Motives for actions

What comes first? The Chicken or the egg?

What do you think? Yes, you - you know I'm referring to you. Don't look behind you. Ahh, I finally have you undivided attention.

Why would I pick motives for a discussion? That's another question for another day.

Motives are the objectives required for taking a particular line of action based on a set of conditions/criteria which have been evaluated internally. These conditions maybe personal reasons (in most cases they will indeed be personal) and thus they will undoubtedly influence the motive.

Humans are an undoubtedly selfish species like every other group on earth - our higher intelligence should actually come to our rescue but we seemingly have not learnt to harness this vast pool objectively. There in lies our quagmire.

The influence of emotions and other subjective factors have often swayed thinking in non-logical or subjective directions. It is one source of strength sometimes but in most cases it is a major hindrance and weakness.

In this light - the underlying motives required to justify action is based on these sometimes unspecified objectives of ours.

For instance in the pursuit of any female of interest, there are various considerations that make her fit a given criteria - these range from physical appearance, carriage, poise, confidence, character, integrity, intelligence, wisdom, objectivity, personality to more esoteric  characteristics etc

These listed traits might to a great degree affect who decides to initiate the chase and who decides to pass the chance. And yet these are all objectives that were considered when arriving at the motive.

The motive in some cases can be intangible but it summarises the internal value map for the respective individuals.

Motive creates the necessary drive for action - motive provides purpose and purpose is the engine room of action.

My motives may not always be laudable, they may not always meet a higher moral code and they may lack integrity but the motive once it has been defined from misplaced objectives will often be itself misplaced.

The motive thus then produces the action which is characterised either as appropriate or not appropriate.
Alas man has always leaned towards the less appropriate channels.

Man's motives are a question of his inner considerations - to each man, his own.

Duality or Enter the Shadow of the monkey

Something mildly amusing happened very recently.

I was having a discussion with a friend and came across a fact that is proven time and time again in our lives - we have dual purposes and reflect the nature of the monkey - we grasp one branch but never let go until we have another firmly in our grasp.

Not an odd philosophy, considering that we humans are advised and conditioned to avoid risk whenever we can - why leave the safety of the known for the uncertainty of the unknown?

Apart from the possibility of failure and the fear of the vastly unknown landscape that we find ourselves in, there is nothing that holds us back apart from our hesitation and fear to move forward.

If you doubt the logic of my thinking - here's an easy experiment:

Quit your job today. Right this minute. And do it with absolutely no fall back plan.

Don't hesitate or even think about it - rather just drop the paper and head out.

If any of you manage to do this - you will fall into that rare category that we refer to as practicing lunatics (the type that the average joe shies away from) often indicated by pointed fingers in your direction.

And yet these are the mavericks responsible for the great discoveries or achievements of our time. These are those few who have dared to go on, when they have no certainty other than their belief and curiosity.

Are we then mavericks or just benchers who have gotten used to the comfort of the back bench.

The seemingly, inconspicuousness of your existence is the opportunity presented to you  - we all awaiting the birth of a true leader to arise and take his place among his peers.

We must seize the day and make the very rules that will guide us beyond our comfort zone.

I bid you a welcome to the new you.

SELF INDEPENDENCE: THE NEW "YOU"

Welcome!

It has indeed been a tad long since we exchanged words, you and I.
Here I am to remedy the situation. I hope I may be pardoned for my impudence - I've always been an advocate for that in-your-face attitude that agitates people into action.
Why? Because what we have to share is more important to you than you realize.

It is the concept of independence and yours for that matter.
As the chief commanding officer of the nation of one; you stand on the threshold of great things. Great if you manage to get out of your own way and master those abilities that will propel you ahead of the pack of rats.

Your self independence is the agenda under discussion - it is the only truly worthy goal to aspire towards; in a society where the protection of numbers numbs our senses and thoughts and prevents us from risking to run against the pack.

The pack is after all a mindless body - programmed to do a bidding that has been passed down the chain of command.

This is the point where we all step up to the plate and take the decision to rally ourselves towards our personal glory and freedom. Towards our aim and aspirations.
This is not the El-dorado that the fables have spoken about: this is your chance to attain freedom.

Freedom from the constraints of a self imposed mediocre mentality.

I'm a worker - i work for the wages determined by an employer, who decides that I'm only worth so much and no more.
This same employer determines the cycles that govern my life: waking moments, eating moments, resting moments, family moments, no moments.

Suddenly after fifteen years of working you've lost touch with the reality of your situation: people, friends, family and acquaintances - you're lost in the numbers. One more knuckle head in a sea of dead drifters.

Allowing the more powerful tides to determine which direction you float towards. You no longer have an aim to aspire towards apart from a bigger employer or bigger paycheck - the bottom line has been lost because you've put your attention on the wrong things.

That said: you still have a chance (right until the day you die).
You can still savage the golden nuggets of your ambition from the smelting pot of dead dreams.

Don't take no for an answer.

Don't be your our greatest obstacle.
Don't allow anyone to determine your fate.
Don't allow excuses to hold you back.
Don't keep your dreams at bay because you're busy chasing shadows or afraid to see them through.
Don't fight your desires - people may not understand and they really don't have to (you just have to make sure you don't hurt anybody or yourself in the process)

Best of all: don't hold back in the pursuit of you.

In the new republic of self independence - you can still determine the acts that make you a notable success. in this nation of one - you are the one that truly counts.

happy self independence!

Aspire

A single word title: "ASPIRE"
The verb form would have you "ASPIRING" towards a goal or greater objective.

But before we launch off into our typical tirade and practiced rant - I want you to calmly look at this humble word and try to connect to it.

• What does this word mean to you?
• How do you see and treat this concept?
• What and where do you find yourself moving towards?

I aspire to be more than I am (that is almost a given for most of us except those who might have suicidal impulses). I aspire to be effective in what I do, I aspire for excellence in any field of endeavor that I find myself in...
I aspire for fame and fortune, for happiness and content.

However when the accolades in our heads have died down - where are we along the ladder of our aspirations? Are we really aspiring to move and propel ourselves towards a greater good?

What are those dreams that propel you? Do you even know?
The better question for me would be what my dreams and "Aspirations" (another use of aspire) are worth? Beauty is indeed in the eye of the beholder and my eyes have beheld the grand place held for me should my aspirations be achieved.

We are all success stories waiting to be written and even if our "books" read like a testament of hardship (the human animal detests pain and suffering) the lessons learned are worth the investment in pain, sweat and blood...

I regret not believing in myself earlier - I regret the lost time spent wishing about better situations but I will not be held back because I arrived at the party "late".

If it comes to that I'll start a party for myself all alone.

When it looks the most like success seems impossible that's when I should stubbornly refuse to yield and focus - aspire and aim towards those goals that drive me...

Reality is after all the here and now and since I control that by my beliefs and what drives me - I control the direction of my fate and life.

We all aspire for success in our chosen endeavors - we all want the inner acknowledgment that comes from deep within particularly when we have attained all or part of our aspirations.

Success has a lot of bedfellows but before it got there it was often a lonely journey.
The deeper and inner conviction that we can is part of the chain of aspiration - that which binds our dreams and goals to our purpose to attain.

Remember that to aspire is to inch towards that which we truly seek - our dedication and commitment and perseverance is required for true success.

Aspire towards that dream.

TEN RULES OF "BEING A HUMAN BEING"

In my unending search for great articles on this thing we call life - I make a few discoveries along the way. A lot of these guides are basic common sense and some actually manage to knock some sense into my pattern of thinking that I might have originally been lacking. Regardless of which category I fall into there is always something to learn - some new perspective that I might not have considered or tried.

Before I go too deep into my rambling - I present to you the: Ten Rules for Being Human by Cherie Carter-Scott

Ten Rules for Being Human

by Cherie Carter-Scott

1. You will receive a body. You may like it or hate it, but it's yours to keep for the entire period.
2. You will learn lessons. You are enrolled in a full-time informal school called, "life."
3. There are no mistakes, only lessons. Growth is a process of trial, error, and experimentation. The "failed" experiments are as much a part of the process as the experiments that ultimately "work."
4. Lessons are repeated until they are learned. A lesson will be presented to you in various forms until you have learned it. When you have learned it, you can go on to the next lesson.
5. Learning lessons does not end. There's no part of life that doesn't contain its lessons. If you're alive, that means there are still lessons to be learned.
6. "There" is no better a place than "here." When your "there" has become a "here", you will simply obtain another "there" that will again look better than "here."
7. Other people are merely mirrors of you. You cannot love or hate something about another person unless it reflects to you something you love or hate about yourself.
8. What you make of your life is up to you. You have all the tools and resources you need. What you do with them is up to you. The choice is yours.
9. Your answers lie within you. The answers to life's questions lie within you. All you need to do is look, listen, and trust.
10. You will forget all this.

The gift of lady fate...

Once again I am in the hands of this temptress - this paragon of mystique.
I am alone - trapped by my desires to subjugate her, to tame her and to succeed where very few before me had managed to do so.

The very specter of her - her beguiling wiles and enticing smiles continue to lure me in repeatedly like the call of the sirens - a dead man walking.
In spite of my open reluctance to fall prey...

She has seen the demise of men greater than me and yet - I still stand.

Why?

Was it because of my fascination and perseverance? Was it because I chose to stand firm in the face of her screaming wrath and brutal fury of her veiled claws...

She drew no quarters and expected none and yet there was something in her that promised me all I ever wanted only if I could pass muster and stay the course.

Each endeavor was repeatedly squashed.

It was one failure after another and yet I chose to continue because there was no other way. I had committed too much to turn back. I would not bow to the demands to give up - my spirit was tired but certain that If I kept it up she would relent.

The cult of success is guarded by the few who have seen the eyes of satan and lived to tell the tale and yet their silence was all the answer you got because they still bore the scars to prove to the disbelieving - to show as proof that they had faced down their worst fears and survived.

I would do the same and even though it would hurt me and leave me tattered and torn - I will never give up! Not to her and not on my dreams and aspirations for without them I am nothing - a rudderless ship set adrift in the tidal wave of life's currents. Subjected to the caprices of the storm's fury and scorn.

She bore down on me with venomous intent and I bore the brunt of her castrations - look, see how she has ravaged my masculinity and robbed me of my identity.

But not anymore - her time too shall pass and once more, I will tame her and make her fortunes mine.

There is no escape - only the reward that is due to me - to take that which is my right.

Fate has given me the ultimate prize - her beauty, her tempestuous nature and her favour for I stood where most had failed with the prize in plain sight.

She was a worthy goal in the end - regardless of the outcome, she was a worthy prize indeed!

This thing called: LIFE!

When you slowly rise from the deep mists of sleep and slowly become aware of yourself and your environment - your thoughts are slowly pulled through the fine filters of coherence as you become aware of yourself - it is almost like a computer coming online.

In the mist of this boot up sequence you might be unfortunate to load those pesky files we refer to as the baggage of yesterday. You know what I'm referring to of course: those problems or challenges in your life that seem to stick to you like a leech on skin - they are obvious and painful and often unwanted (except of course you fall into that peculiar category that love "leeches")

Often times the greater challenge for us is the WILL to face the day and give it the "rude finger" - this is of course not to say that our problems magically disappear after this so brief moment but rather that we generate the attitude required to stay ahead of our problems and situation.

I love to read quotes of people who have defined their fates and destinies and have a few words to say on the subject - each has demonstrated a personal philosophy that seems to summarize the "ATTITUDE" required to hold life by the short and curlies regardless of how it seems to look to you right now.

By way of introduction, i give to you a few wise words from: Maya Angelou (pronounced /ˈmaɪ.ə ˈændʒəloʊ/;^[1] born Marguerite Ann Johnson on April 4, 1928)^[2] is an American autobiographer and poet. (quote from: Wikipedia)

(Once again these quotes are not mine and i make no claim to them except as a means to buttress my point of view)

Find below a few of her quotes - find in them something that resonates within you and maybe this will set you towards that which we all seek - freedom to be as we are destined to...

• We delight in the beauty of the butterfly, but rarely admit the changes it has gone through to achieve that beauty.
• I can be changed by what happens to me. But I refuse to be reduced by it.
• There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside you.
• There is a very fine line between loving life and being greedy for it.
• The ache for home lives in all of us, the safe place where we can go as we are and not be questioned.
• Success is liking yourself, liking what you do, and liking how you do it.
• I want all my senses engaged. Let me absorb the world's variety and uniqueness.
• If you don't like something, change it. If you can't change it, change your attitude.
• Courage is fear that has said its prayers.
• Talent is like electricity. We don't understand electricity. We use it.
• One isn't necessarily born with courage, but one is born with potential. Without courage, we cannot practice any other virtue with consistency. We can't be kind, true, merciful, generous, or honest.
• I know why the caged bird sings.
• "I've learned people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel".
• History, despite its wrenching pain, cannot be unlived, however, if faced with courage, need not be lived again.
• When you learn, teach. When you get, give.
• The need for change bulldozed a road down the center of my mind.
• Life loves to be taken by the lapel and told, 'I'm with you kid. Let's go.'

The crime is not when we stumble and fall for without stumbling/falling where would we be on the ladder of life's experiences - the crime is rather when we stumble/fall and chose to stay down in defeat - take as much time as you need while on the ground but when you get up - PLEASE GET UP!