In the book "Being Authentic", Ric Giardina talks about keeping your perspective (C17).
In this chapter he talks about how most of us take life too seriously and how our lives today are centered around the workplace.
Giardina then goes on to reference a dialogue between Diogenes the Cynic and Alexander. When I read this parable (insightful as it is), my mind went back to a similar dialogue (albeit not the same) between Alexander The Great and an Indian mystic/yogi.
This story is mentioned by Devdutt Pattanaik in this post:
Alexander, the Great, after conquering Persia found there, what he called a gymnosophist, or a naked wise man. He was perhaps a Jain muni or perhaps a yogi, who sat on a rock and meditated all day and gazed at the stars all night. “What are you doing?” asked Alexander. “Experiencing nothingness,” answered the gymnosophist. Then the gymnosophist asked, “What are you doing?” Alexander replied, “I am conquering the world.” Both chuckled and parted ways, each one thinking the other was a fool.
What Giardina and Devdutt both try to point out is that it is the perspective that drives all our actions and pursuits and in fact, a changed perspective can mean the difference between achieving success and failure.
As stories about Alexander go, it makes the difference between un-tieing a knot and slicing it bare.
Alexander the Great attempted to untie the knot. When he could not find the end to the knot to unbind it, he sliced it in half with a stroke of his sword, producing the required ends (the so-called "Alexandrian solution").
Stressing the importance of moving perspective away from the work life, Giardina in this chapter goes on to offer valuable advice from his own experiences.
He uses the term "bookend", to explain how adding non-work activities before(start) and after(end) work can fundamentally change your perspective. He goes on to give more than two pages of examples from his personal work-life experience as an attorney and a business executive over 25 years.
The massive takeaway from this chapter for me was that "bookending" your work life changes the memories that you make and keep over the months. These memories could be as simple as taking a stroll in the nearest public garden to sitting besides a loved one, to writing poetry. It changes perspective.
As a quote goes:
“God gave us memory, so that we might always have roses in December.”
About the Book
About the Author
In this chapter he talks about how most of us take life too seriously and how our lives today are centered around the workplace.
Giardina then goes on to reference a dialogue between Diogenes the Cynic and Alexander. When I read this parable (insightful as it is), my mind went back to a similar dialogue (albeit not the same) between Alexander The Great and an Indian mystic/yogi.
This story is mentioned by Devdutt Pattanaik in this post:
Alexander, the Great, after conquering Persia found there, what he called a gymnosophist, or a naked wise man. He was perhaps a Jain muni or perhaps a yogi, who sat on a rock and meditated all day and gazed at the stars all night. “What are you doing?” asked Alexander. “Experiencing nothingness,” answered the gymnosophist. Then the gymnosophist asked, “What are you doing?” Alexander replied, “I am conquering the world.” Both chuckled and parted ways, each one thinking the other was a fool.
What Giardina and Devdutt both try to point out is that it is the perspective that drives all our actions and pursuits and in fact, a changed perspective can mean the difference between achieving success and failure.
As stories about Alexander go, it makes the difference between un-tieing a knot and slicing it bare.
Alexander the Great attempted to untie the knot. When he could not find the end to the knot to unbind it, he sliced it in half with a stroke of his sword, producing the required ends (the so-called "Alexandrian solution").
Stressing the importance of moving perspective away from the work life, Giardina in this chapter goes on to offer valuable advice from his own experiences.
He uses the term "bookend", to explain how adding non-work activities before(start) and after(end) work can fundamentally change your perspective. He goes on to give more than two pages of examples from his personal work-life experience as an attorney and a business executive over 25 years.
The massive takeaway from this chapter for me was that "bookending" your work life changes the memories that you make and keep over the months. These memories could be as simple as taking a stroll in the nearest public garden to sitting besides a loved one, to writing poetry. It changes perspective.
As a quote goes:
“God gave us memory, so that we might always have roses in December.”
About the Book
About the Author
Interesting post. Keep them coming.
ReplyDeleteYes keep them coming
ReplyDeleteKeep them going... :)
ReplyDeleteNice one:)
ReplyDelete