The Sixth Sense

A.J. Jacobs: My year of living biblically

Thought this talk by AJ Jacobs was quite fun and interesting from TED.

Here’s the description: Speaking at the most recent EG conference, author, philosopher, prankster and journalist A.J. Jacobs talks about the year he spent living biblically — following the rules in the Bible as literally as possible.

Resting from and for work

Over time I have heard lots of varying thoughts on rest. Most of these have been helpful in one way or another, though I had being told that this is how I must rest.

It was apparent from the conversation the other day that we all find different things restful. The key is not to identify rest as what others say is restful for them but to find the things that are restful for you.

Using broad strokes, it seems there are however two ways in which people rest. Some people are ‘doing resters‘ and others are ‘being resters‘.

Again, I don’t think there is a right or wrong here. It about identifying the things that reenergise us. For me personally, I need do nothing time to feel rested and refreshed. I need space to just be. I might right. I might listen to music. I might, literally, do nothing.

For others - like my wife Rachel - this is as close to hell as she can get this side of eternity. She likes to be doing something. Needs some kind of agenda or focus. And, typically, wants to be around others. This is how she recharges.

As a quick throw-in here, knowing how each other rests in a marriage or partnerships is going to help a lot!

Anyway, none of this links with the title so far. It’s one thing to know how we rest, it is another thing to understand why we rest. Like anything, if we don’t understand the why, we won’t value it.

I have seen two categories of people when it comes to the why of work. There are those who work, work, work and then pretty much collapse in exhaustion. They find themselves resting from work (not always by choice!).

Then there are those who see that our design as human beings is such that we are wired for work. Things start to go wrong when we’re not working. And so we rest in order to be able to do work.

My suspicion is that most people’s approach to rest is that of resting from work. Our approach to work is that it is something that we quite like to not have to do. We live for our rest (weekends, holidays, etc).

I actually think we need to understand rest in both senses. We work hard, give everything, and then take a deserved break. But we also need to understand that work is part of our make up as human beings. We need to find ways to connect purpose to our work that goes deeper than a pay check.

When we connect our work to a larger sense of purpose and meaning it makes sense that we rest in order to be able to give our all to that. We take time to get recharged so we can give our work our best.

What do you think?

The real difference between liberals and conservatives

I watched this TED video on my iPhone coming back from work today and found it really interesting. It was eye opening and provocative. Definitely worth 18 minutes and 42 seconds of your time.

Have a watch, and share your thoughts!

In search of truth

Enjoyed this on Paulo Coelho’s blog today:

The devil was talking to his friends when they noticed a man walking along a road. They watched him pass and saw that he bent down to pick something up.

- What did he find? - asked one of the friends.

- A piece of Truth - answered the devil.

The friends were very concerned. After all, a piece of Truth might save that man’s soul - one less in Hell. But the devil remained unmoved, gazing at the view.

- Aren’t you worried? - said one of his companions.

- He found a piece of Truth!

- I’m not worried - answered the devil.

- Do you know what he’ll do with the piece?

As usual, he’ll create a new religion. And he’ll succeed in distancing even more people from the whole Truth.

Any thoughts?

Familiar anyone?!

My friend, Chris, sent me this yesterday which I thought I’d share with you all:

I decide to water my garden.
As I turn on the hose in the driveway,
I look over at my car and decide it needs washing.

As I start toward the garage,
I notice mail on the porch table that
I brought up from the mail box earlier.

I decide to go through the mail before I wash the car.

I lay my car keys on the table,
put the junk mail in the garbage can under the table,
and notice that the can is full.

So, I decide to put the bills back
on the table, and take out the garbage first.

But then I think,
since I’m going to be near the mailbox
when I take out the garbage anyway,
I may as well pay the bills first.

I take my checkbook off the table,
and see that there is only one check left.

My extra checks are in my desk in the study,
so I go inside the house to my desk, where
I find the can of Pepsi I’d been drinking.

I’m going to look for my checks,
but first, I need to push the Pepsi aside
so that I don’t accidentally knock it over.

The Pepsi is getting warm,
and I decide to put it in the refrigerator to keep it cold.

As I head toward the kitchen with the Pepsi,
a vase of flowers on the counter
catches my eye — they need water.

I put the Pepsi on the counter and
discover my reading glasses that
I’ve been searching for all morning.

I decide I’d better put them back on my desk,
but first I’m going to water the flowers.

I set the glasses back down on the counter,
fill a container with water, and suddenly spot the TV remote.
Someone left it on the kitchen table.

I realize that tonight, when we go to watch TV,
I’ll be looking for the remote,
but I won’t remember that it’s on the kitchen table,
so I decide to put it back in the den where it belongs.
But first I’ll water the flowers.

I pour some water on the flowers,
but quite a bit of it spills on the floor.

So, I set the remote back on the table,
get some towels, and wipe up the spill.

Then, I head down the hall, trying to
remember what I was planning to do.

At the end of the day:

The car isn’t washed.
The bills aren’t paid.
There is a warm can of Pepsi sitting on the counter.
The flowers don’t have enough water.
There is still only one check in my check book.
I can’t find the remote.
I can’t find my glasses,
and I don’t remember what I did with the car keys.
Then, when I try to figure out why nothing got done today,
I’m really baffled, because I know I was busy all day,
and I’m really tired.

I realize this is a serious problem,
and I’ll try to get some help for it,
but first, I’ll check my e-mail….

Anyone struggle with this?!

How do you rest?

I’ve been giving a lot of thought to ‘rest‘ lately. You know, taking some time out, having a day off, slowing down, chilling out, etc.

I want to explore this some more in future blog posts but, as part of this focus, I wanted to generate some conversation about this first.

Something I’m pretty convinced of is that rest looks different for each of us. For me, being around lots of people is not at all restful. For my wife Rachel though, so is so energised and refreshed being around others.

For one person, reading my be restful. And for another, climbing up a mountain may just be the restful tonic they need.

So, here’s the question. What do you find restful? How do you like to rest when you get the chance?

What do you think?

Social techiquette

Technology isn’t new. Every generation sees new technology emerge. Interestingly, as we progress forward, we stop even seeing things as being technology. They are just part of life.

Today we think of the internet, mobile phones, and iPod’s as technology. But we’re so familiar with the telephone, television, and washing machines that we don’t think of them as anything else but normal.

When something is fully integrated into life, we no longer thing of it as technology.

It is fascinating watching people sometime argue against technology whilst failing to comprehend all the technology they utilise day in, day out in their life.

Whenever something new comes onto the scene, one of the challenges is working through the appropriate etiquette. Getting the bus into work every day, it amazes me to see the percentage of people who have ear phones in listening to their personal music player.

The dynamics of people flowing to and fro in city life has fundamentally changed. We are now isolated individuals moving about largely insulated from the people around us. We are locked into our own worlds.

Couple this with the rise of social networking sites, and there is less and less personal face-to-face contact with people; particularly people we don’t explicitly know.

The danger this presents is that we become increasingly rude to the strangers who cross our paths. We behave with less and less humanity. People become less personal.

Not that I am anti-technology or think that online social networking is bad. In many ways, some of the richest relationships I have with people have been enhanced with the online, virtual connection.

But the question I was to raise is whether there is - or should be - an appropriate social techiquette for how we interact with other human beings when utilising technology.

Take the iPod. One of the things I made a conscious decision to do was make sure I never speak to someone with my earphones in. When I get on and off the bus and communicate with the driver, I always take the earphones out. I do the same when waiting in line for a sandwich at lunch.

I guess, to me at least, that is just good manners. There’s a time and place for being lost in my own world, enjoying my music. But it’s also still important for me to connect, and engage with the people around me.

That’s just one example. What do you think? What would be appropriate social techiquette for us all to use to make sure we stay connected to the real world around us?

When facts don’t matter

What do you do if you’re a person who values facts, truth, honesty, and integrity but none of that seems to matter?

The ‘best’ singer doesn’t always win X Factor or American Idol. The ‘best’ movie doesn’t get the plaudits or awards that it should do. The ‘best’ political party doesn’t win the election.

Me and my wife Rachel got really into the recent BBC series ‘Last Choir Standing’. We loved a brilliant gospel choir called ‘Revelation’. Every week we hoped that they’d win. They made it to the final but were then knocked out, coming in third behind two welsh choirs.

This really frustrated me. The welsh and scottish performers in shows like these always overachieve. And not because they’re better; but because they’re welsh. (I know, that’s not always the case, but it is often.)

The welsh and scots are a lot more patriotic than the english and will simply vote for their nationality, regardless of how good they are. In other words, how good the person is becomes irrelevant. Whether they are better or not doesn’t matter.

I may feel like I have the moral high ground, but what difference does that matter? My choir/singer/film/party didn’t win.

Something that I am slowly coming to terms with is that, whilst I am someone for whom facts do matter, a larger percentage of people really aren’t that moved by facts. That’s not a criticism necessarily, simply an observation of reality.

And, if I’m honest, I’m not solely moved by facts. We can’t always explain why we like one singer over another or one political candidate over another. It’s a gut thing. We just like them. We may call ourselves rational but we’re actually rationalizing our gut reaction.

Take the American presidential election. John McCain has suddenly wrested control of the agenda and possibly the election. Why? Because people are suddenly buying into his economic or foreign policy? No. Not all all. They just are. It’s a gut thing. Sarah Palin has connected with a core group in America, appealed to their gut, their emotional ties.

Barack Obama did the same thing. He appealed to people on a gut level and not a frontal lobe level. They just liked him. He was a breath of fresh air. And yes, of course, for many it ties in hugely with what he stands for, but the truth of the matter is that people being drawn to Obama wasn’t entirely a rational thing.

For Obama now, if he wants to stay in contention come November, he needs to connect with people on that gut level again. Facts and being right won’t get him elected. It may be sad to have to say that, but it does seem to be the truth.

How should we respond to this reality that facts don’t seem to count for much? What does this say about us? Is it a good or a bad thing that people are moved emotionally rather than rationally? If this is just how it is, how should that reality be used in a positive way?

What do you think?

Back where you started

Have you ever embarked on a journey into the unknown to leave your present circumstances behind, only, before long, to find yourself right back where you started?

You head off into a new future, leaving the past behind. You’ve reached desperation point and you’ve simply had to make a move. New job. New city. New partner. New anything.

At first it all seems fantastic. Life is fresh. Circumstances seem so much better. You’re no longer around those people who annoyed you so much. There’s no boredom from driving down the same city streets on route to work. Everything is perfect.

And then it isn’t. The dream starts to become a reality. The people conflicts you’d fled from find new life with the new people in your life. The new city isn’t perfect after all. Work is still work wherever you are.

Before you know it either circumstances or choices slowly (or sometimes rapidly) lead you ‘home’.

The wonderful thing is that back ‘home’ everything is better. The problems which before seemed insurmountable now feel manageable. People who were grating are enjoyable again. Your city feels like your city again.

But nothing fundamentally has changed. Nothing that is except you.

What do you think?

Mental blocks - why Andy Murray lost

I knew Andy Murray would lose the US Open Final. I’m not a prophet or psychic or anything. I just knew. How? Because he had already won his final. Beating Rafa Nadal was a huge mental breakthrough having lost each of their previous contests.

This is the classic sporting situation. It happens in most sports. Teams beat opposition that they should never have beaten only to surrender meekly in the following round.

For whatever reason, many sportsmen and teams suffer from this mental block. They have a major - and perhaps unlikely victory - only to then struggle in the next round.

Here’s why I think this is. It’s because they don’t have high enough expectations. Their goal is not winning the competition (no matter what they say otherwise); it is winning the immediate contest.

It is not the goals that you say out loud that count; it is the goals we truly believe deep down that define us. Andy Murray will have looked at the draw, seen he had to face Rafa Nadal in the semi-final, and known immediately and that was THE match of the competition.

Sure he will have dreamt of winning the whole thing. And, of course, he said he believed he could win it. But as soon as beating Nadal became THE match, the competition was lost.

Of course, next time round, facing Nadal is a totally different proposition. This makes his future chances of success in a major tennis tournament far more likely.

This all leads to some interesting questions for the rest of us. Whilst it’s unlikely we’ll face circumstances quite like Andy Murray, we do all have goals and ambitions which each have coinciding obstacles. What are the mental blocks we may have holding us back from getting to where we want to get?

What do you think?