Focus on Life™

The history of mankind is the history of ideas. For it is ideas, theories, and doctrines that guide human action, determine the ultimate ends men aim at, and the choice of the means employed for the attainment of these ends.

Read an excerpt from Ludwig von Mises’ famous book that is still very much as valid as when it was first published in 1947.

Are you afraid? No, seriously. This is not a joke or a light-hearted issue. Consider a while before answering to yourself. Still not? I don’t believe you. We all are.

Fear is something we rather not deal with. It is an unpleasant visitor and it always means trouble. At least we feel cumbersome and would like to switch to something more joyous. And actually this is exactly the problem. We do not handle and cope our fears. We bury them deep and would not want to see them anymore. Unfortunately out of sight does not mean out of our mind. Fears run deep in us. Are you getting scared? It is so easy to stop reading…

Fears are a very fundamental issue. They come with many disguises and appearances. Most of them we do not recognise even if they would say hello to us. Physical fears are the most obvious. We are afraid for our physical existence, no matter whether we are talking about our sovereign, health or appearance related issues. These can be experienced in many ways. We are uneasy with our own body and feel weak or insecure. We do not rely on it. We are afraid that it might fail or stop supporting us. In many cases this can be seen outright from us. Our posture and expressions indicate weakness or hesitation. More subtle forms limit our life by avoidance; we actively stay away from situations or circumstances that can expose our inherent limitations. Who likes to face ones shortcomings and weak points? Nobody. But are you aware that you might limit your life by fears even without acknowledging it?

Many of the fears that reside in us are learned. We have absorbed them from our childhood and the environment surrounding us. They are so autonomous and subconscious that we do not even realise that they exist — we solely act based on them. Those embarrassing moments in the childhood, when we were the laughing stock, are still having control over us. We might not even remember the incident, which can look more or less ridiculous now, but we are certainly still avoiding similar situations or possible consequences. Are you sure that you don’t possess any Pavlovian reactions (e.g. checking the keys after locking the door)?

Fears can also prevent us from acting. We are afraid of the results of some performance and thus do not perform at all or are not doing it 100 percent. All these are creating discomfort and unpleasantness since deep inside we know that we should be doing this totally and wholehearted. We are not exposing and giving everything we have. We are holding back — even just a little. And why? In many cases we are not afraid to perform but to fail. The idea of failing, and admitting it to oneself and letting others to see it, is the trigger. We are so afraid of failing that it prevents us even from succeeding. And we cannot succeed without being vulnerable to a possible failure. Top athletes face this often. They have to overcome their own mind before they can truly be successful. They have to forgive themselves beforehand in case they are not achieving the desired outcome. The difference is that they have dealt with the issue and don’t regard a poor performance as a personal failure. It was just an incident – nothing more. Or they just have to admit that they are not in the optimal condition but it is never an issue of a personal failure (i.e. judgement).

A fear of loosing something can be very tricky issue to deal with. We might be afraid of so greatly that we can go to great lengths to prevent the possibility of loosing something from materialising. If this goes on for a while we might not even remember what it was that we opposed or hold back for. Fighting and keeping the preferred status que have become more important than the original idea about the fear. It might even be that the fear bears no relevance whatsoever considered the current circumstances, if we just would stop for a while and re-evaluate the situation. We fixate to our fears.

How to get rid of these limitations? First you have to recognise and realise that you have them. Often this requires the most bravery since facing an old avoided friend is never pleasant. The rest is usually easier but not always. Admitting that I have this fear is a victory in itself but it does not make it to go away. One has to be able to observe, look, and evaluate the fear. Where does it come from? What is it exactly that I am afraid of? What are the consequences of the objects of the fear? What is the worst-case scenario and can I live with it? Often the fear disappears just by looking at it. Mentally opening up the fear into its basic components makes it to disappear. One realises that after all the fear was based on assumptions and wrong beliefs altogether! And I was just afraid of the fear itself — not its object. Is there anything else to fear than the fear itself?

When you want something you also state that you don’t have
something. Your object of wanting is the very thing you’re
missing. In other words, you’re declaring your imperfectness.
There is something in you that still requires and is in need.

The person who is at peace and has achieved a state of
calmness needs no thing. He or she has everything. What was
it that you needed?

Everything with a form and shape falls into the trinity of cre-
ation, sustenance, and dissolution. These three states are
inevitable and they materialize in time-space. Each manifes-
tation is a child of its age; it uses the concepts, structures, and
ways of the current relative reality. It has a limited existence
and relevance as well. Nothing lasts forever in time-space.

It is a poor representation and characterization when
something that has no shape or form has to be presented in
static and descriptive terms that automatically limit its
dynamic nature (i.e., real essence) to abstraction. This relative
manifestation is bound to its surroundings and can be inter-
preted only in its original environment and nature (also in
time).

This means that any attempt that tries to capture some-
thing beyond time-space limitations is doomed to fail. At
best, we are capable of providing approximations that observe
only a part of the concept in question—never the entire con-
cept itself.

A metaphor to illustrate the point: filming a live event can
only capture a part of the real action, not the smell, atmos-
phere, and other parts of the live event itself that took place.
More importantly, filming cannot reproduce the actual activ-
ity—it can only describe and capture a limited part of it (i.e.,
some of the visual aspects).

The relevance is that we stick to these representations and
give them meanings they originally never had. They start to
live a life of their own. They do not compare with the actual
essence they were used to represent. A replica never becomes
better; it does not exceed the original.
How about we stop chasing the shadows and focus on the
source instead?

Suffering or joy,
quest or rest,
happiness or agony,
together or alone,
now or then,
you or me,
here or there,
sun or moon,
sand or sea,
one plus one,
music or art,
history or novel,
writing or verbal,
all the same,
underneath,
different by appearance,
disguised for the most,
of their genuine nature,
pure and simple,
of a thought;

Nevertheless,
varies with persistence,
but follows the same,
pattern of,
coming,
sustaining,
and going;

Always afresh,
never the same,
appearance may stay,
but no thing is the same;

Deep thought,
shallow dream,
clear and sharp,
vague and soft,
fragile or strong,
short or long,
still the same,
real for the one,
illusion for the second,
relative for both,
ideas, all the same.

Everything we see, have, are, and live within is based on two
structures: the substance (i.e., the essence) and its representa-
tion (manifestation). The appearance is the structure that is
easy to comprehend and is the only truth existing for the
inexperienced.

Only the wise can separate the representation from the
substance. The ignorant regards the appearance as the essence
and creates more confusion around. Everything has this
twofold existence and, therefore, any act or deed can either be
banal or of essence. It cannot be acknowledged only from the
representation. The paradox is that being able to reproduce
the appearance has nothing to do with the substance—nor
does it have to do with the comprehension. It is easier to
reproduce and arrange the representation than to realize the
substance underneath. However, nothing has any real value
and meaning without the substance.

The substance never has a physical appearance. It can only
be associated with something tangible, but it cannot be cap-
tured by it. For example, what is a wedding ring without love?

We are in the garbage-creation business. The products and
results are our own creation, and the consequences are observ-
able around the world. Most of the garbage is all in our own
mind. The dumpster in question is not a physical one in its
original form—its derivations can be, however. This huge
dumpster is called our mind. It’s the creator and initiator of all
the garbage. Simply, that is its pure existence and raison
d’être. How does this polluter work?

We live only in the moment—now time. Nothing else is
available to us. Nevertheless, we can do various things with
this now time but still everything happens in the moment.
For example, we can think back through our memories and
reflect on everything that has happened. We can also project
the future and wonder or worry about the next moments.
Still, all of these actions are happening in the moment. Our
sole decision is just how to use every moment. We can either
concentrate on the moment or opt for escaping from the real-
ity, either to our past or into the projected future our mind
creates for us.

There would not be any dumpster if we always live in the
moment. We would take life as it comes and make the neces-
sary decision as is required. Very simple, no worries at all.
Things just happen, and life would be only the issues that
emerge to us, some good and some less desirable—all the
same because we can only take them as they come.

The above is unfortunately not the way we live. We prefer
to be in “control.” Therefore, we have to know what happens
next. Otherwise we could not have this control illusion. How
much control do you have if you cannot predict the future
outcomes? Well, this is exactly the paradox. In practice, we are
not in control, but we believe we are. Our way of living is
based on the trick our mind plays on us. And the results are
the huge dumpster we are dragging behind us.

Our mind knows only what we know. It is limited to its
own boundaries and it is not objective where we are con-
cerned. It cannot exist without us. We produce the mind.
Therefore, it is also the one who creates for us the future—the
illusion of time in the moment. The mind works very simply:
It fabricates the future from our personal experiences and
knowledge. In other words, it extrapolates the past and the
current moment to the future based on its previous knowl-
edge. It’s very logical and nice; it’s also very real and accept-
able to us—after all, it’s a familiar future to us. We have
created it and can understand it. It is easy to accept and fall in
love with. How can we not like our own creation?

Our mind provides us with illusions of the future that we
take for granted and as true to us. These snapshots create dif-
ferent kinds of feelings, emotions, and sensations in us. The
mind projects usually either good or bad outcomes. The previ-
ous we dream about and the latter we are scared of or worried
about. These outcomes cause new feelings, and the snapshots
or pictures start to have existences of their own. They can also
create new outcomes and sensations in us. Often, the outcome
is that we cling to these illusions and feelings that arise in us.
We forget the actual projected route to the future moment and
see only the “prediction of the future. “Now it’s true to us. We
are sure it is going to happen, no doubt about it. It must hap-
pen. How horrible or how wonderful.

This is the moment when we produce the garbage. After
seeing the beautiful outcome we cling to it. This is something
we definitely need or want. Yes, no doubt about it. We are
urged to direct our actions toward this outcome. At the
moment we are not yet there but for us it is possible because it
seems so real for us, thanks to our mind. Now we have two
different points to compare: the current moment and the pro-
jected future outcome. An urge or desire has been aroused in
us. Now we know what we want. This can happen in various
of forms: greed, anger, frustration, jealousy, self-justification,
and so on, depending on our projection and the gap between
the now time and the imagined future. From this point
onward, we live in the moment only in a manner that is
directed and geared toward the outcome we illusioned. In
other words, we have accepted the future our mind projected
and are compromising in our principles and behavior in order
to make sure that the future will happen the way we desired it
to occur.

You still remember how all this started? Our mind fabri-
cated a future for us based on the experiences and knowledge
we have at the moment. It did not have any capabilities to
provide us any directions or predictions of the actual reality
that will emerge. Still, we believed the nice or horrible sce-
nario it provided us with and now we are living like if these
illusions are as sure things as our past memories. The compro-
mised garbage is all the things we produced in our mind and
now desire. These compromise and corrupt our behavior and
actions in the now time. Our mind offered us this great future
picture and catered the table with good reasons and justifica-
tions to make it happen.

We no longer observe the world as it emerges. We observe
and see the world only through the lenses our mind produced
for us. We expect our projections to happen. Disappointments
and regret emerge from the realization that the future
occurred some other way than we expected. We are not in
control. We could have even given up and sacrificed some of
our humble and noble principles in our quest to perceive and
“force” the illusioned reality to happen.

The compromised dumpster accumulates and reminds us,
thanks to our mind. It accumulates these memories and fabri-
cates more future outcomes. More garbage coming in—until
we catch the litter itself and get rid of it, just ignore it totally.
We give up our very mind and start living with mindlessness
in the moment. We take life as it emerges and base our actions
on the reality as it comes. What a fresh and pure existence!

Physical existence is
a mask,
disguise,
larva of a butterfly,
working cloth,
marionette,
platform,
embodiment,
avatar,
outer jacket,
transformer,
agent,
shelter,
a shell that hides the pearl.
Our physical existence is a reflection of the essence. The
reminder of the real—a replication of the current state. A
mirror for the beholder.

We live in a state of constant longing. The current moment
seems never to be enough. When we’ve reached one thing, we
immediately long for something else. The grass is always
greener on the other side. The main idea here is that we are
wanting: always and for something. But what are we longing
for?

Our yearning is a sensation we have a hard time describ-
ing. It is something that surrounds us but still we are not able
to explain it exactly. Longing is something formless that
encircles us. It is a notion in us that seeks existence and
expression through us. One could say that longing uses us as
its vehicle for material existence.

In practice, this means that we project our yearning for a
physical or tangible form. We attach our desires for some
objects or objectives. Depending on the circumstances, it can
be a person we are missing, a better job, our own apartment,
our spouse, wealth, or an occupation, to name a few. No mat-
ter the subject, the important point is that for us, it is some-
thing concrete. We have a hard time separating the object
from the subject. We mark the object of the longing and start
to regard it as the means of improving our state of being (i.e.,
our inner condition).

We are all familiar with the results. The instant we have
achieved that something that we wanted, we are after some-
thing else. We are not satisfied, which was the whole purpose
of the issue. Now we are after something else. So, what actu-
ally happens?

Longing makes us active. It drives us to experience and
face different challenges in life. What would happen if we
would not long for anything? Nothing. But there would not
be much progress either. If no one is either after or lacking
anything, because longing implies a condition where the sub-
ject is incomplete and seeks the missing component, nothing
would improve or change.

It is important to identify this continuous process we are
going through. One should realize that longing is not “us”—
we can never become fulfilled by any means outside of our
inner being. Therefore, if we can see through this longing and
ignore its quest, we are already closer to being “complete.” We
are not running around and reaching for something illusion-
ary. All we need to do is to identify our behavioral patterns
and make conscious actions instead of commit blind obedi-
ence. How about reaching for nonlonging?

We are used to degrees. Our school years are based on num-
bered degrees. We live and breathe different steps and thresh-
olds. We have to qualify and learn the lessons before we are
approved to achieve the goal we are seeking. The same applies
to life as well; the scale is different and we can keep trying as
many times as needed. Everybody’s learning curve and pace is
unique. Still, the goal is ultimately the same in each level—
some just jump from one level to another faster than others.

Our lifelong learning system is set up a bit differently than
the one we are used to in our own educational systems. Here
we have to try first and the reward or penalty is given later on.
The appraisal is not instantaneous, which makes learning
more difficult. This means that we are not quite following the
cause-reason causality anymore. Things seem to happen for
no particular reason or purpose. This causes confusion, which
is the real acid test. If we are to learn something, it has to be
verified in all the circumstances—otherwise it would be just
pure chance and not a conscious act of will. Learning should
not be based on lottery, should it?

Our level is preparation for the following ones. We get bits
and pieces of the forthcoming concepts but proportioned for
our own development and ability to handle them. These con-
cepts are spread around the world in various shapes and forms
in a way that we run into them everywhere. We only have to
keep our eyes open and be ready to receive and notice them.
Some of them are more obvious and others are hidden more
carefully. Still, we recognize them and can put them into the
bigger picture like a piece in a big puzzle. Gradually, we get to
know more pieces and start to get a feeling of the overall con-
cept. In tiny steps we improve our performance and learn some
important lessons—finally they turn into a part of our every-
day life and existence. Then we are ready for other lessons.

Like when we were in school, we learn the alphabet and
practice it so we can communicate. After a while of usage, we
start to ignore the letters as such and focus purely on the mes-
sage they carry. Often, we just forget that not everything we
say or mean can be expressed in words. Also, some precise
words do not necessarily mean that the very concept they
express is as exact. Similarly, we express and learn some con-
cepts and ideas derived from the next levels. They are not that
accurate or entire—they can be only described with the
alphabet and illustrations from our world. We need to trans-
late and use allegories. Every translation and derivation also
means that some information is lost in the process. The
meaning is not as exact anymore and things can get confused
and imprecise along the way. Therefore, the reflection of the
original source is not the original but simply its representation
or replica. Often, we take these copies as originals and get
messed up in our mind. This creates a lot of confusion, agony,
and misinterpretation. Still, we have to use these more-or-less
precise concepts in order to learn our lessons. They are like
toys and fairytales for children, harmless but they still serve a
purpose—they are meant for education and learning. Like
smaller children who are not yet allowed real items, similarly
we are given a nice sandbox in which to practice things. Yet it
seems that playing in the sandbox and getting involved with
the concepts we are learning drives most of us off the topic for
way too many moments.

Some of us get so carried away to play the game and form
our sand houses and lives so that anything else is secondary.
Big facades are torn down and sand grains thrown into other
people’s eyes are not that uncommon. A few of us are less
concerned with making temporary monuments than gaining
insight and knowledge for the more permanent foundations.
These types of people are harder to find and they cannot be
shaped like sand cakes. The tricky part is that we are given
enough to make us masters at our level but the degree test is
very hard and objective. The bar is high and it takes a rela-
tively long time to pass the test. Eventually everybody will get
promoted, but some are more ambitious in making progress
than others. And a few have had enough of the sand games
and want to move on. Fortunately, there is no limit to how
many cakes we have to bake. Only the results count. And the
weighting in the test is equal—for all of us. See you around!