Quick Poll – The Irish Psyche

Let’s see what we, the good people of Ireland, think of ourselves:

Personal Responsibility

We’ve all heard suggestions to ‘take more responsibility’ or ‘we are responsible for our own actions’ or ‘you can’t grow as a person if you don’t take full responsibility for yourself’.

But what does this mean exactly?

Ok let’s have a look.  We all understand the concept of ’cause and effect’ – a chain of events, one thing leads to another.  So whatever state I am in is a result of many factors – my innermost nature (whatever that is), my genes, my upbringing, the society I grew up in and am part of, any major events in my life, and so on.  Therefore, if I am in a less-than-idea state (whatever that is!), isn’t that just the fault of my genes, my parents and my government?  Can’t I realistically blame others for being unhappy/lazy/angry etc?

Well, yes and no.  Certainly you can trace your problem backwards.  You can say that you weren’t taught to deal with such-and-such, or you never had the chance to do such-and-such, or your parents didn’t have the vision to see such-and-such, or person x did such-and-such to you.  This is all real, and the pain caused can be hard to deal with.  Blame can help to relieve some of the weight, but it won’t solve the problem.

This is because this way of looking at things is only a partial truth.  If you get to apply those criteria, and blame the preceding generation, or situation, then so do they.  Your parents, previous governments, people who inflicted pain on you, can all pass the buck and say that they are just a product of their conditions – they did not know any better.  Any pain, any issue, any wrong-doing can be traced and justified ad infinitum.

So does that mean that no-one is to blame for anything?  Well, yes and no.  It can either mean that no-one is to blame for anything, because they are a product of many factors, or everyone is to blame for everything they do, because they do it.  To me neither is very useful.

The important realisation here, and the only truly useful way to look at it, is this:  right NOW, at this very moment, you are what you are.  The past can’t be changed.  You are you – physically, emotionally, spiritually – imperfect, but capable of a whole lot.  Whatever has brought you to this point has happened.  Accepting that can be hard but it is the truth.  That’s not to discount the pain or wrong inflicted, just to say that to grow and move on, it’s more useful to pull things apart and apply the same criteria across the board.

But does that mean I’m responsible for all the events that have happened in my life?  Much of the problem here lies in the varied meaning of the word ‘responsible’.  Responsible can mean:

“That was my favourite vase.  Who is responsible for this?” – meaning At Fault, or To Blame, a cause of something in the past.

or

“I’m glad you like your new puppy, but you must be responsible for it now” – meaning Ongoing Nurturing, Looking After, a sense of ownership.

This second way of looking at it is far more positive here.  ’Ownership’ is probably closer to the best meaning.  You have this being, with all it’s talents, strengths, quirks and imperfections – so what are you going to do with it?  If the puppy was in pain or injured when you got him, you wouldn’t think too much about why.  You’d just be grateful to have him, and look after him to the best of your abilities.  You’d ease his pain,feed him as best you could, and endeavour to make him as happy and healthy as possible.

Try seeing yourself as that puppy!  Be grateful for what you have, accept and forgive, knowing that whatever ills have been cast on you are themselves a result of previous harm.  And just intend to have fun with all that you have.

But now comes another sense of the word responsibility:  now into the future.  Independent of blame, you have your imperfections.  These might impact your life, or that of those around you.  Past events might give you tendencies towards anger, or fear, or lack of confidence.  So for now and the future, you have a choice: will I leave things as they are, or will I work to consciously improve and develop?

You are not responsible (At Fault) for the events that made you what you are, but you are responsible for (Charged With Looking After) yourself now and you are responsible (Culpable) if you pass on pain.

—————–

You are not responsible for the programming you picked up in childhood.  However, as an adult, you are one hundred percent responsible for fixing it.  ~Ken Keyes, Jr.

The willingness to accept responsibility for one’s own life is the source from which self-respect springs.  ~Joan Didion

The Breath of Life

If I could give anyone just one piece of advice – just one single, solitary thing to do that gives the best chance of a happy, fulfilled, healthy life, it would be as simple as this:

Learn to breathe abdominally.

Breathing underpins our entire lives.  It’s the first thing we gasp to do when we’re born and we continue the rhythm until we breathe our dying breath.  The quality of our breathing can be a vivid reflection of our lives:  You’ll probably notice a difference between people with shallow, rushed breathing and people who take deep, slow, calm breaths.

Our bodies need a lot of oxygen to function properly and to help expel impurities.  Clearly, the better this process works, the better we will function physically and mentally.  When we become stressed and emotional, breathing is one of the functions first effected.  We naturally breathe abdominally; just watch any child or animal and see how their bellies rise and fall.  Over time, however, we learn to shut down this process and breathe only with our chest – shallower and faster.

Abdominal breathing is much more efficient and beneficial.  It pulls the diaphragm all the way down, expanding the lungs in all directions, thus taking in more oxygen.  Breathing becomes slower and more relaxed.  Due to fewer cycles per minute, we save energy as muscles do less work, and pure oxygen has more time to permeate to all cells in the body.

Benefits of Abdominal Breathing

• Improved Oxygen  Intake & Supply to Cells and Organs
• Improved Removal of Impurities
• Stress Reduction
• More Energy & Stamina
• Decreased Heart Rate & Lower Blood Pressure
• Better Focus & Concentration
• Improved Posture
• Peace of Mind & Clarity

Abdominal breathing takes some initial effort to learn.  In fact it is a ‘re-learning’ as it is just a natural instinct which has been blocked and needs to be uncovered.  So, with a small amount of conscious effort and practice, you will find yourself with improved health, energy and calmness.

How to do Abdominal Breathing

Breathe slowly, in and out through the nose.  This is our natural channel for breathing – again, observe a baby or animal, they do not use their mouths.  Don’t force it – there are no prizes for breathing!  Go as deeply and as slowly as feels comfortable.  Practice will naturally improve the depth and pace until it is the most natural thing in the world for you.  It is best to practice initially on your back, with your hands on your belly to feel the abdomen expanding.  Then move on to sitting, standing and walking.  If you find it hard to concentrate, it can help to count the breaths in cycles of four.  If you drift off, just start again at one.

1. Breathe deeply and imagine inflating a balloon just below the navel (belly button) .  Your belly, lower chest and back will all expand.
2. Pause for a moment when the balloon feels comfortably full.
3. Slowly exhale, imagining the balloon deflating until it is empty.

Everyone I know who does this felt immediate improvements, and can’t imagine how they got by without it.  It’s the simplest way in the world to improve all aspects of life.  Enjoy.

Time: Why Genes Aren’t Destiny

The latest edition of Time magazine has a fascinating article on Epigenetics, called Why Your DNA Isn’t Your Destiny.

Read here:  http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1951968-2,00.html

The thrust of the piece is that your environment, i.e. your experiences and how you live your life, can influence your genetic code – and that of your kids.  Essentially, your choices can override your genetic ‘destiny’.

So it is possible to change who you are at a fundamental level.  You can choose who to be, and to an extent what will be passed on to your children.

There are 2 main pieces of good news here:

1. Predisposition to negative patterns, like obesity or addictions, is not set in stone.  You can overcome them.
2. Leading a meaningful, healthy, happy life will have a direct positive influence on your kids, and on subsequent generations, at a genetic level.

As well as opening up a bright spectrum of possibility for every individual, there is also associated responsibility.  It means that the effects of making negative choices get passed on to further generations.  Not looking after yourself, not being as healthy and happy as possible, can give your descendants negative predispositions.

So the idea of ‘Becoming A New Person’ is more than just a figure of speech…

Inner Renovations at Hotel You

What is the value of looking inside and doing some New Year cleaning?

Think of yourself as a hotel.  You have an external façade, and an inner realm.  The inside has a foyer and restaurant, where the general public are welcome; bedrooms and conference rooms, where paying customers are allowed; and kitchens and laundries where only core staff are permitted to go.

Mostly people just pass by, and judge the hotel’s quality by how it looks from the outside.  A lot of people come and go in the public sections, and some people pay to stay.  Whether they come back depends on their experience.

So how clean does the hotel need to be?  Well, if you keep the outside perfectly, you’ll attract a lot of curious people.  If they find the foyer pleasant, many will have a meal or recommend the hotel.  Customers who find spotless and orderly rooms are likely to pay again for the pleasure, and may become regulars.  As a business. regular customers keep you afloat and pay your way.

Now, what if the outside is beautifully kept, but as you go deeper into the hotel, the hygiene routine is less rigorous?  You’ll get plenty of admiring looks from passers-by, passing trade in the restaurant, the odd night guest, but regulars and recommendations will be rare.  Is this desirable?

Naturally, a tidier, cleaner and better run hotel will attract a higher level of clientèle, who will pay more for the privilege.  You may be happy to have mostly passing trade, but in order to thrive, you need regular customers, who have a deeper experience of the hotel.  In life, be it business, love or friendship, in order to be successful you have to reveal some of your inner workings.  And the whiter the sheets, and cleaner the kitchen, the better the customers!!

This

OR

This?

People are not stupid, and I’m sure you know it yourself:  If someone looks amazing, but there is something just not right, you will tend to back off.  If the hotel is polished to a sheen, but there is a stink from the laundry room, how likely is it to attract quality, long-term customers?!  The problem is that many of us don’t realise there may be something ‘off’, or know what to do about it.

Ask yourself who you enjoy being around: are they gloomy, negative people who seem to have a chip on their shoulder, or the bright, positive, energetic type?  If you had to spend huge amounts of your time with someone, in a relationship or business, which would it be?  I’m sure the answer is almost universally the second type.  So who will attract the best partner, or be offered the big contract?

What makes someone one type or the other?  Is it fluke, or just the way they are, their upbringing, their genes?  Well, we have a genetic tendency towards certain behaviours and patterns, but mostly our attitudes are determined by how we are brought up.  We learn to be negative, to complain, to think badly of ourselves and others, to accept less than the best.  These habits become ingrained until we see them as normal, in ourselves and society.  But all negative patterns can be un-learned; the key is awareness.  If we become fully aware that something we are doing has overall negative effects on us, we will stop.  It sounds simple, but it takes work, perseverance and courage.  To change a long-standing routine and turn the hotel inside-out, in order to renovate what has been there for years, is no easy job – but is it worth it?

We’ve probably all heard at this stage of the “Law of Attraction” or “The Secret”.  They seem to be saying that if you think positively, you’ll become more rich and successful than you can imagine overnight.  The time-frame and scale of this may be questionable, but surely the more positive the experience for someone visiting your hotel, the more likely you are to attract a better class of customer.  And to a large extent, the people around us determine the quality of our lives.

The questions are:  Do I want and deserve a better life?  Am I prepared to make changes?  Am I aware of something I can clean out right away?  If I see positive results from that, will I commit to going further?

By starting small, making manageable improvements, and acknowledging the positive change, confidence comes in the process.  After that, renovations seem to happen by themselves, and there are no limits…

The Wisdom of Not Knowing

“The only thing I know is that I know nothing” – Socrates

There are two main categories of knowledge: behavioural knowledge and factual knowledge.  Behavioural knowledge concerns habits and acts such as social rapport, the ability to drive, problem solving skills and so on.  Factual knowledge is the cold, hard stuff like knowing the capital of Zimbabwe, how an engine works, having Shakespeare quotes on the tip of your tongue and all that.  It is important, and increasingly so, to realise the difference!

Throughout history, factual knowledge has been very important, and those who were good at storing it have rightly been well respected.  Traditions, stories, facts and all sorts of nuggets have been passed down through the generations, primarily in oral form, i.e. learned and stored in the brain to be regurgitated when required.  A doctor who knew about the widest range of ailments was considered the best.

But what about now?  These days, facts and figures of all sorts are universally available within seconds.  It is possible to look up any historical detail, scientific formula or translation easily and instantly.  So what is the value of carrying around all sorts of information?  Is the ‘mastermind’ who wins every quiz still as impressive?

Of course there is merit in having a good memory and in exercising it well.  But is there a downside to loading up on cold facts?  In school, we have all been taught to learn reams of information ‘by heart’, some of which has proven useful, but most of which has never seen the light again.  We all remember the time and effort put in to that kind of learning; the slog, the repetition.  Does it seem a bit pointless now that we could look up most of what we learned so easily?  We learned a lot of really valuable things too though:  how to analyse certain problems, how to work hard, social skills, application of our talents etc etc.

"I know nothing!": Socrates or Manuel?

I’ll bet that if you really looked at it, you’d see that what you’ve carried forward into everyday life are more the behavioural skills rather than the factual information.  The factual stuff can be looked up or dropped at any time, but effective behavioural skills are valuable at every moment of our lives.  Think about it:  who is likely to be happier and more successful – the information bank who spends his time learning hard facts, or the person who has learned to use creativity and vision, who can sense and react to life as it happens.  These are obviously not mutually exclusive, but we must question which is more positive to focus on.

Cold facts in a way are a type of baggage, they have weight and take energy to carry around.  They may prove useful, but is it intelligent to carry them constantly just in case?  It’s a bit like carrying a huge plank of wood around every day, on the off chance that you might have to cross a river!  Is it more efficient to carry the plank, or learn to swim or chop wood – skills which have a wide range of applications?  And while carrying that wood, how easy is it to react to what’s going on around?  I’m picturing Laurel and Hardy moments!

The Plank of Knowledge!

So in our schools today, where is the focus?  Is it still on the hard facts, or have we woken up to valuing life skills more?  Surely skills (and they are skills) such as problem solving, self-knowledge and confidence, personal development, creativity and awareness will give a better chance of success in life than leaving school with a stack of wooden planks!  It’s not practical or sensible, of course, not to teach any facts: these provide context, awareness of subject, memory skills and a useful base in any area of study.  The question is where to draw the line between useful factual knowledge and wasting time and energy that could be used to learn more important skills.

Surely what we want is to produce the most effective, content and positive adults possible.  This is what I imagine (who could know exactly?!) Socrates was talking about:  he had realised the weight of factual knowledge and the value of being light and fully aware.  He saw that ridding himself of the burden of ‘knowing’ left him open, creative, in tune with his surroundings and able to see the world as it really was, rather than through a cloud of learned facts.  In that state, learning, adapting, growing and seeing opportunities come naturally.

This all leads to a higher value on ‘being’ than ‘knowing’.  It takes humility to focus on being the best you can be over knowing the most.  And it can be difficult to admit what you don’t know.  Take the current Irish government:  during the Celtic Tiger, we had unprecedented amounts of money in the coffers and a unique opportunity to create lasting stability.  We had a chance to improve infrastructure, build a strong and secure social system, and a solid platform for the future.  It was wasted, to my mind, because the government refused to admit what they didn’t know.

Ireland is a young country, less than 100 years old, and this was the first time we ever had substantial money.  Our government was filled with local representatives who were far from experts in their field –  how many ministers have ever been qualified in their brief?  Yet there is relevant expertise out there; it’s a big world!  Why not admit our position and call for guidance:

Denmark is a country of similar size who achieved rapid wealth and expansion; consult with those who oversaw that.  Switzerland does banks well; hire one of their top people to examine our financial system.  New Zealand and Washington State have comparable rainfall to Ireland; bring in their experts to sort out our roads and rivers.  For Social Welfare, look to Sweden or Finland…

Like teenage boys, our politicians refused to admit they did not have the skills to do it all; they were afraid to show weakness, to ask for assistance.  And like every teenage boy trying to impress, they were found out!  It takes maturity to admit where you are, and be strong enough to ask for help.  Knowledge is fleeting; it can be called upon easily and instantly.  The awareness and courage to know what you don’t know is eternal wisdom.

Knowing more is useful; Being more is vital.

Opportunities in Recession – Are You Ready?

Recession has brought unexpected change to most of our lives.  Whether this change is positive or negative depends on your point of view, but most people struggle with the reality of change.  While the downturn and the fallout from it may not be your fault, all you can do is accept where you are now, take responsibility for your current situation, and make the most of it.  Opportunitites exist if you look for them; they might just need a change in perception.

The hills of Ireland have become noticeably busier over the last year or so.  New hikers are turning reduced working hours into more time for health and fitness, less money into a chance to rediscover our cost-free countryside, and the collective shock into reconnecting with friends and family.

Even in pure economic terms, it makes sense to see and seize the opportunities.  A recovery will come, bringing openings for new jobs, promotion, or self-employment.  Now is the time to ask yourself how you can be ahead of the crowd when this happens.  Will you be ready to pounce when the door cracks open?  With many people scrambling for their share, how can you be personally primed for success?

In a interview for a job or promotion, or a meeting for funding or a customer sale, who is more likely to be successful?

(a)  The person with their head down, unable to make eye-contact, low energy, feeling the world has dealt them a bad hand.

or

(b) The person who is healthy, full of energy and enthusiasm, well prepared, and is confident that they’ve done their best with what they have.

So what can you do in your present situation to make sure you’re person (b) when the opportunity arises?  I always think of a martial artist: sharp, full of energy, primed for action, and lightening quick when needs be.  Are there changes you can make on a personal level right now that will unlock your best?  Are there things you’ve put on the long finger that are playing on your mind and sucking your energy?

A big thing to think about is whether you’re actually ready for success on a personal level.  It’s amazing how many people sabotage themselves when their opportunity comes around.  It sounds strange, but a lot of us subconsciously do not want to achieve our potential and all the spoils that come with it!

One of the main obstacles is that we’re brought up in a society that knocks anyone who sticks their head up above the crowd.  We’re used to attacking people who achieve their best and express themselves fully, and we might feel guilty at leaving our family or friends trailing behind.  Just ask yourself, do I deserve to shine?  Am I ready to use all my talents and gifts?

Funny as it seems, many people are not truly ready to be rich either!  There are those who hold themselves back, without realising it, because they are more comfortable in getting by than in earning big money.  Again, there’s guilt associated with wealth.  It easily gets into our heads that money is dirty, associated with greed, and something for others rather than ourselves.  Just think of the Christian lesson that “it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven”.  It is important to understand that money is neutral, neither good nor bad, simply one measure of worth.  Having money as the ultimate goal, of course, can be a problem, but is there anything wrong with earning a good living from using skills well?  Again, ask yourself if you are ready to accept the rewards from doing a good job?

Everything happens in cycles, it’s inevitable:  breathing, heartbeat, the seasons, the planets moving, the rise and fall of economies.  You can either fight it pointlessly and waste time and energy, or work with it and take the opportunities it brings.  Maybe this time is a chance to take a breath, reassess, and get a different perspective on your life.  It might be an opportunity to get fit, repair relationships, do something you’ve always wanted to do, or change direction entirely.  Change is never easy, but it is constant and inevitable.  So whatever has come into your mind while reading this, take one step towards doing it now – you deserve it, and it will have you ready to achieve success when the time comes.

Why Personal Development?

If you asked people what their ultimate goal would be, most (and not just beauty pageant entrants!) would say “to be happy” or “to make the world a better place”.  If most of us want this, why then doesn’t it happen?  Is it not possible?

The thing is, if you keep on doing the same things, you’re going to keep on getting the same results.  Most of us are afraid of change, and are more comfortable in our current patterns than facing the prospect of doing something different – even if we are not happy!  Then we blame others – the government, the boss, the family – for our misery.  We keep on wishing for a better world, but will do nothing to change it.

What could I do anyway, even if I wanted to make a change?  I’m just one person, what difference can I make? It is vital to see that the most we can ever do, the greatest contribution we can ever make, is to change “just one person” – ourselves.  Every great achievement in the history of man has come about from changing just one person: from seeing what is possible, right and true, and making the decision to follow it.

The only thing that you can be sure of changing, ever, is yourself.  You can say that the world will be better if you send half your earnings to Africa, but you can’t know for certain that it will get there or have a positive impact.  You can write a letter to your government representative telling them how they should see things differently, but how do you know they’ll heed it?    We all inhabit one piece of the world – ourselves –  and our responsibility is to make that piece as good as it can possibly be, for ourselves and others.

We have the greatest impact on those closest to us, and they have the greatest impact on us.  You spend most of your time with your family, friends and co-workers and their condition affects you every day.  Likewise, whether you are happy or miserable will have differing effects on them.  If one person close to you was as happy as humanly possible every day, wouldn’t your world be a better place?  So, to make the world better for yourself and others, your responsibility is to be happier, it’s all you can do.

But isn’t that selfish?  There are people in other parts of the world without the opportunities I have.  What about them? Maybe, but we are talking about one person making the biggest impact they can have, and the biggest effect we can have is improving ourselves.  Look at the people who have had huge positive impact, like Ghandi or Mandela.  Their choice was to follow what they saw as true, what they valued.  They ended up inspiring millions of people, but initially these were personal choices.  They made unshakeable decisions to follow their hearts, essentially to pursue what would lead to happiness.  The greatest happiness we can have is the feeling that we are living to our potential, that we are leaving no stone unturned, that we are using everything we have within us.  The effect of doing that spreads outwards and inspires others to do the same.

But I can’t be Ghandi or Mandela. Maybe you can, maybe you can’t.  Your values, talents and life situation might not be as grand as theirs, we are all different.  Maybe being your best is raising a family, starting a business, or playing music.  But we all have a choice, everyday:  Do I live exactly as I have been living, comfortable but somewhat unfulfilled, or when I see a chink of light, do I follow it and make the most of myself?  Am I going to leave my corner of the world dull and grey, or am I going to have the courage to make it shine?

So leave all guilt or feelings of selfishness behind:  being truly happy is the greatest thing you can do.

Mandela’s words:  http://www.geocities.com/Wellesley/9436/beyond.html

Intelligence??

What is the highest intelligence in a human?

The standard perception is that the most intelligent people are those with a high IQ; those who can perform logical tasks quickly.  I’m guessing an image of a bookish, scientist type comes to you.  The words ‘nerd’ and ‘geek’ are probably way too un-PC for this blog!!

But is this the highest form of human intelligence?  What about the intelligence in knowing how to live a happy life??

Let’s look at the nature of the logical mind.  What logic effectively does is reduce problems to a linear sequence of events.  Words written on a page, or a mathematical equation are representative of how the logical mind sees things:  a line made up of chunks of information, each one representing something in the real world.  To process information in this form, one has to sequentially interpret each piece of data, then decide what sense the overall information makes.  Then, in order to act on it, one has to draw some conclusion, reconnect the data to the real world, and go about their business.  The logical mind is very very useful, but it’s just one tool for a certain type of job; some people can use it more effectively than others, but we can all survive without it.

Maybe we give this form of intelligence so much attention because:

(a) We are aware of our ‘mental’ capabilities, we can watch ourselves think.

(b) We have learned to put academic-type intellect above all others; it’s what we have become focused on and praised for as we grow up.  It is also associated with financial and career success.

(c) We may be afraid of what lies beneath the constant noise and movement of mental thought.

But what other intelligence is there?  What about the intelligence that keeps you breathing?  Or pumps your blood to where it’s needed?  Or repairs cells, grows fingernails, or tells you that you’re hungry and need food?  Or the intelligence that makes you fall in love, gives you a passion for your hobbies, or defines your values and direction in life?  This is the same ‘intelligence’ that connects all things, makes the natural world fit together so beautifully, and keeps the planets revolving.  Yet, because it falls below our conscious radar, we tend not to associate with it, value it, or feel we ‘own’ it.  Because this type of intelligence is effortless and universal, it is easy to take it for granted and reduce its worth.

Yet surely this is a higher form of intelligence.  Logic is 1-dimensional, but real life is multi-dimensional.  We could never logically create such an interdependant, interconnected world as we have.  Logical thought takes time, yet we have the intelligence to perform so many complex functions simultaneously and without delay.  If we put our hand on a hot cooker, our bodies have the reflex to pull away, rather that relying on the slow process of thinking through the event and deducing that removing the hand is probably a good idea!  And if we do end up with a blister, we have the innate intelligence to conduct a healing process.

Scientists have long tried to grasp and define the universe, yet each answer is quickly superceded by another, which throws up its own questions, ad infinitum.  Poets, authors, songwriters and artists have tried to somehow capture the essence of love for millenia; if this were possible, surely someone would have cracked it by now!  The point is that we cannot use the logical mind to explain everything – it is only one tool.  It escapes me for the moment who made this great analogy:  just like the tongue cannot taste itself, or the teeth cannot bite themselves, the brain cannot comprehend itself!  Thus we can never understand everything!  There will always be unknown, and as a race we are terrified of the unknown.  But this is inevitable: individually and collectively, there will always be so much outside of our mental scope.  So what to do?

As a child we ‘know’ very little, yet we are probably at our happiest.  We live in wonder at the world around us, trusting our innate instincts and reflexes, open to all sorts of experiences.  As we grow, though, we are taught that understanding, defining and controlling the world is much more important than living in it and enjoying it!  A constant strain to control and comprehend is both futile and draining, though.  If you look around at the happiest people, you’ll  probably see that they don’t seem to be making much effort.  They seem to value themselves as they are, live a fairly simple life, appreciate the world around them, and retain a certain sense of wonder.

So what does it mean?  I suppose the thing is to realise the pointlessness in trying to understand and control everything.  No matter how much we can comprehend and define, there will always be more beyond.  We all have an infinity of intelligence in us that allows us to function in this world, that connects us to what’s around us and to each other.  The good news is that no matter how much of an idiot we may think we are compared to others, what’s missing is miniscule in light of the vast wealth of common human intelligence that we all share.

Maybe real intelligence is living in tune with our natural instincts, drives and emotions.  It’s trusting the multi-dimensional intelligence that’s outside our conscious minds, over the 1-dimensional intelligence that we tend to use more.  It’s getting out of the way of what we are, and allowing ourselves to be happy.  Maybe happiness and fulfillment is that simple – trust rather than effort.

What do you think?  I’d love to hear all opinions on this.  Leave a comment in the box below.  Cheers!

Walking

I’ve just come back from guiding an overnight hike for Outdoors Ireland.  It had been a while since I’d done any walking and it reminded me how much I love it.  I mean really love it.  It was a long, testing night, with terrible weather and visibility, soaked through within half an hour, but it felt fantastic!

Bad Weather / Good Walking

Walking to me is much more than putting one foot in front of the other;  it’s a powerful process of health, happiness and freedom, and an analogy for life itself. 

Walking is such simple exercise that we sometimes miss the benefits.  Hippocrates, the father of Western medicine, held that “walking is man’s best medicine”, and the reason we often take it for granted is that it is such a natural state for us to be in.  The ancient Chinese considered walking to be one of the ‘Four Dignities’, which are our most effective modes for development and recovery.  Throughout the ages, proven by observation or science, walking has been shown to promote physical health as well as relieving stress and anxiety.  Nowadays, it is accepted that a 20-30 minute walk a day can help ease depression.  See http://www.moodletter.com/Walking.htm.

When we walk, our minds seem to fall into step, and the easy rhythm soothes our being.  In effect, going for a walk is a type of meditation.  Many of history’s greatest philosophers walked to achieve perspective and insight.  Aristotle taught while walking, to avoid his students stagnating; Hobbes had an inkwell built into his walking stick to capture any revelations; Wordsworth decided to walk to the  Alps instead of sitting his university exams; and Russeau was very definite that “My mind works only with my legs”. 

The Joy of Walking

In life, walking is how we best explore the world.  There’s nothing like walking around a new city or up a hill to feel like we’re part of the place.  Going for a wander is a journey where we have reached our destination just by setting out.  To me, that is like a life well lead:  the pace is natural and enjoyable, you can absorb all the scenery while negotiating any ups and downs on the way, you feel neither held back or forced, and you usually finish back where you started!

If you were offered a pill that would make you happy, healthy and wise, help solve your problems, cure illnesses and make you feel you belong in this world, what would you pay for it?  It’s so cheap, it probably feels too good to be true.  But as Occam’s Razor states, “The simplest answer is usually the correct one”.

A few years ago, as part of a course I was taking, I wrote a paper on the philosophy of walking.  For a copy, send a comment below or drop me an email and I’ll gladly forward it on to you.  For further reading, I highly recommend Rebecca Solnit’s “Wanderlust: A History of Walking”.