Cogito ergo sum - I think, therefore I am (René Descartes, 1637)
For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline.
(2 Timothy, 1:7)
For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline.
(2 Timothy, 1:7)
This is the point in which future turns into present, and present is made part of the past. It is only when you become aware of the direction your life should head for, once you know there will always be so many paths waiting to be explored... With every further step you make, you are getting closer and closer to defining your so-awaited future. Then is when the future is born from nothing but the power of thoughts.
It is frequently thought that, once a decision is reached, the hardest step is left behind. But does the choice itself really poses the greatest threat on the way to achievement? It is also said the first steps are always the hardest. I won't doubt that - it is due to people's reluctance to the unknown. Still, there is something even more important. Just as breathing keeps the physical part of you alive, there is something flooding your soul with strength, with light and wisdom. Little as it may seem, we encounter this feeling in every moment of our existence. It is the peak from which dreams start turning into reality. This is what we call hope, or motivation.
Never lose hope. Life is our greatest journey; and, whenever we take to the road, we know where to head for...
For everyone of us, there might have been countless times when the so-promising initiatives never turned into reality, once, instead of following the path to success, the initial enthusiasm vanished in the routine of our daily lifestyles. We are not sufficiently aware of the infinite potential found in everyone of us. We are not aware of the greatness of the ideas that come to our mind every day, all this day-dreaming which is frequently left unnoticed. It is only the mental power that would allow us to bridge the gap between dream and reality. The same power that brings up the brilliant ideas that we may sometimes have. Occurring more or less, it is the inner force that made us to be what we are today by giving us the will to survive. There are countless ways of falling apart, so that staying on safe ground always asks for an effort.
The survival instinct is common in nature. The sense of existence is rather debatable - still we can state the evolution as one of its reasons. We are not only left to survive - we have the mission of constant improvement. It is a natural tendency to evolution in all species. As for humans, we pretend the evolution to be in a good direction. 'Good' and 'bad' are only to define the subjective meaning of our actions at a certain time, according to our concepts. They are abstract terms, with no exact meaning. Because something has a certain significance as long as its meaning applies to a broad range of subjects - we cannot pretend the existence of general truth, because even the most objective notions can be interpreted in multiple ways.
Motivation is that inner force that ride us to evolution. The only problem is, we are not always able to manage it properly. There have been so many attempts of people to define happiness and be accomplished, so many philosophical currents searching for truth and genuine values, so many religions stating the superiority of humans among the other species, the resemblance of people to superior forms of consciousness. This potential consists of our right of choice, in our power of judgement. Without consciousness to define our ideals and motivation to pursue them, we are nothing but a physical presence, guided by instincts. We certainly expect much more from our own, unique life. We realise how many things we would be able to achieve. However, we sometimes lack the inner resource for taking a step further in the respective direction and all the potential seems hidden and out of our reach.
You should not go on a journey before packing what you will need.
For the same reason, I chose the first article in the series 'Preparation for Architecture' to be about motivation - the first aspect we should be sure of when we start our way to achieving any goal.
Why do we lose interest in our activities? Tiredness, depression, indifference may be at the same time causes and consequences of lacking motivation. According to Abraham Maslow's hierarchy of needs, you cannot aspire to a superior aim while the physiological and social needs are not fulfilled. But are people indeed unable to go beyond the biological needs, to control the primal instincts using the power of thought? What comes first - the physical or the spiritual side? We are gifted with sense, every decision should be rational. For ruling the exterior situations, we should first learn to control ourselves, to turn ourselves into the person we always wanted to be, but never made enough effort for.
Everything is left to us - also the right of choice, to decide the course of action. If we do not head for the right way at this very moment, if we always postpone taking our lives into our own hands, without giving up the wrong habits and the ideas that we were persuaded to adhere to without even thinking seriously about them - we will never succeed, and, at the same time, we will never be able to take full responsibility for our actions. You should have a reason in your every action, otherwise you will be just a victim of manipulation. It is normal to be more or less influenced by external factors, but you should have a very defined personality and life conception in order to distinguish between good and evil.
Nothing is worth taking for granted. If there had been any, we wouldn't have had the power of choice.
Just think of the enormous impact of advertising in the consumer's choices - today's society got into the habit of taking everything for granted. We don't bother to question ourselves about the quality or use of a certain thing as far as ourselves are concerned - general opinion is persuasive enough. We may crave for fast food and Coca Cola or start smoking - only because everyone does and they are attractively presented as symbols of today's society. We may give up our own particularities in order to integrate in a certain group - to fulfill the need of belongingness and friendship. We may accept to give up our true selves completely, and be one of the many. Belonging to the mediocrity, you won't need to take responsibility for your own ideas, you won't be requested to come up with an original contribution - only to follow the beaten track, to let yourself manipulated by every external factor, to limit your existence to a biological level. You may pretend to be satisfied - physically, in terms of security and belongingness. With no particular and well-stated opinion that could receive criticism, with nothing to hope for other than a 'good' living, with so many friendships that sometimes prove to be only opportunistic, often pretending to be healthy while the constant stress has become a habit, would finally consider yourself self-accomplished? This is what society promotes - being superficial, building your own existence on falsehood.
We are all rational beings, able to judge by ourselves, make our lives according to our own principles, make the best decisions and be able to take responsibility for them. No exterior force is better than your own will, no other is entitled to command to you, as long as you are strong enough to think by yourself, not as part of the mediocrity. You are the best support for yourself. There is enough inner force in everyone of us, still left unexplored. We can all be intelligent, beautiful, healthy, competent, but it is only depending on our choice.
Never lose hope. Life is our greatest journey; and, whenever we take to the road, we know where to head for...
For everyone of us, there might have been countless times when the so-promising initiatives never turned into reality, once, instead of following the path to success, the initial enthusiasm vanished in the routine of our daily lifestyles. We are not sufficiently aware of the infinite potential found in everyone of us. We are not aware of the greatness of the ideas that come to our mind every day, all this day-dreaming which is frequently left unnoticed. It is only the mental power that would allow us to bridge the gap between dream and reality. The same power that brings up the brilliant ideas that we may sometimes have. Occurring more or less, it is the inner force that made us to be what we are today by giving us the will to survive. There are countless ways of falling apart, so that staying on safe ground always asks for an effort.
The survival instinct is common in nature. The sense of existence is rather debatable - still we can state the evolution as one of its reasons. We are not only left to survive - we have the mission of constant improvement. It is a natural tendency to evolution in all species. As for humans, we pretend the evolution to be in a good direction. 'Good' and 'bad' are only to define the subjective meaning of our actions at a certain time, according to our concepts. They are abstract terms, with no exact meaning. Because something has a certain significance as long as its meaning applies to a broad range of subjects - we cannot pretend the existence of general truth, because even the most objective notions can be interpreted in multiple ways.
Motivation is that inner force that ride us to evolution. The only problem is, we are not always able to manage it properly. There have been so many attempts of people to define happiness and be accomplished, so many philosophical currents searching for truth and genuine values, so many religions stating the superiority of humans among the other species, the resemblance of people to superior forms of consciousness. This potential consists of our right of choice, in our power of judgement. Without consciousness to define our ideals and motivation to pursue them, we are nothing but a physical presence, guided by instincts. We certainly expect much more from our own, unique life. We realise how many things we would be able to achieve. However, we sometimes lack the inner resource for taking a step further in the respective direction and all the potential seems hidden and out of our reach.
You should not go on a journey before packing what you will need.
For the same reason, I chose the first article in the series 'Preparation for Architecture' to be about motivation - the first aspect we should be sure of when we start our way to achieving any goal.
Why do we lose interest in our activities? Tiredness, depression, indifference may be at the same time causes and consequences of lacking motivation. According to Abraham Maslow's hierarchy of needs, you cannot aspire to a superior aim while the physiological and social needs are not fulfilled. But are people indeed unable to go beyond the biological needs, to control the primal instincts using the power of thought? What comes first - the physical or the spiritual side? We are gifted with sense, every decision should be rational. For ruling the exterior situations, we should first learn to control ourselves, to turn ourselves into the person we always wanted to be, but never made enough effort for.
Everything is left to us - also the right of choice, to decide the course of action. If we do not head for the right way at this very moment, if we always postpone taking our lives into our own hands, without giving up the wrong habits and the ideas that we were persuaded to adhere to without even thinking seriously about them - we will never succeed, and, at the same time, we will never be able to take full responsibility for our actions. You should have a reason in your every action, otherwise you will be just a victim of manipulation. It is normal to be more or less influenced by external factors, but you should have a very defined personality and life conception in order to distinguish between good and evil.
Nothing is worth taking for granted. If there had been any, we wouldn't have had the power of choice.
Just think of the enormous impact of advertising in the consumer's choices - today's society got into the habit of taking everything for granted. We don't bother to question ourselves about the quality or use of a certain thing as far as ourselves are concerned - general opinion is persuasive enough. We may crave for fast food and Coca Cola or start smoking - only because everyone does and they are attractively presented as symbols of today's society. We may give up our own particularities in order to integrate in a certain group - to fulfill the need of belongingness and friendship. We may accept to give up our true selves completely, and be one of the many. Belonging to the mediocrity, you won't need to take responsibility for your own ideas, you won't be requested to come up with an original contribution - only to follow the beaten track, to let yourself manipulated by every external factor, to limit your existence to a biological level. You may pretend to be satisfied - physically, in terms of security and belongingness. With no particular and well-stated opinion that could receive criticism, with nothing to hope for other than a 'good' living, with so many friendships that sometimes prove to be only opportunistic, often pretending to be healthy while the constant stress has become a habit, would finally consider yourself self-accomplished? This is what society promotes - being superficial, building your own existence on falsehood.
We are all rational beings, able to judge by ourselves, make our lives according to our own principles, make the best decisions and be able to take responsibility for them. No exterior force is better than your own will, no other is entitled to command to you, as long as you are strong enough to think by yourself, not as part of the mediocrity. You are the best support for yourself. There is enough inner force in everyone of us, still left unexplored. We can all be intelligent, beautiful, healthy, competent, but it is only depending on our choice.
In order to reach the highest level, you should work on improving yourself constantly. This is what we call emotional intelligence - self-control and self-esteem are a must. Of course, not in the sense of unjustified pride, but by realising you are worth the effort and that you are the only person you could have expectations from. Giving up extrinsic wishes would only allow you to gain intrinsic determination. You can pretend everything from yourself, but nothing from others - unless you want to face a potential disappointment.
The supreme motivation is seeing your own evolution. And the secret of achievement is self-determination.
Extrinsic motivation, such as rewards, is rather superficial. Not based on strong principles, this materialistic type of motivation may instantly vanish once the others won't show enough appreciation towards your achievements. The sense of our actions do not consist in pleasing others - actually we can never expect for fairness and appreciation - people are so easily becoming envious. We just need to know that we are doing right, that we are acting according to our own principles - a set of values that should be clearly defined by everyone of us, not taken from the general opinion - the majority may not be always right, but, instead, going for the most accessible path without questioning the morality of the choice itself.
Be the best in what you do. Make no compromises - if you do something perfectly today, you will have nothing to regret tomorrow...
We can keep our thoughts under control, motivate ourselves to complete our daily tasks without avoiding or postponing them. We only have to realise how powerful our thoughts can be, how easily it would be to achieve anything if we genuinely wish it and focus all our energy on it. Believe and you will achieve. Motivation is the source of spiritual energy that will take you on an never ending road. We will never reach perfection - we can only aspire to improve ourselves with every day passing. The continuous evolution is the key to self-accomplishment. And, maybe the most important of all - understand that better for oneself means better for the whole world. There will always be someone better than you - be glad for this and perceive it as an inspiration, because it's not a thing in the whole world more degrading than showing envy and ill-manners towards a thing in which the good triumphed. The supreme force that created and dominated the world manifests in all of us. People chose to call it divinity. By perceiving it not only as an abstract idea, but somehow in a material form, humans are said to have lost this sacred bound. Again, it is a matter of choice. Redefine your world, this time basing your principles on solid grounds. Something there exists, superior to everything we could imagine. That is the Ideal.
'Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight.' (Proverbs, 3-5,6)
'And walk not on the earth with conceit and arrogance.' [al-Isra' 17:37]
The supreme motivation is seeing your own evolution. And the secret of achievement is self-determination.
Extrinsic motivation, such as rewards, is rather superficial. Not based on strong principles, this materialistic type of motivation may instantly vanish once the others won't show enough appreciation towards your achievements. The sense of our actions do not consist in pleasing others - actually we can never expect for fairness and appreciation - people are so easily becoming envious. We just need to know that we are doing right, that we are acting according to our own principles - a set of values that should be clearly defined by everyone of us, not taken from the general opinion - the majority may not be always right, but, instead, going for the most accessible path without questioning the morality of the choice itself.
Be the best in what you do. Make no compromises - if you do something perfectly today, you will have nothing to regret tomorrow...
We can keep our thoughts under control, motivate ourselves to complete our daily tasks without avoiding or postponing them. We only have to realise how powerful our thoughts can be, how easily it would be to achieve anything if we genuinely wish it and focus all our energy on it. Believe and you will achieve. Motivation is the source of spiritual energy that will take you on an never ending road. We will never reach perfection - we can only aspire to improve ourselves with every day passing. The continuous evolution is the key to self-accomplishment. And, maybe the most important of all - understand that better for oneself means better for the whole world. There will always be someone better than you - be glad for this and perceive it as an inspiration, because it's not a thing in the whole world more degrading than showing envy and ill-manners towards a thing in which the good triumphed. The supreme force that created and dominated the world manifests in all of us. People chose to call it divinity. By perceiving it not only as an abstract idea, but somehow in a material form, humans are said to have lost this sacred bound. Again, it is a matter of choice. Redefine your world, this time basing your principles on solid grounds. Something there exists, superior to everything we could imagine. That is the Ideal.
'Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight.' (Proverbs, 3-5,6)
'And walk not on the earth with conceit and arrogance.' [al-Isra' 17:37]
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