belief

Life Through a Dram Episode 5: Belief is Half of All Healing

There are many beliefs in the world – religious, spiritual and more. But what if we believed in the one thing that we can all agree on – the belief in humanity?

This is a topic that’s near and dear to me, as I talked about a bit in my last post on here. In the latest episode of Life Through a Dram, I dive into this a little bit deeper.

[smart_track_player url=”https://dannybrown.me/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/Life-through-a-dram-episode-5.mp3″ title=”Episode 5: Belief is Half of All Healing” artist=”Life Through a Dram” tweet_text=”Instead of all disparate religions countering each other, wouldn’t we be better with just the religion of humanity?” hashtag=”#podcast #religion” twitter_username=”CraftBeersBlog” ]

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Belief, Ego, and Remarkability

Everyone has greatness in them. The challenge is how we express it. We can push ourselves to rise to the challenge, or we can?encourage others to greatness.

By doing this, we can encourage ourselves at the same time.

Everyone also has an ego.

Some are kept in check ? some are left to rage uncontrollably. Some have a happy medium in-between.

Are our ego?s stopping us from being remarkable?

Often we don?t like to admit we don?t know something. We want people to think we?re invincible, that their trust in us is warranted.

That we are the fountain of knowledge to their stream of questions.

But we?re not. None of us.

But that?s not a bad thing.

We are who we are because we learned what we know.

How did we learn that? From those that knew and wanted to share.

Not keep it to themselves as leverage over everyone else. Not use it as a power base over less-informed people. Not use it to stroke their own ego.

Ego?s are natural. We?re human beings ? we like to feel we?re important in some way or another. And we are ? each and every one of us.

We all?do great things every day. Does that mean we?re better than others that do ?lesser? things?

Can you define lesser? Is there such a thing when it comes to offering hope through belief?

I don?t think so and I know I?m not the only one.

Look around you. There are people that could have huge ego?s if they wanted to.

People that?continuously encourage others to challenge themselves to be better.

People that are selfless in their determination to?make life better for those that need it the most.

People that have taken an idea and ran with it to?make it their own.

These are the people that could have ego?s but don?t.

So what ego?s are stopping us from growing? What ones are putting us in a pen and keeping the gate locked? You might recognize some.

Business leaders. Your employees are your currency. Offer them a voice for their ideas, not a muzzle.

Educators. Your students are the leaders of tomorrow in the brains of today. Don?t silence their probing ? encourage it.

Business consultants. Your clients are counting on you. If you don?t know something (which sometimes you won?t), admit it. Agree to find the answer together and make something truly great.

We all know people who offer belief. People who offer hope.

We also know (often in equal measure) people who crush that belief simply through distorted ego.

Sometimes it?s deliberate; sometimes it?s not. Either one is just as powerful as the other.

Belief is hope. Ego is the wall that can block that hope.

How you scale the wall is up to you.

Because We Never Failed

As children, we have unbridled aspirations.

We dream to be astronauts. We dream to be explorers. We dream to be princesses. We dream to be the world’s greatest sports star.

We dream.

Looking back at our childhood dreams, we rarely feel we failed because we didn’t become the astronaut. Or marry the prince. Or found new lands. Or had stadiums cheering our name.

Instead, we look back and remember a time when dreams had no limits and anything was possible, even if, in reality, it never was.

Yet we never use the fail word. Because, in truth, we never failed.

Just because something didn’t happen doesn’t mean it’s a failure. Far from it.

That failed astronaut? Perhaps he became a scientist and found a cure for cancer.

That failed princess? Perhaps she became a politician and ended global hunger.

That failed sports star? Perhaps he became an author and wrote the book that changed the world.

Failure is simply a word. A perception of what might have been versus what is. Another path on an ongoing journey.

Something that exists because we allow it to.

If we allow failure to exist, we can also disallow it. And if we disallow it, we can think the way we did as children. Where one dream not realized becomes another yet to happen.

Because if something can still happen, it hasn’t failed. And if failure hasn’t yet happened? Perhaps it never will.

I Want to Live in a World?

Where ?fake news? isn?t a defense mechanism.

Where families aren?t torn apart in broad daylight as a statement of power.

Where acceptance isn?t based on religion, colour, gender or sexuality.

Where fear isn?t a tactic used by men in power to prey on the weak.

Where lies are not the new truth.

Where women aren?t silenced on the democractic floor for daring to call out bad people.

Where children aren?t afraid to go to school because their parents may not be there when they get home.

Where our elected officials put people before power, rights before riches.

Where discussing world events, as opposed to petty trash-talking, is the Presidential norm.

Where a stranger is not someone to fear, but a friend yet to know.

It?s not too much to ask for. Is it?

Why I Won’t Be Playing the New Year, New Me Game

It’s less than 10 days until December 31st. The end of the old year and the preamble to the new one.

A time when, traditionally, we make vows and resolutions to be “new” us in the next 12 months. You know the drill:

lose weight,
stop smoking/drinking,
eat less junk food,
work out more.

All good goals. All good things to try and do, regardless of the time of year.

But to say “this will be the new me” says the old, or existing, you is no longer relevant, and out-of-date.

And that’s bullshit.

We get suckered into believing we need to be a new us to be the “us” we’re meant to be.

Like having a smaller waist, or a bigger bicep, will suddenly make the things that are “wrong” with us go away.

Because, in truth, why should they go away in the first place?

Our flaws. Our faults. Our broken promises. Our failures.

Every one of them is who we are. Every one of them is what we use to do better. Be better. Live better.

If we don’t have our flaws, we don’t have measuring sticks on how far we’ve come.

And, unless we want to stagnate breathing the same air forever, we need to know where we’ve been to see how far we still need to go.

So, forget the “new me” mantra. Go with something that’s real.

Something that’s you.

By all means, improve you. Grow you. Revisit you. Remould you.

But don’t lose the quintessential you in chasing something that’s neither shiny or new when the light of the new sun breaks in 2017.

It’s a sales push by marketers and retailers and corporations who tell you, “The old you sucks, and you suck for accepting it.“

But they don’t know the first thing about you. Fuck ’em, and all their lies.

You’re just fine the way you are. You just need to work on realizing that.

Here’s to you, and your wonderful, imperfect self in 2017. Slainte.