Positivity And Energy

Have you ever seen an energetic depressed person? No? That's because it's easier to have a positive outlook on life when we have energy than when we don't. When we're tired, the negative thoughts are harder to push aside and it's therefor important for us to eat right, exercise and get plenty of sleep in order for us to have enough strength to push negativity away.

Lets Be More Like Elephants?

I was wondering why humans were the only known mammals who developed intelligence since we don't have the biggest brain - Elephants do. It turns out that elephants are more intelligent than I had given them credit for and are also altruistic animals. I came across this from Wikipedia that shows their, sometimes, good side.

"Elephants are thought to be highly altruistic animals that even aid other species, including humans, in distress. In India, an elephant was helping locals lift logs by following a truck and placing the logs in pre-dug holes upon instruction from the mahout (elephant trainer). At a certain hole, the elephant refused to lower the log. The mahout came to investigate the hold-up and noticed a dog sleeping in the hole. The elephant only lowered the log when the dog was gone. When an elephant is hurt, other elephants (even if they are unrelated) aid them.

Cynthia Moss has often seen elephants going out of their way to avoid hurting or killing a human, even when it was difficult for them (such as having to walk backwards to avoid a person). Joyce Poole documented an encounter told to her by Colin Francombe on Kuki Gallman's Laikipia Ranch. A ranch herder was out on his own with camels when he came across a family of elephants. The matriarch charged at him and knocked him over with her trunk, breaking one of his legs. In the evening, when he did not return, a search party was sent in a truck to find him. When the party discovered him, he was being guarded by an elephant. The animal charged the truck, so they shot over her and scared her away. The herdsman later told them that when he could not stand up, the elephant used her trunk to lift him under the shade of a tree. She guarded him for the day and would gently touch him with her trunk."

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elephant_cognition

If the above is true then elephants do have a degree of intelligence in them but why hasn't it developed like ours? Some scientist believe that the brain has to a certain size in order for it to develop to the degree of intelligence we have. It's an interesting thought for sure but one that doesn't quite satisfy me...

Buy Experiences Not Things

It is better to buy experiences than to buy things. The experiences we have is what help shape the person we are and things like electronics, furniture, clothes (...) don't have the same emotional impact as climbing a mountain or going to watch a hockey at the arena.
It is more exciting to talk to a friend about our water park adventure than it is to talk about our latest gadget we bought. The excitement of that new gadget will eventually die out but not the excitement we felt during our adventures.

It's what we go through that defines who we are, not what we buy. So if you're one of those who can't decide between going to Hawaii or a new T.V. set - go to Hawaii! You will grow from the experience and remember it for the rest of your life!

The Most Powerful Thought I Ever Read

“Today we come across an individual who behaves like an automaton, who does not know or understand himself, and the only person that he knows is the person that he is supposed to be, whose meaningless chatter has replaced communicative speech, whose synthetic smile has replace genuine laughter, and whose sense of dull despair has taken the place of genuine pain. Two statements may be said concerning this individual. One is that he suffers from defects of spontaneity and individuality, which may seem to be incurable. At the same time it may be said of him he does not differ essentially from the millions of the rest of us who walk upon this earth.” -Erich Fromm

The above is the most powerful statement I ever read. I Have worked in the corporate world for almost a decade now and I had first row seats to what Erich Fromm is describing here. People have become but machines to "do" without much thinking.
It's a constant fight not to fall into this trap and to be just another mindless drone.

Keep reading, keep being different!

Be Mindful of Your Association

“We are the average of the five people we spend the most time with.” –Jim Rohn

Income, the way we think, how we live ... etc is, in most cases, very similar to that of our 5 closest friends. Therefor we want to change our life situation, changing some of our associations would be a great place to start. It is important for us to find and rub shoulders with people who have the result that we want so that we, too, can have those results.

In other words, if we want to be financially free; we'll have a better chance of making it by associating with someone who has achieved this than someone who hasn't.

Be mindful of your associations - they're part responsible for the results in your life.

*This post can also be found on Men 2.0