Questioning How We're Seen

Why does succeeding in life (my future) bother me so much?

Are you being selfless in your success? Sometimes what we do wrong, in order to succeed, hides in our subconscious - we are in denial. I would look at how you’ve succeeded and ensure ethically correct methods were used and did not violate your own moral code.

What does the following quote make you feel “Made weak by time and fate, but strong in will requisite to strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield.” and what meaning do you get from it?

My advanced age and tough life have gifted me the strong will necessary to continue to survive, discover, and never give up.

When you’re going through dark times, how do you pull through? How do you not feel like giving up?

You pull through with the knowledge that “giving up” accomplishes nothing except the label of “quitter” for the one who does. The “dark times” will continue, then, unabated, for as long as it lasts. I don’t give up because I'm not willing to entertain that much drama in my life.

“There have been bleak nights along my way, many of my own making, but life is all the brighter for them now. To the human eye, without the darkness, there are no stars.”

-- Sumangali Morhall 

I am one of the best players in the club I play in, but the problem is that my character is very weak on the field and this makes me unable to give everything I have. What is the solution?

None of this follows. You’re “one of the best players,” yet you see your “problem” as your weak character on the field. If being a weak character has made you one of the best players, maybe you should strive for more weakness of character so you can give everything you have.  See my point?

You’re overthinking a non-problem. The only problem I see here is your thinking. Try asking yourself what you can do better to enhance the team. Better yet, try asking your teammates what they think you can do better to enhance the team if anything. Let them know you’re open to criticism if they ever see anything that requires work on your part, like the fact that you're one of the best players.

What I’d start with though, is losing the “I’m one of the best players so I must have a problem” mindset.

Is fitting in the only way to survive in our today’s society?

You can survive by fitting in or bucking the system. The only difference is that one requires less from you physically and mentally. If “bucking the system” accomplishes something good, others will follow, but it’s better to do this without a chip on your shoulder. People have issues with antagonists. If done correctly and without ruffling feathers, “not fitting in” will actually find you a comfortable niche that you will fit into your own way.

Did you have the ''life is against me'' mentality? How did you get out of it? To be honest, because of my squint eye, a disability, and many other bad things that happen to me like being abandon by my mom, I've always felt that life is against me.

I lost my “life is against me” attitude, early on. I understood, early in life, that life throws us challenges. I thought about ending it, and then I saw people worse off than me, making the most of their life. We can view what happens to us as bad things and just lay down on our path and die, or we can view them as the life lessons they are, rise above them, and continue down our path having conquered what was thrown at us. We become the light for others to follow, the impetus for others to continue to live and strive to be happy always.

Each life has new challenges, and how we handle them dictates the path for our next life. Everything happens for a reason. I always see Adolf Hitler being “almost” reborn and then being aborted as many times as the lives he sacrificed in the Holocaust. Karma is truly a bitch. Why you’ve had a rough life? Karma you earned previously? I don’t know. I do think it is a test for you to rise above. Life isn’t against you as much as it might be trying to prepare you for what’s to come.

I've never felt that way. I've never felt like a loser. You can't get what you want if you feel like it's you against the world. You'll never get anywhere with negativity. I make my own opportunities I don't feel like everything is against me. 

-- Zacky Vengeance

How can I change how I see myself, my identity, my personality, and how I see my past?

Your past is what it was. See it as a memory and learn from it, don’t dwell on it. What you want to be in the next moment is directly connected to how you see yourself in the present. If you see a loser now, you will be a loser in the next moment. However, if you see a winner now, you’re already there.

Strive to be happy always, poor or wealthy, in all things you do, with all people you meet or interact with. 

Poor is no excuse for not wearing clean clothes, shining shoes, brushing your hair, etc. Regardless of financial status, take it to the next level. However you dress, take it to the next level. However you groom, take it to the next level. If your attitude is low, rise above it. If you have a menial job, ask the boss for more responsibility. See yourself as more than you are. If they knock you down, get back up.

Let this be your identity, your personality, who you are. Dress a step above, groom a step above, act a step above, work a step above. Be a step above. Smile and strive to be happy always. Treat others as you wish to be treated and let them see you as always happy in your circumstances. The alternative is unacceptable and simply sucks. It is what it is until it isn’t, so you have to make it what you want it to be, at this current moment.  Do not wait for change to come for you.  You have to make it happen.

It is your conscious choice to make.

What are some subtle tacts used by successful leaders to induce motivation?

As a supervisor and a manager, I would ask individuals under me to teach me something they're doing, on the job, that I don’t know. How do they make the job easier or faster? How do they ensure their own quality control? What are they doing that managers and owners might not be privy to?

I would also take some time to help them do their job, to learn what they do, to watch how they work, the system they use. I ask questions and listen to their recommendations.

I have always been in the trenches and the employees have always appreciated it. I have tried to never ask them to do anything I haven’t already done, and if I do, I try to learn right alongside them, or I tell them to learn it well because I fully expect them to train me.

My people have always been motivated, or they can always choose another manager. They never have, and we were always a step above.

Are there people who would like to leave their job for political reasons but don’t know how?

If they don’t know how to leave for political reasons, then they shouldn’t be involved in politics. Just submit a letter of resignation, the reasons being political. If they ask what the “political” reasons are, then they've set the platform on which the employee can bleed.

"Liberty means responsibility.  That is why most people dread it."

-- George Bernard Shaw

What should I do to find a friend and become a best friend?

Find someone you have a lot in common with, someone who is honest, trustworthy, loyal, yadda, yadda, yadda. You should really enjoy each other’s company. Be yourself and meet people. I’m almost 68 years old, and I can count my best friends in life on one hand. My friends, however, are numerous.

What was the most ungrateful reaction you've seen when an employee got a raise?

I had to laugh at this. It would be in the military. The raises were about enough to buy a case of beer every month. We heard there was going to be a raise and everyone just said “Woohoo!” and went back to doing what we were doing.

What does it mean “If you’re not a communist at the age of 20, you don't have a heart, if you’re still a communist at the age of 30, you don't have a brain”?

At 20, you’re naive and really don’t understand how bad communism really is. At 30, if you still don’t understand how bad communism is, you’re a certified idiot.

“How do you tell a Communist? Well, it’s someone who reads Marx and Lenin. And how do you tell an anti-Communist? It’s someone who understands Marx and Lenin.”

-- Ronald Reagan

 And, the short answers...

What if there are only positive things in the world?

There would be nothing to provide impetus.

What ideas do you think are life-enhancing?

Good ideas enhance life to some degree for someone.

What would be the best online venue for posting original one-liners and brief observations?

In fear my answer being collapsed, strokemyego.com?

What happens after a peak of everything?

The downhill slope.

What does 'Little' mean in this sentence? In 1914, Richard, a 20-year-old son of a baker was hiking when he threw a message in a bottle into the Baltic Sea. Little did he know that it would take over a century before anyone would read his message.

He had no idea.

Why do you live? I want to hear what keeps everyone going.

The alternative sucks.

“As long as you're alive, there's always a chance things will get better.”

-- Laini Taylor

 

Editor's Note

(Re: disclaimer cum "get out of jail free" card)

Before you go getting your panties in a bunch, it is essential to understand that this is just an opinion site and, as such, can be subjected to scrutiny by anyone with a differing opinion. It doesn't make either opinion any more right or wrong than the other. An opinion, presented in this context, is a way of inciting others to think and, hopefully, to form opinions of their own, if they haven't already done so. This is also why, occasionally, I will present an "opinion" just to stir an emotional pot. Where it may sound like I agree with the statements made, I'm more interested in getting others to consider an alternate viewpoint. 

It is my fervent hope that we keep open and active minds when reading opinions and while engaging in peaceful and constructive discussion, in an arena of mutual respect, concerning those opinions put forth. After over twenty years with military intelligence, I have come to believe engaging each other in this manner and in this arena is the way we will learn tolerance and respect for differing beliefs, cultures, and viewpoints.

We all fall from grace, some more often than others; it is part of being human. God's test for us is what we learn from the experience, and what we do afterward.

Pastor Tony spent 22 years with the United States Air Force Intelligence as a planner, analyst, briefer, instructor, and senior manager. He spent 17 years, following his service career, working with the premier, world-renowned, Institutional Review Board helping to protect the rights of human subjects involved in pharmaceutical research. Ordained 1n 2013 as an "interfaith" minister, he founded the Congregation for Religious Tolerance in response to intolerance shown by Christians toward peaceful Islam. As the weapon for his war on intolerance he chose the pen, and wages his "battle" in the guise of the Congregation's official online blog, The Path, of which he is both author and editor. "The Path" offers a vehicle for commentary and guidance concerning one's own personal, spiritual, path toward peace and the final destination for us all. He currently resides in Pass Christian, Mississippi, where he volunteered as a chaplain at the regional medical center.

Feel free to contact Pastor Tony:  tolerantpastor@gmail.com