Five thoughts, ideas, insights, or quotes to power up your mind to think differently and creatively about life and who we are. Put all previous thinking away and open up a brand new world of the supermind. YOUR SuperMind.
This week – death.
If there is one thing guaranteed for all of us on this planet, it’s that we will die. No-one leaves the Earth alive. Now that should make us appreciate life. But no. It’s the very opposite as most people are bothered about, and plain scared of death. So, this week on SuperMind Saturday let’s take a mental look at the grim reaper’s end game.
- The author Mark Twain said, ‘The fear of death follows from the fear of life’. He suggests that we are scared to die because we haven’t done enough with our life. Is death, then, merely a fear of having not lived sufficiently or meaningfully?
- Thought – maybe we are not so scared of dying but HOW we will die. That the reason for our death is horrible or painful with suffering and not simply just slipping away at an old age.
- If there was no death perhaps we would all go mad as life just doesn’t stop, there is no end point. We might not be able to take situations that just go on forever. Could death actually be a means to encourage us to love, create, connect, give and the like as we only have a finite time?
- We have birthdays to mark the start of life and celebrate them every year. But the day someone dies is more sombre. Why can’t we have a yearly commemoration day on the day they passed away to equally celebrate them being in our lives and who they were? What are your thoughts?
- Death, the final curtain. And so it all ends. That is the popular view. But that view and the word death conjures up all manner of dread. As we can’t alter this ultimate outcome for all of us wouldn’t it be better to promote another word that defines when our mortal life ceases. What word would be more calming and less panicky that we could all use instead in death’s place?
That’s it this week my friends. Thank you for being here for the Saturday SuperMind time. Keep asking yourself these through the week to open up more of your mind to evolve its untapped power. Consider more, reflect more, think more, activate your connection to your personal mind more. Let’s work the SuperMInd and Super Think!
See you next time for more super thinking.
Have you ever said that famous phrase about chance and luck?
You know the one when you hear about a big lottery jackpot going begging this week? Or that some downright gorgeous celebrity is single again and looking for a partner?
As soon as you hear about either you say the immortal words, ‘Chance would be a fine thing’. A kind of spell wishing it could happen to you because, well chances are, it won’t. Nor ever will.
Or will it???
Alistair from Bishopbriggs near Glasgow was elated to welcome his new baby and first child with his wife Sally-Anne on what was a very special day. It was special because that day was Christmas Day. And what made it even more super special was that the couple’s surname WAS Christmas. What are the chances of that? A baby for Mr and Mrs Christmas on Christmas Day itself?
Well, the odds of that happening were calculated at over 3 million to one and as such the story made the BBC national Christmas night news that evening in the UK in 1993.
That’s how chance works. It exists everywhere all the time but we are so focused on the odds of some random or amazing event even existing at all, we dismiss it as weird, a freak, or unrepeatable. Yet chance turns up again and again if you start looking for it.
Getting in the swing.
Fancy a round of golf? If you do, like most golfers you would dream of hitting a hole in one. The chances of that are around 12,500 to 1. Or in other terms, you would have to play every single day for over 34 years to be in with a chance of sinking one. The odds seem stacked against you. So just imagine being a pro and competing against the toughest courses and opponents each week.
Not a problem for English golfer Dale Whitnell who this February hit not just one, but two, hole in ones in the SAME round at The South African Open in Durban. He had never previously achieved a single hole in one in all his life until that point.
The combined odds of this feat according to the National Hole-In-One Registry? Wait for it! 67Million to One. And yet it happened. Chance would be a fine thing hey!!
Call it serendipity. Call it a fluke. Call it a stroke of luck. Call it the law of averages that it would happen one day. Call it what you like but the chances of anything happening increases because there are those who are prepared to believe and try. And that’s where most of ALL of the inventions ever created by humans on this planet from the motor car to the mobile phone to cures for disease have originated from.
Studies have shown that the calculated chance of landing a man on the Moon back in the early 60’s was a minute 0.0017%. Yet it was achieved in under a decade because President Kennedy believed it was possible. In turn NASA minds, previously convinced it could never be achieved, set about super thinking to make that belief come true. As you know, it sure did. And guess what? They even played golf up there!!!
Chances are, you see, that what we CAN do far outweighs anything we can’t. If you believe enough, and turn your mind to it, YOUR moon is in reach too. If you chance it, that is.
Then chance would be a very fine thing indeed!!
There is a well known wisdom about belief and proof.
It says that ‘For those who believe, no proof is necessary. For those who don’t believe, no proof is possible’.
That is quite true. Belief and its resulting proof is a personal thing. What one person sees as clear and obvious proof, another can’t recognise or accept at all. Beauty may be in the eye of the beholder, but proof is in the mind of the believer.
A little example to reflect this.
In my years of writing I have read countless books, blogs, social media posts etc and have come across the concept of CANI a number of times. CANI is short for Constant And Neverending Improvement. The ideology behind it is that we can and should always be looking to improve, get better, evolve key areas of our life and self through slight but ongoing measurable steps in advancement. In short, never stop working, trying, pushing to upgrade.
But also on my radar over the years was another concept – IKIGAI. This is a Japanese term which means ‘reason for living’. Its basis is to find a personal passion, often simple in nature, that delivers purpose and joy. It teaches about going within to find the core fundamentals of yourself.
CANI – keep developing and seeking improvement.
IKIGAI – discover what makes you feel alive and just enjoy it.
Two belief systems advocating different directives for living.
Who is right, who is wrong?
Both of the above have fans and devotees. Both could cite, quite rightly, proof that their system by which to live is the way for us all to live. This would be held up by the sheer number of others who agree with the principles and show that they happily/successfully live by them (likes/shares/follows/comments).
Now this is not hard in our modern world. With a 24 hours, 365 days per year, permanent internet available around the globe with social media pages and groups on almost any subject, it’s never difficult to connect with enough others interested in the same subject as you.
I undertook a very brief experiment while writing this blog post – in the space of 10 minutes I came across groups and communities who believed that Elvis Presley is still alive. there is a Loch Ness Monster, the best dogs are Dachshunds, starvation diets are good for health, that NASA are working with aliens, and all manner of religious denominations and conspiracy theories, all with thousands of fans and more. All who could equally argue that this ‘proves’ their belief is correct.
So, who is right and who is wrong?
Well if there is one truth it’s the paradox that there isn’t one truth. There are many. And the ones we each individually believe and live by are personal to us even if a few other humans on the planet get that too. They aren’t right anymore than you are wrong if you believe otherwise.
The real right and wrong would be to believe that finding examples of what you believe anywhere means the proof is out there. It’s right as a human to feel you are not alone in believing what you do. It’s wrong (in my view) to search for so called proof to make yourself feel better about it, or to prove others wrong.
What you believe, you believe, and that’s it. And I believe it’s everyone right to be able to think that way too.
But, you don’t have to believe me, do you???
Five thoughts, ideas, insights, or quotes to power up your mind to think differently and creatively about life and who we are. Put all previous thinking away and open up a brand new world of the supermind. YOUR SuperMind.
This week – happiness.
If you ask most people what they really want in life, most will reply to be happy. But what does that mean? Happiness seems to be elusive one minute, fleeting the next. How can we create or feel more lasting happiness? This week then put your SuperMind Thinking to use about happiness and perhaps question yourself about it too.
- How do you define happiness? It’s personal from one soul to the next. Yet many people cite safety, security, health etc as chief among reasons to be happy. What 5 standards do you believe would be the best overall measures for people on the whole for happiness?
- For us to be able to ever be happy we need to consider where happiness comes from and how it starts to begin with. Where do you believe happiness starts in the first place?
- In the modern global and social media world people want to have more and more, to be like others above them, to be a somebody and look the part. So, this week’s big question. At what point in life does happiness stop and greed and need take its place?
- Quote – Eleanor Roosevelt said, ‘Happiness is not a goal, it’s a by-product’. I like this, happiness comes from something else, it appears. What causes happiness to show up in our lives as a result of it?
- Thought – what if happiness is simply NOT important and overrated by people in general? If you agree maybe you can work out what the main attribute in life that is and is far greater in importance than happiness. That’s got to be a big answer!
Ok, SuperMInds, thank you for being here for the Saturday SuperMind time. Keep asking yourself these through the week to open up more of your mind to evolve its untapped power. Consider more, reflect more, think more, activate your connection to your personal mind more. Let’s work the SuperMInd and Super Think!
See you next time for more super thinking.
Do you ever just stop and watch people?
You know, grab a coffee or a bench to sit down on and watch people go by?
This simple activity as the world hurtles by around you will teach you a myriad of things and, most telling of all, reveal amazing insights and ideas on what humans do, what they might need to do or why they are doing what they are, and show you what no-one else has spotted that can lead to huge success.
In the 1930’s famous Hollywood producer Hal Roach, who discovered Laurel and Hardy and Harold Lloyd, began to experience a downfall in his affairs. Times had changed, the old stars were no longer pulling in the big audiences or had retired. He badly needed another hit act or angle to boost his fortunes.
One day while sitting and contemplating his next move he was drawn to a group of young children. He watched in both mirth and admiration at how they conjured up games, pretended to be other people, fought, fell down, rolled over and got right back up again, and played and laughed. They were completely unaware of the world around them as they were so immersed in their own playful version.
He realised that just as he too laughed and got lost in their antics, the public themselves would do the very same. A new brand of entertainment was born as he formed Our Gang, a bunch of young previously non-acting children, who he featured in short films and ten minute storylines. It was a roaring success.
When he was stuck – people watching showed him something that lit a lightbulb in his mind.
Free Lightbulb Moments.
The Lightbulb moment – the ‘Aha’ realisation of an answer to a problem or a big idea that hasn’t existed before. People watching is THE best cause of this.
Witness the Post-It story.
As of today an estimated 50 billion separate Post-It notes have been sold all around the world. But, when the product first started you would never have guessed in a million years that it was going to become the global can’t-do-without home and office companion.
In 1968 Spencer Silver was working at 3M and was tasked a creating a strong adhesive for the aircraft industry. He managed to develop one but it wasn’t robust or powerful enough for further development as a viable product. Spencer knew it had a use somewhere but had no idea where or what that could be.
One Sunday he was at a service as he was a member of the church choir. He had told some members about his work and the organist asked if he could try some of the adhesive to hold his hymn notes in place. Curious, Spencer looked on as the pieces of paper remained perfectly in place to the organists delight. There and then a lightbulb switched on. He saw the use of the adhesive on a smaller note that everyone from teachers to secretaries, journalists to office workers, could benefit from to write reminders or tasks they could stick up without having to file away.
The rest, as they say, is history.
Become A People Watcher.
As you can see, these two hugely lucrative ideas would never have happened if a) there wasn’t a problem in the first place to solve and b) Hal and Spencer hadn’t engaged in some people watching to follow.
People are the market. We are the clues and the solutions in one. How we live, move, travel, interact, communicate etc etc gives hints to what we need, are missing, could do with help with, would benefit from, and could damn well enjoy for whatever reason.
Flying about at breakneck speeds in cars, trains, and planes will never show you that.
But chill it down and commit to being a people watcher, in time (and maybe a very short time), you are going to be shown EXACTLY what people’s lives are missing that you have just been given the answer to. It’s all right there in front of your eyes.
And the great thing is there is a never ending supply of people to inspire you. It’s the gift that keeps on giving.
People watching – the No.1 free success key.
