“Hitler is gone, but if the majority of our fellow citizens are more susceptible to the slogans of fear and race hatred than to those of peaceful accommodation and mutual respect among human beings, our political liberties remain at the mercy of any eloquent and unscrupulous demagogue.”
-S I Hayakowa, Language in Thought and Action, 5th ed., 1990, Preface
"Semantics is the study of human interaction through communication.
Communication leads sometimes to cooperation and sometimes to conflict.
The basic assumption of semantics, analogous to the assumption of medicine that health is preferable to illness, is that cooperation is preferable to conflict.”
-Ibid, S I Hayakowa.
Act, Don’t React
When life hits us with something that throws us out of balance, we might often respond automatically, rather than consciously.
This first response might not be our best option. It might not be in our best interest.
In the worst cases, we may become open to being manipulated.
When we act, in the best case, it should be from strength rather than out of weakness.
We should rise to the occasion and thoughtfully consider the outcome of our decisions, ideally before rather than after we act or speak.
One way to do this is to journal the pertinent situations and look for patterns in them.
Don’t get distracted by each individual unbalancing stimulus that we are inclined to react to automatically and emotionally.
It is usually better to not allow ourselves to be manipulated by these situations that tend to throw us out of balance, and that might cause us to act out of weakness instead of strength.
We are weaker when we are out of balance, and stronger when we are in balance and are relaxed.
Meditation and Mindfulness
Meditation or Mindfulness works by creating a space between a thought and the reaction to that thought.
It is from this space that a conscious rather than automatic action might be generated.
Very Best Wishes to All,
Daniel
