surprise!

I wonder I wonder what you would do if you had the power to have anything that you wanted.

A new iPhone -- the new iPhone 8 -- and with just a touch of the buttons you could order anything you wanted. And so, with this amazing new piece of technology, you could design for yourself the most ecstatic and perfect life. The perfect job. The perfect partner. Perfect weather every day. Perfect home with everything just perfect inside.

Imagine now that you do have this power; the power to create your perfect world. What then ... ?

Methinks that after a few months of 'living perfection', your perfect life would start to feel a little less perfect. A little stale and stilted. Somewhat predictable. Not as interesting. Kinda boring.

No funny jokes for a start. Why do you laugh at a joke? Because of the surprise. If you knew the surprise -- and you would if you were God -- you wouldn't laugh at the joke.

Which is why the new iPhone 8 would eventually have to invent a button that says SURPRISE!

Because as the same things start happening over and over again, you'll acquire a strong taste for something different. Something that you haven't planned + placed into the perfect days and moments of your perfect world. Something that's a little more surprising. Something new that just has to break out. Something that comes at you from around the corner, and you have no idea it's even there until it hits you.

Surprise!

I'm alive!

no guarantees given

If you want guarantees in your life, then you don't want life -- you want rehearsals for a script that's already been written.

Life, by its very nature, cannot have guarantees, or its whole purpose is thwarted.

So why not begin your adventure by reversing the thought-word-act paradigm we all adhere to.

Remember the old adage, "Think before you act"? Well fuck it.

If you want to change a root thought, and stop living a life of guaranteed, predictable outcomes, you need to start acting BEFORE you think.

the power of YOU

Your attitude has the power of shaping your reality in two opposite directions.

1. one that constricts and corners you in with fear.

2. the other that opens up possibilities and freedom.

If you are able to embrace the second option by overcoming your anxieties, and forging a fearless attitude towards life, something strange and remarkable occurs = your margin of control over circumstances increases.

People who practice the second option in their lives share certain qualities. Supreme boldness. Unconventionality. Fluidity. And a sense of urgency. This gives them a unique ability to shape circumstance, to create their world, and to change THE world.

the game of life

Life is a game where people will constantly attack you.

One of their main weapons will be to instill in you doubts about yourself -- your worth, your abilities, and your potential. They will often disguise this as an objective opinion, but invariably it has a deeper purpose = they want to keep you down.

In every moment of life you can defy and deny people this power. To do this first know and then keep focusing on your sense of purpose -- the high destiny that you are fulfilling. From this position other people's attacks do not only not harm you, they make you more determined.

The higher your self-image and the clearer your purpose, the fewer judgements and manipulations you will tolerate, and the more you don't give a fuck when others try to keep you down.

a foundation laid with dreams

The fools in life want things fast and easy -- money, success, attention.

Boredom is their great enemy and FEAR. Whatever they manage to get slips through their hands like a slippery fish.

You, on the other hand, want to outlast your rivals. You are building the foundation for something that will continue to grow and expand.

To make this happen you'll need to serve a sort of apprenticeship. Learn early on to endure the hours of practice and drudgery, knowing that in the end you will reach the ultimate skill level, and that all of your time and effort will translate into a higher pleasure = you get to be the master of your craft, as well as your self.

To quote from Charlie Parker: "Master the instrument, master the music, then forget all that shit and play".

highlights from my talk at Soul Sessions ...

Brand You - Richard Sauerman from Soul Sessions on Vimeo.

the story of our lives ...

We come into this world with the only real possessions that ever matter:

-- our body

-- our energy

-- our thoughts and ideas

-- our autonomy; and

-- the time to live our life

And then, as the years pass by, we give all of this away. We get endlessly caught up in other people's games and battles, wasting energy and time that we will never get back.

We come to respect our own ideas less and less, preferring instead to listen to experts and conforming to conventional opinions.

And so, without even realising it, we squander our autonomy, and give away everything that makes us a creative and unique individual.

as old as your fear

You are as young as your faith,
as old as your doubt;
as young as your self-confidence,
as old as your fear;
as young as your hope,
as old as your despair.

When the wires are all down
and all the innermost core of your heart
is covered with the snows of pessimism
and the ice of cynicism,
then you are grown old indeed.



-- Samuel Ullman

the tinge of doubt ...

I am the faceless

the nameless

the timeless

the ageless ...

I am the tinge of doubt in the back of your mind,

the panic attack waiting around the corner,

the bomb, just waiting to drop on your world ...

I am fantasy,

reality,

and insanity

I am fear

[click on image to enlarge]

the greatest fear ...

Methinks the greatest fear we have is being ourselves. We want to be like everyone else, and we do what everyone else does -- even if it doesn't fit where and who you are.

You get nowhere that way. Your energy is weak and nobody pays attention to you. Because you're running away from the one thing that you own = WHAT MAKES YOU DIFFERENT AND UNIQUE.

Lose that fear, and you will feel the power you have by showing the world you don't care for being like other people. Lose that fear, and you will never go back.