The Don

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Everything posted by The Don

  1. Yeah. I get it. I'm doing a similar exercise but in my own creative way. For example, even when I'm at work, I make a constant effort to keep my awareness focused on what's happening inside my own mind; just like a spectator that looks into himself in a detached manner. I notice my thoughts wildly unfolding by themselves. I'm noticing my emotions as well. I also notice the gut sensation of social anxiety as it bubbles up while I'm talking to somebody. Mindful awareness allows me to see all of that and separate myself from unproductive thoughts, shadows, and negative emotions. Because of pure awareness, I'm now able to see the autonomy of emotions. Some aspects of ourselves have their own sovereignty, in the sense that sometimes a negative emotion is so strong that it can completely take over you. When you think about something bad, the mind can trigger a negative emotion. That's reactivity in a nutshell. If you identify with that particular reaction, you instantaneously become the reaction. If you don't, that reaction becomes an entity, a simple background noise that's unable to perturb your awareness. At first, you have no idea what awareness is because you haven't overcome an invisible wall that is blindsiding you from seeing the truth. For some people, it can take years just to have an insight into awareness.
  2. Hello. If the universe has a beginning, consciousness must have a beginning too, right? If consciousness gave birth to itself, there must be a starting point to it, right? When I contemplate the nature of existence, I can understand logically that reality can't be material. It would be impossible to create a reality made of actual matter. Eckhart Tolle said that consciousness can only be known, not understood.
  3. Hi. By becoming more aware of what's happening inside my own mind, I somehow managed to get rid of my social anxiety. It's not that bad as it was before. I no longer get nervous around people and my beating heart is pretty relaxed. But when I'm interacting with someone, after 20 seconds or so, I'm becoming awkward. An internal feeling of awkwardness bubbles up without having control over it. I can observe that the people I talk to can sense that. They become awkward as well. It's so unpleasant! It's a strange situation to move from social anxiety to social awkwardness. Should I interact more with those around me? Do I have to be the one who opens up the conversation with someone? And are there any of you who finally overcame social awkwardness or social anxiety? Thanks in advance!
  4. Hello. I have a female colleague at work that really liked me. She was interested in me for a period of time but I didn't make the move at the right time. I just haven't asked her out when she wanted to. I didn't ask her out because I wasn't ready at that time. I didn't have the necessary social skills to handle the dating process. I was too awkward at that time. As time went by, I got better with my social skills and became comfortable around her. I started to talk with her more. She was flirty. Today, we had a break and ate together, but unfortunately, when I asked her out, she said no. She simply rejected me. Then a moment of awkwardness bubbled up and I said: "You know, it's okay. I understand and I appreciate you for being straightforward! And anyway, the offer remains available". She felt my awkwardness. She knew the moment was cringe. But I couldn't control the reaction. Those emotions were beyond my control. Did I tell her the right answer? I never asked why she rejected me and I never insisted to go out with me. I took it like a man but couldn't control the awkward reaction. I hope she won't perceive me as being a weak person.
  5. Wow! Is that a possiblity? Can that be possible?
  6. Okay. I'll take your advice. I'll act like it never happened. I'll be detached and see what is going to happen. To be honest, I was a little bit upset after she said no, but a few hours later, I was feeling much better and realized that I have emotional resilience. I'm much stronger than I thought.
  7. Yes. I will do that. Thank you for your encouragement. I agree. I need to fail more, about 1000 times to build a dating skill. I hope I acted normal. I just don't want to be perceived as a weak individual. Or maybe she thinks I'm a weak person, but it doesn't matter actually. Maybe I shouldn't be worried about the things that are not in my control.
  8. Hello. I'm a follower of @Leo Gura not because he's giving us great content on a weekly basis, but because of his way of articulating understanding. Without exaggeration, I'm simply stunned by the simple way he puts his ideas into words. I think it would be a great topic to discuss openly how to contemplate things in a practical manner. What do you have to do to become really good at articulating understanding? Besides Leo's advice on contemplation, are there other ways that contribute to acing this particular skill? And for those who are practicing contemplation, what did you discover in the meantime? Do you have any valuable things to share here? I opened a similar discussion here before, but I need to look at this from different perspectives. I would appreciate specific and concrete examples. Thank you!
  9. Healthy food is not that expensive. Eggs are cheap. Meat is cheap. Dairy products are cheap. Vegetables are also cheap. Food, in general, is cheap. Bread, potatoes, rice, and sugar, these so-called healthy foods are making people fat. High-carbohydrate diets are the main cause of obesity. A healthy mind doesn't need refined carbs to soothe emotional pain.
  10. Okay. I'll learn more about the downsides of capitalism if there are any... I'm open to it. I don't know anything and I might be wrong, but at least it's good we're having an open conversation.
  11. It wasn't an insult, Opo. Being fat isn't cool. Your health is on the line.
  12. It's not me that doesn't have a clue. It's the fat lady in the video that doesn't understand what poverty is. Being homeless is a great example of living in poverty. What do you know about 1929, the period of The Great Depression? People were constantly looking for work just to feed their families and pay for their electricity bills.
  13. I have several friends there. I talk to them on a regular basis. Those who live in the United States are lucky. Extremely lucky. Homeless people have mental health issues. It's not capitalism that holds them back, but their own issues.
  14. I live in Romania where the minimum wage is $300. I work in a top restaurant as a waiter, collecting food trays. I earn $480 a month. I'm grateful for this salary despite the fact that other jobs in the country don't earn you more than $350. If you live in the United States, you earn about $1200 a month if you have a regular job. That's not bad. People who have skills will always earn more. In a capitalist country, an individual has to work on himself and learn how to develop a skill that serves others. That's the greatest way to advance humanity. We live in the age of information. Why are we complaining about money all the time? I had mental health issues to the point of being unable to get out of bed in the morning. I had to struggle for a while just to find the right information about solving my depression. What keeps people behind is unconsciousness and ignorance, not capitalism. Is it hard to type something in the YouTube search form? No. That's impossible and illegal, of course.
  15. People shouldn't be paid as much as possible. They should get a realistic, decent amount of money for their work. That's already happening in America. By raising wages, you negatively affect businesses and put people out of work because small business owners cannot afford to pay unrealistic amounts of money to and for their employees. Have you ever thought about that? As an employer, you give your employee a salary. For that salary, you have to pay a payroll tax. Not only that, but you also have to pay an income tax for your profits. No to mention so many additional costs that a business implies. Keep this in mind: as a businessman, you give a lot of money to the government. Capitalism is the most realistic, compassionate system that ever existed. Capitalism already includes a healthy form of socialism. Besides that, I would add two important points: 1. Every business owner would go out of business if he'd try to raise the prices of his products according to his wishes. 2. Every business would go out of business if governments would raise wages according to our wishes. We have to be realistic here.
  16. I'm speaking for myself here. I don't want you to embrace my reasoning blindly. I embrace capitalism because it's the only non-utopian system that was proven to work among societies. Capitalism is not a perfect system, nor should it be considered one. It's just a reasonable system unfolding itself at the right time. With that being said, if a person doesn't have an incentive, meaning a thing that motivates or encourages someone to do something, that person won't achieve a damn thing. When somebody that is extremely motivated starts a business, he'll do everything possible to succeed. However, when the government instructs you to build a business or participate in government-made businesses, you might do what's necessary to keep that business going but not everything possible at your best. If you love a product from the free market and buy it, you technically vote for it. You keep that business going by sustaining it with your money. You chose to buy that product because it's valuable to you. On the other hand, if a company doesn't have a valuable product that benefits people, not many people will buy it. Eventually, that company will go out of business in less than two months. I'm trying to figure out why so many people in the United States hate capitalism and not modern global corporatism. I think they envy those who have successful businesses. The small business guy is not a threat to you or those around you. He simply built a business that other people want to sustain. Just like Actualized.org. It's an interesting business that helps people. It certainly helped me. With regards to socialism, we already have a form of socialism that's built into capitalism. You can't deny that. Human beings are not perfect, that's why you can't build a perfect system that works for everyone. I have to admit this. When I was miserable, depressed, and without a purpose, I hated society and the businessman. I thought that society is oppressive and unfair. It seemed impossible for me to get out of my own bubble. Then I've found Actualized.org on YouTube and watched many of @Leo Gura's videos about the human potential. I learned that it's up to me to take responsibility for my own life and develop myself to the next level. I started to be an observer of my own mind and meditate on a daily basis. After a year of doing that, I started to recognize that I can't control my own mind. I saw myself being a slave to my negative thoughts and emotions. I saw clearly how much work it takes to purify the mind and get rid of the limitations. Those who see themselves as victims will always cast the blame on capitalism or the society they live in, never taking responsibility for their own lives. Every human being has potential; that potential is unleashed when an individual raises its consciousness. It's not easy. If an ADHD, traumatized (by an alcoholic father), and depressed kid like me did it, you can do it too.
  17. I don't like Donald Trump to be honest but his administration is actually standing up to the Chinese Communist Party. Take a look at Mike Pompeo's Twitter account and you'll see what's going on with regards to China, a country that is run by an evil party that wants to take over the Western world. I really want the CCP to vanish but without doing something about this, it will never happen.
  18. Hi. I've seen a great documentary about climate change made by leading scientists from all over the world. They studied the climate cycles and discovered that the increasing temperatures we're experiencing right now are not a new phenomenon. Climate change is real but has nothing to do with the human cause.
  19. Mikael, I would love that to be the case but China is a much powerful hegemon now. They're in full control of the People's Liberation Army. Chinese people can't do a thing. They're oppressed as we're speaking now. Take a look at what's happening in Hong Kong or Taiwan. Here's an excerpt from DW.com: All I'm saying is that the CCP is a threat to the free world, including us. And nobody seems to do anything about it. This is not about Spiral Dynamics. It's something much deeper which includes a real danger that must be eliminated. Shouldn't we take the FBI seriously? Just asking.
  20. They no longer have that policy. The good news is that in rural areas, the Chinese have at least three to four children. I've found this shocking YouTube video that covers what the Communist Party of China is doing all over the world: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gngDKsn8j9M I'm afraid that the Chinese people have no chance of freedom. :-(
  21. Dude, no! You don't get rid of Hitler by listening to peace activists who say "War is not the answer!". War is the only answer, especially when you have to deal with Nazism or people like Stalin. You never get to remove evil from power by singing love songs. It's naive to believe that the world becomes a safer place by making sure that there won't be any reason to buy weapons in the first place. That's utopia. Humans are not basically good. History proves that. You have to declare WAR on devilry. You have to confront it and ultimately destroy it. I've been reading books about the history of Communism and Nazim. What humanity went through is horrifying. Since you appear to be naive, I assume you have no idea what humanity had to deal with. My parents lived under communism. If you were to listen to them, you'd change your mind in an instant. I'm a little bit obsessed with evil because I don't want the human race to regress and never learn from history.
  22. That couldn't be more false. You're saying that because you don't like Trump. I've seen how you talk about Trump on this forum. I know what you believe in regards to Trump. You stated clearly your opinions about President Trump. You consider Trump to be an evil individual when in fact he's not. Trump is just a narcissistic, dislikable guy. That's all. Trump had almost four years and nothing happened to America. The United States of America is just fine! Take a look at NATO for example. All the NATO countries are now paying more for defense because Trump was the one that solved this issue. The world is much safer now. Although I disagree with Obama's policies, I don't consider him an evil individual. I think he was a good president. You may disagree with Trump, but he's certainly not the one who is slowly destroying America. It would be better for me to stop talking about Trump. I don't want to be banned from this form. I actually enjoy being here, especially because it's an open forum that allows talking about almost everything. My only criticism towards this forum is that if you have a section on politics, people should be allowed to speak freely regardless what they believe.
  23. If he loves China, that's great. But I can ensure you that Trump does not love the Communist Party of China.
  24. Dude, Russia has the economy of Italy. They can't do a thing. Don't you understand that Russia is not the problem? They can't do damage to the United States. And Russia is no longer a communist state. They are on the way to become a Democracy now. The Cold War is over. Russia has made tremendous progress in regards to becoming a Democracy. That's the truth! And I'm actually grateful for Russia. I live in Romania. We're getting cheap, natural gas from Russia. The European Union has cheap energy bills because of Russia. We're no longer living in 1980, the period of the Cold War. Dude, please!