There a lot of things in life that are simply dead weight. Pride will drag you down quicker than you can get a last gasp. One moment you are on the surface, and then you hit bottom.
The problem with thinking highly of yourself is that it is all in your head. If this ever gets out, it will be in the form of flatulence. Ah, the intoxicating aroma of crashing spirits!
Achievement is its own reward, and no fanfare is necessary. Do what you do because you love to do it. Be who you are, because you are a real person and not some painted doll.
Nothing is new, so no one will be impressed by your pomp. We have all seen and smelled it before. If you sow better, then you might be deserving of the praise you so desperately seek.
People do not learn, because the problem is within. They believe their own press, with the fake articles and gratuitous close-ups. Such will try hard to convince themselves the smile is real.
Those who are lifted up shall fall. Their remains will lie scattered as a lesson to the rest. Praise is transitory and not given freely, for there is a price to be paid and it is inflated indeed.
Indeed. Sincerity alone cleanses the heart, mind, soul and strength of iniquity.
ReplyDeleteSincerity never got me anywhere, Shawn. What works is brute force against all obstacles.
DeleteReplying to: [Shawn O'TooleMarch 22, 2016 at 7:44 PM
DeleteIndeed. Sincerity alone cleanses the heart, mind, soul and strength of iniquity.]
Second.
Sorry, Tommy. But someone can be sincerely wrong. Only a sledgehammer makes sure the wall comes down.
DeleteBeing wrong is okay as long as you are sincere. I second him still.
DeleteBeing wrong still means not getting the job done. Be sincere, but get results.
DeletePeople who have eyes to see and ears to hear will see the spirit of truth rather than being caught up by the pointless wrongness.
DeleteIt is not about what people see, but what a person does. Truth just means other will agree with what you did.
DeleteAnd here we disagree and go on different paths. The heart is all that matters. When we disengage from these bodies, the heart will be all that remains. It is what we always were. All thought and reasoning is meaningless when there is no heart behind it, which just makes thought and reasoning meaningless in the end.
DeleteI totally understand that some sincere actions cause trouble. I have done it myself. But we must be true to ourselves and not spend our lives second guessing the butterfly effect of every action. To do so would be to sit in a closet and never come out. I have a light that shines, and I must show it to others. The closet will only snuff it out.
In the end, I must just do my best, and that is the best I can do.
The heart is what matters, but the methods will either bear fruit or they will not. Sincerity cares not for the destruction left in its wake.
DeleteIf the sincerity is real, then it does actually care. No one can know everything. You just have to do the best you can in all things and be sincere. Being sincere does NOT mean a lack of caring for destruction. It also does not cause the destruction. We must simply do the best we can. Over thinking will just lead to paranoia. You cannot turn everything into a calculation. Just do the best you can.
DeleteThe destruction is done, and others must suffer for it. Sincerity would leave them to clean up the mess.
DeleteIncorrect. Sincerity would continue to help. We do our best the best we can.
DeleteSincerity would continue to talk. If you make a mess, you clean it up.
DeleteYou have a severe misunderstanding of what it means to be sincere if you think that, Don. I am not sure what definition you are using, but what you just described was a polar opposite to sincerity. It has nothing to do with talking. You may be thinking of honesty or truthfulness, but you don't seen to have a handle on sincerity.
DeleteThe tree is judged by the fruit it bears, Tommy. I have seen the damage left in its wake.
DeleteThe damage left by sincerity? Is there nothing you won't say to win an argument? Is sincerity now the villain in this story? The way you wrote that response, it sounds as if you see yourself as some sort of hero who cannot let the evils of sincerity continue! Yes, I am aware that one can be sincere but ultimately leave things in a mess. That is not the fault of sincerity. That is the fault of a terrible person. But if one who with brimming sincerity caused a misfortune truly cares, that sincerity becomes a light in the darkness.
DeleteTo be clear, things and concepts are not good or evil, PEOPLE ARE! Sincerity and pride are neither good nor evil, PEOPLE ARE! Once a man gives up his right to choose, he ceases to be a man!
Evil resides in the heart and manifests itself in many forms. One of the most insidious forms is pride.
DeleteDon, I have very carefully read what you have typed, and have given you a hell of a lot to work with. You are beginning to just type the same things to me over and over again with slightly different wording. You are not really responding to me anymore. You have lost this debate. I stand whole-heartedly by what I have said, namely that people have ultimate choice int he world, and that concept and inanimate things are spiritless. If you cannot say anything to that, then you have failed this particular debate. Repeating yourself over and over is a defense mechanism. You do not actually want to deal with reality. Saying something is does not make it so. I gave you hard facts, and you have yet to debunk them. I challenge you to do so. If all you can do is just repeat something over and over, I see you no better than a child who isn't getting the candy he wants.
DeleteWhat I have said here is on the record. You have been challenged, sir.
Tommy, I have sadly seen through your objective all along. You wish merely to win an argument, and I have simply been defending myself.
DeleteYou have no idea how much I love you, Don. I poured my heart and soul and a vast amount of inspiration into this because I can see the terrible path of vanity you are going down. I already knew you felt this way, and you saying it is only a confirmation. Your vanity makes you think people are evil as long as they do not coincide with what you want to see. I have lost all respect for you.
DeleteAdditionally, this debate was a valid one. I did it on my own because I honestly hoped to see better in you. You did marvelously in the beginning of it, but towards the end, you stopped trying. I would have celebrated if you had beaten me in the debate. At every stop I prepared to concede if you honestly could break my argument. You have taken the coward's path which I cannot respect.
Everything I have said to you in this blog has been born of inspiration and love. It was like writing a short story to me, but one of the characters brutally failed to see the light. That is the saddest part of this tragedy.
And with your final words, you accuse me of simply wanting to win. How very meaningless it is to simply want to win. The stakes in this were spiritual. I would rather lose then see a good friend give up his soul. I would take the simple defeat of a typed out debate to see the light shine in a friend I have had for so many years. Winning the debate was not at all what was important, and you have been proven a very vain individual who fits right into this world of sheep. So failing this challenge, you fail in life, and perhaps I fail as well at dragging a friend up from the mire. This is a bad day.
You sound very much like someone I used to know. He was young and passionate, always determined to fight for what he believed. Unfortunately, that belief was his undoing because it became the ultimate conceit.
DeleteIf you do think highly of yourself, you better be able to back it up. Otherwise, I recommend modesty. Modesty is a very appropriate prescriptions for those who are putting on false airs. It is possible for someone to be great. A modest great person is an oxymoron. They must not shine only by their acts but also in and of themselves. Be proud of your greatness but only if you are truly great. If you fail to do this, you might as well align yourself with all the people in the world who really did do nothing, and that is essentially what you would be doing anyways.
ReplyDeleteOn a lighter topic, how awesome it is to hear you calling us by our names, Don! It's like finally meeting you for the first time online! XD *hugs*
That's the problem, Tommy. People think highly of themselves, because they desperately hope they can make things better. But hoping to be better and being better are two different things.
DeleteYou said hoping; not me.
DeleteAnother form pride takes is self-righteousness, Tommy. So many fall prey to their own selves. Do not be one of those people.
DeleteThat is very true, Don. But that is not a constant. Self-righteousness is not the direct result of pride; false pride is a direct result of self righteousness. The two go hand in hand. Pride in one's self is not in and of itself a bad thing.
DeleteIt is a slippery slope, Tommy. Many have fallen from those heights.
DeleteThat was false pride. They knew what they were doing but wouldn't accept it. Actions of themselves don't lead to evil. It is the heart. Evil is never an accident. We are also not dogs that have to be trained. We are human beings. When its real, it is real. And you will know it.
DeleteAnd it is what you know that will always trip you up, Tommy. The more you know, the further you have to fall.
DeleteYou seem to have misunderstood what I meant when I used the word "know," which has been a problem of yours. You are a bit too analytical for your own good. I was not talking about brain knowledge. This was a matter of the heart which has nothing to do with knowledge. Life is not just one big number-crunch.
DeletePride creeps in, and most are unaware of the danger. An individual is in the most peril when they believe their heart is bulletproof.
DeletePride is not a living, breathing person. It does not creep anywhere. People are often rotten and they are prideful because they choose to be. We are not animals who must be trained. We are people who can choose. If you really feel this way, then there may be a problem within you that you already know about and wish to stop.
DeletePride is a disease that creeps in when you least expect it. I know of which I speak, and therefore I can speak on these matters.
DeleteLike Tommmy said, PRIDE IS NOT A PERSON. IT CANNOT CREEP ANYWHERE. The mind lost in the details is the one that can't see the forest for all the trees. Ironic that you would way all things in someone else's balance.
DeletePride is not a person, but it is an aspect of that person. The one who lifts themselves up, and learns that what goes up must come down.
DeleteI'm sorry, Don, but I am not a robot who needs to worry about rust or viruses. I am a creature of choice. If you want to be a robot, that is also your choice. As a robot, you are perfectly expected to worry about the dangers of this creeping pride because that is par for the course. If you are really that deprived of humanity, then go right ahead and worry about such things. And might I also say this this is a very sad thing, and its hard to watch. It is never a good thing to see a person let go like this and release his own self control to the more baser instincts. It hurts to see it happening.
DeleteA robot would not care. But a human being faces whatever challenges come their way. Pride is in the DNA.
DeleteWeak response, Don. It is true that robots will not care, but the substance of what I talked about had to do with the creeping notion of pride which you seem to be worrying about. It makes you look like a robot because you lack no choice in the matter. You make pride out to be some sort of malicious and evil spirit out to posses people who did not keep up their robotic maintenance. When you answer me, answer me with substance. Prove to me that you are entirely human, and not just partly robot.
DeleteEveryone has a choice. They can give in to pride, or throw it away.
DeletePride is not an evil thing. If no one in the world had pride, no one would care about anything they did at all. Great accomplishments would simply be tossed in the garbage. I stand firm that the pride you speak of is a false pride in things that are of no consequence.
DeleteExample of quality pride: Enjoying the publishing and success of a book that was written by yourself.
Example of false pride: Doing nothing at all for society, yet still expecting rewards for living.
The examples have been given. Respond based on my post rather then just throwing mindless little anecdotes my way. Your posts should debunk the substance of my posts. I challenge you.
Your desperate attempts to win an argument are clear demonstrations of pride. All of your "points" are teeming with self-righteousness. I see only the absence of substance.
DeleteI have very carefully read everything you typed. I took notes. I gave you the benefit of the doubt whenever I could and focused on nothing but the substance of your personal arguments. I became personal when I noticed you started to stalemate me. Read through it. I worked very hard at this. You were thrust into a debate at which you began very well, I admit. It ended poorly with the death of your own soul. I would have loved to have lost this debate if it could have saved you.
DeleteI do not need to be saved, but others need to be enlightened. I was once just like you: determined to wage a war against everything contrary to my beliefs.
Deleteyou have to take action to make things better
ReplyDeleteThat is correct, and it is also the hardest part. For your actions must be to make things better, not just for oneself.
DeleteLife presents itself with many challenges in the form of dead weight. It is up to us to remove ourselves from it to become whole on the spiritual level. Pride in one's work is not necessarily a bad thing as long as it's not worn like the red of a baboon's backside at everyone's expense. When you are true to yourself all that is superficially painted on melts away. I always enjoy the wisdom in your words Don.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Chris. As I said before, achievement is its own reward. Pride will only trip you up.
DeleteYou say I "don't listen" as if a fart in the wind is worth my notice. Sure, the fart felt good. It's even good for your system... but it's just wind polluted with byproduct. Speak out your other end and I'm sure to hear you.
ReplyDeleteI'm warning others against the perils of pride. Looking to be noticed would only be a further demonstration of such.
DeleteYou really don't seem qualified yet to be doing such things. Anyone can give good advice, but you have to shine as a person first. Let's all get there by our talents, and then we will all have something to say.
DeletePride will make sure you never get there. Or it will knock you down when you get close. My warning stands for those who will heed it.
DeleteWe need to have a little talk sometime about personal responsibility. The way you talk about pride sounds a lot like when people say, "The devil made me do it." Also, your response was amazingly weak and did not address any of the substance of what I said. So since you seem to enjoy a good stalemate, I'll be happy to throw something back at you. A murdering criminal can give out the same kind of wisdom you do in your blogs, and they often do! But because they are who they are, it renders the wisdom pointless. There will come a day when we are all in a better place, and when we are there, we will have a platform to give out wisdom like this. Right now, you are doing more harm than good and you should stop. I doubt you will because you really want to believe what your doing is for the best, but it is actually not good for anyone. What I recommend for you to do is go back to your 2013 blogs and learn from how you did it back then. You used to talk about the things that you loved. Over time, it just sort of evolved into pointless wisdom coming from someone who is still a nobody. I'm a nobody too, Don. We're all trying to become somebody. You need to do away with these airs and focus on what you love. Now... are you going to stalemate me again or are you going to actually reply to me this time?
DeleteI have been talking about personal responsibility this whole time, Tommy. Pride is a problem, and it must be dealt with... or nothing else matters.
DeleteYou are not taking personal responsibility if you are placing blame on aberrant behavior on something other than yourself. Saying you must fight off pride is like saying you must stop the devil from controlling you. That is what I was saying in my previous post if you had even read it at all. I put forth that you are in fact not taking any responsibility at all, and further more, you are weakly saying in your reply that you have been defending responsibility as a matter of pure hypocrisy. I know losing the argument is hard for you, Don. Concession seems a difficult thing to accept, but it is far more honorable than what you have been doing here. I am beginning to lose all respect for you.
DeleteI challenge you to read what I have typed and answer it in a substantive way. You must bring up my arguments and debunk them one by one so that this debate can continue. If you cannot do this--if all you can do is just repeat the same little anecdote over and over with slightly different wordings, then you have lost. And the only reason you'll feel like you have triumphed in this debate will be a matter of false pride, a matter you weakly fight against in defense of your hypocrisy. Let's see what you reply with.
Pride is the problem, Tommy. It resides within and manifests itself when you least expect. Often, that can be in the form of the desire to win an argument.
DeleteLastly, I want to point out that I did this of my own accord, and I would do it 100 times more if I had to. I was driven to do it. I have been depressed all week because of this. It has been a bad thing. I would have rather just left it alone really. There comes a time when inspiration strikes, and you know what you must do. I love you, Don. I cannot stand to see you fall so far. It is like you are blinking out of existence. I only ask that you remember this. perhaps, you can evil read it through once again. I stand by everything I said. All points written were based on your own arguments. I took nothing from anybody else. It was all an effort to debunk your statements with the help of no one else. My heart screamed out that I must try and save you. it still does. I must follow my heart on this. Think of me what you will. I will follow my heart.
DeleteI appreciate your concern, Tommy. But I am not the one who is being led astray. You believe what you are doing is right, and that is why you are fighting so fiercely to prove me wrong.
Delete