Moral Courage

A recent exchange on Facebook introduced me to the concept of moral courage. I was discussing how to be aware of strong emotions and their negative impact upon our ability to think and act. Which is 'Awareness of Self.'

My friend wrote, 'Moral courage requires only the willingness to accept such morality in all situations. This includes simple day to day living. It need not require a life or death reality. Only the confidence in one’s convictions.

My 'way' is reactive.  You live your life and are aware when your emotions are either helping, hindering or influencing your behaviour. Many of us can recollect an incident that we are not proud of. One where we wish we had said or done something differently. One where our anger or frustration has lead to irrational thought or questionable actions. An incident where we were not 'our self'. Of course, we were ourselves. Just not the self we would like to be.

My interpretation of moral courage, is one where we deliberately be who we believe ourselves to be. This difference, at least to me, is fundamental. It is only a slight change of focus but it is necessary to be able to live life and enjoy it as you would like. Once you have chosen to deliberately be yourself, you may realise that being yourself does not require any effort.

For example, a colleague is struggling with something at work and you know they will cause disruption to suppliers, customers and whoever else becomes involved. You feel yourself getting angry at their lack of ability. You realise you are becoming angry and that your own judgement is now impaired. This is good but it isn't exactly helping birth a new civilisation is it?

What would a soul do if they actually had moral courage? Perhaps ask a question, 'you appear to have taken on quite a big job, is there anything I can help you with?'. Perhaps you are too busy to help. Mention that too but tell them when you will be able to spare them some time. Or simply tell them you have a few minutes now and is there anything you can do to help later on.

Which colleague would you prefer? One who get angry with you? One that simply disappears in your time of need. Or one that notices and acknowledges that you are tackling a complex and difficult task. Better still, one that offers some help?

We can all justify, to ourselves why we act as we do.

• I shouted at him because he always makes a mess of these thing and ends up making us all look incompetent. Never accepting responsibility for his own errors.
• I left the room before I shouted at him

These are hardly the actions of a man with moral courage, a civilised man. A man with moral courage would briefly consider his options. Not simply justify his actions. Simply be (himself) and respond accordingly. He would not excuse himself by saying he was 'not himself'. A moral man is always himself. He would simply be. A moral man who had lapsed as described, would not do so a second time. The failing was not with the incompetent man but with himself, the moral man.

I hope I have made clear how subtle a difference this is. You may be mindful of self, aware of others and sensitive to the demands of society. Now, we have the topic for a fourth book. Or perhaps this one post is sufficient. Simply being who you are. Simply being. Having the moral courage to be you. The you that you believe yourself to be. The you that you already are but not recognising that you already have the moral courage to simply be (yourself).

Moral courage is just two words but the concept runs very deep.

Perhaps you need to read my three books and perhaps you don't. What is important is that to be here, now, being me required me to write them. The me of the past. Assuming time is linear, which it isn't.

The me now, of this moment, is realising a core of moral courage. I have always been me. I have always had a core of moral courage, as have we all. My friend has simply / magically created a brief connection to me and made me aware of it. In the same way one might pluck a guitar string to create a note. Or to jump start a car to make the engine run. How amazing is he? Perhaps he would just say he is simply being. Just being. In which case, we ought to realise that we are all equally amazing, as is everything.

We are all part of 'this universe', whatever 'this universe' is. As is a potted plant and a rock. We can choose to move the rock, to carve the rock, to crush the rock and create something else. Each of us shares an ability to create, with our universe which created the rock, the potted plant and us. We are of the universe and not simply in it. The universe is 'energy' and we are an eddy of that 'energy'.

You may not agree, which is fine. You may believe something else entirely, that is fine too. Moral courage allows me to believe in my own feelings and personal beliefs about what 'this universe' is. It also allows me to accept that you may feel or believe differently. We can discuss these differences in good cheer as your faith is yours and we are all part of the 'entire thing'. As is the rock and the potted plant. In actual fact, as an Engineer, I know quite a lot about matter and energy. From our perspective, they are quite different. Remembering know that Einstein stated that E=MC^2, which means that energy and matter are the same and interchangeable. From a certain perspective, everything is energy and all the energy is the same and connected. Perspective is what 'it' is all about.

I don't feel the need to write a fourth book. I may choose to but not today. The words that I may choose to assemble together to form a book would just be words and we are so much more than words, as is 'everything'.

There is no money in the entire financial system

The title is quite a bold one, I said it freely and without hesitation during a very long and interesting conversation. As I said it, I understood the truth of it. I stand by it. There is no money in the entire financial system.

This is not important, it is fundamental. It is the basis for our entire society. Once we realise this, the vacuum created by the collapse of society will be filled by the expansion of a great human civilisation.

Which is nice. The transition period need not be too vicious, it could be quite pleasant. However, without some critical thought by the masses, it is likely to be brutal rather than pleasant.

This is why I write three blogs and have written three very short, concise and powerful books. To guide individuals, especially me, and therefore humanity to an enlightened future without experiencing the unpleasantness of war, famine, disease and the brutality of survival.

So quite important then.

In 1970, there was 'money' in the financial system. A full one quarter of this 'money' was 'saved' for a rainy day. Currently, the financial system contains 16 times more 'bank credits' than exist in the 'real world'.

In 1970, one quarter of us could, theoretically, take one year off work, to spend all the 'savings'.

In 2018, all of us could take four years off work, in theory, to spend all the 'savings'. Obviously, at least to me, this is not actually possible. Something has seriously gone 'wrong'.

I could go on, for years. I believe an endeavour of that sort is called 'pissing into the wind'. Or you could read my blogs for free. Read my books, free quite often. Then talk to your family and friends, also free. Ultimately, we can all become free of this thing we call 'society' which is most certainly not how civilised mindful beings organise themselves.

The ones of you who know a little bit will smugly say that I am talking rubbish about gold. Gold being the thing we used in 1970 as 'money'. Now we use 'bank credits' as money. This difference is both crucial and insignificant. Gold imposed limits on the financial system. A well run financial system can impose limits upon itself without the need for any gold.

This post and the entire financial system is based solely on belief, as is this 'society'. Do you believe that the financial system is well run AND that without government there would be crime, rape and violence everywhere and humanity would charge straight back into the stone age? I know you do. That fear has created 'society' and that same fear will ignite World War Three. The same fear will ignite World War Four, that will apparently be fought with sticks and stones.

Our 'society' is based on and created by fear. Yet few accept the truth of this.

Can you imagine a civilisation based on creativity?

Choose one for our children and choose wisely, without fear.

Anyway, as ever, take care and be mindful of your thoughts

I could write a book about this one post. I would need staff and lots of 'bank credits'. It is something I am more than happy to do. For now, this brief post will have to suffice.

J.F.K. assasination

My three books are meant to illuminate the fact that our society, the 'real world', has been imagined into existence by the ancient legacy systems of our brain. I call this the monkey part of our brain.

If we put some effort into training our inner monkey, then the human portions of our brain could easily imagine a civilisation into existence.

We all know what a society is, we live in one. Few of us can imagine anything else.

A civilisation is, in my opinion, how we naturally organise ourselves.

The J.F.K assassination is a huge event. It could have easily resulted in the shattering of society and the birth of an actual human civilisation. It still could.

Those who benefit most from our society would not enjoy such wealth, power and privilege in a civilisation. Hence why they fought and fight so hard to keep their ill gotten gains.

In a society, we form a very wide based pyramid with power and wealth controlled at the top. A civilisation is more like a pancake.

In society, the average man has little to no power.
In a civilisation, no-one exceeds his power.

In a society, good ideas need support from the relevant professional bodies.

In a civilisation, good ideas are embraced and developed by those who choose to.

Free will and choice are the foundations of a civilisation.
Society is based on the fears of our inner monkey.

With J.F.K. we realise that those in power did their best to promote the idea that they were still in power. They had to demonstrate their value to us. In truth, they provide no value. They merely take from us whatever they feel can. Fully believing their entitlement to our wealth. In truth they perpetuate themselves by preventing the human race becoming a human civilisation.

They will fail or drag us all into Hell.

They will fail. God is not on their side.
They will fail. They will fail spectacularly. Our bones will remember their failure.

They will fail. Free yourself from their fraud and coercive force, or you risk failing with them.

I suggest you read more of my stuff or find something of equal or better value. Do it soon.

Be part of a Civilisation

The dawn of a new civilisation does not depend upon other people. It simply depends upon you, one person.

Practise being a civilised / Mindful Being and you will transform the world around you into Heaven on Earth.

A couple of stories.
I had just parked my car in a supermarket car park. I had noticed a gang of teenagers riding their bikes. One rode passed me, fairy aggressively and startled me. It was getting dark and my night vision is appalling. A civilised person may well have asked the young man to take more care. I didn't. I was verbally aggressive. He rode around in a circle, back to me and politely stated that there was no need for my aggression. After a brief pause, I agreed with him and apologised. I quickly explained that he had startled me. He then cycled away. One of his friends made a comment that i didn't much care for but I replied with good cheer. In this instance, the young man was behaving in a civilised manner with such potency that i felt unable to escalate the situation.

On facebook, one female friend had a similar incident. A car drove at speed, very close to her. She gestured and yelled. The car driver said he hadn't seen her and an independent witness called her a silly fat bitch. No sign of any civilised behaviour, except perhaps the motorist. A civilised person would have not worn dark clothing at night and demand, albeit subconsciously, that everyone else wears night vision goggles.

So, do your best to behave in a civilised manner and be amazed that you are able to transform those around you into civilised people too. Do this at work and you will transform your workplace too.

Comment below on your successes. Or for advice on your failures, should you need any.

You have no idea how powerful you will become, simply by evolving into a civilised human being.

Be seeing you

House prices - an example of higher order thinking

Here in the UK, we have a cultural obsession with house prices. Occasionally, the public start discussing the same topic. In this example it is affordable housing. A few 'think tanks' notice this concern. Very highly specialised lobbyists will present this to the Prime Minister with a 'solution'.

This is just how our society works. It just does.

The Prime Minister issues a public statement. They 'promise' affordable housing. They detail the plans. A first order analysis / the man in the pub / a low level banker at a dinner party, all decide the government are making it far easier for first time buyers. Then they reminisce about double digit interest rates and that nobody helped them.

Now let us give this some further, deeper thought: a second order analysis.

Were the government advised to create new social housing? Remembering that 2/3 the price of most new houses is for the land. These new homes could be sold or rented at less than half the price of similar properties. No, this idea was never born. The special interest lobbyists clearly did not want to initiate a plan that would provide affordable housing.

What the UK did get was various 'help to buy' schemes. This plan merely benefits the sellers, as house prices actually go up. Or at least, do not correct downwards.

To summarise, the chattering classes and man in the pub can agree that housing is now more affordable despite the fact that prices have increased.

A third order analysis reveals that this was the intended consequence from the lobbyists point of view. An unintended consequence, from the governments point of view. The publics view is that housing is now more affordable, regardless of reality.

Note how easily the publics will is seen to be organising and how easily it is misdirected?

Thus the rules for this particular game are set. As soon as public will starts to firm up about affordable housing, then a new plan will be rolled out based upon lowering mortgage payments for first time buyers to sustain or increase actual house prices.

The specialist lobbyists will keep this game going for as long as their clients continue to profit from it. In theory, standard mortgages could become 100 years with 0.5% interest only payments. Affordability is maintained but house prices could easily quadruple.

At some point, first time buyers will no longer be suitably incentivised to take on such huge mortgages.

Currently, the public believe that house prices always increase. There may be periods where they fall a little but in time prices bounce back. There may also be periods of stagnation. This is not considered to be significant, over the long term prices are always going to increase. Well, that is exactly what the specialist lobbyists clients want us to believe.

Should the publics confidence in ever increasing house prices ever fail, what would happen? Lots of very credible people will write and say that house prices are set to increase because of blah blah blah. Most of the time this is enough. If the public believes house prices will rise, then few people will enjoy selling under 'market' value. People will buy sooner, rather than later and house prices will rise.

What happens when our belief in ever increasing house prices falters? Simple, prices will drop. Slowly at first, then nose bleedingly fast. Then, after a small delay, we get the first wave of defaults. Then much bigger waves. Have no fear, the specialist lobbyists will have a raft of solutions all involving tax payer money. The clients of the lobbyists will retain their control of our wealth. Ultimately, interest rates will go double digit due to massive numbers of defaults on existing mortgages making the issuance of mortgages incredibly risky. All first order truths.

Higher level analysis reveals a truly unbelievable truth. The lobbyists clients already understand all this. Vast amounts of public wealth is spent on controlling public opinion. The BBC is not an unbiased news source. It is a purveyor of the world's finest propaganda. The government is seen as powerful but must always dissipate the publics will or risk being seen as irrelevant. Bankers employ the best lobbyists that money can buy otherwise their harnessing of mankind's productive output could be lost.

Can I prove any of this?
Easily.
Imagine that the great british public decide that mortgages are no longer acceptable. All houses are to be paid for without borrowing. Would we expect house prices to go up or to crash down to earth? Obviously, they crash but what would make us all decide never to borrow money for a home?

The few already know what would cause such a widespread belief to arise. Acknowledgement of one simple truth would stop 98% of people ever borrowing money again. This truth is so simple that the human brain struggles to accept it.

High order evaluation of the following truth will be required before enlightenment.

Banks lend bank credit which they create at (close to) zero cost.

For example, I go into a bank to borrow 150,000 bank credits against a house priced at 180,000 pounds. Paperwork is filled and I give my signature. Over the next 25 years I pay back the 150,000 bank credits that the bank created at zero cost. The bank gets to spend or invest the interest payments however it likes. Some goes to specialist lobbyists to ensure the wealth skimming continues.

Banks do provide a public service. The public should own the banks. Creating bank credits is virtually costless. Banks should be public owned and the wealth they skim be spent locally. Not controlled by the few.

Banks should not be allowed to own businesses, or property or shares. Private banks should not exist. Banks should create bank credit to serve humanity. Not enslave it.

Public will and public money is manipulated by the few at the expense of the many. The basic tool of the few is the control of the issuance of bank credit and the subsequent control of the vast wealth that this takes from us.

Anyway, how many of us are capable of higher order thought?
Far more if we stopped ingesting fluoride, aspartame and other 'safe' chemical monstrosities.

Please discuss this nonsense amongst yourselves. 98% of you are capable of higher level thought. Help yourself by eating high quality foods, perhaps grow your own and drink high quality water. Perhaps by distilling tap water. Give it two years because we deserve better, much better because we are better. We simply are.

P.S. You might assume that I consider banks and / or the government to be the 'bad guys'. Or perhaps the lobbyists?

No, no and no. To get a clear view of the 'bad guy' simply stand in front of a mirror. There you will see your own worst enemy. Or, you might glimpse an enlightened mindful being.

There are those who will use your own ignorance of reality against you. The natural remedy for this is a Mindful Enlightenment.

I write three blogs and have written three books, all to help me to walk the path towards becoming Enlightened. Hopefully, you will at least find some part of them, interesting, as I have no desire to waste your time.

The status quo - higher order thinking

Many believe that the next twenty or even forty years will mirror the last twenty or forty years. Economists and politicians are almost fanatical in their beliefs. These beliefs are merely wishful thinking. Since 1970 our standards of living have increased. We can thank Engineers for their massive contributions but most of the benefits have been consumed by government.

In this modern age men are expected to work forty hours a week for fifty years. This is not necessary. Each year, productivity is expected to increase. Again, this is not necessary. It is truly bizarre. Massive government requires this ever increasing effort to simply survive. As I wrote moments ago, this is truly bizarre.

Government has taken the credit for fifty years of technological advancement. It has also taken a vast amount of our wealth. Our standard of living ought to be far in excess of what it is. Government waste has destroyed most of our technological gains.

Governments think in very simple terms. They react with low order solutions to very high order problems. High order thought is not taught in schools or acknowledged in universities or government. In practical terms, lack of high order thought of solutions births unintended consequences. Those who are capable of higher order thinking see the unintended consequences as the true purpose of the original 'solutions'.

The basic idea that this post is attempting to illuminate is that the world view of most politicians, economists and the man in the street is simply wrong.

Our wealth, our standards of living are being crushed by people who truly believe that they can organise the lives of millions of people better than the people themselves.

Utter nonsense. A politician making decisions for sixty million people is an obscene joke. Trump making decisions for 339 million people is truly absurd. If a man makes a mistake, he is forced to accept the consequences. A politician, is not forced to accept anything. Utterly bizarre.

The point of this post is to illuminate the fact that politicians are intellectual children playing with the lives of millions of adults. Why do you believe that politicians are not deluded idiots when you know that they are?

Vote for yourself. Think for yourself. Accept responsibility for yourself.

Law and Order

Welcome to my thoughts on Law and Order. In this short article I will explain the reality of what we do have and the possibility of something orders of magnitude better.

We have a society that diverts a substantial portion of wealth towards law and order. We collectively believe this is necessary otherwise we have anarchy and chaos. Our system of law and order is hierarchical and bureaucratic. This appeals to the most ancient parts of our brains. The law is the law. Rules are rules. Everybody gets treated the same.

We are all conditioned to believe that law and order is the same as justice. This is the same conditioning that has us confusing society with civilisation.

Should you ever go to court, as a mindful being, you will rapidly recognise that your opinion counts for nothing. Written contracts and the rule of law mean everything. A decent lawyer will listen to you but the case he presents is a much simpler version keyed to fit within the basic system of rules that the court acknowledges. This is law and order within a society.

A few thousands of years ago in an actual civilisation, a farmer had a reputation for resolving disputes. In the morning, whilst ploughing or some such like, he would listen to each parties disagreement. First one and then the other. In the afternoon, after lunch, he would give his opinion on the dispute and fully explain what he thought would be a fair outcome. Over a period of fifty years, no one ever appealed his decisions. That dear readers, is justice dispensed by a mindful being. The cost of this service was nothing. The farmers opinion was not upheld with force. Either party could choose to ignore him. No one ever did.

Not exactly anarchy and chaos is it?

You may be fearful that not enough people could do what the farmer did. Become a mindful being and you could do it yourself.

Now, which system would you prefer? A free one where you are listened to. An expensive one where a vast but simple set of rules is adhered to? (With someone else deciding which rules are relevant and conveniently ignoring the rest.)

Give the above some serious thought before you start worrying, unnecessarily, about prisons and criminals. That is merely your basic conditioning causing you to feel fearful yet again. Realising this, you will start to understand exactly how much you have been manipulated, conditioned and influenced by our society. The correct description for this is institutionalisation on a societal scale.

No need to feel embarrassed or threatened, just smile and take some deep breaths.

Why, when and how? UPDATE 1.1

Society and civilisation are not the same thing.

In a society, we have central banks and central governments. Each growing ever more powerful, as each individual grows weaker and weaker.

In a civilisation, each organisation exists only to serve people. People are free to join, create or leave an organisation as they choose. Organisations can be ignored.

In a society, demands are made by the few which the many feel forced to comply with.

In a civilisation, demands are seen to be bizarre outbursts of the emotionally unstable.

This difference is crucial. With societies, you tend towards creating the unsustainable. This unsustainability is unavoidable. The few make promises that are widely believed. Thus we give them our power. However, the promises prove impossible to keep.  The unsustainable is sustained but at increasing cost. Eventually, we get a self destructive reset.

Societies are based on fear. A simple reflection of our inner monkey. With civilisations you get art, science, creativity, personal responsibility, accountability and this is what our human souls need to thrive.

Why is this difference important?
Our current society is heavily dependent upon the ancient 'monkey' portions of our selves. Hence the form and function of our society is control through hierarchical means. Which appeals to our inner monkey. This has a number of advantages and disadvantages. The main disadvantage is that in time, the societal systems become increasingly brittle until they shatter. This is due to simple logic, as fewer and fewer people control more and more, their mistakes are amplified. Each major mistake requiring more and more power to correct. Wielding such power, without being a God, usually causes the sweet spot to be overshot. Ever more power and control over the population is required. This utter waste of resources simply increases over time, until society collapses, as it can no longer match the increasing costs with increasing productivity.

When will our society collapse?
Timing is everything. I cannot predict when Western society will collapse. Predicting when, is predicting the future. I cannot do that. We all are able to see where we are headed, should we care to. The 2008 global financial crisis was a tremor, the earthquake has not happened yet.

How will our society collapse?
Interesting question. There are a great many ways that our society can shatter itself. Another massively destructive world war resets our society. Which is completely pointless but we have done it twice now so a third world war isn't beyond imagination. A societal reset is what we get unless we choose to do something else. In other words, world war three is the default answer. Anything else will require some thought. Some basic awareness of self. An acknowledgement of the increasing demands of society.

However, we do have a choice. We can chose to accept that our society is the result of not correctly training our inner monkey. We can then slowly dissolve society and each of us contribute towards building a civilisation.

This obviously means reading my three books and practising mindful behaviours. :-)

Why should you bother?
A human being, free of the fears of its inner monkey is a beautiful, creative, peaceful and productive member of a human civilisation.

A human being, enslaved by the imagined fears of its out of control inner monkey is just a normal member of society. Many will gladly take any offered drug to help ease the pain of not being what they were born to be - a Mindful Being. Many of us will force our own children to take drugs, just to cope with our societies idea of an education. A child will quite naturally seek an education, a civilised education.

Another big reason is that when society shatters, the damage will be beyond my imagination. Far easier to read my Trilogy and allow society to dissolve slowly and create a civilisation at our own pace.

What is actually happening?
Both. For centuries. Most of Mankind has used its energies to maintain a status quo, that benefits a few at the expense of the many rather than bothering with developing themselves, to benefit themselves and everybody else. The ancient Greeks did have a civilisation, we simply don't even know that we don't have an actual civilisation.

Society is all about what you own / control. (The few controlling more and more.)

Civilisation is all about what you share / give. (Whilst creating more and more.)

One is a pointless waste of life, destroying countless human souls.

The other is the reason for life itself. The reason we are here. The reason I write.

The new civilisation has been here for millennia, when will it dawn on you to join it?

Any questions?

Thanks for reading.

Now I humbly ask that you take a leap of faith and ask me a question.

I could use this as a platform to ridicule you. Should I do so, just delete the question.

Please have faith that I will attempt to answer your question, as best I can, with the time I have available. It will be my choice as to how much time I spend answering questions but I will dedicate the rest of this calendar year.

I can only show you the door, the rest is up to you.

I have published a helpful book, available for free download on the 30th of March 2017

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Mindfulness-Self-Trilogy-Book-ebook/dp/B06VXG8F3T/ref=sr_1_2?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1487491626&sr=1-2&keywords=Mindfulness+of+self

How to win friends and influence people

This book was written in 1936 and an entire 'industry' has been built upon it.

Copy and paste the link for the Wikipedia entry, or just use google. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/How_to_Win_Friends_and_Influence_People

It is a good book, obviously. It is a 'self help' book. As I have written a self help book, I thought I would explain why.

His book is very much about succeeding in business and becoming a successful member of society. His book explained how, brilliantly.

I find the concept of winning friends to be offensive. Friends may be gained and lost but they are not prizes at a fairground.

Influencing people is a polite way of saying manipulate.

These are the main two rules of our society and both disgust me.

The book was brilliant and at the time of publication, it was something the author could and should have been very proud of. I am fully aware that Dale Carnegie doesn't interpret the title of his book in the same way that I do.

However, it is unfortunate that its success has actually stalled mankind's journey on the road to enlightenment. Very unfortunate. I blame no-one. There is no evil conspiracy, just not enough critical thought.

My book continues what Dale Carnegie started. He inspired a great many people to do their very best and develop new technologies and industries. It is time to take another step on our journey.

My book discusses how you can become a far better version of you, should you choose too. Dale Carnegie wrote about how individuals could become far better members of society. The difference is crucial. His book was the right book in 1936. My book is the right book, now.

I hope you are reading this and are amazed at my confidence. If so, follow the practices in my book and become a far more confident version of yourself.

My confidence is far greater than you might imagine. I had only written book one of the trilogy, when I wrote this post.

To quote Dale Carnegie,

It isn't what you have, or who you are, or where you are, or what you are doing that makes you happy or unhappy. It is what you think about it.

Writing the Mindful Being Trilogy is important to me. I am thoroughly enjoying it. I would describe my mental state as happy.

There are a great many people who are both happy and successful and are proud to have been on a Dale Carnegie Training Course. I have complete respect for their view and absolute respect for Dale Carnegie.

Once again, I will quote the great man.

Most of the important things in the world have been accomplished by people who have kept on trying when there seemed to be no hope at all.

I find the above quote to be very inspiring. I feel in my bones that Dale Carnegie wrote that specifically for me and people like me. I feel the full support of Dale Carnegie as I write this post and I fully believe he wants me to complete the trilogy.

A final quote,

You can make more friends in two months by becoming interested in other people than you can in two years by trying to get other people interested in you.

This one resonates with me and the trilogy of Mindful Being books I will write. To me, it is absolutely clear that his title was merely a marketing tool. 'winning friends' speaks to our competitive nature and was the correct way of framing the book at that time.

I continue his great work and I ask yet another favour of those who become Mindful Beings. Read or re-read, 'How to win friends and influence people', from your new perspective as a Mindful Being. There is absolutely no need for me to rewrite that body of work.

However, I shall give an example. Dale Carnegie wrote;-
When dealing with people, let us remember we are not dealing with creatures of logic. We are dealing with creatures of emotion, creatures bristling with prejudices and motivated by pride and vanity.

To give this some context, he is not speaking of close friends, family and colleagues, the subject of book two of my trilogy. He is writing about everyone else, the subject of book three of my trilogy. He basically cautions us that their monkey is likely to be dominant. He is calling these people creatures of emotion. He is correct. Unless, of course, these people had understood book one of my trilogy, then Mr Carnegie would have been dealing with Mindful Beings. (This is why I make book one available for free as often as I am able. It simply makes life so much easier for everyone.) My trilogy, addresses the same concerns as Dale Carnegie, using three powerful concepts in one mindset. I am sure he would have been fascinated, as I am in him. My trilogy does not replace the work of Dale Carnegie, it merely illuminates its timeless quality allowing us a far deeper understanding.

Some of you will quickly read my book and determine that I am arrogant. May be. Quickly reading my book is a waste of your time. Knowledge is NOT understanding. Knowledge is the greatest barrier to understanding that will ever exist.

If you do download my book, please take your time with it and feel free to adapt the presented ideas and concepts to best suit you. If you want more, then carefully research what it is that you want more of. If what you want does not exist, blog about it or write a book about it. Paste links in the comments section, I only ask that you explain their relevance.

For those who are heavily invested in Dale Carnegie, consider my trilogy to be a roughly hewn lens. One that needs a great deal of reshaping, customisation and adaptation. Once complete, this new lens will allow the creator to view Dale Carnegie in a new light. To more fully appreciate his work and more fully appreciate how great a man he is and continues to be. All I offer is a new perspective and a method of developing a deeper awareness. What you offer is entirely your choice.

Thanks for indulging me.

If anything I wrote angered, irritated or provoked any 'negative' emotional response, then you actually do need to read my book, with far greater care than you read this post.

Thank you Dale Carnegie for your gifts, without them mankind would be so much poorer.

It is time for each of us to share our gifts too

Book one of my Trilogy:-

Mindfulness of Self by David Roy Watkinson

You will need an amazon account, which are free.

You can read the ebook on 'any' device.

You can download a sample for free, at anytime.

In 2017, book one of the Trilogy will be free on:-

March 30

April 21

May 1

May 19

The book is my dream given form.

Carnegie gave us the foundation of our great society and should we create a lens to see them,
the seeds of an even greater civilisation.

The chimp paradox

Hi, I am currently reading a book recommended and given personally to me by a management guru / consultant. Not his actual self proclaimed job title but the one I have given him.

First off, thanks, great book and a thoroughly interesting hour of conversation. His communication skills are formidable, as is his knowledge.

The book is by Prof Steve Peters and it is a great start to your personal journey of enlightenment. It's title is chimp management, the mind management. Great book. Potentially, it can help guide you to become a more successfully integrated member of society.

To stimulate your human brain I suggest a course of mindfulness where you practise 'self awareness' . https://www.bemindfulonline.com

I suggest becoming more human by deliberately stimulating and using the human portion of your brain and becoming part of a human civilisation. Your choice.

(My ebook expands on the concepts introduced here.)

The final, mystery ingredient is Unconditionally Loving people which is not a skill members of society are instilled with. Read a couple of Greg Baer books, to use and develop this skill.

Finally, those who think love is weak, your are going to be astonished. Imagine a rocky beach with waves crashing onto the shore. The waves are violent, powerful and potentially dangerous. The waves represent our anger and aggression. Love, is represented by the tide. Far more powerful and significant. Just not as noisy or easily recognised.

PS I have written the book. It is an ebook available at Amazon. It is supported here

https://mindfulbeings.blogspot.co.uk

Just reading the thing is a small step. Understanding it is a quantum leap, as was writing it.

You take care

Dealing with myself

The biggest barrier to me living in a civilisation as a true human being is not government, banks, bosses, colleagues, customers, parents, friends, events, fate, luck, wealth, housing, pets, other people or aliens.

The biggest barrier, generally is me and more specifically my 'anger' response.

I was recently asked to solve a problem. I like solving problems. So far, so good. I became 'angry' or 'annoyed' when I could not locate a document. I then chose to 'invest' one hour of my time looking for a document that I wanted to see. My 'anger' was completely useless. My 'anger' didn't help find the document. My 'anger' blinded me to the fact that I didn't actually need to see the document. My 'anger' wasted one hour of my time and I was still agitated hours later.

I am not going to blame 'society' for conditioning this bizarre behaviour into me. Or my parents, who really mastered the art of being angry years ago. No, the blame lies entirely with me.

I must have been angry tens of thousands of times in my life. Not once realising, until recently, that this behaviour costs me time, money and my happiness.

To break this social conditioning simply requires me to decide to break this conditioning. There are two stages.

1. Accept that becoming angry is something you no longer wish to do
2. Notice when you have become angry

So, I spent two hours being angry and it took another two hours to calm down.
Perhaps, if I had noticed I was angry after just thirty seconds, I could have calmed down in another thirty seconds.

So, what made me angry? What wasted four hours of my life?
I EXPECTED to find a document within one minute of looking for it and I didn't.

Like I said, I really am the biggest obstacle to living in a civilisation as a human being.

Society installs within us the belief that being angry is something that is caused by other people. This is a lie. Being angry is a choice we make ourselves for ourselves. We then justify our anger by blaming whatever we like, except ourselves.

Society truly is bizarre and so are the members of society it creates.

Why not be something better?

I have written a very short book on becoming better, it is available now. It will be available for free download on February 28th 2017

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Mindfulness-Self-Trilogy-Book-ebook/dp/B06VXG8F3T/ref=sr_1_2?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1487491626&sr=1-2&keywords=Mindfulness+of+self

Dealing with members of society

My mum, bless, is a member of society. I recently wrote a comment on a Facebook friends post, a particularly emotional post. I mentioned that she attempt unconditional love. My mum decided to comment on my comment as below.

Ann Watkinson

Your Mum has read this!

LikeMore · 15 January at 19:34

David Watkinson

Good. Try understanding it. See you in June.

LikeMore · 15 January at 20:13

Ann Watkinson

Remind me to ask you to explain when I see you in June xx

LikeMore · Tuesday at 12:52

Why I need to know that she read my comment is not clear. The use of the exclamation mark is unknown too and never explained.

I state, 'try understanding it'. Which is either an order or suggestion depending upon how you interpret it. Regardless, she has a choice. She can either try or not try.

She goes with not trying. Which is fine. I fully accept that she has a choice to make. I accept whatever choice she makes. It is her choice.

Then she tells me to remind her. No choice given.

She places all responsibility for her 'understanding' on me. I am to explain it to her. Again, no choice given.

That is the difference between a member of society and a human being.

• Choice
• Free will
• Acceptance
• Accountability
• Unconditional love

All things that are far easier in a civilisation than a society.

My initial comment was for my Facebook friend to read a Greg Baer book she likes the look of, read my critical thinking blog and this blog. My mother has decided not to bother reading any of my blogs or a Greg Baer book. This is fine, it is her choice how she spends her retirement. However, she 'expects'  me to spend my time working out how to explain unconditional love to her. Something that I have for everyone on the planet. Which I am practising daily. I do need the practice.

So, this is my attempt at explaining unconditional love to my mother. It is when you love someone without conditions. If that isn't clear enough read a Greg Baer book of your choosing and perhaps read this blog, to get an idea of how your eldest son's mind works. Or not. Again, this is entirely your choice.

I have chosen not to remind you. I have chosen not to explain myself (beyond this post) as I do not feel the need to satisfy your need for power over me. You demonstrate this need by the phrasing of your comments, your general attitude and tens of thousands of previous exchanges. I would use the word conversation but that would be asking the word to carry a far higher burden than it was designed for.

Dear mother, you will have plenty of reasons to hand, regarding why I am wrong. You will have a need to spin this, such that you 'prove' that I am not a nice person. That I am not a decent member of society.
You will be correct.

I am not a member of society, I am a flawed human being who is attempting / practicing living in an actual civilisation which essentially means unconditionally loving everyone.

You are more than welcome to join in. However, it is you who will have to put the effort into doing it. Being a member of society was easy, being part of a civilisation is far easier but only if you can break your conditioning. I simply do not have the right to break your conditioning. I can't even 'expect' you to try.

Anyway, you have either put the effort into understanding this post or you haven't.

That comment applies to my mother and everyone else on the planet.

So, how do you deal with members of society when you are not one?  Easy, treat them as if they are flawed human beings because we all are. Far more importantly, love them unconditionally. Some people will make this very challenging. I suggest you spend time with those who make it easy. Until you decide that you need a challenge.

I might be up for a challenge in June, or I might not. I have fully accepted that I am  flawed human being and so is everybody else including my mother. That is just the way it is. Perhaps the journey of life is to become aware of our flaws? To become enlightened beings. (Spoiler alert: it is)

As always you take care. When you have done that, sufficiently, take care of everybody else. Or not. Your choice.

Road incident

As a tax paying member of society, driving can be very stressful. Or rather, other motorists can be incredibly annoying.

That perception can change in a heart beat.

I recently lost control of my car. It started with some understeer, then it decided to oversteer. I know how to react to both individually but I truly wasn't expecting either event and control was lost.

I didn't actually crash but I certainly came close. What I did do was stop all traffic along a main road. Everybody, patiently waited (forty or more cars) whilst I repointed my car in the correct direction. I apologised in the direction of the motorist who actively steered his vehicle out of my way.

You may or may not find that interesting or extraordinary. The point is the gratitude I felt for all the motorists that I inconvenienced due to my lack of care, for their patience. The entire incident was solely my responsibility.

In summary, I behaved, reacted and felt as a human being would.

This contrasts sharply with what a member of society would have felt. They would have felt that their rear tyres were defective despite recent professional advice that they were not in need of replacement. That there must have been a diesel or oil spillage. That the shell grip road surface was worn. That the car was faulty despite recently passing its annual road worthy test. That the couple of month old front tyres were incorrectly specified. The list of excuses is limitless.

The police could say that I was driving without due care and attention. They would be correct. They could say that i failed to maintain control of my vehicle. They would be correct. I could say it was just an accident. I would be lying.

Are you a member of society or a human being?

Do you understand the distinction?

Online gaming

Over the last few years I have spent a great deal of time playing online games. Initially, the call of duty games and then star wars battlefront.

For me, the difference between playing as a member of society and as a human being is huge. Playing as a human being, I appreciate that others may not have the experience I have. They may be distracted by pets, children, wives, the postman or worried about their jobs or money. In other words, distracted and not playing their best game. All understandable and I can choose to support them in the game or play some other tac tics so that our team puts up a good fight and perhaps even wins.

I think most of us will agree that what I described is fair and reasonable and that is  how most of us would enjoy the shared experience of online gaming.

However, that isn't how most of us play. Most of us are no longer the human beings we were born as but are members of society. Whilst playing online we are inundated with idiots, noobs and show offs. We might simply shout at our televisions, perhaps slam down our controller in disgust, we might even shoot or otherwise inconvenience our team mates or just abandon the game. I have both sent and received messages which were aggressive, nasty and negative.

The gaming experience, when playing as a human being is a pleasant one. I have lots of choices about how best to support our team. How I can play to increase our chances of winning. To play the best game I can with the available resources. If we win we win. If we lose, could I have played differently or were we completely outclassed? In which case, what can I learn from our opponents? Now, I am not infuriated but actually learning. I am no longer repeating the same behaviour again and again. I am learning to be a better team player. Learning to be a better human being.

The gaming experience, when played as a member of society is, usually,  mostly annoying with a few pleasing outcomes that can keep us playing way past bedtime. :-)

Perhaps you are not an online gamer. I work in a small professional office. When working, as a human being, I have a really enjoyable tike. Working as a member of society is completely different. I encounter awkward customers, inconsiderate colleagues and clueless bosses.

The point I am clumsily attempting to make is vital. The people, customers and online gamers are not the ones who change. They don't create the environment I either enjoy or find annoying. The thing that creates the environment is me.

The members of a society, create the society. Just one person, behaving as a human being, creates a bubble of civilisation. This bubble is quite large. It can easily envelop a home or office. These pockets of civilisation actually grow when they encounter another bubble. The beauty of these bubbles, is that they grow increasingly stronger over time and become effortless to maintain.

So, society is rather easy to replace with a civilisation. You simply choose to become a human being and then practice being one. Currently, I am managing bursts of around an hour quite easily. At the time of writing, rather than publication, I managed to be a human being all Friday. This included a thirty minute commute to work in a fourteen year old car. Eight hours at work. Another thirty minute commute home in rush hour traffic and an evening in with my partner. It was a great day. I have spent most of the weekend thinking about that day and creating this sister blog to my critical thought blog. Monday might not be as great, after all human beings are not perfect. Human beings are flawed. A human being appreciates that everybodyelse is flawed too. Including Obama, Clinton, Trump, our bosses, colleagues, customers, clients, spouses, children and especially ourselves.

I hope you found this uplifting. At some stage, I could become inspirational. Better yet, you could!

Feel free to use any ideas I present here as foundation upon which to build your own.

Obamacare

In a society, we get to vote every four years for a new Leader. This Leader is fully authorised to make decisions for us all.

I recently read that half of all Americans haven't the necessary savings (1400 dollars) to fix a broken arm. Now most of the world would be amazed at how expensive US healthcare is.

One of my Facebook friends has said that without Obamacare her father's three dollar a month prescription becomes a thousand dollars. Or in other words, he will be dead within eight months.

As you can imagine, a great many people are concerned with what Trump will do with Obamacare.

Well that is the best and worst of society in as few words as I am able.

A great many Americans will now be wasting their energy trying to get a different person in the Whitehouse. This energy, in my opinion, would be better invested in ourselves and each other.

Society is wasteful. Society is inefficient. Quite bold statements, easily proved. Spending other people's money is far easier than spending your own. How many of us have more security than an alarm and dead locks on their home? Yet, somehow our governments spend billions on weapons of mass destruction. The chances of a Russian infantry invasion are non existent. The chances of a home burglary are far higher.

Should most of us spontaneously revert to our natural state of human being, we would have no need of Obamacare, nuclear weapons, vast armies, millions of civil servants and presidents. Human beings are compassionate creatures. If someone needs medication to survive, how could any human being deprive them of it?

However, we live in a society. Trump decides. Is our only other choice to let Clinton decide? NO. NO. NO.

The incremental cost of manufacture of the drugs mentioned earlier will be a handful of dollars and easily affordable. What is a life and death problem in a society becomes a no brainer in a civilisation populated by human beings. Many groups of human beings would have decided healthcare and medication were important and spontaneously dedicated their lives to providing it. Many do now, within the limits of our society which is basically a cage, that is becoming increasingly visible to its members.

Perhaps a simple visual image will help?

Members of society have to run ever faster on the treadmill of life to maintain what they have.

A human being would acquire what was needed early in their life and then slow down.

Or some numbers.

Members of society will find their official retirement age will become higher than their expected life span.

Or some basic honesty.

A human being would struggle to imagine a more hopeless, pointless and cruel way of organising the world. Yet, we continue to run ever faster, row ever harder for less and less. Except for fear, rage and anger, which will increase until WWIII is accepted as utterly necessary.

What is war good for? Absolutely nothing.

What is society good for? Manufacturing fear, hate, anger, stress and anxiety.

What is a human civilisation good for? Creating limitless amounts of love, support and encouragement for everyone to be whatever it is that they truly are. Which is what they were born to be but heavily condtioned, by us all, not to be.

All in all, a member of society is just another brick in the wall. A human being is far more interesting.

This blog felt, to me, quite negative. Sorry. It was meant to be uplifting. I mentioned society too much but that is what we are familiar with. It is the starting point we have inherited and that's no one's fault. Not attempting to improve the world with our presence, now that would be our fault. Again no blame is necessary as we know no better and neither did our parents and grandparents. Obama promised us a change but only we can implement the change. Obama proved that, if nothing else. Trump will prove the same. As will the next one, even if it is Clinton, Saunders or even me. It really is up to us, individually.

I couldn't do any more than I am, even with a billion dollars.

George Soros has more than a billion dollars and  he continues to promote his idea of society. He will fail. Pursuing his vision of society has cost him a billion dollars this year, when the stock markets surprised him. Ultimately, he isn't doing himself or anyone else any good. He has utterly failed as a human being. Despite succeeding massively in this 'modern' society. The word bizarre is insufficient to describe the world today. We can, easily, do so much better.

Road rage

The UK is mainly empty. People are crammed into population centres in ever increasing densities, for whatever reasons, traffic densities are also quite high, especially during rush hours. Unfortunately, this increases the probability that other motorists will inconvenience us, perhaps often.

Now, members of society pay up to half their wages in taxes. Expectations are high that this money is spent wisely. Car adverts show wide roads with sweeping bends and no traffic. Expectations of such road systems are not met. The tax payer can easily feel anger or perhaps just a continual irritation. So, when another driver inconveniences them, this background rage can vent itself on the other driver.

A member of society can easily feel that they keep missing out on a great many things. Differing post codes get better or worse doctors. Better or worse schools. Better or worse social services. More or less police. More or less traffic. A tax payer, could find themselves enraged for almost any of this 'unfairness'.

The tax payer can be a winner or loser based upon simple government policy changes. A taxpayer would be correct in thinking that they are a victim of government policy. This victim mentality is very damaging A victim is powerless. Civilised human beings are not powerless victims, they are powerful. Changes in government policy always creates winners and losers. The winners are usually, government, big business and banks. The losers are nearly always the members of this bizarre society, often called the real world.

Road rage is therefore a member of society lashing out and what they feel is the problem, another motorist, whilst being completely unaware of the real culprit. Themselves.

A civilised human being accepts that they will be inconvenienced during a car journey. Or even walking in a busy shop or street. A civilised human being is aware that other people may well be upset, irritated, angry or scared. That they will make mistakes, errors and exercise poor judgement. None of this is a problem. Human beings are flawed.

A civilised human being has no expectations that their taxes will be spent exactly as they would like. A civilised human being does not expect good schools, good doctors, empty roads or not to be inconvenienced. A civilised human is pleased when another motorist is thoughtful. Whereas, a stressed executive in an Audi might think that they should never be inconvenienced by others.

Obviously, civilised human beings live on the same planet and are forced to obey the same rules. However, civilised human beings are more honest with themselves. A civilised human being is more authentic, happy and pleasure to spend time with.

At times, we are all civilised human beings despite living in a society. This means that we are all intrinsically civilised human beings. We just need to be ourselves. The new civilisation then materializes before our very eyes.

Things will change. Particularly, the large institutions. Everything will change. Society is no longer working as it once did. The recovery is weak to non existent. Society is simply dying. It could take fifty years so you could spend fifty years having your expectations continually ignored and your hopes crushed. Or simply stop having expectations.

A quick example. This evening I may expect my partner to cook dinner. If she does I simply eat it. If she does not, I could explode in rage.

Or, I don't expect her to cook. If she does, I appreciate the time and care she expended in preparing our evening meal. If she does not. I cook for her. Or we get a take out. Or we go out.

When you feel irritated, angry or displeased when someone inconveniences you, then you are not behaving like a civilised human being. You are behaving as society has conditioned you to behave. Unloving and uncaring. Either towards your children, parents, spouse, colleague, employee or boss.

A civilised human being behaves in a loving and caring manner to everybody. A community full of such beings is where I want to live. An office of such beings is where I want to work. Only one person is preventing that, me.

Be part of the human (rat) race or a new human civilisation?

Welcome to my new blog.

The last was about critical thought and my conclusions were, to me at least, very disturbing. I discovered / realised that our society was actually crushing our humanity.

In a single paragraph, I can now summarise around one hundred posts. 'Too big to fail' is just wishful thinking. Critical Thought brings the harsh reality that it is 'too big to live'. I was referring to both banks and government.

Our society is, currently, generally accepted to be flawed but the best we can manage. A few people know this to be nonsense. These people are living a far more fulfilling life, amongst us, but in an actual civilisation that nourishes their human spirit.

This blog is about my personal journey from a member of society, to a member of a civilisation.

This journey takes less than a heart beat but I do find myself reverting back to a member of society rather quickly.

A member of society generally accepts the way things are and makes their way through life as best they can. They react with annoyance and even anger towards those who inconvenience them. The list of inconveniences is beyond measure. Examples include Trump, Clinton, foreigners, banks, bosses, motorists, colleagues, spouses, parents and children. Also the weather, traffic, time and perhaps even God.

This is fine but a tremendous waste of the gift of life.

A civilised human being enjoys life and appreciates it. They also help others to become more civilised too. Inconveniences are accepted and perhaps taken as an opportunity to teach or learn. (Usually both.)

That is all there is to this new blog. I will provide examples, inspired by actual events but simplified and generalised to be more readily understood. I should, easily, be able to publish one example every Friday night, for the rest of the year. We shall see.

You may be having two simultaneous thoughts, if not more.

Why am I writing this?
It will help me reach my goal of being a true human being.

Why should you read any of this?
You will become a better lover, boss, colleague, driver, person and truly enjoy and appreciate your life and those who spend time with you. It will enrich your life beyond the current limits of your imagination. (No need to thank me.)


Critical Thought is a hard skill and not something everybody is comfortable with.

Becoming a civilised human being is a soft skill. Almost all can manage this.

Once you become a civilised human being, critical thought will become far easier.

Examples will follow, you all take great care of yourselves. Only when we are at our best are we able to take care of others with the love and care that they deserve.