Post by Alena on Dec 26, 2006 19:55:23 GMT -5
Identity
It is important to know your own identity. Only when you know yourself can you hope to know anyone else.
Part of knowing who you are is whether or not to allow others to know who you are. If you feel that you have nothing to hide and have no need or desire for secrecy, it is very easy. You use one name for yourself, and allow others to use that name. If you know who you are, it doesn't even matter what the name is, and you are defining yourself with that name.
Online, this is an even bigger issue. Here we have many people, all going by different names. This is not necessarily a problem, but often it is, as the name is all we have to go by. We can get to know a person by one name, but suddenly they decide to go by a different name. To them, it is a good decision, and they have a good reason for the new name, but it can be very confusing to others. Suddenly, the person they knew seems to be gone, and there is another in that place. We can figure out easily enough that this new name is really the same person, but it is still confusing.
On the internet, we can choose to go by a name that is completely different from the name given by our parents. This can be a very good thing, as it allows us to decide our own identity a bit more than we are usually used to in real life, as we are known only by our words, and we can choose what parts of ourselves to present. We can, essentially, create an identity that is slightly, or in some cases, radically different than the one we live with in real life.
You must know yourself. But how will you allow others to know you?
by Jedi Archivist Kethrim
All are equal within the Force
In everyday life observing other Jedi groups I feel many forget this. Within the Force everyone is equal. All have a purpose here and ones purpose of being here is no more important than another’s purpose. True Jedi feel the only thing greater then them is the Force. If they think they are better then person X, then they are not true believers and followers of the Force. I see many people that think they are superior to someone else because they contain a wealth of knowledge but what they forget is it is impossible to know everything. The person they are putting themselves superior to also will have great knowledge but in other topics that they don’t possibly understand or even know about. How can you say you are superior to someone else then? You can’t. All bring a certain aspect to life and to the Force and to say one isn’t as important then another is not a believer in the Force and is not living the life of a Jedi. I live my life by learning from everyone. We can all learn something from each other but that will not happen until you throw out your notions of you are better then person X. I am a private music teacher and I have found I have learned as much about my instrument from teaching as I have from being taught directly. There is no ignorance; there is knowledge.
by Jedi Xhaiden
Change
We've all heard about the extremes of change- people who are afraid of change and refuse to change because "it's always been like this," and on the other end, people who like change for the sake of change, and forget that change is not always progress. I think we can also agree that most of us fall somewhere in the middle of this.
Change can be a good or a bad thing, and we certainly all want to change the world for the better. Of course, our opinions will differ on what exactly "better" is, but that's irrelevant for this discussion. Each of us can make a good change happen. If we can't all directly change the world, we can do smaller things. Remember too that small things can end up having huge consequences.
Because we all have different ideas of what is better, it is easy to have conflict. So, let's focus on change that has a much smaller chance of conflict- personal changes. We can all change something about ourselves to become a better person. Because small changes can have big repercussions (think "ripple effect"), any little thing we do can be very positive. These changes can range from the mundane to the spiritual.
While it is not always easy to make a change, even a small one, the first step is simply identifying the thing you want to change, and deciding if you really want to change it and why. If you don't have a good reason and a true desire to make the change, it is much more difficult to do it. For example, when I was younger, I very rarely brushed my teeth (maybe once a month or so- literally), even though my mother had tried to make it a habit for me. Eventually I decided that I wanted to change that, because I didn't want to have to go through painful dental procedures. I truly wasn't concerned with my personal hygiene, I was worried about the pain that might result from me not brushing my teeth. So I decided that I would have to make the change of forming of habit of brushing my teeth every night. I had to keep reminding myself to do it, but it soon became a habit. And of course, not only are my teeth healthier, but having this good habit has helped me with other good habits, even if only through the experience of forming a habit.
Perhaps I want to make another change in my life. Maybe I feel that I'm too judgmental. Well, identifying this is the first step to changing it. Then I have to figure out why I want to change it- maybe because I feel that being less judgmental will help me be more open to other people's opinions. I think that this is a worthy reason, and so I decide that I really want to be less judgmental. Now, this goal might be a little harder to achieve than the goal of brushing my teeth every night, because that can be something I set up so every night at the same time I'll see my toothbrush on the counter and remember to brush my teeth, but being judgmental happens at all different times of the day in different situations, so I can't use the same method. I might just have to make an effort to remember not to be judgmental, and try to catch myself when I'm doing it, and remind myself to change what I'm thinking or saying. Sometimes I might not remember, and that's not an automatic failure, just a snag in the process. Don't expect it to go completely smoothly. It's making the effort that counts.
I would suggest that a good practice is to look at yourself every day and list one thing you don't like, and five things you do. This has two immediate benefits- it reminds you that there's more good than bad in you, so it helps keep you in a positive frame of mind, and it gives you something to work on. Just put in the effort to make some good changes, and it'll have effects far beyond what you foresaw at the time.
by Jedi Archivist Kethrim
Why do we fall?
“Why do we fall? So we can learn to pick ourselves up.”
I heard this quote in a movie and thought how true this is. People learn the best and quickest when they’ve fallen down. The key in the quote is, learn to pick ourselves up. In order to learn we have do experience it ourselves. Things can be learned obviously through rote techniques but learning by experiencing is the most efficient way. If, every time we fall someone is there to pick us up and brush us off we will never learn.
For example, let’s take a gambler. If they keep going to the casino and losing more and more money eventually it will begin to take a toll on their personal life. If they have their parents or someone else who will keep lending them money to cover their debts they will never learn and will continue to gamble. What incentive is there when your money is continually replaced when you lose it? There isn’t, you will continue gambling because there is no need to learn how to control your problem or stop it. If that same person does not have anyone there to bail them out each time eventually they will hit rock bottom. With no one there to help them they will realize they have fallen too far and will have to learn how to get themselves out of their situation and back on stable ground. Now, sometimes they will continue to fall with no end of it coming but many will learn how to turn their lives around for the better. This is because they have fallen and then learned how to pick themselves back up.
If you see someone going through this be careful you don’t aid the problem. Help them out where and when you can but make sure you don’t sustain the problem. Help them back on their feet and if they come to you for help it’s not always best to fully help. Obviously each circumstance is different. I will use a personal example. I graduated from college almost 2 years ago. I moved back to NY with my Fiancé and we have currently been living with my family. My fiancé found a job rather quickly but for me it has been much more difficult. With only one car I am limited to the town I reside in which happens to be a college town. I have applied at every job in town but I’m either over qualified or else it is a career and not a job I can use till I get a teaching job. Now my family could say get out and you need to make it on your own but in this case they are not helping the problem. Now, if I sat home all day on my butt not doing anything then they are definitely helping the problem but with me actively hunting and applying they are helping in a positive way. So there is definitely a difference and if you are approached be careful in the way you help. You might think you are helping someone up when instead you are picking them up.
When you have fallen, try to find the cause so you can learn from it and then be able to pick yourself up. Walking down the street if you trip and just pick yourself up you might fall down again later because you didn’t figure out why you fell. If you had just looked down you might have noticed your shoelace was untied and that’s what you tripped over. Learn from your mistakes and move on. Do not dwell on the past but do not forget it either.
by Jedi Xhaiden
Finding Good
What you get out of anything- fencing, martial arts, school, life- can be figured out by a simple equation. How much you get out of an activity equals how much you put in times how much you take out. At first, this might seem a little strange that I say both "putting in" and "taking out," but that's because they really are two different things, and they're both necessary. If you're training in a sport, and the coach tells you to do a drill to practice something that you don't want to do, you should still do it. Of course, there are (for my purposes) four ways to do it:
First, you can neither put in anything nor take anything out, and since 0 x 0 = 0, you will get nothing from the exercise. Second, you can put something into it, that is, put in effort to actually do the drill, but not take anything out of it, so while you're still doing, you're not really going to get much out of it. Third, you can not put any effort in, but take something out- do the drill and get what the drill is meant for. The last way, and the best, is to both put something in and take something out. For example, if you are doing a fencing drill that is meant to practice a certain move of bladework, and you don't really want to work on that aspect, you can do it anyway, but add in some footwork, and focus on getting what you want and need out of the drill while doing what your coach wants you to do.
It's important to make sure that you take time to find the good in situations, other people, and yourself. Even if a situation seems completely terrible, or you absolutely can't stand someone, if you calm your mind enough to look at it more objectively, you can find something good. Naturally, you have a life to live, so you probably won't be finding the good in everything and everyone. But do make an effort to do it sometimes.
It's also very important to find good in yourself. Many people forget about this part. They find the good in others, in situations, but never or rarely find the good in themselves. It can be very easy to have negative thoughts about yourself while having positive thoughts about others, because many of us, in trying to be "good people," put ourselves aside while worrying about others. However, this isn't a good way to be.Yes, we all have faults, but if we focus only on our faults, that leads to a very negative mind. The other side of the coin is seeing only the good in ourselves, and believing that we can do no wrong. This isn't good either. It's important to see our faults for what they are, so we can work on fixing them, but also to see the parts that are already good. This reminds us that we do have some good, and we can get better.
So, as you go along your path, remember that there is good everywhere, and you just have to look a little harder sometimes in order to see it.
by Jedi Archivist Kethrim
It is important to know your own identity. Only when you know yourself can you hope to know anyone else.
Part of knowing who you are is whether or not to allow others to know who you are. If you feel that you have nothing to hide and have no need or desire for secrecy, it is very easy. You use one name for yourself, and allow others to use that name. If you know who you are, it doesn't even matter what the name is, and you are defining yourself with that name.
Online, this is an even bigger issue. Here we have many people, all going by different names. This is not necessarily a problem, but often it is, as the name is all we have to go by. We can get to know a person by one name, but suddenly they decide to go by a different name. To them, it is a good decision, and they have a good reason for the new name, but it can be very confusing to others. Suddenly, the person they knew seems to be gone, and there is another in that place. We can figure out easily enough that this new name is really the same person, but it is still confusing.
On the internet, we can choose to go by a name that is completely different from the name given by our parents. This can be a very good thing, as it allows us to decide our own identity a bit more than we are usually used to in real life, as we are known only by our words, and we can choose what parts of ourselves to present. We can, essentially, create an identity that is slightly, or in some cases, radically different than the one we live with in real life.
You must know yourself. But how will you allow others to know you?
by Jedi Archivist Kethrim
All are equal within the Force
In everyday life observing other Jedi groups I feel many forget this. Within the Force everyone is equal. All have a purpose here and ones purpose of being here is no more important than another’s purpose. True Jedi feel the only thing greater then them is the Force. If they think they are better then person X, then they are not true believers and followers of the Force. I see many people that think they are superior to someone else because they contain a wealth of knowledge but what they forget is it is impossible to know everything. The person they are putting themselves superior to also will have great knowledge but in other topics that they don’t possibly understand or even know about. How can you say you are superior to someone else then? You can’t. All bring a certain aspect to life and to the Force and to say one isn’t as important then another is not a believer in the Force and is not living the life of a Jedi. I live my life by learning from everyone. We can all learn something from each other but that will not happen until you throw out your notions of you are better then person X. I am a private music teacher and I have found I have learned as much about my instrument from teaching as I have from being taught directly. There is no ignorance; there is knowledge.
by Jedi Xhaiden
Change
We've all heard about the extremes of change- people who are afraid of change and refuse to change because "it's always been like this," and on the other end, people who like change for the sake of change, and forget that change is not always progress. I think we can also agree that most of us fall somewhere in the middle of this.
Change can be a good or a bad thing, and we certainly all want to change the world for the better. Of course, our opinions will differ on what exactly "better" is, but that's irrelevant for this discussion. Each of us can make a good change happen. If we can't all directly change the world, we can do smaller things. Remember too that small things can end up having huge consequences.
Because we all have different ideas of what is better, it is easy to have conflict. So, let's focus on change that has a much smaller chance of conflict- personal changes. We can all change something about ourselves to become a better person. Because small changes can have big repercussions (think "ripple effect"), any little thing we do can be very positive. These changes can range from the mundane to the spiritual.
While it is not always easy to make a change, even a small one, the first step is simply identifying the thing you want to change, and deciding if you really want to change it and why. If you don't have a good reason and a true desire to make the change, it is much more difficult to do it. For example, when I was younger, I very rarely brushed my teeth (maybe once a month or so- literally), even though my mother had tried to make it a habit for me. Eventually I decided that I wanted to change that, because I didn't want to have to go through painful dental procedures. I truly wasn't concerned with my personal hygiene, I was worried about the pain that might result from me not brushing my teeth. So I decided that I would have to make the change of forming of habit of brushing my teeth every night. I had to keep reminding myself to do it, but it soon became a habit. And of course, not only are my teeth healthier, but having this good habit has helped me with other good habits, even if only through the experience of forming a habit.
Perhaps I want to make another change in my life. Maybe I feel that I'm too judgmental. Well, identifying this is the first step to changing it. Then I have to figure out why I want to change it- maybe because I feel that being less judgmental will help me be more open to other people's opinions. I think that this is a worthy reason, and so I decide that I really want to be less judgmental. Now, this goal might be a little harder to achieve than the goal of brushing my teeth every night, because that can be something I set up so every night at the same time I'll see my toothbrush on the counter and remember to brush my teeth, but being judgmental happens at all different times of the day in different situations, so I can't use the same method. I might just have to make an effort to remember not to be judgmental, and try to catch myself when I'm doing it, and remind myself to change what I'm thinking or saying. Sometimes I might not remember, and that's not an automatic failure, just a snag in the process. Don't expect it to go completely smoothly. It's making the effort that counts.
I would suggest that a good practice is to look at yourself every day and list one thing you don't like, and five things you do. This has two immediate benefits- it reminds you that there's more good than bad in you, so it helps keep you in a positive frame of mind, and it gives you something to work on. Just put in the effort to make some good changes, and it'll have effects far beyond what you foresaw at the time.
by Jedi Archivist Kethrim
Why do we fall?
“Why do we fall? So we can learn to pick ourselves up.”
I heard this quote in a movie and thought how true this is. People learn the best and quickest when they’ve fallen down. The key in the quote is, learn to pick ourselves up. In order to learn we have do experience it ourselves. Things can be learned obviously through rote techniques but learning by experiencing is the most efficient way. If, every time we fall someone is there to pick us up and brush us off we will never learn.
For example, let’s take a gambler. If they keep going to the casino and losing more and more money eventually it will begin to take a toll on their personal life. If they have their parents or someone else who will keep lending them money to cover their debts they will never learn and will continue to gamble. What incentive is there when your money is continually replaced when you lose it? There isn’t, you will continue gambling because there is no need to learn how to control your problem or stop it. If that same person does not have anyone there to bail them out each time eventually they will hit rock bottom. With no one there to help them they will realize they have fallen too far and will have to learn how to get themselves out of their situation and back on stable ground. Now, sometimes they will continue to fall with no end of it coming but many will learn how to turn their lives around for the better. This is because they have fallen and then learned how to pick themselves back up.
If you see someone going through this be careful you don’t aid the problem. Help them out where and when you can but make sure you don’t sustain the problem. Help them back on their feet and if they come to you for help it’s not always best to fully help. Obviously each circumstance is different. I will use a personal example. I graduated from college almost 2 years ago. I moved back to NY with my Fiancé and we have currently been living with my family. My fiancé found a job rather quickly but for me it has been much more difficult. With only one car I am limited to the town I reside in which happens to be a college town. I have applied at every job in town but I’m either over qualified or else it is a career and not a job I can use till I get a teaching job. Now my family could say get out and you need to make it on your own but in this case they are not helping the problem. Now, if I sat home all day on my butt not doing anything then they are definitely helping the problem but with me actively hunting and applying they are helping in a positive way. So there is definitely a difference and if you are approached be careful in the way you help. You might think you are helping someone up when instead you are picking them up.
When you have fallen, try to find the cause so you can learn from it and then be able to pick yourself up. Walking down the street if you trip and just pick yourself up you might fall down again later because you didn’t figure out why you fell. If you had just looked down you might have noticed your shoelace was untied and that’s what you tripped over. Learn from your mistakes and move on. Do not dwell on the past but do not forget it either.
by Jedi Xhaiden
Finding Good
What you get out of anything- fencing, martial arts, school, life- can be figured out by a simple equation. How much you get out of an activity equals how much you put in times how much you take out. At first, this might seem a little strange that I say both "putting in" and "taking out," but that's because they really are two different things, and they're both necessary. If you're training in a sport, and the coach tells you to do a drill to practice something that you don't want to do, you should still do it. Of course, there are (for my purposes) four ways to do it:
First, you can neither put in anything nor take anything out, and since 0 x 0 = 0, you will get nothing from the exercise. Second, you can put something into it, that is, put in effort to actually do the drill, but not take anything out of it, so while you're still doing, you're not really going to get much out of it. Third, you can not put any effort in, but take something out- do the drill and get what the drill is meant for. The last way, and the best, is to both put something in and take something out. For example, if you are doing a fencing drill that is meant to practice a certain move of bladework, and you don't really want to work on that aspect, you can do it anyway, but add in some footwork, and focus on getting what you want and need out of the drill while doing what your coach wants you to do.
It's important to make sure that you take time to find the good in situations, other people, and yourself. Even if a situation seems completely terrible, or you absolutely can't stand someone, if you calm your mind enough to look at it more objectively, you can find something good. Naturally, you have a life to live, so you probably won't be finding the good in everything and everyone. But do make an effort to do it sometimes.
It's also very important to find good in yourself. Many people forget about this part. They find the good in others, in situations, but never or rarely find the good in themselves. It can be very easy to have negative thoughts about yourself while having positive thoughts about others, because many of us, in trying to be "good people," put ourselves aside while worrying about others. However, this isn't a good way to be.Yes, we all have faults, but if we focus only on our faults, that leads to a very negative mind. The other side of the coin is seeing only the good in ourselves, and believing that we can do no wrong. This isn't good either. It's important to see our faults for what they are, so we can work on fixing them, but also to see the parts that are already good. This reminds us that we do have some good, and we can get better.
So, as you go along your path, remember that there is good everywhere, and you just have to look a little harder sometimes in order to see it.
by Jedi Archivist Kethrim