Marcel Legros - Play the Game of Life

Welcome to the Third Edition of the “Meaning of Life” Carnival.

This is the third edition of this weekly carnival. We had quite a lot of submissions this week but I was exceptionally picky as well, so I narrowed it down to the best six out of all entries. Even if I get 500 entries in one week, I will only choose the best entries and never have more than 10 entries for any given carnival. This ensures the highest possible quality and relevance. The deadline for each edition is Saturday night and is published on Sunday. It’s a little late this week because I’m traveling and had to find a high-speed access point for my laptop to put this all together. Thanks for your patience.

Thank you to every author who submitted an entry whether it was accepted, or not. If you didn’t make it this week, try again next week! Please start a discussion by leaving a comment, and don’t forget to Stumble this post or submit it to Digg, so that your work will reach the largest possible audience. I appreciate all the great writing you’ve submitted - I really enjoy reading it.

Christmas is Near - Bring on the Cheer!

1. Steve Pavlina has been one of my favorite personal development writers for years and today I’m happy to include his article Career Transitions in my carnival roster. If you haven’t already found Steve’s site - Personal Development for Smart People, I highly recommend it. Good work Steve!
2. Albert Foong at Urban Monk submitted another phenomenal essay this week entitled, Psychology’s unique contribution to your Compassion and Self-Esteem. I really enjoy Albert’s writing style and depth and in a very short time we’ve developed a mutual friendship. I think we’ll be seeing a lot of good things from him in the future. What’s Christmas like “down under”, Albert?
3. Warren Wong submits, Conversation Skills / Tips: How To Have A Good Conversation. Hey, who doesn’t want to have a great conversation? Sometimes the simple things are left undone, and I’m glad guys like Warren are covering all the bases. Now, if I only had someone to talk to…
4. Tupelo Kenyon writes, Consciously Programming Your Subconscious Mind Before Sleep. I like the ideas behind the article and it’s well written. When I travel, I play audio books on my laptop at low volume while I sleep and set it on ‘repeat’. The next day, I listen to the same passages and whether it’s my imagination or not - they sink in a lot faster. This is a great way to learn new material. Tupelo has captured the negative side to this - don’t go to sleep with ugly content streaming into your brain. Garbage in - garbage out, folks!
5. Shaun Connell is also a repeater with the following essay titled, The Pursuit of Happiness. I agree with you Shaun - happiness is found in a lot of different ways, but without emotion and reason, it’s not going to stick. Well put, my friend.
6. Matthew Spears rounds out this week’s carnival with Interconnectedness of Being. This article is fantastic and captures the truth that every wisdom in life can be found within the boundaries of your own mind and body. I love your writing and respect your wisdom Matthew. Thanks for sharing again this week.

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Welcome to the second edition of the “Meaning of Life” Carnival.

I think we’ve all asked at one point, “Why am I here? What will become of me when I go? What am I meant to do now that I’m here? What’s the meaning of it all?” So we strive to find the answers. We hope that one day we’ll ‘get it right,’ but often we never do. Let’s all raise a glass to getting it right and praise all those who’ve gotten it wrong. We couldn’t have done it without you.

This is the second edition of a weekly carnival with even more great articles than last week. The deadline for each edition is Saturday night and is published on Sunday.

Thank you to every author who submitted an entry whether it was accepted, or not. If you didn’t make it this week, try again next week! Please start a discussion by leaving a comment, and don’t forget to Stumble this post or submit it to Digg, so that your work will reach the largest possible audience. Thanks for the great work, and we’ll see you all next week.

Good Reading to Warm the Winter Blues

1. Edith Yeung submitted, “What Would Make You Smile?” This article made me smile, Edith. Nice work.
2. Matthew Spears essay, “Emotions as Beauty Itself,” deals with a different way of looking at intense emotions, especially those related to past sexual abuse. Thanks for submitting this one Matthew. I wish you well in your healing process.
3. Warren Wong explores hidden reality in, “Why Your Thoughts Create Reality - Thought, Energy, and Matter.”
4. Tupelo Kenyon writes, “Integrity Through Self-Reliance.” This is a great article with a lot of insight.
5. Steve H Joseph submitted, “Learning to Ask Better Questions About Life.” Steve brings some personal insight into our ego-dominated pursuit of always having to be right. Here’s something I learned a long time ago Steve; please let me share it and add to your ideas - “You can be right, or you can be married.”
6. SJ Yee offers a moving video from a speech made by Jim Valvano back in 1993. The title of the post, “How to live each day and get from where you are to where you want to go,” is meandering, but the SJ Yee’s recap, and the video itself is very moving.
7. Patricia’s article, “How to Start Over: Rebuild or Just Remodel,” is my favorite this week. It’s well written, insightful, and emotional. Very gutsy article, Patricia!
8. Alex Blackwell posted, “The Most Dangerous Word.” I like this article a lot. I won’t ruin the suspense for you all, but I’ll give you a hint: the most dangerous word starts with a “T.”
9. Karen Lynch submits, “How Do You Do?” This essay is based on the idea of acting without action, a core principle in the Tao Te Ching. It’s funny that Karen submitted her article this week; I just finished reading the Tao Teh Ching this week. I read Dr. Wayne Dyer’s book “Change Your Thoughts, Change Your Life,” based on the Tao Teh Ching, last week.

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There’s an old saying, “You Can Never Go Home.”

I understand the sentiment behind the proverb, but I feel the need to add to it, with:

“You can never go home. You’re already there, and you’ve never left.”

When you go back to places and people from your past, they’re never quite the same as you remembered them. Often, you’re let down and disappointed by what you find but often they’re exactly as you left them. It’s a strange feeling, returning to a childhood haunt or place of past importance to you. It feels like you’re walking onto the set of your own movie, somehow. It’s even stranger to contact someone you haven’t spoken to in years and say hello.

Try This:

Go to a place you haven’t visited in a long time - somewhere important to you.

Call someone you haven’t talked to since you were a kid - maybe an old friend, neighbor, realtive, or teacher.

It’s exciting and satisfying, but I’m not entirely sure why.

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Flip a coin ten times:

The odds are it will come up heads five times and tails five times. You may flip heads several times in a row, but the more you flip, the closer to 50/50 the odds become. This is Yin and Yang in action - this is the balance of the universe.

In our world of form, nature ensures that every extreme has an equal and opposite extreme to counterbalance it. Extremes are perceived as good and bad, sunny or stormy, smart or dumb, beautiful or ugly - but they aren’t really what they appear to be. As human and physical beings, we carry with us every extreme, all at once. We’re all ugly and beautiful. We’re all successful and failures. It’s okay, and it normal to feel that way. You can’t change it, but you can learn from it. With this knowledge, you will bring happiness and compassion into everything you do, and you’ll enrich the lives of everyone you meet.

10 Things I’ve Learned About Natural Balance and How To Apply It To Your Own Life:

1. Today you might feel bad. Maybe something awful happened to you. Tomorrow is another day, and “This too shall pass.”
2. Today you feel great. You might have just had the best moment in your life. Tomorrow is another day, and even “This too shall pass.”
3. For every exceptional success, you’ll find a dismal failure.
4. For every honor roll student, there’s a flunkie. Within every person, there is a genius and an idiot. Don’t be afraid to be both of them - it’s human.
5. In every business or organization, no matter how big or successful, you’ll find incompetence - you’ll also find geniuses.
6. Never complain about an inept or disorganized coworker. If every employee and business were remarkable, you might be out of a job.
7. Don’t envy someone smarter than you - take them out for lunch! You learn from the masters. Aspire to be one yourself.
8. In every class of doctors, dentists, psychologists, and lawyers, there are a many who just barely graduate, but they still get the same diploma. The assumption is, “He has a diploma, so he must be good!” When was the last time we asked our doctor how he placed in his class? Is he really good or did he just scrape by? A piece of paper on the wall means nothing.
9. Creativity ebbs and flows. You can encourage creativity but it can’t be forced. The most successful people act on every creative impulse when it happens instead of waiting for the next “big wave” or “big idea.” Little ideas that people value are much more important than big ideas that never catch on.
10. How often have you failed? Fail often - every failure will bring from nature the potential for great success.

Are you exceptional, dismal, or average?

You have the power to decide to be successful and brilliant but it is not within your power to avoid failure. Take chances and let nature find balance in your life. Know that for every dismal failure you’ve had, another stunning achievement is just around the corner. Everything arises and then returns to it’s source in the formless.

Don’t worry about it. Just do something. If you feel like doing nothing today, then today, do nothing. Just think about it. Tomorrow is another day - this too shall pass.

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Play the Game of Life is a blog about personal development, spirituality, and self-actualization. People go about living their lives in so many different ways but we’re all looking for the same things - happiness, peace of mind, and fulfillment. I think we’ve all asked at one point, “Why am I here? What will become of me when I go? What am I meant to do now that I’m here? What’s the meaning of it all?” So we strive to find the answers. We hope that one day we’ll ‘get it right,’ but often we never do.

Finding the answers isn’t so much where you look, but what questions you’re asking. The only way to figure out what the right questions are, is to admit you don’t know and ask people wiser than yourself. I certainly don’t have it figured out yet, but with the help of wise teachers that came before me and the wisdom of people around me, I might. I hope you find your answers too.

This is the first edition of a weekly carnival with contributions from any author who wishes to join in the conversation. The deadline for each edition will be Saturday night and published every Sunday.

I am indebted to each author who submitted an entry. If you didn’t make it this week, try again next week! There’s some really good material here and I really enjoyed reading them all. Please start a discussion by leaving a comment, and don’t forget to Stumble this post or submit it to Digg, so that your work will reach the largest possible audience. Thanks, and see you next week!

Albert Foong writes, “Love and Aloneness - Unravelling the Ego and Pride.” This is my favorite entry this week. He provides some invaluable thoughts the difference between being alone and being lonely. I really appreciate your work and hope you enter another article next week Albert!

Alex Blackwell entices us to ask, “What Would You Say Today?” His thoughts on relationships and human connection is very insightful. I love this article.

Alvaro Fernandez submits, “Enhance Happiness and Health by Cultivating Gratitude: Interview with Robert Emmons.” Can we enhance our happiness and health by cultivating gratitude? You bet we can! Thanks Alvaro, for sharing this with us.

Tejvan Pettinger gives us a few suggestions on how to get a fresh look at the direction of your life with, “Where is Your Life Heading?”

Jeremy Neal explains in, “You Are a History Maker”, that every one of us, in our own way, is making history every day of our lives.

Shaun Connell submitted a late entry early this morning but I wanted to include it this week because it was so direct and unapologetic. His entry, “Cold Reason” is exactly how I feel some days. Thanks for posting Shaun, even if it was a little late - I won’t hold it against you.

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Most of us find our place in adulthood. Our confidence grows with our experiences, and if we’re lucky, the self limiting labels created in childhood fall away.

Even positive labels create negative consequences. Any behavior contrived to elicit a response, to maintain an image, or to pump up the ego, is not authentic. It perpetuates the notion that we require props to be of value; that we have to defend our existence. No-one can diminish who you are by their opinion of you.

Peace comes when the urge to defend yourself falls away and is replaced by compassion.

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I said to my husband the other night: “We’re perfectly normal (in a secret service kind of way). We just wear our tics on the inside.”

What common denominator quantifies someone as normal? I’d like to meet the asshole who created the median and rough him up a bit. Unfortunately, there is no singular asshole to blame - just a mass of humanity trying to fit in and fly under the radar.

We are taught to care about other people’s opinions from an early age. “What will the neighbors think?” is the gold standard in disempowerment. It disables unique expression and separates us from emotional authenticity. We become liars by omission. Showing the world only what we think is acceptable, and slamming the lid on creativity. How can we lead full and enriching lives if were always looking over our shoulders to gauge the reaction of the guy in the next row. Who’s life is it anyway?
Why Do We Succumb? The Cost of Doing Business

It begins on the playground and escalates through high school. The desire to be accepted. If you are different you run the risk of beatings—or worse; becoming a social misfit. The fear of being alone can motivate us to do a lot of stupid things. But at what cost? Veiling our nature in order to blend in, detaches us from our experiences. Choosing ‘safe’ scenarios, to protect ourselves from pain—leads to boredom and discontent. The old Pink Floyd song “Comfortably Numb” is a great example of a life half lived.

Think of all the great minds who were at one time or another deemed ‘odd’. Their contributions to our world have been immense. I’m not suggesting anarchy (that would be creepy). Just the ‘eyes wide open wonder’ that comes from being truthful with yourself and genuine with others.

Self acceptance.

So stir the pot, jump on the bed, cross your eyes, and laugh till it hurts. Don’t worry; it’s normal.

Changing the world, one follower at a time.

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I travel a lot and I’m away from my family one week every month. I miss my wife and son terribly while I’m on the road but there is one advantage to this situation. Every time I go, I learn how much my two favorite people mean to me. Distance gives me perspective and strangely, it brings me closer to what really matters.

I’m on the road again this week and I thought I’d send a note out to my wife:

I’ve lied to you and I’ve hurt you.
And you forgave me.
I’m deeply flawed.
And yet, you see the light coming out from the cracks in my personality.
I’ve lied next to you in our bed and felt your warmth.
We’ve done so much together, you and I.
You smell good and you look even better.
I feel like every day is a journey, and it’s a journey I want to take with you.
We’re on a road-trip babe, with the music cranked and our feet hanging out the window.
You stick your tongue out at the world and I’m right there with you, laughing at it all.

I love you Charlene.

Take time to appreciate the people that make life worth living. If you want to improve your friendships, relationships, or marriage, why don’t you tell them exactly how you feel?

Send a note like this and make it count. Nobody’s keeping score and paying attention to your vulnerability. The best thing you can do is connect to another human being with real feeling and passion.

Now, go for it.

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What separates the best artists from the rest?

How do amazing minds create revolutions?

How do great thinkers change our world view?

They speak their minds no matter what the consequence. Speak your mind and ignore all the advice coming at you from every corner. You’re breathing and living now. You owe it to all of us to tell us what you’re thinking and feeling.

Forget political correctness or polite exchanges when what we really need is sincerity and truth. Bad things happen every day. You’d better make sure you speak your mind and tell your loved ones how much you care.

Imagine a world where everyone spoke their mind, for better or for worse. I guarantee it would be for better.

Do it today. Don’t wait for a better time.

The best time is now.

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When tragedy struck, I reached down into the depths of human despair.

To my surprise, I found no bottom.

At the moment of my greatest triumph, I looked up, and met nothing.

Just space.

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