Push your own buttons

Socrates club examines the concept of setting the mood for your own motivation.

Do you live your life like a pilot who doesn't know what the buttons in the cockpit are for? (bring in the monkeys!)

From now on, make it a personal commitment to notice everything that pushes your buttons. Make a note of what inspires you. Create your own control panel. These buttons operate your whole system of personal motivation.

Motivation doesn't have to be accidental. If there are certain songs that help you pick up your spirits--get the iPod out--burn a disk and listen to them. Don't let the radio control you and make you wait.

Movies can help you feel more motivated too. Is there a movie that helps you feel like you're ready to take on the world? Then watch it.

You have more control over your environment than you realize. Start by being more consciously focused on what makes you feel good--when--what was the button--why? And start moving those buttons in front of the ones that make you feel bad about yourself, down, depressed, lazy and unmotivated.

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This is an interesting concept . . . . I am motivated by certain colors. I love cobalt blue. But I don't want my entire world to be cobalt.

I like the sound of a crackling fire. It's peaceful and relaxing. Soothing.

I like the smell of spring or fall--the earthy moist ground--wow . . . that is very invigorating.

I like the crisp moist air after a heavy snowfall. The muffled quiet as you go outside, before the snowblowers and shovellers start.

So these are smell related, visual related . . . And they can easily be missed if I'm moving too fast.

Slow down. You move too fast.
Got to make the morning last.

Motivation

Socrates Club is doing a book club this month. "100 ways to motivate yourself."

When we leave this world, we will ask ourselves one question: What's different? What's different because I was here? And the answer to that questions will be the difference that we made.

All of our thoughts and feelings won't matter.

What will matter is the action we took and the difference it made.

Throughout our lives we continue to obsess about our thoughts and become fascinated with our feelings. We are offended by others. We want to prove we're right. We want to show other people are wrong. We're disappointed in some--we resent others . . . it goes on and on and on.

But it doesn't matter.

What will matter is the action we took and the difference it made.

So how do you do that?

Aristotle believed it was through motion.

Think of a snow angel. You plop down in fresh clean snow and then you MOVE--and it is the motion of your arms and legs that creates the snow angel.

See . . . there's a link between self-motivation and self-creation.

Whatever we learn to do--we learn by actually doing it.

Sometimes it's GOOD that it was a bad dream.

I dreamed last night that I had many reports to write and fill out and time cards to punch and when I woke up there was a brief instance of, "holy moses . . . I really need to get on those reports!" and then I realized . . . hey . . . that was a dream.

Cool.

Yes?

You have a question?

Motivation

Well done is better than well said. Benjamin Franklin

Even if you're on the right track, you'll get run over if you just sit there. Will Rodgers

For to seek grand results, without great effort, you are a fool to even dream it. Thomas Jefferson

This morning's presentation at Socrates Club was on the subject of motivation. What moves some people to achieve more than others? What drives people to break out of their comfort zone and head into the unknown?

What allows people to dream and think that there would be some chance that that dream could come true?

These are human characteristics. Unique to humans. And rather intriguing.

Are dreams the motivating factor . . . or is motivation (a desire for more) what creates the dream?

Friendship

A friend is someone who knows the song in your heart and can sing it back to you when you have forgotten the words. Author Unknown

What is the key to people’s hearts? (Understanding.)
The most valuable thing in life is relationship (friendship).
Life cannot be real if relationships are not real.

Socrates Club spent time discussing the nature of friendship this morning. These were the starting thoughts. It has given us much to think about.

North by northwest

As an ordinal, North gets a lot of positive publicity. Is it just because of Polaris and it's accidental coincindence of never appearing to change positition in the night sky? Is it the concept of magnetic poles and the constancy of a pull--a direction that is there--but not seen?

People refer to True North and Following your North Star. They are spoken of in positive ways--that True North is the best of intentions, best of directions. Your North Star is the best fit of your desire, talent and dreams.

So a constant--in the background--is by default--Good. It is your better self, your authentic self--which is by nature good and positive.

This is an interesting assumption. Is human nature basically good?

Another assumption--North the "best" direction?

Whatever happened to Go West?

Why don't people want to Go South?

Why isn't the symbol of setting goals and working towards them--the East--where the Sun comes up every morning?

Humans are an odd species. They set cultural assumptions and then build MORE cultural assumptions on top of that.

Very odd.

Magic

~~sigh~~

This morning's Socrates Club questions came from Dougal so we were discussing magic. In most traditional fairy tales, the witch casts a spell to make the human ugly or undesireable. The implication is that they LOOK a they are in the inside--on the outside. For example: Beast from Beauty and the Beast.

Dougal says, "how do you know the SPELL makes him ugly? Maybe it's the spell that makes him handsome?"

We discussed the role of witches in mythology and that they are a plot device that allows the story to visualize all aspects of human nature . . . and Dougal says, "But they can make themselves beautiful . . . so why isn't that what they're doing to humans when they cast spells on them? Why are they turning them into newts? Why not ponies?"

There was a heated discussion about beauty and truth. Dougal pointed out that if you read the internet a lot of physically beautiful people are really just make up and magic and that in their hearts (as is witnessed by their behaviors) they are very selfish small people.

So he repeats . . . how do we know witches spells make people ugly? Maybe the things that are SPELLS are really making people pretty--hiding their ugliness from you until they have a chance to make you miserable.

The truly devastating spell would be one that made something LOOK perfect until you bit into it and then you discovered it was very nasty.

We began to realize that Dougal had a point. This was an interesting discussion item that goes beyond just magic. We discussed human nature, social masks, cultural assumptions of beauty and ugliness . . .

Fascinating.

Nurture vs nature

This morning in Socrates Club we were discussing nurture and nature. Can you relearn a new way of doing things--eliminating bad habits? Or are the bad habits part of your nature?
A scientific survey says that 65% of the bad habits can't be changed. You just have to live with them. The other 35% CAN be changed, but requires a lot of positive reinforcement and concious effort.

Dougal didn't want to talk about either nurture or nature. He kept saying SHH! and "I can't hear you."

He's still just a kid.

Poor mom.

Happy Birthday

Today is Aunt Kathy's Birthday.
Happy birthday!

The sound of silence . . .and the feel of quiet.

There's a difference between silence and quiet.

I have decided that I like quiet. But silence . . . hurts my tummy.

I know . . . stay focused. Deep breaths. Eventually it won't be silent.

It's just hard. I feel like I've been abandoned when it's silent. Like I'm a kitten dropped off at a barn and told to fend for myself because I'm not cute anymore.

Quiet is different.

Quiet is warm and comfortable and involves hugs, sleeping in the sunshine and mom asking me if I know a four letter word for middle of the day sleep attacks.