader's vast collection of books, smiles, captured in photos of family and beloved friends, dot the shelves, here and there. And as Will and I sit down on the family room couch— upholstered, cheerily in wide rainbowed stripes of red, royal, cream, yellow and green, I cuddle close to my husband, in readiness to partake in our game of twenty questions, again.
BTW if you're wondering how books are placed on shelves that climb up to ceilings, which prove fourteen feet high, well, both Will and I had always dreamed of installing a rolling library ladder. And when we poured over plans for building this house, our mutual dream came true. Each time insight into human commonality lights up inside my mind, answers to many of life's most confounding riddles grow clear.
Throughout each stage of life, Mother Nature tosses unexpected experiences into every person's path. Each of these experiences present us with opportunities to know our strengths and vulnerabilities in greater depth.
In order to muster humility readily, I've come to view my experiences as experiments, suggesting that I expect to fall short of achieving heartfelt, long range goals until my mind develops the 'right' combination of fully baked strengths necessary to accomplish specific tasks with a greater sense of success today than yesterday :)
In hopes of heightening my level of success in arenas where my thought processor had fallen short before, I work to identify and absorb an endless string of insights, which intertwine until I see my way clear toward expanding old mindsets, based in narrow perceptions in need of updating. Being human, there are times when I move two steps forward—one step back. Though that reality feels acceptable, other experiences simulate the game of Candyland in that I feel as shocked as Jack and Jill, who tumbled all the way downhill.
Actually that makes me ask: Must we always prove so strong under fire as to deny ownership of human vulnerability, as though it does not exist in one and all?
And that makes me ask: How many egos are still in need of believing that a weaker sex exists? Having been raised by a man, remembered by one and all as having been as openly loving as my father had been, I'll not believe that women are more emotional than men. Here's what I believe instead: Beginning when guys are highly impressionable tots, society very carefully teaches (brainwashes) little boys in shorts to cloak their emotions or exchange long pants for skirts. As the human brain is known to absorb childhood's 'lessons' all too well, both genders grow up to become adults, whose conscious minds successfully tuck our most powerful emotions deep inside hidden pockets of our minds. You see, denial is the frightened ego's right hand man.
If asked how denial is like a magician, I'd reply: Denial is empowered to fool us into believing that our most powerful emotions have disappeared in a puff of smoke.
Personally, experience cautions me to awaken my awareness to this deeper truth, which repeatedly falls back to sleep: Passion is a wild thing that can be tamed to a certain degree. Tame it to the point of caging it, and watch it's high flying spirit deflate—little by little—sometimes so slowly that you don't even realize that you're about to emulate—Jack and Jill—climbing uphill only to tumble back down, again and again. Though I'm sure you agree that it makes no sense to repeat painful experiences unnecessarily, reality suggests that each one harbors an ego, and thus does denial recreate that scenerio until insight directs the window to our souls to spy the light at the end of that tunnel, at last.
Knowing full well how many throughout the world choose self involvement, which produces pain, over working consciously in hopes of gaining self awareness, I believe both genders are capable of developing fully baked, inner strengths by questing toward clarifying, acknowledging, accepting, embracing and disciplining vulnerabilities, common to mankind and womankind as a whole.
Upon embracing a step by step process, culminating in change for the better, all around, we can work toward minimizing negatively focused, fear-based judgements in favor of maximizing a melodic sense of trust, based in developing a strong foundation of mutual respect. Holy cow! Did you just sense something shatter as Socrates' spirit breezed by? Something like a glass ceiling, perhaps? Amazing what can happen when logic holds hands with passion :)
Isn't it grand to know that a life, unafraid to embrace the unknown with delight, does not grow dull though we grow old :)
And what, I ask, could feel better than figuring out how to bake so many cakes that we can have our cake and and our just desserts, as well! :)
(No clue that my stream of consciousness would track this train of thought upon awakening, this morning. Fortunately, by way of journaling … or in my case, blogging, I awaken, each day, hungry to open a tureen of oysters until my mind's eye spies a pearl of an insight, here or there. Good thing I'm not one to clam up once the metronome that empowers my spirit to rebalance itself calms the turbulence of emotional turmoil down. (Corny to the unbitter end :)
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