OUR NATURAL STATE IS INTERDEPENDENCE

These are excerpts from our session of THE TECHNOLOGY TRANSITIONS WORK SPACE held on June 19, 2016. The forum is designed to challenge our thinking by examining & questioning our beliefs.
We must own the initiative and responsibility for all aspects of our lives. Our modern society has formed various systems to address multiple social issues. The original idea was to create a safety net for members of our society that happened to fall through the cracks. Although well intentioned, some aspects of our social support systems have created unwanted effects beyond their original scope. As a result many of us have relinquished authority and abdicated control over certain aspects of our existence. We should not delegate all financial support or monetary assistance for one another exclusively to banks and governments.  Parents cannot leave teaching, learning and education exclusively to schools and colleges.  As average citizens we can create the climate and culture for justice in society apart from politicians and police. Why can't we resolve our differences without lawyers, judges, courts or violence? We must officially own the role of being our brothers keeper.  When we abdicate our responsibilities they will be usurped by default.

SEPARATING OURSELVES FROM THE SAME OLD STRUGGLES

We should expect to face problems each day. This is a natural and normal phenomena. These are the effects of our humanity. It's having to repeatedly fight the same old battles that really wear us down. Familiarity may breed contempt, but issues of similarity breed frustration. Facing habitual adversity is discouraging and can make us feel as if we will never win. It is far more encouraging to see our shortcomings as derailments instead of failures. There is no need to start from scratch just get the train back on the track at the same point it fell off. Denounce discouragement. Shame, guilt and self doubt are the classic ways we beat ourselves DOWN. It is better to beat ourselves UP! Someone may ask what is the difference between a beat down and a beat up. Think about it. When we commence the "BEAT DOWN" we chastise and disparage one another, guilt is inevitable.  When we learn to BEAT one another "UP," the kick in the ass is one of encouragement.  A "BEAT DOWN" condemns us for our mistakes.  A "BEAT UP" allows us to acknowledge our mistakes or shortcomings and embrace the remedy for overcoming.  A "BEAT DOWN" says live with it.  A "BEAT UP" says own it and deal with it.  A "BEAT DOWN" leaves us discouraged.  A "BEAT UP" leaves us encouraged! The common scenario for the average person is to try, fail and try again. We all attempt to solve our problems as best we know how with the data derived from "informative learning."  Information presented as fact,  whether credible or not, has to be learned and absorbed intellectually. Typical education from teachers, books, lectures, seminars and classes are individual showers that create larger puddles.  Pooling our accumulated knowledge can assist in conclusions but may lack the therapeutic results we desire. Many experiences can be relived through memories and can alter perspectives. Experience may be the best teacher; however we need not personally live out every situation to gain that enlightenment or understanding.

CHALLENGING FIXED BELIEFS

We are all products of our environment, teaching and genetics. Inevitably we will all discover that some of our reasoning and conclusions originated from ignorance or bias. Our embraced beliefs can limit any other consideration or reasoning that contradicts those beliefs. The stronger the belief the tighter the hold on our thinking. The tendency to embrace any juxtaposition diminishes as we fix our minds on a thought. The symptoms of self sabotage manifest themselves through whatever we fear to share.  The private thoughts and feelings we internalize or hide are the personal "so called" truths we believe about ourselves. Our personal truths are not real truth, they are feelings that speak to our believed self worth. The things we think we deserve or expect out of various life situations we may knowingly or unconsciously generate. As individuals we have our public and private self. Our public side, the fabricated behaviors we develop over time, act as a disguise that protects us. Our private side, the substance of our cognitive set, seat of consciousness or soul, causes us to deceptively conduct ourselves the way we do. 

THREE KEY PERFORMANCE FACTORS FOR ADVANCEMENT

Creating Improvement, practicing a process and maintaining our progress are three critical steps for success. We can only change what we acknowledge. Acknowledgement gives expression to confession. There is no true confession without an agent of accountability. Having others enrolled in our aspirations or goals allows them (the goals) to have a life of their own regardless our status. We can give it form! For progress to be meaningful it must be measurable. A written plan shared as a tangible asset perpetuates the success of any endeavor we face. There can be no exceptions or options for failure in our speech and behavior. We can We can use pit stops, detours and rests as contingency plans. Our first expectation is improvement.  As we progress the ability to formulate and focus on more concrete results will emerge.