My last post seems to have prompted lots of comments — and I’m glad, thank you. Corporate sociopathy is a major subject and one that I intend to continue exploring in my professional career. I shall let you know how I progress!
In the meantime, this week I am encouraged to write about something else. Well, on the surface it may appear to be a different subject”¦ then again, it’s to do with choice and action. It’s also to do with responsibility — making a stand, whatever that may mean.
I’ve titled this post “Thinking Like A Jedi” because I’d like to share with you something I call The Starwars Theory. Most people I talk to about this have at some point come across the film — even if they haven’t watched it, they’ll certainly have heard about it and usually have some knowledge of the characters. Any exceptions to the rule quickly seem to get the point in any case, so I thought it would be safe to talk about it here!
Yoda says”¦
There is a particular scene that centres around Yoda and Luke Skywalker. Yoda is a master Jedi, and he is intent on passing on his skills to the young Luke. In the swamp, Yoda teaches his student how to move rocks and stones with the power of his mind. Luke struggles as first but then manages to do it. Yoda tells him to use the same powers to free his spacecraft, which had crashed and sunk in to the swamp.
“Moving stones around is one thing, master, but moving a spaceship? That’s something completely different!” he protests.
“It is only different in your mind. You must unlearn what you have learned” replies Yoda.
“Alright” says Luke “I’ll give it a try!”
“No!” Yoda instructs “No try! Do or do not, there is no try!”
Skywalker gives it his best shot, but despite his efforts there is no sign of the spaceship. Yoda then takes over, using “the force” exactly as he had asked Luke. The spaceship rises up out of the swamp. Luke, clearly surprised by the result turns to Yoda
“I don’t believe it!” he exclaims, prompting Yoda’s famous response
“That is why you fail”
For anybody who is interested, you there are plenty of Yoda scenes and sayings posted on Youtube.
Fluffy Focus
So what does all this mean? I know it’s only a film, but for me, that way of thinking has always been hugely important — and has become even more valuable over the past couple of years let me assure you! In my opinion, the point is that there is absolutely no basis in ”˜trying’ to do anything at all. It’s very easy to say “I’ll try” to anything at all — but, in my opinion, it means nothing whatsoever. It’s about making a decision and a commitment — to yourself and/or to another person. The ”˜try’ word is usually just that — a word. It negates the necessity for action. It’s a fluffy word that results in fluffy focus and fluffy results. A non-word, a non-decision, a non-commitment — heck, surely it becomes non-existent”¦ doesn’t it?
I was fascinated to overhear a typically fluffy exchange between two people as I was waiting at a train station. I gathered that this pair were teachers, and they had been talking about organising a new project within the school. They’d clearly made some degree of progress, and they agreed they’d talk more about it tomorrow”¦ or did they? This was how the conversation went:
“Thanks, I’ll try to give you a call tomorrow and we can discuss more options”
“Great, yes, ok, I’ll try to make sure I’m around, and if I don’t hear from you I’ll try to give you a call”
“Okay then, let’s try to get together tomorrow. I’ll hope to see you then!”
They parted with a smile and a wave — but were they really going to achieve what they said they wanted to do? I don’t know, but I’d be willing to take a guess. I do know that I couldn’t help giggling to myself at yet another example of the vague promises and commitments that people give to each other on a daily basis — no wonder so many of us wander around lacking direction and inspiration!
For me, this life is all about recognising and using our own power — for ourselves and also for the good of others. The first job is to become happy with who and what we are”¦ then, and only then, can we really offer support or guidance to others. In any case, that’s my opinion and experience — and I can promise you it’s a lesson I’m constantly revising and developing! One class didn’t seem to do the job for me — neither did the homework or experiential workshop sessions. Nope, as I’ve said before, until relatively recently, I was perfectly happy to carry on giving and supporting others without a second thought about myself. Doh!
That way of being has changed for me — and is continuing to develop on a daily basis. It started with awareness, and continues to be built through intention and commitment to follow through.
Mind Over Matter
I believe that everything starts with an idea, or a thought if you like, which is then followed up by a decision. Talk can indeed be cheap, and ”˜trying’ to do or be something is one thing — but doing or not doing is something completely different. It’s a commitment. My friend Judi made me chuckle last night. We were talking about weight loss (she has lost a staggering amount of weight since the beginning of this year) because of a comment made by somebody who hadn’t seen her in many months.
“You look amazing!” this lady had exclaimed on seeing Judi walking towards her “How on earth did you do it?”
“A personal decision and direct help from a nutritionalist” smiled Judi “and lots of positive thinking. It’s all mind over matter you know!”
“Yes, I’ve been thinking about losing weight, but it’s so hard” replied the other lady “I tried for a while last year and lost 4kg (about 10lbs) but it’s all gone back on again. Oh well, maybe one day eh?”
Is it really any wonder that this particular lady had not made any real progress? I think not! She’d “tried for a while” which is fluffy enough by itself, but add to that an underlying belief that it is difficult to lose weight”¦ well, it was never going to happen was it?
This kind of ”˜non-action’ I believe is part of the problem in the world we live in today. I don’t actually believe it’s deliberate — at least, not for the vast majority. The thing is, though, we’ve become brainwashed in to forgetting that we have power. It’s become normal to say “I’ll try” and to expect to fail “I told you so” “What’s the point?” “It’s useless trying” And it’s this kind of apathy that subconsciously invites manipulation and control. Think about the corporates — if the staff believe there’s nothing they can do, well, guess what? They’re right. On the other hand, when they start to wake up and realise that they can do more than they were thinking — just by changing their thoughts in the first place”¦ well, then that’s when we start to get results. And that is very much along the lines I use when working with teams and individuals. It’s about reclaiming the power that is already within us, and then deciding what to do with it.
Pick Up That Lightsaber!
It’s like the many inspirational people who have overcome all manner of challenges and hardships to make something of themselves. I absolutely love real-life stories like these. They encourage the positive “me too” type of thinking that I adore. One of my friends is best-selling author Eileen Munro (“As I Lay Me Down To Sleep” and “If I Should Die Before I Wake”) Now there is a lady who has used Jedi thinking to get her through an incredibly tough and relentless set of challenges! Whenever I start to think I might be having a tough time, all I have to do is dip back in to her book and it puts everything in to perspective. Eileen, you see, refuses to give up or give in — and her relentless positive movement forward is an inspiration.
So far as I’m concerned, no matter our particular circumstances we all have the power to think like a Jedi”¦. There is no try, there is only do or do not. It’s a clear matter of choice. Once that choice is made, then you can pick up your lightsaber and prepare to make things happen. People tend to laugh when I point out that if you take the word JEDI and you imagine that the bottom line of the “E” could, with a little bit of imagination, represent a lightsaber (well, okay, a lot of imagination!) you could imagine picking it up ready for action. Having picked it up, the word JEDI changes to one of my favourite acronyms — JFDI which, as many will already know stands for Just Flippin Do It!! (There are other F-word options, of course, depending on your preference)
In conclusion, I am calling out for more of us to think like a JEDI. Forget ”˜try’ and instead think only in terms of do or do not. And in doing so, remember to believe that a positive result is the outcome — because that’s what is going to make the difference.
So, come on, let’s get clear in our intentions, make a commitment, pick up our proverbial Lightsabre and do it.
Dear Darwinsmom,
I think you handled that girl VERY WELL. She was trying to “make”” you “accept her apology” like NOTHING HAD HAPPENED…but something DID happen–she behaved inappropriately and violated your boundaries and there SHOULD BE consequences…and just “saying sorry” is not enough. She needs to CHANGE HER BEHAVIOR not just “say sorry” and everything goes away.
Too many times kids are led to believe that “saying sorry” is ALL they need to do and then things go on as if NOTHING HAD HAPPENED and that is NOT the way life is, and they need to know that.
A teacher is supposed to set boundaries of what will and will NOT be tolerated in the class room, and ORDER is one of those things that MUST be maintained in order for learning to take place. If kids repeatedly violate those boundaries and cause DIS-ORDER they should be sent from the room to the principal’s office.
Good job with the girl.
Thank you Oxy,
That’s exactly how I felt, as if she wanted to make me accept her apology. And it felt as if she did it like a scapegoat. In the past I would have felt guilty for not accepting her apology, for still feeling upset. This time I didn’t. I felt upset, I told her so honestly and maintained that it was not the right moment for an apology for me and that she should back off.
I did not want to send her off to the principal though… it would have been another power play. Besides she was not the only one disrupting class several times. I just told them all that I could not be expected to put in my voice, my concentration and my time in them if they remained talkative, so they could do the task on their own instead and get a grade for it as if it was a test. And it gave me room to disengage of the power play and be a coach to them when they had questions.
She understood my message though, because she did the task and so did the others. So, yes, she changed her behaviour first.
What I’m also starting to realize is that with the routines and the preparing I’ve done I’m not beating myself up. I didn’t know I was doing it before, but now that I don’t, I realize I did for years. When I don’t get everything done, I know it’s not out of lack of doing. But good health, low stress, a low level of resentment are my foremost priority. Thursday I didn’t do all of the routines I have planned myself to do with babysteps so far. I dropped them because I needed all my leftover energy for the preparation of the next day, and it’s one of the reasons I was upset during that class. I had dropped a priority of mine for the kids and then they made it impossible to execute it the way I had planned. I resented that.
Of course I should be prepared earlier, but that was not realistic with being just 1 week in. I have a week off now, so I can prepare better. But next time, if I get in such an organisational jam again, I know it’s better to choose for my routines. I’ll still have time to prepare then, though not for a ‘perfect lesson’. But I’ll feel better in the long run.
Darwinsmom, I also think that making the kids do the answers themselves and it counting as a test showed that you are in control and that their bad behavior would cost THEM…
If the group of kids is misbehaving and feeding on each other, you may have to send the most rowdy to the principal’s office as an “example” but in order to TEACH you must first have control of the class’s behavior and have ORDER and attention.
Sending the most rowdy to the principal was what I did the previous week. Heck, he even sent a kid home of another class on my first day for acting out in my class. But after his jump start support, I felt that yesterday I could show them I could control the class without him as well.
Darwin’smom,
WOW! Sounds like a very rowdy bunch of kids….some of the schools here are like that, the kids just don’t value learning or order…but the schools where my living history group does programs are usually very well behaved middle schools 5th and 6th graders. Some of the 15-16 year old groups we have done programs for though are HORRID! Don’t care about the programs, just playing grab-arse with each other. Of course we can’t discipline them at all as we are just there to do a program….
D’s mom,
I have been known however to STOP the program and just stand there silently STARING AT the one(s) acting out and I have, I have been told, a VERY PENETRATING STARE, and when the ones acting out “notice” that there is nothing going on, I just say “when you are ready to listen we will continue the program.” I’m prepared to stand there silently until the NEXT GROUP is brought around and those kids are moved to the next demonstration. I haven’t had that happen, but if it did, I would just stand there and HOPE that the teachers who ARE in charge of order would call the kids down. I’m not sure I can embarrass the kids, but hopefully, at least embarrass the teachers enough for them to do something.
Nah, they’re not a very rowdy bunch. The principal is just very strict. I’m actually working in a HS in a neigbourhood in Brussels that usually makes the news for crime and such. But they are some of the most behaved kids I’ve had in years, except for the few that are just trying, testing boundaries… what goes and what does not go. The kids in my previous school were rowdier, and pulled practical pranks, because they knew they could get away with it. Just complain with the principal and the spotlight would be on me. Ugh. I used to like her… now I wonder why at all! She left me out in the cold, blamed me for whatever went wrong and then macheted me for the other schools as a bad teacher for the allied schools and demoted me in essence to just go teach arts instead of math (and yup I have a calculus and linear algebra exemption in my physics bachelor).
Just having seen this principal in action, I realize how destructive she was.
PS I do the silence tactic as well.
Darwinsmom ~ I give you all my respect and admiration, I don’t know how teachers do it these days. I volunteer in Grand’s class (5th grade) once a week and by the time I am done, I am ready bang their little heads together. The girls seem worse than the boys.
My mother was a teacher. She taught mentally retarded children most of her career. Some of these kids were quite large and could have violent outbursts. They always called her when a problem came up. She didn’t have the “stare”, she had the “voice”. One “knock it off” or “stop” from her and they would usually freeze in place. She loved them to death, but would not put up with any garbage.
Hi Everyone,
I’ve been so busy lately. I got a new part time job and have spent little time on the internet. I wanted to type up my Halloween story professionally plus add more to it but didn’t have the time so I wrote a condensed version of it and decided to place it under the Star Wars theme as it’s appropriate to my theme. After I wrote and told you all my true story of what my ex-spath husband did to me I was strung out for days.
I was so upset I went out one day to get gas for my car and I kept thinking about what the monster”IT” did to me and I got so into it with bad memories I dropped a 100.00 bill on the ground unconsciously while gassing up the car.
So the monster still got to me after all these years.
Well anyhow here is my condensed Halloween tale. Bear in mind, if I had had the time it would have been longer.
Long, long ago, many milleniums ago when mankind were scare upon the earth the angels came down from heaven to teach and mentor to the humans. The earth at this time resembled something out of Star Wars.
The angels taught men the course of the moon and stars. They taught men the dividing of roots, the making of swords and knives, as well as the deception of human kind.
While on earth, they saw the daughters of men, and saw that they were fair so they took of them wives. The women gave birth to giants or the nephilim as they were called. The nephilim were evil and ruthless. They brought great suffering to human kind and their numbers exceeded many across the earth.
Every religion and race upon the earth has their own name and mythology based upon the nephilim. But according to the Dead Sea Schrolls they came out of Ir of Chaldea. They existed in the days before the Great Flood. After the Great Flood the angels were no longer permitted to visit human-kind nor mate with them for this is against the laws of the Universe.
In ancient Greece the story teller was known as an aoidos. She was often an old woman, widow who went from house to house and she would tell tales to families in order to stay for the night. The family would provide her with room and board.
She would tell tales of the Titans. The Titans were in Greek mythology beings that were part human and part god. This was the Greek version of the nephilim. The nephilim according to the Book of Enoch kidnapped and raped the woman and children and often ate them afterwards.
When you see the villager’s going after the Frankenstein monster in the movies with pitchfork’s this often happened in the pre-flood days with the nephilim. The earth was filled with so much evil from the nephilim the Great Flood happened per order of the gods to rid the earth of them.
One man Noah had the uncanny foresight to know the flood was coming. So he built an ark and survived the flood with his family. Noah could also communicate and talk with the animals.
All the nephilim drowned in the Great Flood. So how did the nephilim gene survive into human kind? What the bible mentions is that the nephilim were sterile and unable to reproduce but what the bible failed to mention was that a select few of the nephilim could produce with a select few of the humans. Only those women who managed to escape the clutches of the nephilim gave birth to “human-like” children. Why do I say human-like? Because by all appearances the children resembled humans in appearance but the souls were that of the nephilim. So these women either gave birth to children with human souls or children with nephilim souls.
Since Noah survived the flood with his family and we are all descendent’s of Noah we all carry the “nephilim gene” as Noah passed this on to us in his DNA.
Many in the Pagan new age community believe Noah was actually “other-kin.” He had the foresight to know the flood was coming and he could communicate with the animals.
“Otherkin” is the Pagan new age term to describe a non-human soul living in a human body. Possibly a “nephilim soul.” So this is how the nephilim gene passed into the human race. Some say it is also responsible for the giant gene and the RH factor. The RH factor is known as “the blood of the gods.”
The Dead Sea Schrolls—–When the Emperor Constantine established the Roman Catholic Church he called all the bishops and church leaders to Rome to put together church doctrine and the bible.
At this time the bible was not one book but composed of many volumes. It was stored in the Great Library in Alexandria, Egypt. At the first council of Nicea it was decided which books would go into the bible. Those that didn’t make the canon were ordered destroyed. The Greek librarian in Alexandria was killed by the emperor’s men trying to protect the library and keeping the books from being destroyed. Among the books burned were the missing books of the bible and the schrolls of Socrates and Plato.
These missing books of the bible became known as the Dead Sea Schrolls.
The Great Library had ancient knowledge going back to the dawn of civilization and was the equivalent of a college university in those days.
All that great knowledge was burned and destroyed.
But what the church didn’t know was that the Coptic Orthodox momks were working 24/7 to copy the manuscripts and store them in large jars inside the caverns of the Dead Sea. There they remained for centuries like a buried time capsule.
So why were they destroyed? Because they spoke of the missing years of Christ and his human-like love for Mary Magdalene. They were also filled with numerous stories of the nephilim and how man descended from the angels. They blame man’s mating with the angels as the fall of man and the original great sin.
The church wanted to control what men believed and if man knew he was descended from the angels he would put himself on the same plateau with God so the books that didn’t make it into the canon were destroyed except the one’s that remained hidden away. The Dead Sea Schrolls were recently discovered in the 1940’s and many folks don’t know what they contain or have no knowledge of them.
Fairy tales——Fairy tales have been given a bad rap in recent times. Many children are no longer exposed to them but in my generation every one knew them. There is always some beast or monster inter-acting with the humans. Another form of the nephilim? Is this the point the Brothers Grim were trying to make? There are valuable lessons to be learned from them.
So what happened to fire breathing dragons, the big bad wolf, the troll under the bridge, the ogre on the mountain, amongst other monsters?
The answer is simple. They became real live breathing humans. And what is the monster’s best defense against the human race? Most mortal folks don’t believe in the bogey-man. Until we accept the fact that real live monster’s live amongst us hiding in human skin we will continue to be plagued by them.
Written by an awakened human.
Well folks, I’m off to work, but here is my story as promised albeit in a shorter version as I intended to write. I look forward to reading your comments later on. The UFO film “Fastwalkers” goes into great detail about the ancient biblical tales of the nephilim and their years upon the earth. I’m off to work will pick up on your comments afterwards.
Joanie123.
Joannie,
it is, I think, uniquely human to need information to be presented in the form of a narrative. Data can overwhelm the senses, so we organize it on an emotional realm to give the important points more emphasis and to make the information more memorable. Someone must’ve realized a long time ago that if you want to remember something, all you have to do is attach emotional significance to it. Works for me!
What these stories tell me is that our ancestors knew that something important was happening when they had contact with spaths. They couldn’t explain it, in the same way you and I can discuss psychopathy, genetics, frontal lobes and child raising. So instead a story was woven which carried the significant aspects of the encounter, along with the necessary dramatic effects to make it memorable. This way the knowledge would be remembered and passed down through generations. Even if it was only a kernel of knowledge, it survived long enough for us, the descendants, to access the information and unlock its significance in our lives.