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Archive for August, 2011

A Sumo Wrestler

The man is trying to keep you down. He doesn’t want for you to have dreams. And nothing would make him happier than to see you in shackles and to be grateful for it.

The man has a name:

Ego

I once saw a television special about sumo wrestlers. The show revealed that essentially there were two classes of sumo: the junior wrestlers and the senior wrestlers. Junior wrestlers are forced to wear poor quality clothes and wooden sandals that make an annoying clip-clop sound while walking. They must wake up earlier, wait their turn to take a bath after training, and spend their days doing chores and serving their seniors.

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Cupped Open Hands

In interacting with other people, you can either focus on giving value or taking value.  Giving value involves adding something of value to someone’s life, leaving them better off than how you found them.  Taking value involves stealing someone’s time, energy, or resources for your own benefit.

Giving value can be a scary experience.  There’s always the chance you don’t get anything back in return.  Or worse, your actions go unappreciated.  When someone doesn’t appreciate what we do, what we give, or even what we say, we may feel as if our generosity is misdirected.  It’s easier to be a taker, to only do what’s in your own best interests.  By constantly asking, “What’s in it for me?” you might maximize your returns from this world.  However, this strategy only works in the short term.

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Why To Be Assertive

A Hand Making a Stop Sign

People often know that they should assert themselves and yet all too often they don’t.  There are a number of reasons:

1) We don’t think we’ll get what we want.

If you don’t try, you won’t know.  You may think you know, but what if you’re wrong?  What kind of life would you be missing out on if that were the case?  So go for it anyway.

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