In 1912 Christian Larson wrote about the beauty of self-discipline. A good life does not come from being lucky. It comes from cultivating optimism and living it. That was his statement. I like his original idea and added some personal notes that seem to better fit our time.
The other day I was talking to a friend. He insisted that the nature of reality is subjective.
He told me that every one of us sees things differently and consequently everyone lives in a different reality.
Well, this is not the first time I hear a statement like this.
Everytime I encounter this idea it shakes me. It’s wrong. Let me explain.
There are controversies that Pluto is a planet.
Is it a planet or not? Does it have planet status or not?
People do have different concepts about the characteristics of a planet.
And they wonder if Pluto fits into that category.
BUT. There is NO controversy that Pluto actually exists.
It is there. You can see it. Not with the naked eye but with a telescope. It has been discovered in 1930. Immediately after its discovery it was named the “Ninth Planet”.
… always count your change!
We humans love to be told what to believe.
Even if we are more of a rebellious type (my hand is raised!),
we like to join a good read.
Culture is built on shared believes about – well, just about everything.
That’s the core of culture.
A shared idea about life.
We listen to stories and we memorize them well.
We learn best when we hear a narrative.
The devil made a garage sale. He put a desk in front of his house and placed all his nice tools there. Envy, malice, dispair, hatred and jealousy were all on sale, one by one nicely lined up. But apart from those off to the side he had his favorite tool. It looked very used and was priced above all the others. It was very, very effective and it worked better than any of the other tools. It was labelled with the sign “discouragement”.
Why would this one be so useful?
Well, no one would recognise this as a devilish tool – and it would open doors to all the other gadgets. It’s well suited to break in where doors would not open for the devil.
The other day I was teaching piano and a student’s mother was not pleased with the outcome. She complained that her child was not practicing enough. Her judgement was: the child is lazy. It needs more coercion. And well, I am just not the person who would coerce anybody. It’s not productive! And certainly not the best for the child.
There are many reasons why someone does not perform well.
And in my observation 10 of 10 cases have something deeper going on.
What on the surface may look like laziness is actually something else.
There are two things that we can not see easily. But we can, when we get attentive enough and know a little bit more about human nature.
The Frog View
A frog can not see a fly that sits still. It’s invisible to the frog. But when the fly moves, no problem! The frog can see it, he can grab it and munch it for lunch.
Well, even though you and me, we might not exactly look like frogs, we are a lot like this little amphibian.
That’s the whole catch of news. “Everything is changing! Something is different now!” That’s basically the message of every new broadcasting. It tells you about some moves.
The same applies to social media or the internet itself.
The message always is something like this: Something is new, something is moving.
An old man and a boy were traveling to town with a donkey. At first, the old man was riding the donkey and the boy was walking. When they stopped by a little tavern, the innkeeper critizised the old man: “How can you let the boy walk for so long? That’s inhumane!”
So after their stop they changed and the old man was walking while the boy was riding the donkey. After a few miles a little caravan passed by. Their leader stopped them in their tracks and told the old man: “Hej Lord, you spoil the boy! When he is comfortably riding the donkey he does not learn how to overcome hardships in his life. Better let him walk instead!”
– Making mistakes is normal.
– You are not as important as you think.
– Ignore the failures of others, do it right yourself.
– Center your answers around solutions, not problems.
– Don’t chase convenience, do the difficult work readily.
– Leave behind what does not work.
A colleague helping out in our company wrote, she wishes much success for all the upcoming new creative projects in 2026 but she does not like the word success, she means joy, recognition and a positive resonance with others.
How nice is it when other wish us a successful New Year! I love that! At the same time I was astonished she would trace back and shy away from the word success.
The European basic idea that all state systems are based on is rooted in giving support. I was never aware of this fact – until the day my orchestra made a concert tour to India. As artists, we resided in luxurious hotels, with huge bedrooms and bathrooms all in marble. I had never been to more elegant und exquisite accommodations than in India. We were driving around in air-conditioned busses and had all the conveniences a person could think of.
