Happy Sunday Friends! Here is 1 quote I’m musing, 2 Ideas, 3 of my favorite things from the week, and 1 question. If you find it useful or interesting, please feel free to forward this along to some friends or others!

One Quote I’m Musing

“Every human being you meet is an opportunity for kindness”

-Seneca

Be Kind.

I’ve been in some interesting engagements, meetings, and conversations recently. Many polarizing factions and thoughts expressed. It’s been such a learning experience to observe how potentially inflammatory topics are made positive experiences for all and how seemingly innocuous chats turn into heated debates or downright arguments.

Much of these revolve around what to do with new technology, how do we adapt, how do others adapt, why should we adapt, what do you mean this thought process won’t work. The list goes on.

We have moved firmly out of the industrial age, through the information age and into something new. An age blending government, corporations, and automations into perpetual surveillance under the guise of security. Call this blending a technocracy if you like.

Don’t don your tinfoil hats just yet; I’m not calling it doomsday or trying to convince anyone 1984 is here.

The essential element of this is how we will shape it. As I said last week, we build tools. We aren’t the fastest, until we make something that takes us there, we aren’t the strongest, until we make something that lets us be so. It’s what made us the top species on the planet.

I believe we’re entering an epoch where technology will do our laundry and dishes so that we can focus on the things we find more important or valuable. Like art, hobbies, and family. Not a place where technology will do art leaving us the time to do laundry.

Whiplashing us back to the present. We are experiencing inflection points in international policies, warfighting, in nation states, in societal norms, in politics. All these feel so important.

But the foundation of this all is kindness. It’s the prerequisite element to decisions and societies that thrive.

I don’t say kindness is the same thing as being nice. They’re profoundly different. Not to belabor, here’s my quick contrast. Niceness is a self-centered behavior where your behavior is to garner the goodwill of others. Kindness is an other-centered behavior where you’re acting in the best interest of others out of a sense of compassion or conviction.

The back and forth between polarized parties and people today and in history comes from not seeing the other person, or people, as people, or persons worthy of being treated with well. Necessitating at best, an impatient pause to allow someone else to talk while we build our next point and at worst, an inability to accept the ideas of someone not in our inner circle.

There are some interesting times ahead. Some will be troubling; some will be stressful and others with be a struggle. These harden us and make us turn in on ourselves, allowing less type, patience, and sympathy for others. It may feel like self-preservation, but the more we fixate on our own problems, our pain, our anger, the more unmanageable they become.

What can we do?

We practice temperance; we respond kindly to that troll on the internet, on the tv, in the market. We stop for a small moment and make our children laugh. We look up from our struggle and we see our friends struggling, then give them a quick hand.

Whenever, wherever we may be. Whatever we are doing, we have an opportunity to be just a little kind. It’s also a great way to help ourselves in the time we live in.

-e

Two Ideas From Me

Sometimes a little thing is just enough.
I was having a real down day the other week, the whole office was struggling. I looked at a friend of mine and simply told him “I’m glad your here man.” I kid you not, he visibly felt better and reciprocated. It was just enough to get the day done.
Life doesn’t magically improve. Improve in the margins, improve your boundaries and life will fill the expansion to match.

Three Favorite Things From Others

“You’ll probably surprise yourself with what you can accomplish—if you’re focused on one thing.
You’ll probably frustrate yourself with what you fail to accomplish—if you’re doing 5 or 7 or 10 things.
Nobody performs well when stretched in a half dozen directions.” | James Clear
“What is a friend? I will tell you.
It is a person with whom you dare to be yourself. Your soul can be naked with him. He seems to ask of you to put on nothing, only to be what you are. He does not want you to be better, or worse. When you are with him, you feel as a prisoner feels who has been declared innocent. You do not have to be on your guard. You can say what you think, so long as it is genuinely you. He understands those contradictions in your nature that lead others to misjudge you.” | C. Raymond Beran
“The professional loves her work. She is invested in it wholeheartedly. But she does not forget that the work is not her.” | Steven Pressfield

One Question

Is what you’re going to do today (tomorrow) in line with what you’ll value long-term?

Have a wonderful week,

I’ll see you Sunday.
-e