In an era where there’s so much delusion and downright blatant propaganda about just what it means to be “free,” I can’t stand the thought of finishing today’s blog title with the misused word “Pride.”

Genuine pride for me, and most anybody else who has learned to see life through a much broader unconditional lens, is about things that are a lot more personal.

For instance, seeing my 19-month-old toddler climb up the stairs to the slide in the playground and slide down by himself, without needing Daddy’s assistance or cajoling.

Its about accomplishing a project with my wife and over-achieving business partner, Heather, knowing that we’ve just put more valuable information out in the world…. information that is designed to inspire, expand belief systems, effect change, and assist in getting results.

You see, contrary to what “they” (the Masters running the worldly show) want you to believe, there is NO pride in the blind patriotic and religious fervor that fuels a culture of war, over-the-top fear, and needless violence under the guise of ‘freedom.’

This obviously isn’t your typical “Say thanks to the soldiers who gave their life to preserve all that is good and great about the American way of life” Memorial Day post.

‘Cause, quite honestly, I have grown weary of the war lovers taking over every holiday and exploiting them in efforts that lie in ignorance and pigeon-holed ‘Americanism’ thinking.

As law professor Butler Shaffer put it:

 ”Turning July 4th into a celebration of militaristic statism (see the old Bing Crosby musical Holiday Inn) was bad enough. But then seeing a Santa Claus in a flag-draped Uncle Sam suit on a Christmas card a couple years ago was simply too much.”

But, on this Memorial Day 2010, here’s what I will say:

The original intent of this legal holiday was to set aside a day in which we commemorate the members of the United States Armed Forces who were killed in war.

As a veteran myself, I can honor that — their bravery, their interest in doing the right thing (seemingly, what American culture still encourages them to think), their commitment and defense of the original ideal of independence.

But, the ‘right thing’ just isn’t so clear anymore.

Now, new and current-day soldiers, airmen, and seamen are seemingly pawns in some grand scheme to globalize the world — to land and meddle in foreign lands who don’t want, or even need, us there. To act and assist in somebody else’s political and philosophical quagmires.

So, on this day, let’s give thanks to those, in uniform or not, who clearly “get” that America was founded upon the principle of secured liberty — independence, in a new land, away from an oppressive monarchy, where ambitious, sovereign-minded, hearty souls could live their lives unobstructed by big government and overburdening regulation… and driven by free enterprise.

On that note, I want to pass along something that Simon Black, one of our wealth renegades* (see below for description), advised a young man about to enter the Military to consider:

“First, the military has a way of taking young people at an impressionable age and teaching them how to excel within a bureaucracy… not to mention the military can also inoculate groupthink. I’m speaking from experience.

“This may be good for unit discipline, but it’s terrible for the mind of a free man. I would strongly encourage you, during your service, to focus on keeping your mind free and creative — read as much as possible, ask questions, and understand that the military microcosm is not the real world.

“Second, as you will not have much time or availability to build financial assets during your time in service, you should focus on building up your most important asset — yourself.

“This means developing skills. Learn as much as possible — a foreign language or two, a technical trade, medical training, etc. These are subjects which are easy to pursue in the military. On the side, I would also be reading about sales and marketing — generating revenue is always a valuable skill.

“Third, I would focus on cultivating an international mindset. Try to get stationed overseas, and immerse yourself in the culture. If you unfortunately end up deployed to the Middle East, make the most of it by interacting with the locals as much as allowed and learning the language.

“Fourth, be smart with your money. The military makes it easy to save — they provide a roof over your head and food on the table, so save as much of your salary as you can so that you have a sizable pool of capital by the time you are finished.”

Simon Black is Editor of SovereignMan.com

Simon is one of close to 80 renegade, international investors that we follow on a consistent basis. We also have an in-house network of “investment investigators” who scour the world for the most valuable ideas, resources, opinions, and opportunities.

Collectively, we sift through many ideas, resources, and insights about politics, economics, worldwide currency news, real estate trends, emerging markets, inflation / deflation indicators, privacy and personal asset protection, futures and options trading, and unique business news.

Through our Wealth Vault, you can see the filtered part. In other words, it’s where we archive our best assessments of the most viable, easy, and hassle-free unconventional passive-income opportunities, cash-flow strategies, and wealth-generation programs across the globe.

One final thought before I close out this post:

Socrates once wrote that true wisdom comes to each of us when we realize how little we understand about life, ourselves, and the world around us.

When it comes to money or cash-flow, we’re on a HUGE mission to ensure that you don’t get caught up in the matrix of doing what everybody else is doing in an attempt to make,  manage, and multiply it.

More about that here…

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No we’re not fanatics of the color blue… If your browser displays the entire post below in DARK BLUE, please use FireFox to view it. The background of our blog displays WHITE in 90% of browsers.

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Last year, in May, we included a seemingly misfit person — someone no longer with us — on our Hidden Heroes series that so many “in crowd” thinkers (let’s call them the ‘comfort-zoned herd’) shied away from.

Why?

Simply because the intensely passionate, self-styled, preaching comedian named Bill Hicks caused them to think DIFFERENTLY.

He had depth and a sense of spirituality, without surface-level drivel and ‘feel good’ musings attached to his messages.

Our ode to Bill has already been written, via our Hidden Heroes #3 post, so we won’t continue to edify him here.

However, we do want to make sure you know that his legacy is soon to be captured by American: The Bill Hicks Story, a new and very promising-looking documentary that combines animation, footage of Hicks’ stand-up sets and remembrances by ten of the people closest to him.

Click the play arrow below to watch the short trailer:

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For selected interview clips from the documentary, click here…

Interesting Report: It’s about intelligence, as it relates to credit. We know a guy in Neveda (who we consider a friend now) who can, without question, clear up any confusion you may have about credit repair. Like Bill above, Jay is a no-nonsense, no-B.S. kinda guy. This report is a fascinating read…

“I’m not sure if you know this about me but I try to avoid watching or reading the news as much as possible. I don’t want to give focus to that which I don’t want.

“But lately I’ve felt like I haven’t been able to escape it… it’s been right in my face.

“… Negative comment after negative comment… it’s depressing!

“But the part that really disgusts me is how the media always seem to sensationalize an unfortunate situation.

“Especially in these tough economic times I don’t think it helps the way they constantly bombard us with negative hype.”

If you’re on this person’s list, you’ll know who we’re talking about; but it really doesn’t matter WHO it is, because this is such a popular stance in the spiritual-personal growth arena.

Self-help teachers, motivational speakers, and personal development authors all spout the same mind-numbed rose-colored-glasses message repeatedly (more often, it seems, than TV runs commercials, product endorsements and marketing messages): “Avoid the news like a plague, because it’s all bad stuff!”

Yikes… what a negative and limiting way to look at the world: assuming that everything you’re going to see on the news is going to be something bad. And even more so, how sad and severely counter-productive to put out the weak-willed intention that you won’t be able to handle it!

“Ooh, I can’t watch anything negative… otherwise it will make me think and do negative things that will really screw my life up!” members of the anti-news brigade say, quaking in their boots as a friend or family member dares to turn on the TV at 6:00 or 11:00 p.m., when the daily local news is being shown.

- Cont’d -

“Aaah!!! Not the news!” they cry out, shrinking like the Wicked Witch of the West after a bucket of water’s been thrown on her. (See our post here too about The Good Witch of the North).

“They’re telling me about a fire… that’s bad! Oh no, a fender bender… I don’t want to know that there’s ice on the roads, because then I’ll focus on getting in an accident! Arghh, a product recall! I don’t want to know that anything I may have purchased might be defective!  Oh no, interest rates are up and so is unemployment?  How can this be???  I’m melting… I’m withering away!… I’m becoming — ackk! — NEGATIVE!!! It’s DISGUSTING!”

We like to call these people News Hermits.

You know how a hermit hides away from the world? Well, News Hermits hide away from the news.

They can’t deal with the fact that somebody somewhere in the world — maybe in their own community — might have temporarily been the victim of something or other. And by avoiding hearing about it, they become victims themselves… victims of the media. Victims of the news. And victims long term, unlike the people on the news.

By becoming disgusted with what they see, hear or read, they puke their power away.

They’re essentially saying, “I’m not strong enough to watch this story and still remain strong in my convictions and integrity. The story is more powerful than I am, and I intend to keep it that way.”

This is what we said about the practice in one of our updates last year:

We’re always more than amused when we have readers who write in and throw the the whole “I’m intelligent, therefore I don’t watch TV” B.S. at us. The implication, of course, being, “I don’t, so why should you?” Usually the folks who take this EXCESSIVE action do it because they don’t have the internal wherewithal, nor the mental fortitude, to discipline themselves to watch selectively. There’s a reason there’s a channel selector; there’s a reason there are hundreds of channels for hundreds of interests. Yet, the “TV is Beyond Me” droids don’t get that.

It’s no different than the person who continually signs off as “Namaste,” using it as a protective mechanism that also makes the person feel bigger than they are… with a sense of importance over the rawness and frailties of life.

This post is for those of our readers who “get” that it’s not TV that’s the problem. TV, instead (and depending on which SHOW you have the power to watch or not watch), is a medium for showing the mindset of the masses in the grandest ways possible.

How about this point of view: It’s wonderful that the majority of stories on the news are what some people tend to label “negative”, because that’s what makes the cut as “newsworthy” for the day in the first place.

“Newsworthy” is anything unique or out of the ordinary that affects your life… if it happens a lot, it’s not newsworthy. As an example, when one person in a city of 600,000 gets mugged, that’s news, because it’s only .00016% of the population that it happened to. The fact that millions of people had a great day today is not news, because it’s the norm everywhere; the day that people having a good time becomes news is the day we know the world is in a really bad place!

Besides, there are plenty of so-called “positive” feel-good stories also covered in the news — people helping people, volunteering time and energy, getting together for a common goal, etc.

But hey, look… even if the puppet masters have an agenda to show you as much negativity as possible, to break down your willpower the way a cowboy tames a wild horse, you’ve only let them win if you refuse to watch the news.

That’s admitting that “they” and their agenda are more powerful than you!

Of course, it goes without saying that we’re not recommending you spend hours and hours each day consuming media or watching TV (the “electronic income reducer”), regardless of what it is you choose to take in. Everything in excess can be detrimental.

We just believe wholeheartedly that taking a stand and refusing to hide from the goings-on in the world around you is much healthier than living in fear, or feeling like you need to censor your experience of life by avoiding certain aspects of it.

Feel free to comment below…

Your Partners in the Quest For
Living a Life Without Limits,

P.S. By the way, read our report titled “The Catch 22 of Financial Wealth” yet?

Okay, look… we have to address something here.

Lots of comments have been coming in on Heather’s latest post on her blog, which is called The Raging Debate on the Spiritual Side of Avatar.

Part of that debate, as has been highlighted by certain commenters (and also ones who responded to a review on Avatar that our colleagues, Paul and Layne Cutright, wrote) is the whole duality/non-duality issue.

Now, just by writing it that way — duality/non-duality — you can see how the very nature of the discussion is dualistic, meaning there are two sides.

People who look at life from solely a perspective of non-duality like to point out that “we’re all connected.”

That’s very true, when you’re talking about our non-physical (or spiritual) selves.

People who look at life from a solely perspective of duality say that “we’re all separate.”

And while that’s an illusion in the grand scheme of things — the big picture, or what we like to call “forest reality” — it’s very true when you’re talking about our physical selves, or “tree reality,” because while all trees are connected through dirt and air and the ethers and their vibrations, we need to look at this with some common sense.

And for all intents and purposes in their everyday life, a tree on one side of a large forest is separate from a tree on the other side.

Just as, in the mechanics of what’s important to you, in this physical life on earth, it doesn’t matter one hill of beans if you’re “connected”, in the spiritual plane, to some stranger in Japan.

So we say there’s both duality and non-duality in life, because there HAS to be.

We’ve talked about this before — many times, actually — but perhaps most succinctly in the post Heather wrote called How To Offend Yourself 100% of the Time:

And the perfection in this life comes in the perfect balance; for every yin you have a yang; for every up there’s a down, for every back there’s a front, and for every hater there’s a liker; and that never, ever changes, no matter how often you say, “We’re all connected,” because there is duality within the non-duality, and vice-versa (the opposites can’t exist without each other, so they are intimately connected). Perfection!

If you’ve ever studied physics, you know that light, similarly, has two opposite properties: it’s both waves and particles, depending on what’s required at that moment.

Isn’t it interesting that both light and life have two opposing properties?

That very fact makes them dualistic…

But it also makes them non-dualistic, since they each need the other side of the story to be complete.

Now, let’s wrap this back around to the movie, Avatar.

The non-duality lovers are either praising director James Cameron for portraying messages of non-duality, embodied by the Na’vi peoples’ ability to “plug into” animals and trees, or slamming  him for portraying a dualistic world where humans are fighting Na’vi (yes, that’s right… the non-duality supporters are divided in two on this… which is intriguingly ironic in itself).

The duality lovers see the beauty in the yin and yang shown by the good vs. evil storyline, juxtaposing heartless greed against loving generosity, violent destruction against peaceful creation, death against rebirth, and so forth.

Those that can see both sides, and embrace the ironically dualistic nature of non-duality, smile at the way they weave in and out of each other, in the movie, just like in life.

And The Crowd (or The Herd) misses the fact that there’s even a debate in the first place.

(As always, we invite intelligent, thought-provoking commentary related to the context of the above post.)

Your Partners in the Quest For
Living a Life Without Limits,

And after having all the questionable comments passed on to us (as in, the ones from people that were simply angry because what they cherish as truth had been “attacked” in their eyes), we started to ponder the different kinds of judgments that we humans can and do make.

We sorted the reactions into piles, read the messages, felt the accusations, considered the facts, and came to a conclusion (i.e. we judged them).

Basically, we determined that there are really only two types of judging:

1. Judging based on what you know (cognitive consonance).
2. Judging based on what you think you know that has suddenly been challenged (cognitive dissonance).

We’ve talked about cognitive dissonance before. You might find this free report interesting.

In a nutshell, the terms mean this:

Cognitive Consonance: A state of harmony and internal consistency arising from compatibility among a person’s attitudes, behavior, beliefs, and/or knowledge; mental agreement or congruency.

Cognitive Dissonance: A state of psychological tension arising from incompatibility among a person’s attitudes, behavior, beliefs, and/or knowledge, or when a choice has to be made between equally attractive or repulsive alternatives; mental disagreement or incongruity.

The latter causes the brain to self-destruct, in a sense, like the stereotypical cartoon robot spewing, “does not compute” while smoke comes out of his ears and springs pop out of his head.

The former isn’t as funny to watch, so you won’t see it in cartoons, but it would involve the robot taking in new information, processing the data, and saying, “Thank you!”

So how does all this relate to gratitude and appreciation (besides the “Thank you” bit)?…

The mentor in the video, Drew Rozell, Ph.D., made the point that when you consciously feel “gratitude” for something, you subconsciously tend to bring up memories from the past that caused you NOT to feel gratitude.

If you think hard about this, you’ll probably realize the truth in that theory — we are taught since childhood to feel grateful this way, after all. Your mother may have told you, “Be grateful for your food, because there are starving children in Africa,” or “Be grateful that you even have a dog, and take him for a walk right now.”

“Count your blessings” becomes synonymous with being happy for what you have, because others don’t have it, or you used to not have it, or someday you may not have it… and, by definition, you CAN’T feel grateful for something without comparing it, even momentarily, to being without it; otherwise, what are you grateful FOR?

On the other hand, “clean appreciation”, as Drew calls it, is simply a breathtaking feeling of, “Wow, that’s beautiful!” or “Wow, I love that!” When you see a beautiful sunset or rainbow, your first thought is probably not, “Dammit, why can’t I see those more often?” You just appreciate it from the heart, in the moment.

However, if you sat down and wrote in your journal, “I’m grateful to be able to see a rainbow,” it’s natural to automatically think, “Well, not every day, but sometimes…” and suddenly be thinking of NOT seeing that rainbow.

Okay, enough of my take on the subtle distinction Drew made.

What I really want to talk about is the two types of REACTION it caused, not only to Drew, but to his theory, and in the end, to us, too.

The most passion-filled responses were those who experienced cognitive dissonance over Drew’s video.

Obviously there’s nothing wrong with passion… it’s something we need to tap into to accomplish nearly anything in this life. But there is such a thing as misdirected passion, which is what happens when cognitive dissonance occurs.

Now, to be clear, cognitive dissonance CAN happen when the new information is false, too… and with metaphysical concepts, it’s not as cut-and-dry as physical ones. For instance, it would be easy to point out quackery if someone’s trying to convince you that 2 + 2 really equals 5, when you’re sitting there with 4 blocks in front of you. But even with spiritual growth theories, if you sit down and think it through rationally, and then listen honestly to your heart and soul, you’ll know whether there’s a kernel of truth or not.

In this case, if you’re still unsure, consider what I’m laying out in this article first. If you’re angry, is it because you know the evidence is false, or because you don’t like how it disagrees with what you thought you knew?

You see, after being taught during childhood what gratitude is about, as I outlined above, the people that got angry have gone on to use gratitude as a manifestation tool, and that let them create new theories about the “attitude of gratitude”. Specifically, they have learned — and maybe even taught — that gratitude is one of the strongest and most beneficial emotional vibrations you can experience, and therefore can only produce good.

And Drew agreed with the basis of that in his video… but said appreciation was BETTER.

However, most of them saw that statement as attacking what they thought they knew about gratitude, and they reacted with “does not compute!”

They forgot what they had likely initially learned about gratitude as children, because they had long since consciously overridden that programming with NEW programming about gratitude… but like with a computer, there’s always a residual bit left, which further contributed to their anger, frustration, and/or confusion, and caused them to lash out.

They judged Drew, the theory, and us by coming from an ivory tower perspective — they turned into what we often call “Spiritual Hall Monitors” — and wrote variations of “Drew must not be as evolved as I am,” or “Drew’s focused on the wrong things,” or “How dare you attack gratitude, you must be a bunch of heathens,” etc. (yes, that last one is paraphrased, but that’s the basic sentiment we got).

When our support staff questioned them about their irrational and elitist judgments, several of them said, “Well, Barry and Heather judge all the time,” or “Well, Drew’s judging too… he’s judging gratitude!”

Now, here’s the difference: the judging based on cognitive dissonance — the type that leads to being a Spiritual Hall Monitor — comes from a reaction that happens in the moment, not a researched and well-thought-out response that happens over time.

It’s based on hanging onto what they want to believe, no matter what kind of evidence is placed before them. It’s the equivalent of a court judge deciding “He’s guilty!” before hearing the entire case.

Of course, some of our cognitive consonance responders — the ones who said, “Yes, that feels right, thank you for the clarification!” — also may have reacted in the moment, but it was a reaction of consonance, or harmony.

By reading their comments, I’d say that a lot of them then thought about it, even for a moment, to check how this new theory sat with them before typing out what they wanted to say. They felt the sense of knowing that what Drew taught had at least a kernel of truth for them — that while their childhood beliefs about gratitude may have been temporarily overwritten, they’re still there beneath it all.

This second type of judging — which is what we do when we write a report or blog post that may seem to be harsh on a cherished ideal, standard teaching, or even a particular person — is based on accepting rather than rejecting new data.

We’ll read an entire book and numerous articles by Eckhart Tolle, then even more articles about him, and then study certain practices and tactics that he’s accused of using, before writing a report like The Eckhart Effect.

Like court judges, or investigative journalists, we accept and weigh ALL the information and evidence before coming to a conclusion. And yes, we understand that journalism, in theory, is supposed to be about fair, balanced and unbiased reporting of facts, but it’s nearly impossible for any human to be totally impartial. Either their media outlet dictates the slant, or they end up with their own biases through the course of investigating.

A court judge, likewise, may begin impartial… but over the course of the trial, he makes up his mind based on what’s presented to him.

That’s what we do too… we had nothing against Eckhart until we studied him from all sides. Likewise anybody we wrote about in our Dying to Improve Life report.

We don’t do it simply to judge; we do it to help people. And some subscribers have come to us, asking our opinions on this or that teacher or product or book, as a result. Unfortunately, we can’t tell you if a certain mentor is teaching the absolute truth — we can only tell you if we’ve experienced him or her being incongruent with their teachings, or not walking their talk, or manipulating people, or foolishly putting students in danger. And we can tell you if they’re just regurgitating time-worn principles, or putting their own experiences behind it.

So we don’t mind being told that we judge… just don’t say that we do it without thinking, or because of hasty reactions based on cognitive dissonance.

We come by our ability to judge the honest way, and we believe it’s the most beneficial technique that people can use to sift and sort through the mounds of information that’s dumped on us each day, and come up with practical approaches to help us (and our readers, like you) get RESULTS in life.

We encourage you to leave your comments below… but if you’re going to judge, do it from a place of investigation and thinking it through — from a place of cognitive consonance that you speak the truth based on the facts.

It never goes well if you judge based on cognitive dissonance, or an immediate emotional reaction because something doesn’t agree with your cherished beliefs.

Your Partner in the Quest For
Living a Life Without Limits,

Last summer, Barry and I were looking for a couple of room dividers for the house we were about to move into, because the living room was one big open space, and we wanted to section off a corner. We saw a pair we liked, but the price was a little steep, so we figured we’d see what else we could find first.

“Alright, we might be back,” Barry said to the salesman who was hovering around.

The salesman, with a desperate look on his face, reached out to shake Barry’s hand, and with the other hand produced a business card. “Think of me when you need any kind of furniture,” he said. “This is how I feed my family, you know.”  The statement was said with dejected sincerity, not out of friendly jest.

Barry and I both almost gagged as we exchanged looks and hightailed it to the exit. “What da hell… ya gotta be kidding me,” he said as soon as we were outside.

“This is how I feed my family? Buy from me, not for the quality of what I offer, but because you feel sorry for me?” I scoffed.

“What complete and utter victimitis thinking,” Barry added. “A total turn-off to a potential customer. It’s just one step above standing on the street corner with a sign and a tin cup, begging for spare change.”

You might be thinking, “Well, that’s a rare example of someone with a sales job who just doesn’t understand the concept of value-for-value, or quid pro quo.”

The sad thing is, we’ve seen a lot more of it than you’d expect lately.

== Cont’d = =

Alright, yeah, I understand. Times are tough, and some people are feeling desperate. Desperate times call for desperate measures, and all that stuff, right?

The thing is, universal laws don’t change based on the economy. Value is always given for value received, no matter what. Thinking, feeling and acting like a victim will always make you a victim, no matter what. And hanging in your comfort zone will always make you uncomfortably comfortable (read “stuck in a rut”), no matter what.

Right off the top of my head, I can think of two people that we used to work with pretty closely who figure playing it safe, or even playing the pity card, is the way to go.

One recently wrote a blog post where he claimed he was going to be bold and daring, and write things he’d never written before. What he ended up doing was complaining about how his life is really in the dumps, despite having always told people how great he’s doing. He wrote about his health problems, and his money problems, and his family problems, and mentioned how he needed to sell some of his products to pay the rent.

Yikes. That wasn’t bold and daring, it was pitiful. If he needed to sell some stuff to pay the rent, he should have focused on the amazing value he offered the customer, not the incredible lack he was experiencing. Apparently he, like the salesman at the furniture store, figured people would buy from him because they felt sorry for him.

The other person feels a need to constantly be cranking out feel-good quotes and snippets of universal lessons. He figures it inspires people — and he may be right — but it’s a hollow, temporary inspiration.

See, inspiration is not the same as motivation. Being inspired can motivate people… but a good swift kick in the rear end can, too.

And that takes us back to the comfort zone. Inspirational words keep many people sitting on their big plush comfort-zone couch. Some get inspired enough to get up and do something, but most don’t. However, if you dump that person off the couch and tell him what he’s doing to keep his butt glued in place — and how he can break free — you’re more likely to see some real results.

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If you watch America’s Got Talent, you’ll understand this analogy. Nine times out of ten, Piers Morgan will have something constructive to say to the performers. He’ll tell them what he liked, what he didn’t like, and why. He’ll point them in right direction to improve their act, and often they’ll come back with something way better than they ever could have come up with on their own.

It’s the equivalent of dumping them off their comfort-zone couch and telling them how to move ahead and achieve greatness.

David Hasselhoff, on the other hand, rarely has anything constructive to say, unless he’s parroting what the other judges have already commented on. The rest of the time, it’s “That was fantastic!” “You were terrific!” and “That’s what this show is all about!”

It’s the equivalent of reading them hollow, Pollyanna-ish inspirational quotes that do nothing but make them feel better in the moment… and give them validation to stay in their comfort zone.

Sharon Osborne kind of floats between the two, sometimes offering feedback of value, and sometimes gushing like David, depending on how “harsh” (read “right on”) Piers has already been.

It’s kind of like she’s operating a safety net… she’ll be honest if she’s the first to give feedback, but she’ll over-praise if she’s not, just so nobody feels too bad. If they do, they might decide to “jump” (figuratively) off the stage, and she’d be there to catch them.

This safety-net mentality is holding many people back, every day. One of my in-laws has no ambition, and staggers along at the level of status quo, because she figures there will always be a government program or family member to lend her a hand and hold out the safety net for her.

Another in-law is a tall, young, beautiful girl who had the opportunity a decade ago to go to New York and be a model and actor. She loves show biz — she directs and stars in community theater plays all the time — but she chose to turn her back on an exciting career she would have adored because her family convinced her to play it safe, and stay small… snuggled up on her comfort-zone couch.

And the very show I just mentioned — America’s Got Talent — proves again and again that people are fascinated with the underdog.

Even Piers turns to mush when it happens. First it was Susan Boyle on Britain’s Got Talent. Yes, she had a beautiful singing voice. But people loved her because she looked frumpy, and even started an uproar when she got a makeover. They wanted to feel that she was as “ordinary” as them, so they could, on the one hand, live vicariously through her… but on the other hand, keep her on her comfort-zone couch.

It’s like they’re saying, “Hey, lady, you show the world what you’ve got… but don’t become unattainable. We want to see you singing karaoke at the pub again next week!”

When all the attention caused her to have a nervous breakdown, I swear I heard some people quietly cheering that she would, in fact, stay just like them for awhile longer… suffering, but staying curled up nicely on that couch.

Now it’s all about Grandma Lee. She’s a 75-year-old comedian who has a few snicker-worthy jokes, but she’s just not laugh-out-loud funny. She’s in the finals of America’s Got Talent, not because of her talent — it doesn’t come close to any of the other finalists, or even a lot of the people who didn’t make it — but because she’s another underdog.

And nobody — not Piers, not Sharon, not the media, not anybody else I’ve heard — will give her constructive criticism. They just tell her she’s great… because, after all, she’s a grandmother who looks like Moe from The Three Stooges. How can you, or anyone for that matter, possibly say anything “bad” about her?

Just like everyone was afraid to say anything “bad” about Susan Boyle, as long as she didn’t stop being an underdog who was afraid of success (which is what kept her on that darned couch for so long in the first place).

It’s probably what the victimitis salesman and marketer at the top of this article were trying to do. “I’m an underdog, so you’ll help me, right?” Except that people support underdogs emotionally, not necessarily financially.

As far as offering them some advice goes… contrary to popular belief, constructive criticism is not “bad”. If done right, it’s constructive — hence the name. And constructive is helpful.

Unfortunately, most people see “criticism” of any sort as “confrontational”. And most people think confrontation is “bad” because it ruffles feathers.

Here’s what personal development writer Robert Ringer, whose tagline is A Voice of Sanity in an Insane World™, has to say about that:

I’ve always felt that the saddest way to go through life would be to never even make a ripple. Whether it’s Al Gore or George Bush, Michael Moore or Jerry Falwell, the Dalai Lama or Rupert Murdoch, they all have one thing in common:

They make ripples. In fact, they make big ripples.

And so should you if you want to live life as opposed to just passing through on your way to the grave. When you get up every morning, the first thing you should do is ask yourself if you did anything yesterday to make a ripple. Even more important, ask yourself what you can do to make a ripple today.

All great achievements begin in the mind. Thinking about ripples leads to making ripples. Don’t fear being different. Don’t fear offending people who get their noses out of joint because they don’t like what you say or do. Don’t fear downside consequences to the point where you can’t bring yourself to take action.

Above all, don’t fear making big ripples. Do things that no one has ever done before. Shock your competitors. Leapfrog over the pack.

Making ripples, or ruffling feathers, is a great way to make sure that not everybody will be pleased by what you do.

But so what? That’s why they say, “You can’t please all of the people all of the time.”

Ruffling feathers doesn’t mean going out and seeing who you can upset or make angry. It means being straight, direct, and doing it for all the right reasons: to teach what you know, and help those who can’t see the forest, because they’re stuck sitting in their comfortable little nest, looking at their own little tree.

Ruffling feathers allows you to fly to great heights, because it means you’re adding value to the world.

So go ahead and fly.

Your Partner in the Quest For
Living a Life Without Limits,

Things that make me jump up and down and yell, “Holy @#$%… that was very cool,” and things that cause me to shake my head in wonderment.

In regards to the latter, if there’s one OVERRIDING, fingers-on-the-chalk-board sorta annoying FACT that I’ve seen come true, time and time again, it’s THIS:

Hard-core New Agers, self-help junkies, born-again meditators, LOA groupies, and worshippers of all things “love ‘n light” — heck, however you want to describe someone who boxes themselves “in” through ascension-driven thinking and living — constantly stay CONFUSED…

They confuse “feeling” good with actually BE-ing good; they confuse spending time “imagining”  reality with LIVING a real-world life; they confuse excessive self-analysis (activity) with quantifiable results (productivity); they confuse affirmations/mantras/lofty quotes with foundational and conscious awareness; etc.

Get where I’m going?

Do you see how the above distinctions can easily become disconnects when someone uses the former mindset and approach to REPLACE or minimize the latter?

Let’s explore some more…

– Cont’d –

There are a few gentlemen I want to introduce you to that I hope will ILLUMINATE (or just massage over) the soap-box I’m surfing on today.

The first one is a disrobed (former) Buddhist Monk who has been described as direct, daring, compassionate and nearly always ‘spiritually incorrect.’  In short, totally my kind of guy.

Alan Clements was the first American to have pioneered the dharma for the remote South East Asian Buddhist country of Burma, where he lived in a Buddhist monastery during the 1970s and ’80s, five years of which were spent as a monk. During this time he trained in classical Buddhist psychology and vipassana (insight) meditation with two of the most respected meditation masters of our era, the late Venerable Mahasi Sayadaw, and his successor Sayadaw U Pandita.

However, one day would forever change the way he understood how the meditative life can (and should) be. Watch the short video clip here and he’ll tell you what happened in his own words:

♦  ♦  ♦

In short, if you want to learn about some ways to guard against the dangers of ridged fundamentalist-thinking or what I call “spiritual knighthood” (the process of fitting into a group-consciousness mold), research and learn what Alan has to say.

For a taste, here’s something worthy of your time:

“Start looking at self-deception. People can unwittingly weave themselves into a cocoon of false ideas, all the while assuming they’re free. It’s very Orwellian.

“The tool to use to safeguard yourself from becoming a political puppet or a spiritual shee are namely, sharpening self-inquiry, critical analysis, and independent thinking. The basics of a smart spiritual life.” — Alan Clements

Now for the second guy…

A little pre-name introduction: he’s an Integral Institute member (Ken Wilbur’s group), Buddhist practitioner and American musician who has been touring  for more than a decade. This renegade artist, whether through song, paintings, writings, or screenplays, has devoted his life to finding entertaining ways of exploring the human puzzle.

And, he’s got a cool sense of humor.

He has a lot of “5 Reasons…”  lists, and there’s one titled:

“Top Five Reasons You Are Full Of Shit”

The last two on his list are:

#4) Excuses, Rationalization, Blaming, Blah Blah Blah. Someone should put a diaper on your ego.

#5) I look through your medicine cabinet, and I’m like “Give me a break”. You have no intention to floss.

When I FIRST read Stuart Davis’ article, “The Secret: The Spirituality of Narcissism,” I thought  it was a tad harsh on the movie.

Then, after experiencing so, so many people — whether partners, subscribers, friends or customers — cling onto the LAW of ATTRACTION identity and abstract, intangible methods of creating a prosperous life (regardless of their outer results), like a junkie hordes and protects his crack stash, I became a believer.

A believer in Stuart’s critical examination, not just of the movie, but of how the masses (notice the title of this post says “herd” and not “heard”) move along like cattle, munching on whatever piece of “guru-delivered” insight that’ll validate their experience (again, regardless of how much it hasn’t changed).

If you actually see virtue in the color spectrum of life — where you’re willing to hear things you normally don’t like hearing and see things that you normally close your eyes to — you should read this Stuart Davis article (then come back and let me know what you think).

WARNING: It is a bit DEEP and does require some intellectual brain power and stamina. So, don’t go there expecting an atta-girl or atta-boy applause for embracing “The Secret”.

Instead, read what he says with an open, honest, reflective mind.

As ALWAYS, Heather and I are here to cajole you to see the “other side of the story,” and push you into taking ownership of your experiences and the results you achieve HERE “in the physical” (not in your meditations or imagination).

And, no, don’t leave a comment telling us that it’s the pretend life you create in your imagination that replaces or initiates the life you have here.

Sorry, it just doesn’t work that way.

Meditations, affirmation, self-talk, visualization, writing your future story, etc… they’re all just TOOLS to help you align intangible energy with tangible “to dos” — i.e., those things that require you to get your hands dirty and your head in the game.

By the way, if you have an interest in how to build self-reliant WEALTH — where you actually arrange
your money affairs, through little-known, unconventional programs and vendors, follow our “A Colossal Failure of Commons Sense” blog post to the bottom.

He basically said that the consequences of her lack of attention were only a few mild cuts and bruises… and, yeah, the stench of landing in a bunch of sewer crap.

And, like him, I was thinking, “Okay, watch where the hell you’re going next time… next! Give me some news that’s actually important now.”

Then, after finding out about how city workers said they left the hole unattended (even if for only seconds) while they were obtaining cones and markers with which to barricade it, I just shook my head and wondered WHO (the city workers or the girl) didn’t get a big enough breakfast that day.

Hey, accidents and lapses in thinking are part of life. They come, they go, we think or say “fuggetaboudit” and move on.

Well, apparently not. The girl’s family decided to sue, and stated, “the city must compensate Alexa for the trauma of landing in a sewer.”

Yup, the absurdity of it is almost too silly to be true… yet, stories like this happen every day — and, to quickly be straight about why I’m bringing this up, they happen way, way too frequently.

One of our subscribers, who lives in a semi-rural area of Kansas, had a new neighbor call the local township administrative office to request the removal of the DEER CROSSING sign on their road. The reason?

Simply, said their neighbor: “Too many deer are being hit by cars out here! I don’t think this is a good place for them to be crossing anymore.”

Can you just hear Bill Engvall saying: “Heeeeeere’s your sign!”?

Okay, yes, I know this post is quite a departure from our last blog post about giving and sharing love — appreciating and adoring the mysteries and awe of all that is good.

Yet, like we’ve been saying for many years, it’s healthy every now and then to be curious and aware of the ridiculous and just plain “bad” too!

Why?

Simply because, Dear Watson, without the absurd, we wouldn’t KNOW the “sensible” and “wise”!

And, if you think about it hard enough, you begin to see that our contributions as a society and our desire to DO THE RIGHT THING only grow from the manure of human incompetence and ignorance.

But, hey, I ALREADY talked about that via another post.

So, moving on to another story that’ll just make you “wonder”…

In the early to mid ’90s, a promising young financier, by the name of Dana Giacchetto, is hobnobbing with some of the biggest stars in Hollywood. He molly-coddles to a crowd he knows best — musicians, artists and actors — because, well, he’s “fascinated” by them.

Click the ‘continue reading’ link below to find out what happens next…

—— Cont’d ——

According to the T.V. show American Greed and other collaborated reports, by late 1999, the “rock and roll broker” falls out of fashion with his clients. Nearly 10 million dollars is missing from client accounts!

Yet, somewhere between Hollywood’s trust and courtship of Giacchetto and his exposé as a scam artist, theater and film producer Victoria Leacock Hofman, due to Giacchetto’s “in crowd” pedigreed persona, thinks it’s a rational thing to give the dude all her profits from the hit musical ‘RENT.’

As I watched her complain, whine, and feel sorry for herself on the documentary, I just couldn’t help but think:

“Damn, what’s the worst of two evils here: the ruthless brilliance and all-consuming self-loathing of the people at firms like Lehman Brothers and AIG, who knowingly make money by separating the gullible and laudatory masses from theirs… or… is it the  wide-eyed, impressionable who will easily cry, ‘I’m a victim,’ even after knowing it was their own lack of judgment or rational thinking that got them netted in financial muck?”

I truly have no sympathy for the Victorias of the world who “cry foul” AFTER making a hair-brained “I’m-going-to-let-one-person-handle-all-my-money” financial move. Just as equally, I despise the ego maniacs of the world, like Mr. Dana Giacchetto, who knowingly set intentions to destroy wealth, by having so little concern for the welfare of the people they’ve conned into trusting them.

Recently, Lawrence McDonald wrote a book called A Colossal Failure of Common Sense — The Inside Story of the Collapse of Lehman Brothers.

McDonald, a former vice president at Lehman Brothers, offers an intimate look inside the mad house that Lehman became, and shows beyond a doubt that Lehman’s top executives were totally out to lunch, allowing Lehman’s risk profile to reach gargantuan proportions.

While his book title inspired me to give this blog post the same name, there’s more to life — much more — than knowing the nitty-gritty DETAILS about the craziness behind ONE financial giant.

Instead, I’m more interested in sharing my broader thoughts and giving some street-level commentary about how good ol’ fashioned, home-spun horse-sense — especially the financial kind — is becoming an endangered species.

This is why I’m so ab-so-lute-ly committed to getting our new membership — The Wealth Vault — off the ground. It’s a labor of love (and, yes, sometimes shock) to be digging up the “Insider Only” money-growing techniques and wealth-building programs that the masses rely on the establishment to flesh out for them. That plan doesn’t work well because, of course, the establishment are the “insiders”, and rarely do they let information out that’ll free the everyday Joe and Jane from relying on them.

Stop giving away your money-power to others and start your own education through the pre-screened vendors and cash-flow opportunities we’ll have waiting for you inside LWL’s Wealth Vault.

Yep, 90% of the world is conditioned to hire people to do their thinking for them. Rarely do they expend their own mental effort to check facts, look at different angles or find solutions by stepping back and looking at the problem for what it is.

Common sense is a developed talent.  It requires a lot of challenges and the freedom to make mistakes.  It requires knowing real-world truth and seeing things as they are… regardless of how sad, negative, or disheartening something is. It requires imagination based on physical reality, not head-in-the-clouds daydreaming.

Whether you like hearing this or not, it’s still the rampant fact: rational, value-based behavior, personal responsibility, knowing right from wrong, and just plain being consciously aware are rare traits.

In my eye, the person who never makes a unconventional move, because they played it safe all their life and feel comfortable doing what CNBC tells them, deserves as much of a tongue-lashing as the person who hides his money under his mattress AFTER one high-risk investment went south.

I know many people who after ONE failure (not just setbacks and drawdowns with their money) are ready to go back to sucking their thumbs so they can look at their supporters and say: “See, see, I told you so!”

I recently found out from The Huffington Post about a new documentary. It’s called Broke: The New American Dream. Michael Martin, from The Post, writes:

“…It’s a hard look at the decisions we as a country make about money. Broke: The New American Dream is a study in Behavioral Finance — how and why people do the things they do with their money — or avoid it all together.

“The result is a shocking exposé on the belief systems behind how Americans handle their money and what drives our decisions from the the regulator, the money manager, the guru, and the end-user… the American public.

“This is not a partisan film. This is a film about personal responsibility, and he [Michael Covel, The Director], blames everyone for the financial meltdown — including me and you. Greed, ego, and arrogance overcame everyone from the most sophisticated financier to the most rural participant… especially in real estate. Greed took over the buyer, the mortgage broker, the seller, the agents, and Wall Street. To Covel, all are responsible: if you’re broke, it’s because you have a lot to do with it.”

To watch the trailer, play this video:

♦ ♦ ♦

“Those who expect to be both ignorant and free are expecting something which never has, and never will, exist.” – Thomas Jefferson

What you’re seeing in the markets now — the “bump up” between March and today — is none other than bubble-gum hope and phony profit reporting; a temporary ride up the roller coaster that is operated by financial commentators who get paid handsomely to give you the Alice in Wonderland version of the state of the economy.

This financial crisis is not over — the financial system remains broken and insolvent — and to date nothing in our financial system has been genuinely fixed, only covered up.

The fundamentals aren’t pretty: unemployment is getting worse. Housing is still going down. Profits are going down. Instead of using their federal bailout money to boost lending, many banks have used it to repay debts or buy other banks.

In just a few months, Barrack Obama has more than doubled the U.S. money supply… committed the government to nearly $24 trillion in new spending… and warned the American people to expect trillion-dollar deficits for the foreseeable future.

While the media has been falling over itself to praise Obama’s “bold initiatives,” the question no one has been asking is, “Where is all of this money coming from?”

Well, just like Michael Coven above, I’ve sorta gotten sick ‘n’ tired of all the monetary nonsense, not only being hacked away at by politicians who bow at the knees of lobbyists (instead of their state’s constituents), but by everyday folks who are just sitting by idly.

Do You Want To Join Our Quest For
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Dylan Ratigan — one of the rare breed — a true, brave, independent-thinking financial journalist  and commentator who doesn’t suck-up to the “spoon fed” producers who are paid to ONLY report surface-level good numbers and applaud and dance market “up days.” In my opinion, CNBC is proving to be the “financial news”  equivalent of the self-help cheerleaders & new-age love ‘n lighters whose brain only works on one channel.

“I feel as if the American has suffered the greatest theft and cover-up ever”

Your Partner in the Quest For
Living a Life Without Limits,

Does personal development cause you to stunt your own growth?

Does looking at the big picture cause you to shut your eyes?

Yes, these questions might sound somewhat facetious. But hey, we all need to look at the world with a bit of humor sometimes to figure out the sense in it, as ironic as that might seem.

People laugh at comedy because it reveals some part of truth. Some comedy reveals truth more than others.

I used to write comedy for a hobby (meaning that I only occasionally got paid for it, so it couldn’t rightly be called a business) and I still laugh at one sketch that I helped write about a technically-incompetent psychiatrist.  My main contribution was that she called the @ sign a “curly A”, which I often giggle at when I spell out an email address or Twitter reply.

But some of the people we run into during our online business ventures — specifically customers who can’t figure out how to download or open digital products, despite the “common knowledge factor”, complete instructions and click-of-a-mouse access to customer service — just wouldn’t find that funny.

Why?

Because it hits a little too close to home!

So how does this all affect you — and what does it have to do with your personal growth potential?

Read on to find out…

====== Continued =======

Comedy needs to hit close to home — but not TOO close — in order for a particular audience member to be able to laugh at it.

You need to be able to say, “Oh, my god, I’ve done that!” or “Oh yeah, I know someone like that!” to see the humor.

But if it’s something that you’re over-sensitive about, or something that makes you see a personal attack — or an attack on your values — then you’re more likely to shut down than pay attention.

The same thing happens with personal development, because comedy is really just a funny way at looking at the dumb things we do, and personal development is really just a serious way of looking at the dumb things we do (and then attempt to find a solution to that stupidity).

We just happen to feel that it’s possible to mix the two — i.e. putting some humor into personal growth teachings, just as comedians put some personal growth into comedy — for the best all-round results.

Sometimes that humor is a little dry. Sometimes it’s a little sarcastic. Sometimes it’s slap-stick. But we use humor to lighten the message nonetheless.

Funny enough (pun intended), some of our readers get really angry at our poking fun at something.

As an example, the last blog post elicited this comment (which we didn’t approve because it was so off-base):

“grow up!!..dont bash the president for being a man of the people!!…Dont disguise yourself as teaching self development if you wont respect all persons views!!…i didnt hear these responses when president Bush made huge mistakes that ultimately helped this country be in the predicament that we find ourselves!….Respect our President and teach views which will heal All!!!”

Interesting, isn’t it, that this person and a few select others chose to see “President bashing” when the post was about thinking for yourself, taking accountability for your actions, and not getting caught up in “entitlement thinking”?  We put the word “Obama” (once) and the word “bailout” (once) together, to signify a FACT, and holy craaaaap, people’s “how dare you do that?!” antennas pop out of their heads faster than you can say: social welfare.

Sorry, but too many people fall into that trap with or without the possibility of a “bailout” (read: “cop out”) that’s perceived as coming from any given random Presidential figure-head.

One of our favorite mentors — Dr. John F. Demartini, who was featured in The Secret but had much of his powerful teachings end up on the editing-room floor — would have something to say about all this. I’ve personally interviewed him twice, attended two of his live seminars, watched a couple of his DVDs and read several of his books; and together, Barry and I have gotten even more a-ha moments after watching him speak again.

Basically, Dr. D. says that what we do, and what we notice around us, is always rooted in our value systems.

If you love dogs, you’ll notice the dog show taking place at the school as you drive by. If not, you’ll likely miss it. If you have a baby, you’ll notice the sale happening at the local baby boutique. If you don’t, you won’t. If you love investing, you’ll notice the stock market trends. If you don’t, you won’t.

And if you feel some special pride (or HOPE) in a particular celebrity or politician, you’ll notice every little passing reference to them, and perceive bashing whether it exists or not (we talked about this when the chimp cartoon came out, we’re talking about it in reference to the last blog post, and I’m sure we’ll talk about it again in the future).

Basically, the ONLY “negative” (meaning unsupportive, since “negative” is just about one of the most uncreative subjective word you can throw out on someone or something… sorta like calling somebody “nice”… ah, yeah, so tell me more about that person?) comments we received about the latest post were those who wanted to “bash us for bashing Obama” (like we would ever bash a puppet; the way Geppetto pulls the strings is never Pinocchio’s fault).

And those people said nothing about the inspirational video clips we supplied to you. They are focused on politics as one of their main value systems, and as a result they notice only the small political references, even while threatening, “don’t make this into a political blog, or I’ll unsubscribe!”

KEY NOTE: If reading our stuff, which we wholeheartedly KNOW ahead of time will trip some people’s triggers (i.e. ruffle some feathers), offends your sensibilities, then just do it — just “unsubscribe”. Don’t throw some cheap warning our way about it. Our LWL brand has never been about “glorifying and ‘pedestal-izing’ fundamental LOA-thinking” and our motto has never been: “Life 100% Filtered For Your Protection.”  We’re here to explore, to discover, to debate, to engage, to compel critical thinking, and to encourage you to SEE life with your EYES wide open.  The last thing we care about is keeping people on our list who feel a Life Without Limits means “you should filter what you say, regardless of how you see it, research it, or know it to be, because people have feelings.”

Hmmm, last time we checked, there are about 10,000 other communities out there who will fill you up with niceties and motivators from the same grade-school self-help primer. Life involves more than analyzing yourself to death, or discussing the merits of gratitude, or constantly trying to hone your meditation and intuitive skills. Self-exploration, when done with the right approach and in the right context, is a MUST; yet, while Barry and I shake our heads because we even have to mention this (it’s obvious, but NOT to some of our readers), we’ll REPEAT it again: Life’s about politics, economics / wealth, travel, business, marketing, health, family, relationships and more, and we’ll continue to provide commentary and products that sync up with a well-rounded view of living.

Those who place value in thinking for themselves and standing up for what they believe in saw the beauty in the video clips instead, and chose to comment on that.

Essentially, even though Dr. D. doesn’t come out and say this verbatim, people’s personal realities are greatly influenced by the misinterpretation of what’s going on around them based on their own values, agendas, and skewed perceptions.

So let’s bring this back to comedy.

Some people may have gotten angry about Jon Stewart’s recent bit on The Daily Show, where he took a stab at CNBC and their reporter, Rick Santelli, who had backed out of an agreement to appear on the show.

Here’s the video, in case you haven’t seen it yet; watching it before we go on will give you the best perspective on the discussion to follow.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DoVYE4aVugY[/youtube]

The video you just watched caused a lot of people to take notice, and post it on websites across the nation — it was funny, it was relevant, and it was spot-on.

“You’re just bitter because he canceled on you!” Santelli’s supporters cried. “You’re bizarrely obsessed with him,” said Santelli’s own people.

So they, like many people who want to explore personal development but not actually do anything about the weaknesses and blocks they find, are avoiding personal accountability and seeking to blame.

We call that “victimitis-thinking”.

Sure, stand up for yourself if someone wrongly accuses you of something and you can make a case for the truth. But never simply run away and cry, “That’s not fair!”

The bottom line is that the research done by The Daily Show was better than the research done, on an ongoing basis, by CNBC.

The Daily Show, produced as a comedy and supposedly just a spoof of journalistic shows, showed better-quality journalism than CNBC, which is produced and presented as factual news.

Now THAT’S funny!

CNBC is, based off the evidence shown by Stewart, a great example of “journalism-lite” masquerading as serious business news, the same way some spiritual growth teachers are “love and light” masquerading as serious personal development.

There’s nothing wrong with talking about “love” and “light” in the sense that they are basically the same thing, and form the essence of the energy that makes up us, and everything around us.

But using “love and light” as a catch-phrase to mean, “I’m enlightened and you can be too, if you just follow what I say,” can be extremely misleading, if not downright dangerous.

See, we know far too many teachers who say, “love and light,” or “Namaste,” or “many blessings,” and yet they are not practicing what they preach. They teach how to have a healthy relationship as they go through a divorce, or they write a book about attracting wealth when they’re flat broke or owe three years’ worth of back taxes.

They think that by putting up a false image of who they are, they can hide from the truth.

If discovered, they justify this by saying it’s important to teach what you need to know, not what you already know.

And they think that by presenting themselves as not only “enlightened” but as “nice”, they can escape the critics.

But fakers can never escape criticism, no matter what their public image is; someone will always ferret them out.

Jon Stewart did it with CNBC, and we’ve done it with personal development mentors, speakers and authors. We’ve also done it with political figures; if they don’t walk the talk, they need to stop talking.

As for “nice”, well, Dr. D. points out the truth we all know deep down; that one single action can be interpreted as “nice” by one person and “mean” or “demented” or downright “wacky” by another. “Nice” is subjective, just as “positive” and “negative” are; and, like beauty, they are only and always based on the beholder’s value system.

And the perfection in this life comes in the perfect balance; for every yin you have a yang; for every up there’s a down, for every back there’s a front, and for every hater there’s a liker; and that never, ever changes, no matter how often you say, “We’re all connected,” because there is duality within the non-duality, and vice-versa (the opposites can’t exist without each other, so they are intimately connected). Perfection!

Back to the “journalism-lite”:

I got my start as an interviewer in current affairs TV programming, which included a little bit of entertainment, a little bit of politics, a little bit of local events, a little bit of this-and-that.

I’ve been accused more than once of asking questions that were too “hard” or “tough” in entertainment, personal and business development interviews, like there’s an unspoken need to pander to the expert or celebrity and not ask them about their own personal conviction and congruency.

That, my friends, does not serve the audience, who are always the most important party in any given piece of media (whether by “media” we’re talking TV, radio, newspaper, magazine, book or internet).

I once got turned down for a follow-up interview that had already been agreed upon by the head of the Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television (the Canadian equivalent of the organization that puts on the Oscars) because she said that the questions I was asking the nominees and winners at her awards show were “too hard”.

That means that instead of gushing, “Who are you wearing?” like all the other reporters, I was asking things like, “What does it take to be a success in this industry?”

Oooh, I made them formulate some thoughts rather than simply spouting off unimportant drivel. How dare I!!

And that unimportant drivel, that pandering gushing, is what CNBC is serving up, masqueraded as important hard-hitting business news.

But thought-provoking and revealing conversation is what has always driven me.

Life is part of a continual process of exploration, not just with ourselves, but with “others” too.

And when you strip away all the fluff, hyperbole, and timid behind-the-computer communication, you’re only left with fresh, candid, uncensored conversation.

That basis is the root for nearly everything we do — and that’s because secrets are discovered, ideas are created, thoughts are provoked, and answers are revealed during the course of asking the right questions of the right people.

So whether you’re talking interview, candid discussion, or formal consultation, the art of conversation is what sows the seeds that the greatest a-ha moments spring from.

Barry and I continue with that quest together, when we research, write and interview both the celebrities and hidden gems that can honestly teach us all how to live a Life Without Limits.

So I feel a certain kinship with Jon Stewart, as if he’s like the comedy-world equivalent of us: investigating congruency, tearing down myths, turning icons upside down, and coming out with jaw-dropping facts at the end of it all.

Is it “mean” when he does it? No, it’s all in the spirit of comedy… and the revelation of truth.

Is it “mean” when we do it? No, it’s all in the spirit of substantive personal development… and the revelation of truth.

So, to finish this up: I challenge you to take off your blinders, unplug your ears, and uncover your mouth (oh, wait we already threw those three little monkeys under the bus a few blog posts prior! … but, BEFORE you see, listen, and speak,  give yourself the benefit of the doubt by THINKING first.

If the above hits home for you (if  “the truth hurts”), then it was supposed to!

We welcome, adore, and cherish your commentary back to us. Again, as I said above, interactive (as much as you can get by commenting below) communication and expression RULES.

But passionate introspection about what we (and others) say and/or write can fuel that expression with intelligence, creativity, and on-target, topic-at-hand responses, NOT reactions.

Or, as Lif Strand, one of our community members, put it:

“Here’s a simple way (in my opinion) to separate who understood the point of Barry & Heather’s email, and who didn’t.

Those who got defensive and those who pointed blame didn’t get it. Those who got it know that individuality is about taking responsibility for one’s own actions, and acting from Source and center, not from reaction to the outside.”

Rick Santelli, in the story of this post (way, way above), REACTED (i.e. no thinking involved FIRST)!

Jon Stewart RESPONDED (i.e. thinking involved FIRST)!

If you’re going to join in our discussions, we definitely prefer the latter!

Your Partner in the Quest For
Living a Life Without Limits,

]]> http://www.lwlworldwide.com/blog/how-to-offend-yourself-100-of-the-time/feed/ 13 http://www.lwlworldwide.com/blog/hear-no-evil-see-no-evil-speak-no-evil-huh/ http://www.lwlworldwide.com/blog/hear-no-evil-see-no-evil-speak-no-evil-huh/#comments Tue, 24 Feb 2009 21:07:55 +0000 Barry & Heather http://www.lwlworldwide.com/blog/?p=624

In this post, we’re going to be introducing you to a NEW mentor (we’ll be interviewing him “live” on March 4th), via some of our own commentary first. Hang tight… the Monkey train is now in motion.

Well, like a lot of SEEMINGLY well-meaning (even though obviously trite) “goodie two shoes” phrases that have been inoculated into the conscious psyche over the past several hundred decades, the phrase in the blog post title DESERVES some critique.

So does the fact that some people throw them out there without even realizing the implications of what they’re saying.

“Stan,” we countered in unison, “that’s like being in a romantic relationship with another, experiencing some patterns of blame, emotional distance, and one-way communication, yet PRETENDING they don’t exist (denial) or choosing NOT to discuss them (repressed feelings in progress)  because it’s all NEGATIVE in your mind.”

Our question to this community member of ours was: What is your greatest concern about where your future is headed?

His response: “I don’t discuss negative thoughts.”

Yup, it was time for another round of GOSS-VALE common sense and whup-ass wisdom.

====== Continued =======

Actually, we’ve been invited (or, inadvertently egged-along by people who set themselves up as an apparent opponent, while refusing to admit that they really want to be) lately to talk OPENLY about a lot of very head-shaking things.

Recently, a teacher and author we’re trying to get to know better (for the sake of passing along someone your way who stands in alignment with his VALUES and his IMPLEMENTATION of those values) has gone out of his way to explain to us that he [paraphrased] views “negative thinking” as the abomination of the world.

He’s on such a beat about it that he takes it to all kinds of radiating levels.  Like “critical thinking is the inclination to criticize, and therefore judge things severely negatively.”

Oh, booooooooy…. here we go again !

“Critical thinking,” we had to counter using the accepted REAL-WORLD definition of the phrase as our ally, “does NOT mean ‘thinking that is critical’ as in ‘trying to find fault’.  Critical thinking is more related to the other definition of ‘critical’:

Forming or having the nature of a turning point; crucial or decisive: a critical point in the campaign.

In other words, it is doing due diligence (DD) over what is essential, what is crucial, or what needs to be investigated in a subject.”

So, let’s take the Three “Wise” Monkeys and put some DD spin on these little hustlers:

“See no evil…”

The MORE you take the stance of COVERING your EYES to avoid Forest Reality, the LESS you’ll be able to SEE life in full-color mode (ever heard of rose-colored glasses?)

“What you see depends on whether you’re looking at it with blinders or with rose-colored glasses. You’ve got to see beyond what you’re looking at.”  – Linda Carter

Trying to shut out what you don’t want to see causes you to see things that aren’t there, based on your own skewed perceptions of what is, and to react destructively rather than respond productively when push comes to shove.

Take the example, appropriately enough for today’s post topic, of the chimp cartoon in the New York Post.

It shows two police officers that have just shot a chimpanzee, while one says, “They’ll have to find someone else to write the next stimulus bill.”

The cartoon was drawing a parallel to the real-life shooting of a 200-pound chimp in Connecticut; the 15-year-old chimp had been a well-behaved pet for a long time, even appearing in TV commercials, but had suddenly attacked a friend of his owner for no explicable reason.

Tragically, he ended up being shot by a police officer. The New York Post thought it would be a jestful and timely fun-poking to say that the chimp had written the stimulus bill. You know, like if you have 100 monkeys in a room with a bunch of typewriters, one will end up churning out a novel?

So maybe it wasn’t in good taste to make fun of the poor chimp. After all, he was a loving member of the woman’s family for many years, and it must have been a devastating experience to her, not to mention the painful injuries suffered by her friend.

But that’s all it was.

However, some people, especially civil rights activists, claimed it was a racist stab at Barack Obama. The king and protector of any and all suffering from an inferiority complex or being bullied by illusionary bullies, Al Sharpton, went so far as to tell Keith Olbermann, on MSNBC, that [paraphrased]: “we all know, from a historical perspective, the chimpanzee has always been identified with black people, and since Obama is black...”

WHAT? !

First of all, Obama is only half “black”; and secondly, why the hell do you, Al, defender of the oppressed, need to accentuate such an idiotic juvenile association?

We sat scratching our heads as we first heard about the nutty story, trying to figure out what the kerfuffle was all about. After all, to us, the intention was simply to say how ridiculous the stimulus bill was.

When we finally heard the word “racist” from the many professional panels set up to discuss the cartoon on TV, we couldn’t believe some people would perceive that as being the intent.

Today, the New York Post’s owner, Rupert Murdoch, issued a statement saying: “I have had conversations with Post editors about the situation and I can assure you, without a doubt, that the only intent of that cartoon was to mock a badly written piece of legislation. It was not meant to be racist, but unfortunately, it was interpreted by many as such.”

And then what happens?

Still more expert panels on TV, discussing how the cartoon couldn’t possibly have been taken or intended any other way but deliberately racist, and that Murdoch’s “apology” was in fact a further insult to them.

It kind of reminds us of how people will write into our support desk with “victim vocabulary”, complaining how a certain product didn’t magically fix their life, or how a particular offering “isn’t for them” because of their financial or social or other situation.

Then, when the help desk staff appropriately try to help (which often includes pointing out their victimitis approach, or over-the-top reactions, or defensive accusations so that they can overcome those self-defeating patterns), the customers nearly always react by crying, “Wolf!” (“in sheep’s clothing!”) and claiming that the support staff is “rude”, or “nasty”, or “accusing”, or “insulting” when, in fact, the only person doing all that is themselves (that’s the ever-so-present “mirror effect” in full swing).

Intention always overrules perception, and yet some people stubbornly cling to their own perceptions as being the only way things can be. They are blind to any other possibilities.

They are so bent on “seeing no evil” that they end up seeing evil where it never was.

Shut your eyes to the world, and you won’t like what you do end up seeing, because it will appear to you as far worse than it ever really was.

“Hear no evil…”

The MORE you take the stance of COVERING your EARS to deafen your mind from the people, news, and counsel who pass along constructive (helpful) criticism, investigative facts, and hard-to-swallow truths — whether about the world around you or yourself — the LESS you’ll be able to HEAR life in Hi-Fi surround sound.

“They [the folks who dig putting their index fingers in each ear and yelling out, 'la, la, da, da, na, na, na... I don't hear you!'] are like the football receiver who doesn’t understand he must land with both feet in bounds for the catch to count. Don’t be negative and tell him that he was out of bounds. They’re like the musician who’ll never make it because she doesn’t want to be told that the notes she’s playing don’t sound good.” — Our March 4th Simulcast Mentor (link below).

As we asked the “Negativity Busting” teacher, mentioned several paragraphs prior:

“Are you happier with the phrase ‘free thinking’ because ‘free’ is a positive word and ‘critical’ is a negative word? Well, that’s your interpretation and perception based on the fact that you have what you see as an ongoing EXCESSIVE battle with negativity.”

In other words, folks who are adamant about NOT hearing what they deem to be negative (regardless of how 4 out of 5 people could see it as constructive), often end up proliferating the very thing they’re trying so, so hard — and putting so, so much energy on — to avoid.

Our March 4th mentor provides the following definitions:

Law of Attraction — that which you focus on expands or contracts based upon how you focus on it (his definition)

Law of Distraction — that which you ignore may also expand or contract depending on how you don’t focus on it (also his definition)

One of the distinctions the March 4th mentor is talking about, through these definitions, is this:  you ab-so-lute-ly can, and for the sake of expediency and effectiveness, should SIMULTANEOUSLY move towards what you want as you move away from what you don’t want.

Ideally they work in harmony, baby!  Straying from one to molly-coddle the other is a lesson in foolish manifesting.

Yup, it’s all about where your FOCUS lies, and the meaning you attach to it and for how long.

Those who have a FOCUS (call it a “foundation”) of SEEING life with exploratory eyes — with curiosity, fascination, and appreciation for unvarnished truth — can ACCEPT, and therefore view a phrase like “critical thinking” for what it is. Meaning, instead of pulling it apart in way that’ll justify their identity for being a “negativity buster”, they’ll SEE the following definition:

[ Def ] “Inclined to make nice distinctions, or to exercise careful judgment and selection; exact; nicely judicious.”

Alright, let’s move on to the Monkey who loves covering his mouth (where the hell is the banana going? Uhmm, we wonder):

“Speak no evil…”

The MORE you take the stance of COVERING your MOUTH to satisfy societal norms, to not rock the boat, to not stir the pot, to not ruffle feathers (okay, enough analogies?), the LESS you’ll ever be in a position to effect real change.  Self-expression, whether confronting yourself or your loved ones, can be a very transformational tool when used correctly. Without it, however, you can find yourself “in secret” letting emotions boil and self-defeating behavior run rampant.

Can you imagine if you were the ONLY one around who could nudge yourself away from re-creating the same UNWANTED situations over and over?

What if everyone around you believed the more they “stay quiet” — regardless of the incompetency and B.S. swirling around your home, your family, your office, or business — the better it will get?

“Today, I think most people will agree that our nation is in great peril. Yet, it’s amazing to me how many people are playing ‘see no evil, speak no evil, hear no evil.’

It’s amazing how many people are closing the blinds and ignoring what is going on. It’s amazing how many people think that if they ‘believe’ nothing bad will ever happen — that nothing ever will.” — Our March 4th Simulcast Mentor (link below).

We wholeheartedly KNOW (not just believe) that you grow by not falling into the status quo (hey, that rhymes), by keeping things candid, straightforward and refreshingly REAL.

You grow, and help others grow,when you question, when you destruct identities, when you stay away from the molds that come with pre-programmed (often implied) ways to say things a certain way, to BE a certain way (as in “passive” and “unattached”), or DO things a certain way.

Step beyond boundaries of what’s considered normal; lash out at cherished ideals; don’t be afraid to offend or put your reputation at risk sometimes (i.e., what you feel people will perceive you as by doing a certain thing outside your norm).

To us, LIFE isn’t so much about striving to perfect our ego, or continually evolve into this “beaming light” sort of always-happy being, as much as it is being in a state to appreciate little amazing moments and be awake enough to SEE the magical things that are already happening in our lives.

We see enlightenment simply as an “experience,” not a permanent way of life. We don’t feel somebody “gets” enlightened like they get a tattoo, get a college degree or get married. Instead, it’s just an experience. It begins, it ends, and another one takes its place.

So, to end this little (well, long) Three Wise Monkeys critical-thinking commentary, here’s one more insightful quote from our forthcoming mentor:

“People who automatically associate others who foul as negative, fearful, angry, resentful and so on are acting like the golfer who is totally unaware of the rough, the sand traps, the ponds and the pits — so he is continually in them.”

LISTEN To The Man Affectionately Known As Zen Master of the Internet®

Your Partners in the Quest For
Living a Life Without Limits,