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Personal growth: Trying to recreate the past July 1, 2018

Posted by Dennis Mellersh in Living in the Now.
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One of the reasons why some of us tend to have trouble living in the Now, in day-tight compartments, is that we frequently spend a lot of energy in attempts to recreate our past, usually in a quest to re-enjoy an emotionally rewarding short- or long-term experience.

But are such efforts doomed to failure?

The short answer is, probably yes.

Sometimes we can have a strong flash of recollected emotion, which might have been triggered by hearing some music, smelling a particular aroma, or being in a place with lighting or atmosphere similar to that of an enjoyable past experience.

There are many more things that can trigger such emotional responses.

And the triggers are nearly always unplanned, unexpected.

And, these are brief emotional events that cannot be either artificially invoked or sustained.

Most of the time, particular emotionally rewarding situations are comprised of a unique combination of circumstances which very rarely, if ever, can be duplicated.

But we keep trying.

Better to fondly and appreciatively recollect our past experiences and the associated emotions, but to concentrate our actions and energy on the present and towards the future, creating new and rewarding experiences.

Unlike our futile efforts to recreate the past, we can create our future.

Dennis Mellersh

Fallacies in the concept of “doing work that matters” August 15, 2014

Posted by Dennis Mellersh in Concept of personal development, Concept of personal growth.
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If you absorb enough contemporary writing or video/audio on the concept of personal growth and development, you will come across the concept of the need to do “work that matters.”

Or stated another way, doing work that is meaningful
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The implication, or perhaps the inference some people make with this, is that the work they are engaged in may not be work that matters or is meaningful, and they should find ways to do work that is.

This can be an emotional and intellectual trap.

If we are not careful, in this approach to self-actualization, we can create an internal environment of self-disparagement when we take an overly simplistic approach to the concept of doing meaningful work.

The problem stems from our having a one dimensional view, or definition, of the idea of “work that matters.”

If we assume, as many do, that it is work that changes the world, then the vast majority of us are not likely to create or find or create such work. And to have universe-changing work as an end-goal will likely lead to discouragement and self-defined “failure.”

However, your work does not have to light the world on fire with lightning bolts for it “to matter.”

Doing any work that supports your family and increases self-sufficiency is work that matters.

Doing work that helps others in any way in their lives matters.

Doing your work at 100% to the best of your intellectual and creative ability matters.

Take-away: If your work matters to you, it matters – period