Guideline 26.2
The skill of comparison is practiced through juxtaposing similarities, differences, relationships, constituent parts, and sequence.
The skill of comparison is practiced through juxtaposing similarities, differences, relationships, constituent parts, and sequence.
36. The Resources at Our Disposal.This means directing our attention toward everything we possess—everything that is directly relevant to us, what is within us, and what surrounds us. This includes not only material objects but also people, our capabilities, our skills, and the vital things we remember. Because events will constantly emerge to divert us from our goal, we must perpetually remind ourselves of that goal and exert our will to return to it. By default, most of us invest our energy into pretending to be someone else, meddling in the affairs of others, and following others.
Simplicity in relationships, the establishing of one’s own essence, and the entering into love determine the understanding of the mechanisms of imposed limitations.
31. Personality, environment, the order of consequences, and the obstacles from circumstances are the preliminary outlines for our life here. These same factors shape our way of life, and they may prove to be obstacles to our own intentions.
37. No obligatory connections within the content we manage. Obligatory connections are links within the content that turn relationships with objects, people, situations, or ideas into pre-set obligations for future time and action. Content is everything we possess and use within and around us — what we are and the things at our disposal. Internally, a person creates connections that automatically become obligations through habits, through links to specific situations, through emotional and mental associations, and through a sense of duty without personal necessity. Externally, obligations are implemented through external models and then internalized through the imposition of cultural and moral norms, the suggestion of roles and rules, and authoritative figures. The same mechanism applies to objects and physical items. When a connection of the type “might be needed” is created toward an object, it leads to the need for space, organization, maintenance, and attention. In this way, the object begins to occupy future time and resources, even without being used. In all cases, a connection becomes an obligation when it preemptively occupies future time, attention, or action.
„Without postponing your own intentions.This means we must stop postponing what we intend and need to do for ourselves. If it turns out that most of our time has been occupied with the affairs of others, this cannot be changed all at once. It may take a long period during which we gradually dismantle the habits of occupying ourselves with the affairs of others. And just when we think we have mastered our visible habits, we will discover others that we had not noticed until that moment.“ When we pursue a specific goal, many things constantly appear that try to pull us in different directions, distracting us and diverting our attention. We must repeatedly remind ourselves what goal we are following, and whenever we deviate from it, we must consciously exert our will in order to return to what we are doing. Stopping our involvement in the affairs of others is not a lack of empathy, but a restoration of our own integrity. Without this restoration, every action directed outward becomes mostly an automatic reaction rather than a conscious choice. To be continued. The publication…