I've never considered the possiblity of nothing as a concept. 

JpinDaily VII

      “Some Courage for a Lion”
 -in disguise-
                                                                                                                  by JlB
Within humans is a little-known and often untapped well of courage. Most-often, this well is unknowingly referred to as Optimism. 

Before I begin, perhaps I can first appeal to you rationally, you—the pessimist. I concur; it’s a truism to life that in the long-run of things the optimist may be proven wrong consistently. In actuality there could be no water to be found; no escape from tyranny; no success to be had on earth. It’s quite possible that we’ll run out of gas before we make it back into town. To the optimist—who is at least using positive-thinking to attack despair as a concept, in turn, proactively seeking opportunity and hope – the evident discomforts are still concerns just as much as they are to the pessimist. In the bleakest of times the optimist will not let his thoughts deteriorate to that of attacking the looks of his situation, however—that would be to attack the clothes that it wears. To the rational man, I say, let us not result to an idiotic name-calling of the times.  To shut-out optimism is to shut-out most-any chance for progress whatsoever. Optimism is the light at the end of any dark tunnel. To shut-out that light is to stand in darkness to any freedom from oppression, eyes closed—back turned, ready and willing to pace blindly into the night.

To the contrary I offer you a rat (yes, a rat), filthy in every sense of the being, and caged in a way to see that freedom is entirely obtainable, if sought. (This is similar to life.) I then present to you another rat in the same situation. The difference between the two rats is that one is an optimist and one is a pessimist. All joking matters aside, the optimistic rat— Joe, let’s call him —searches his cell stupidly, repeatedly, insanely for freedom. The pessimistic rat, on the other hand, also goes insane: he paces his cell anxiously, stupidly and ineffectually. For the pessimistic representation of a negative human being, it's with a great deal of angst and laziness that he sits content to merely curse the apparent hopelessness of his situation (and not combat it on a mental level at the very least; at that point a situation is then often rendered hopeless, indeed). Joe, the positive rat, persistently focuses his thoughts on what seems feasibly accomplishable, likewise that is often what is hopeful and if opportunity permits, that is what's done, subsequently. Comparatively, the pessimistic rat simply allows the thoughts of his mind to focus solely on everything that could be negative-- to put it otherwise, simply, he does not have any thoughts focused towards positivity whatsoever and has little to no hope for betterment. 

Let’s say that Joe realizes his goal and finds freedom from imprisonment.
 
Now, I can now see the slight flaw in this argument. If Joe, the positive rat, was searching for freedom when freedom existed, then of course his searching is warranted and gratified to say the least (even if the pessimistic rat shared a cage with him and just found fault the entire time— it’s still warranted, at least). For the rats, in this argument, the question “What if freedom is not even obtainable?” arises. The question is quickly dismissed by the optimist in active pursuit of freedom (goals), but dwelled upon by the pessimist. (The dwelling is enough to make an optimist cringe in disgust, trust me.) 

This time let’s say that Joe and Mr. Unhelpful-Pessimist are both caged in a manner whereas freedom is wholly unobtainable. The two rats are not entirely without good luck, however, because unbeknownst to them, their confinement will be cease after ten years have passed. So Joe and Mr. Unhelpful-pessimist are both in the same unfavorable situation. To distinguish the difference between the optimist and the pessimist in this situation it’s easier conceived, I believe, if we use a different example.  

Located deep within the pitch-blackness of the well of courage that exists within us is something that the pessimist can never experience—a power that they’ll never really acquire. Before I continue, I’d like to mention that the power of optimism works in combination with other essential mental perceptions required for a human to proactively obtain success in life (perceptions that are yet to be mentioned in Jpinions in totality, but are touched in JpinDaily I – VII, briefly). In this example as to help you conceptualize optimism, let us say that optimism is comparable to one of nature’s common patient predators. The coiled creature, a snake, tenses its muscles and releases them in short bursts or flashes of potential power as it bides its time. Patiently, it prepares to strike at the life of a currently nonexistent prey— one yet to even be perceived. Like Joe and his mirror rat buddy, this snake exists twice also; once as an optimist and once as a pessimist. Soon enough, both snakes will be presented with a live rat for consumption; both snakes will consume the rat. Each snake must first endure an arduous five weeks of hunger, provided that they would not die, of course. It is to be granted that both snakes were miserable for the majority of that time also. That thought of despair is encouraged, in fact, for the metaphor of life held in this analogy. 


The difference between the optimist and the pessimist in this representation is that although the outcome is the same and no form of confident thought could change that—unless the optimistic snake bit the hand that fed him and escaped or the pessimistic snake willed his negative thoughts into a continuously negative being to death       –what hopeful thoughts do accomplish, in this scenario, is exemplifying the power that optimism has when in combination with, chance/opportunity, strength and courage-- to say the least. To keep it succinct and simple, we’ll suffice it to say that although both animals survived; the optimistic one had a more pleasurable experience, no doubt. In the optimistic view to the rather (JpinDaily VIII), the optimistic is likely to learn lessons from every aspect of his endeavor, making no endeavor a waste, captivity or not. Furthermore, in relation to life I say: an enslaved person under the belief that they are free suffers from the worst of all fates, similarly, however, the enslaved being that is conscious enough to recognize his own captivity but still willingly negligent to proactively interact within his ability, surreptitiously or not, for his betterment also suffers from quite the dismal of fates. 

Lastly, to the pessimist, there is no strength to be gained for survival or otherwise in crying over spilled milk (or the loss of love or what-have-you). Strength is to be obtained only by enduring what previously looked impossible; it is obtained from achieving what initially looked like a fool’s errand. Strength is granted to those who are left undaunted by the prospect of an arduous task that consists of countless, indescribable future difficulties. That's unlike you, pessimist; so often you are intolerable, so often you do not utilize the strength because you refuse to perceive what could be. Indeed, all optimism no matter what form it is in is courageous. This is true even in its most seemingly ineffective form of mental stability at the very least, but also in one of its most heroic seeming forms of promoting strength in others during dark days. I’ll have you know that the basis for optimism is sheer terror; the result is often good fortune and opportunity.  

Let us not forget how optimism relates to opportunity as defined by Jpinions IV, Chance. To provoke the thought for this JpinDaily (the mental growth characterized as a nugget on your brain, for today), if you've read Chance then make the mental connection about how being optimistic provides for the ability to see most-every available opportunity and also grants us the ability act on them (when prepared) as discussed in that briefing. 

Thank you for coming here to think with me for a moment. This was to touch Optimism, in brief, for JpinDaily. 
 All mentioned and wholly unmentioned forms (and levels) of optimism refine simply into one thing— other than hope for a better tomorrow —courage is what I believe it’s called.  
 
Conversely, the pessimist yields a much darker aspect of actuality to be covered at a later date; the levels of optimistic perception will also be covered at a later date. 

  
 JlB

Comments are always appreciated.

JpinDaily VI

"I am patient so I persevere"
-Patience, a conversational understanding-
                                                                                                                                                                           by JlB
  

 "Exhausted, my patience is what enables me to sit here at this wooden desk and craft this JpinDaily for you. To me, you see, all of these phrases and clauses are coming out in a total incoherent blur. Even worse is if my crafting of these words does not tailor sentences well-enough for you, then you won't understand them. So right now, (to me), patience consists of my desire to persevere over these damning letters tonight-- it consists of my desire to utilize my mind to triumph over the problems of my reality-- the problems of totality. At least I know that with patience there are no significant problems in life, the patient man is better equipped than the common man to handle obstacles in life. I know this because I distill away life's problems until the aftermath consists only of a consistently patient mental barrage-- my all out attack -- or my bitter mental defeat. I will never accept defeat for I am a patient man; I persevere."

 "Patience is one of my favorite secret weapons. Consistently, I fire bursts of patience at my friends and enemies to propel me further towards success. By doing this, I gain the power to exploit the hidden corners of the globe; I continuously remind myself to stay patient for all aspects of life-- always. Giving all of your focus to one thing while focusing on many things is a good definition of patience.When a problem arises, the patient man sees the problem to non-existance patiently and thouroughly-- and then there is no problem. Whether that perceived (potential) problem is a work-assignment or some debt or the cheating  of a spouse or even dealing with the death of someone close -- patience is a vital element for human success. Patience, utilized as an activity, uses one's mind. Take this example for instance, one of the strongest sentences that I say to myself multiple times per day is 'this is an opportunity for me to exercise patience.' The results go beyond mentioning.

-
Patience wrote this.
Patience edited this ... multiple times. 
Patience allows me to disreagard the nonexistance of comments on this blog as I bide my time.
It was patience that guided the eruption of me to success. 
-

Being patient gives me the opportunity to be powerful; also, it keeps me focused and strong. Patience allows me time to contemplate-- time to reflect. Being patient gives me time to plan ahead; that's time to foresee potential conclusions to life's difficulties and time to plan for them accordingly. For me, being patient prevents foolish actions and behaviors. The catalyst for lessons to the wise man is patience to the same extent that perseverance is the wise man's ability to overcome problems instead of being overcome by them. The inability to persevere indicates shallow self-confidence, lack of focused thought and most importantly, the inability to persevere also shows the lack of the discipline that patiences (and growth) require.

  I persevere calmly, but I persevere nonetheless and you should too. A crocodile waits at the entrance to the water-system-- the croc is as motionless as the river-- with some patience, however, the dominate beast will create a small and powerful explosion in actuality; this is the power of the patient man in nature. For someone who studies body language, the power of the patient man shows in a different manner. For instance, when I maintain "temple-hands" it's an act of contemplation, it's often subconscious; occasionally it means I'm thinking about patience directly. To the body-language expert, however, temple-hands is an indication of power. In retrospect, I have to agree. Patience correlates to power directly-- I want you to compose the connective thoughts as to why for yourself, however.

This isn't an essay, this is to help promote thought. So utilize it, disreagard it, employ it-- just think about it.

   In typical JpinDaily short manner-- closing --a quaint many people have considered me to be strong-willed; I attribute much of that perceived strength to my ability to endure each of life's adversities with the strength of a patient man biding his time. It's my secret weapon. I will always sustain the ability to overcome.

I warn you to be wary of the fury of the patient man.

   "I am patient; I perseve."

JlB 

*I use the term 'each'' of life's endeavors because I will endure all of them patiently, happily and powerfully.

Comments are always appreciated.

JpinDaily V

Note: (JpinDaily V, Confidence breifly touches-base with a much larger concept pertaining to confidence. That concept will be dragged into the light in the near future. Confidence is a thought put in the form of a metaphor for easy readability and understandability... Confidence is a snapshot of a much larger thought, too large-- in fact-- for JpinDaily) 

                                                                                                      

        "Confidence"
          -a metaphor-
                                                                                              by JlB

 
Consider life as the consistent collision and reaction of people's realities on a daily basis. It happens moment-by-moment too. It's violent and frequent so try to envision that sometimes when reality mixes with reality (as defined in JpinDaily IV) the deadly result could take the form of a homicidal psychopath. On the other hand, however, the result could be a Green Peace revolutionary. In the one I'll describe, it will be an insecure individual perceived as weak and not confident whatsoever (by others) because one of the many determining factors regarding what happens when your reality (or anyone's) reacts with the surrounding realities, simply, is 'confidence'.
 
 

I say confidence has properties that makes it a volatile substance. If you don't believe me, you should observe it like you would observe a chemical reaction. Similar to some blue liquid in a test-tube undergoing an erratic chemical change-- smoking, igniting and then turning black --with the introduction of a catalyst; a room full of people is also adversely affected by the mind-altering chemical reaction caused by the introduction of the reality-tool known as Confidence. 

The equation is the room full of people. Each person is mingling with another character in the room and everybody is happily perceived through the eyes of each respective brain. There are some blonds, a couple brunettes, a bar serving martinis-- the whole place is a moderately upscale endeavor --black dresses and ties, the usual. The key earlier-mentioning is that everyone is happy. Because unexpectedly, like the jaw-dropping, sudden shock of an 8.0 earthquake, the moods within the room begin to rattle, deteriorate and collapse like buildings with weak supports. Left standing amongst the rubble of men is those who are confident and nothing else. 
 

The reaction occurred with the entrance of confidence (the confident man) into the room. Immediately, (before most people even notice it) body languages suddenly change; the common man's reaction to the confident man is one of acquiescence. He is overwhelmed with feelings similar to feeling of having lost the race-- he doesn't know how to handle feelings of loss. He doesn't know that if he ignores them that his confidence will regain momentarily if ever struck down. The confidence in that man is otherwise removed and left in its place is insecurity and vulnerability. His resulting body language and actions are perceived by the confident brains in the room and the weakness is noted and never mentioned (although the weaker ones will have trouble believing this).

However unspoken the fact may be, people frequently disassociate themselves with those who lack confidence because they seem to be weak. The insecure person broadcasts his insecurities as much as the confident person broadcasts his confidence-- the people just flock to the funnier of the two. 

 

In (typical JpinDaily) short manner, when confidence comes into view, real emotions inadvertently come out. People mistakenly believe that self-confidence is former-success looking in the mirror and though this could be true, self-confidence could be better described as one of the many characteristics of the strong-willed (to be defined soon in Jpinions) and others who are determined to succeed. Confidence is like an entity in itself. Comparable to a black hole, when confidence is borne into existence in someone and nurtured to thrive-- the gravity of it is likely to suck-in or absorb much of the confidence from others.

Aside from the metaphors, in reality, the compiling of that confidence prolongs the amount of time that any respective human-being will remain confident presuming it is not a permanant personality trait. Regardless, because people often withdraw into introspective zones around confident people, that in itself could be viewed as the unfortunate yielding of one's own confidence to the confidently outgoing. Also that would be characterized as a gain or addition to the confident man's overall level of confidence. At this point Confidence behaves like the positivity-draining black hole mentioned in Chance (Jpinions IV), except this is a confidence-draining one.

Briefly, confidence is a natural indicator of success or at least perceived success. For the common man it is important for him to stay confident for the totality of life because life-- with all its grandeur and illusion --uses confidence to elude the feeling that lack of confidence incubates. The feeling of weakness, the feeling of inability-- the inferior feeling of can't. Confidence is a tool in my reality; through my eyes was a pack of brown bears-- men, they were called -- but their realities were insignificant and hardly evolved. The believed that they couldn't so suddenly they couldn't (do much) to the same degree that those who believe that they can generally can (and do).

By some rationales I say that the universe is not "for" us; I can also conclude that it is not "against" us. It is not 'for' us, however, which in the big picture of life means that it provides for circumstance to be against us. So if the universe can be interpreted as being against us then the only real thing that we actually have going for us in it is confidence. 

Be confident people, commercial or perceptual success will be essentially non-existent for anyone suffering from a reality disorder with specific regard as it pertains to confidence.

Pickings and choosings of thoughts by

JlB
 Comments are always appreciated.

JpinDaily IV

  “Reality”
-an example-
                                                                                                                            by JlB

Please gaze at your reflection in a puddle of water; you can achieve this mentally or physically.

If I told you that the person observable in that puddle was the 'actual' you and that you were the reflection of him, then I might begin to give you a picture of what reality actually is. It is very hard for me to describe to you what ‘reality’ is (while giving you an adequate understanding of it) without abusing words like ‘perception’ and repeatedly losing my point. When the physical characteristics from trees, like the greenness of their leaves, enters your mind with the rest of the vibrancy of life, the image that is then projected onto your brain in the life that you are used to living everyday is the reality that you have allowed yourself to live in for probably longer than you remember. In short, these are the (imaginary) rules that you create, but do not see as dictating your life. For instance, reality for you right now may be one of skepticism (a healthier mental state of mind is ‘potential acceptance’); regardless, the nonverbal agreement that you make about life on earth (or that tree, respectively) with the people of earth is the reality that we all agree to live in today—although we never technically agree to live in it as much as most people simply do not know how to live outside of it.

The common man’s reality is like a cage to his mind, but it could be the exact opposite (wings to his thought) if he were to demand a change to his reality. Frequently, people do not live in the same realities as the leaders that they follow, this is simply because people often live their lives with lower frames of mind or lower realities --that is to say, they think of themselves as lower-- than the leaders whom they follow (and also most other souls that exist). It is too common and too terrible that so many people suffer from so many fictitious and irrational reality disorders like panic, inferiority or shock (anxiety, fear, hating or any of the like). For humanity, I can see no worse fate than that of an enslaved being under the belief that he or she is free. If the people of the world would understand that the chains that condemn them to unhappiness, irrationalism and dream-assassination are affixed to the misconceptions that invade their minds; very quickly, the world would become a better place.

So, to bring you closer to my main focus, the inability to live outside of the reality that ‘curses’ your existence could be related to people who are characterized (and categorized) as insane. “Insane” people do not meet the basic standards of the world’s agreed-upon reality. Likewise, to the same extent on the opposite end of the reality spectrum, artists are characterized as being gifted for our ability to see the realities of the world from many different perspectives—or from many people’s realities if you prefer that. If you live in one encased reality, your mind is essentially the result of the lifespan of our specie under constant domestication (by our selves) -- in the truest sense of the thought. I believe this to be one of the sadder of life's circumstances.

When I do research on some of my favorite philosophers, a common belief that I find is that the common man does not have the imagination to effectively utilize reality. Habitually, the common man only uses ‘reality’ ineffectively. Ineffective reality-usage consists of hardly-ever applying thought to a specific part of your brain (essentially, imagination)—which, technically, equates to leaving that part of your brain to grow wild and undomesticated-- that overgrowth of unfocused thought can take the form of one-single affliction or it can form as a devastating group of reality ailments. Sadly, this is a common unfortunate occurrence that I have found to be true about the earth. Amazingly, however, the power of reality is so great that it might just be the best gift that God or chance has given humanity as of yet; perhaps not the best but let us not doubt the significance of reality to positivity life.

A scary movie is an example of a reality-frame that people conciously or willingly allow themselves to be brought into. Those with the power-of-mind to not succumb to the false-reality that the movie provides are left unafraid and sometimes not entertained at all. Many people do not know how to control their minds in this manner; they simply let their minds control them with perceived mental sickness. So essentially, evidently, many people do not know how to live since they do not know how to think wholly, properly or respectively. It is for this reason that their brains overdevelop defense mechanisms to life—depressions and anxieties –that occur as fears which provide for the daily accosting of their lives. What is worse, besides the fact that activities (physical or mental) could quickly relieve these disorders, but are procrastinated to death is the fact that the lack of thought that adversely affects these bodies is frequently misdiagnosed as the aforementioned “diseases” thusly treated wrongly as consequence that leads to no effect or gain (save for one that subtracts personality from people, see the undead).

Many times Social Anxiety Disorder and Depression can be linked directly to a reality disorder, but could be easily fixed if a simple growth of the mind would be incurred with the resulting change of lifestyle. It is true that I make it sound like a mild concept, but the power of reality is serious in every respect and the false reality of people is terribly lamentable. The more that you realize that you happen to be in a sad, depressed, angry or often irrational state of mind is the more that you can use your mental power to attack and fend-off all unwanted imagination. Many philosophers base the product of their entire life on one philosophy, ‘I think, therefore, I am.’ Well, if you don’t think that you are anything, your thoughts will afflict you with almost everything.

Disregarding the pathetic hypochondria that weak minds or weak realities provide for— and I mean that with all intents of the word ‘malice’ save for the accompanied hate – the positive power that reality provides for is equally as amazing as the negative one that so often results. If you focused that previously unused brain power into something (anything) then it won’t deteriorate and make you believe that you are diseased and weak—because you are not. You see, because the sky is green and we’re all just color blind, I don’t have anxiety or depression unless I decide to replace the rainbow that shines on me everyday with a gloomy cloud that I perceive (and control). Sounds complicated right? Think of your ability to control and change your reality as insurance to your freedom in life; think of your ability to daydream as a defense mechanism against pain, boredom, want and vice but also as your path to positivity-inducing thought-betterment and success.

Being satisfied with hard-work done is a false state of mind—there is always more work to be done.
Being satisfied with learning is a bad state of mind—there is always more that you could learn.
When you see yourself falling into various different realities, catch yourself and redirect yourself into a better reality that will better-suit your life’s goals. Procrastination can be transformed into action and soon enough, lack-of-action will make you tired because your body will catch on to your new way of living.

Much of what I just talked about is covered in my bi-monthly column, Jpinions. In Jpinions I do more than just overview the concept; I help you grasp an understanding of it so you can apply it to your life with relative ease. It's not as easy of a read as JpinDaily, but is definitely very insightful for those who read it with deliberateness. I’ll make my quick escape with a small quote that I’ll perfect in my lifetime.


"When times are tough, work is needed; when times are not tough, work is still needed, although it won’t seem as hard. When work is needed and times are bleak, you should do it with a smile while you imagine a false reality. If you can do that without procrastination or haste, soon enough you’ll be surprised to perceive that you’ve arrived at a successful place—a destination that is only acceptable because you’ve allowed your reality to say it is."


~Thoughts by
JlB


Comments are always appreciated.