luv n grace

The Road Less Traveled is a spiritual classic, combining scientific and religious views to help you grow by confronting and solving your problems through discipline, love and grace
Here are 3 lessons from the first three categories he discusses:
    Stay open to change your perspective of reality at any moment.

    The action of loving is much more important than the feeling, which is fleeting.

    We’re all religious, because religion is nothing more than a distinct perception of the world.
Always be willing to update your view of the world.
When we lie, consciously or not, we’ve often just fallen prey to so-called cognitive biases, like the backfire effect, survivorship bias or irrational escalation. 

What matters, he suggests is that we remain open to being wrong. How willing are you to change your opinion at a moment’s notice? It’s hard. It takes a lot of humility.

Love is an action, not a feeling.
 cathexis. It’s defined as the investment of emotional energy into an object or a person, often to an extent that’s unhealthy
If our love is genuine, it won’t require lots of feelings at all, since it’s much bigger than cathexis.For example, in a well-functioning marriage both partners continue to choose their spouse, because they made a commitment to support that person and strive towards their goals together. Even if they disagree and occasionally get angry at each other, they don’t get swayed by those passing feelings

In this sense, showing your love is as simple as giving your attention, listening and helping your partner reach their goals.

similar to the distinction Jonathan Haidt made in The Happiness Hypothesis between passionate and companionate love

Religion is just a way of viewing the world, which means we all have one.
We mostly view religion as a set of strict rules and traditional rituals that a certain group follows in order to worship a or multiple deities.
Our perspective of life is mostly shaped by our education in school and at home, as well as the family environment we grow up in.

Peck also describes grace as a mysterious force of positive growth in our lives. It universally adds serendipity in ways we can’t quite explain and thus comes as close to a miracle as it gets. 

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Parables To Inspire

http://www.samithpich.com/4-great-parables-inspire/

Parables of Leadership

https://hbr.org/1992/07/parables-of-leadership

parable -fortune

Fortune?
Once upon the time there was an old farmer who had worked his crops for many years. One day his horse ran away. Upon hearing the news, his neighbors came to visit. “Such bad luck,” they said sympathetically.
“Perhaps,” the farmer replied.
The next morning the horse returned, bringing with it three other wild horses. “What great luck!” the neighbors exclaimed.
“Perhaps,” replied the old man.
The following day, his son tried to ride one of the untamed horses, was thrown, and broke his leg. The neighbors again came to offer their sympathy on his misfortune.
“Perhaps,” answered the farmer.
The day after, military officials came to the village to draft young men into the army. Seeing that the son’s leg was broken, they passed him by. The neighbors congratulated the farmer on how well things had turned out.
“Perhaps,” said the farmer…

…
We’ve all had experiences where the curse turns into a blessing; rejection turns into redirection, and the unanswered prayer is the best thing that could’ve happened to you.
Life is indeed a box of chocolates, you never know what you’re gonna get. Yet the father isn’t delusional or apathetic, but equanimous through life’s ups and downs. And there’s a subtle expectation that fortune will follow his misfortune.

parable -wolves

Wolves.
An old Cherokee chief was teaching his grandson about life…
“A fight is going on inside me,” he said to the boy. “It is a terrible fight and it is between two wolves. One is evil. He is anger, envy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority, self-doubt, and ego. The other is good – he is joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion, and faith. This same fight is going on inside you – and inside every other person, too.”
The grandson thought about it for a minute and then asked his grandfather,

“Which wolf will win?”
The old chief simply replied,

“The one you feed.”

…
It’s no surprise that expressing gratitude increases positive experiences. Focusing on something causes your brain’s reticular activating system (RAS) to red-flag all things related. If your default is toward negativity, you’ll always see the glass half empty. Start feeding the good wolf to not only see, but live the silver lining.

parable let go

Here are three timeless parables that will challenge and change the way you live life.

1. The Muddy Road.
Two monks, Tanzan and Ekido were once traveling together down a muddy road. A heavy rain was still falling.
Coming around a bend, they met a lovely girl in a silk kimono and sash, unable to cross the intersection.
“Come on, girl,” said Tanzan at once. Lifting her in his arms, he carried her over the mud.
Ekido did not speak again until that night when they reached a lodging temple. Then he no longer could restrain himself.
“We monks don’t go near females,” he told Tanzan, “especially not young and lovely ones. It is dangerous. Why did you do that?”
“I left the girl there,” said Tanzan. “Are you still carrying her?”

…
Letting go can be difficult, but you’ll torture yourself mentally and emotionally by holding on. Breathe deep, and let it go. Life doesn’t always follow the script; rules are bent and broken; the ideal doesn’t match the real. But carrying wounds long after the battle is done is a mark of immaturity.

corp parable 1

Stevens Computing Services  –  Humor me!
Corporate Parables

Four Basic Management Lessons:

Lesson Number One

    A crow was sitting on a tree, doing nothing all day.  A small rabbit saw the crow, and asked him, “Can I also sit like you and do nothing all day long?”
    The crow answered: “Sure, why not.”
    So, the rabbit sat on the ground below the crow, and rested.
    All of a sudden, a fox appeared, jumped on the rabbit and ate it.
   Management Lesson
    To be sitting around, doing nothing, you must be sitting very, very high up.
Lesson Number Two
    A turkey was chatting with a bull.  “I would love to be able to get to the top of that tree,” sighed the turkey, “but I haven’t got the energy.”
    “Well, why don’t you nibble on some of my droppings?”, replied the bull.  “They’re packed with nutrients.”
    The turkey pecked at a lump of dung and found that it actually gave him enough strength to reach the first branch of the tree.  The next day, after eating some more dung, he reached the second branch.
    Finally after a fortnight, there he was proudly perched at the top of the tree.  Soon, he was promptly spotted by a farmer, who shot the turkey out of the tree.
   Management Lesson
    Bullshit might get you to the top, but it won’t keep you there.
Lesson Number Three
    A woman was leaving the shower just as her husband was ready to enter it, when the doorbell rang.  She quickly wrapped herself in a towel and ran downstairs.
    When she opened the door, there stood Bob, the next-door neighbor.  Before she could say a word, Bob said, “I’ll give you $800 to drop that towel.”
    After thinking for a moment, the woman dropped her towel and stood naked before Bob.  After a few seconds, Bob handed her $800 and left.
    The woman wrapped herself in the towel again and went back upstairs.  When she got to the bathroom, her husband asked, “Who was that?”
    “It was Bob the next door neighbor,” she replied.
    “Great,” said the husband, “did he say anything about the $800 he owes me?”
   Management Lesson
    You may not be able to prevent avoidable exposure if you fail to disclose critical information pertaining to credit and risk to your shareholders in a timely manner.
Lesson Number Four
    When the body was first made, all the parts wanted to be Boss.
    The brain said, “I should be Boss because I control the whole body’s responses and functions.”
    The feet said, “We should be Boss as we carry the brain about and get him to where he wants to go.”
    The hands said, “We should be the Boss because we do all the work and earn all the money.”
    And so it went on and on with the heart, the lungs and the eyes until finally the asshole spoke up.  All the parts laughed at the idea of the asshole being the Boss.
    So the asshole went on strike, blocked itself up and refused to work.  Within a short time the eyes became crossed, the hands clenched, the feet twitched, the heart and lungs began to panic and the brain fevered.
    Eventually they all decided that the asshole should be the Boss, so the motion was passed.
    All the other parts did all the work while the Boss just sat around and passed out the shit!
   Management Lesson
    You don’t need brains to be the Boss – any asshole will do.
Lesson Number Five
    A little bird was flying south for the winter.  It was so cold, the bird froze and fell to the ground in a large field.  While it was lying there, a cow came by and dropped some dung on it.  As the frozen bird lay there in the pile of cow dung, it began to realize how warm it was.  The dung was actually thawing him out!  He lay there all warm and happy, and soon began to sing for joy.
    A passing cat heard the bird’s singing and came to investigate.  Following the sound, the cat discovered the bird under the pile of cow dung, and promptly dug him out and ate him!
   Management Lessons
    1)  Not everyone who drops shit on you is your enemy.

    2)  Not everyone who gets you out of shit is your friend.

    3)  And when you’re in deep shit, keep your mouth shut!