Balthasar Gracian advised: “Wait. It's a sign of a noble heart dowered with patience, never to be in a hurry, never to be in a passion.”
In his book The 48 Laws of Power, Robert Greene tells us that waiting is not a passive phase. We need to be alert as we “anticipate twists and turns” so that we “never miss the boat.” Greene pointed out that patience is worthless unless it ends at some moment when we execute a plan with speed and absolutely no hesitation.
Just when you think that you have finally learned the way to live, life changes. What if you find yourself in a new situation where your long-held beliefs, the concepts of acceptable attitudes and behavior that you've learned, and those conclusions that you've drawn from your past experiences are no longer compatible with how you want to live? What if the conceptions, conclusions, and generalizations mapped out in your head are waging war with your thoughts of going where you “ought to be”, of doing what you “need to do”, and of being what “you should be”? What if you are confused?
Mark Twain said, "Everybody lies, every day; every hour; awake; asleep; in his dreams; in his joy; in his mourning." In the TV series House, M.D., Dr. Greg House says “everybody lies” in almost every episode. He has also said that "It's a basic truth of the human condition that everybody lies. The only variable is about what.”
Lying is bad because it can do harm. Saint Augustine taught that telling lies was always wrong, but accepted that it would be very difficult to completely refrain from lying. He believed that there were in fact occasions when lying would be the right thing to do.
A tradeoff involves a choice between two desirable options with incompatible features. In making a choice, pick the one that yields lasting and profound rewards. Asking the most basic questions can help us make up our minds. Who am I? Where do I want to go from here? As we answer these simple but discerning questions about our life, we begin to see what is most important in our life. When we have set our priorities clearly and when we choose based on these, no matter what the outcomes may be, our intentions will remind us that we have not totally failed.
Just be yourself and you are different. Yet, why is being one's self so difficult that one has to dare just to be different?
People, you and I, form expectations from one another based on their personal beliefs. Here we are, struggling to proclaim our unique and rare identity, dominated by decrees of conformity. The world is filled with people, each unique in their own ways. Many strive to uphold their uniqueness.
If you dare to be different, dare also to be tolerant of others who dare to be themselves. Tolerance is a prerequisite of daring to be different.
