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He who hesitates is lost..but..Look before you leap.. AARRGH!

gday
Finally relaxing at home for a night, even if it is brief! Today after work, we had a JAKE trivia night. JAKE is the name of the company i work for, and no, my boss isn't called Jake. =) It is a lovely company to work for, even though i am still unsure whether it is exactly what i want to do. The thing i like most about being there is learning new things, and this being the first full time post i've ever held, i have learnt bl**dy heaps! What i have observed, and would like to emulate the most is how my boss interacts with his clients and his staff. So far, his approach to people is the best example of balancing between being people focused - and task focused. Even though he does try to take on too much, and so he isn't as effective as he could be, he has been quick to respond to it, and has now made some changes. Even just his ability to learn from his mistakes would be something to emulate.
However, i wonder how easy it would be to change myself. I came to the realisation today, when i talked to my girlfriend on the phone, that the beliefs we hold within ourselves really do define the reality we live in. In other words, what we believe in is essentially what we live, and if we changed our belief (which is nothing more that mere ideas and concepts in our head) for the better, we'd have a lot more happiness in life. However, changing our beliefs for the better is one of the hardest things to do in life. It is almost like warping our reality to something almost beyond comprehension. But nonetheless, we can and do hold different, and often conflicting beliefs in our own heads. For example, I noticed in life we have proverbs and phrases like:

A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush
A man's reach should exceed his grasp

Too many cooks spoil the broth
Two heads are better than one

You’re never too old to learn
You can’t teach an old dog new tricks

He who hesitates is lost
Look before you leap

Although each proverb is probably the best advice given a certain set of circumstances, most people stick just to one. It is this stubborn, blind attachment without opening their eyes to the world of possibility, which I find the most unfortunate limiting factor in our lives. It is almost like having lost all passion for experiencing the variety of life, and just believing that there is only "oh, i can never learn, because you can't teach an old dog new tricks". If we could only do away with these existing belief structures and just learn to live in the present, i feel that life would have taken that one tiny positive step forward.
Still, it is very easy to say those things that i have said. Removing these beliefs has been tough for me, and ever since about four years ago, i have been trying to change my beliefs without understanding the importance of them. I’m glad I guess to finally realise this.
Well, I wonder if my team won the trivia. We were coming a close second when i left. I was meant to sabotage my team, but i can't do such a thing. Winning is too important for me. Just kidding. Being a saboteur just doesn’t cut with being ‘laugh and grow fat’.
I missed out on drinking again tonight coz i had to pick up Amelia (lil sis) from her choir. Damn, was late half an hour, but double damn, they were going through Crownies, and Shannon bought along a bottle of Chivas Regal. Wouldn't mind giving that a sip. Anyways, my mum's gone to Malaysia for 6 weeks, and it seems like theres more house work (Doh) and looking after my lil sis. Hmmm i wonder why i can't seem to say no to people who ask for help, even if i know its going to be tough to fit them in. Nevertheless, it seems like i'm enjoying the quiet times of solitude more and more. Am i getting old!?

September 6, 2001 | 10:50 AM Comments  0 comments

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mikef Michael Feller
September 8, 2001 | 4:02 AM
Whoa...
Jono,
You’re one of the most profound dudes I know. I’ve never asked you what diserae means as well… anything to do with your desire to laugh and grow fat?

Anyway, you talk of a paradigm shift and that’s exactly what I think the world needs a synchronous, global paradigm shift. One of my motivations (in fact my main motivation) on going to some isolated corner of the earth like Mongolia is to gain a deep paradigm shift, to stay still and grow up instead of just moving along at a crazy pace on a linear scale.

In the consultation I went to today I (and some very insightful people) recommended to the UN Youth Ambassador for Australia that the problems of the world generally come down to education, awareness and understanding. True education, awareness and understanding comes from internal character and paradigm shifts. To change one must change from the inside-out, that is how the world must change for the better too. That’s what I like about TIG, it seems to promote that thinking, or at least it has inspired me to think along those lines more.

Now I’m not there yet, I’m still too often outside-in and not as effective as I would like, but as some wise dude said “Most important is to conquer self” it’s also true what they say about don’t judge others, focus on yourself, change comes from within, act locally, etc. etc. Imagine if all the missionaries and dogmatists out there decided to improve themselves before trying to improve others- then we could all laugh and grow fat.
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