Discussing what should be done - is worthwhile - it's part of critical thinking. Yes, you should be critical - but you also have to be idealistic - otherwise, how will you know whether any given solution - is good or not?
Showing posts with label humanistic. Show all posts
Showing posts with label humanistic. Show all posts
What is ideal might not be possible, but it's still worth thinking about
Discussing what should be done - is worthwhile - it's part of critical thinking. Yes, you should be critical - but you also have to be idealistic - otherwise, how will you know whether any given solution - is good or not?
What does it mean to be practical
To me being practical means being reality based. I might be shooting for the sky – but my strategy to get there –
is grounded in reality.
It does not mean to
limit myself. It is just a reminder that if I want to achieve my goals – I need
to take practical reality-based steps to make it a reality.
Being practical means
understanding that my ultimate objective is more important than the steps I
take to get there – so I can innovate and be flexible in my plans.
Being practical means –
not getting side tracked on fun things that don’t get me to my ultimate
objective.
Of course, to be practical – means really understanding what my ultimate objective really is.
Of course, to be practical – means really understanding what my ultimate objective really is.
I offer online personal
and professional development programs on humanist life skills. Just published my
course – Planning for Personal Success ( https://humanistlearning.com/planforpersonalsuccess/) as an ebook, a paperback and as an audio book. https://amzn.to/2VSFbsu
Stop Blessing Me!!!
I’m not a scrooge, but ... please don’t bless me through your voice mail message. Why religious expression in the workplace does more harm than good.
I’m a Humanist and I’m all for freedom of speech, freedom of expression and freedom of religion. But that freedom has limits when it imposes itself on others. This is especially true when you are in the workplace. Unless you work for an explicitly religious organization – don’t tell people to have a blessed day. Here’s why.
Contrary to popular belief, we non-believers aren't offended by religious speech. I certainly am not. But I do get annoyed by it when it is forced on me in a business setting. Generating intentional and avoidable annoyance is not polite. And is that really the impression you want to have on your customers? Unless of course, you don’t care about keeping your customers – in which case, you have other problems.
For the record, I am not offended by someone telling me to have a blessed day in their voice mail message. What I am worried about is how this employee will treat me if they found out I'm not religious like they are. This worry is especially acute if the employee is a public employee working for the government who has the power to deny me services based on my non-adherence to said public employee’s personal religious beliefs. And yes, that would be illegal and yes, it happens anyway. I doubt that people who leave these sorts of voice mail messages mean any harm, but lots of religious people are scared of people who don’t believe as they do, so while they wouldn't intentionally discriminate, their fear might cause them to. It’s a real concern. And keep in mind. This isn't me inflicting my non-belief on them. It’s them forcing me to either go along with their religious belief or be exposed as a non-believer. It’s a very uncomfortable position to be in – especially when the stakes may be high.
Aside from the fear that I will be actively and openly discriminated against by the employee who “harmlessly” wishes me a blessed day, I also have to actively translate this peculiar bit of religious speak into secular speak so that I can understand what they are saying. Do they mean for me to have a good day? Or are they making some sort of political statement under the guise of telling me to have a good day? I have no idea. But the attempt to figure that out is exhausting. And it’s pointless because I can’t really know for sure. So, while I would like to think - this person means well, I can't always be sure.
“Have a blessed day” is an obviously overt religious expression and the secular expression to "have a nice day" is so ubiquitous that to choose the blessed option is rather obnoxious and that makes me wonder why this particular person felt it was important to use that particular phrase in such an overt and inescapable way. And all this is way too much thinking to think for a simple phone call message and so I become super annoyed that the person who just attempted to bless me put me through all that extra annoying unnecessary thinking and I no longer really want to do business with them at all – unless I absolutely have to.
If you want me to have a nice day - say so. Don't annoy me by making me do extra unnecessary thinking and worrying. It isn't very nice, it isn't very Christian, it isn't very professional and it certainly isn't very humanistic. Religion is your personal business. Don’t make it mine.
I’m a Humanist and I’m all for freedom of speech, freedom of expression and freedom of religion. But that freedom has limits when it imposes itself on others. This is especially true when you are in the workplace. Unless you work for an explicitly religious organization – don’t tell people to have a blessed day. Here’s why.
Contrary to popular belief, we non-believers aren't offended by religious speech. I certainly am not. But I do get annoyed by it when it is forced on me in a business setting. Generating intentional and avoidable annoyance is not polite. And is that really the impression you want to have on your customers? Unless of course, you don’t care about keeping your customers – in which case, you have other problems.
For the record, I am not offended by someone telling me to have a blessed day in their voice mail message. What I am worried about is how this employee will treat me if they found out I'm not religious like they are. This worry is especially acute if the employee is a public employee working for the government who has the power to deny me services based on my non-adherence to said public employee’s personal religious beliefs. And yes, that would be illegal and yes, it happens anyway. I doubt that people who leave these sorts of voice mail messages mean any harm, but lots of religious people are scared of people who don’t believe as they do, so while they wouldn't intentionally discriminate, their fear might cause them to. It’s a real concern. And keep in mind. This isn't me inflicting my non-belief on them. It’s them forcing me to either go along with their religious belief or be exposed as a non-believer. It’s a very uncomfortable position to be in – especially when the stakes may be high.
Aside from the fear that I will be actively and openly discriminated against by the employee who “harmlessly” wishes me a blessed day, I also have to actively translate this peculiar bit of religious speak into secular speak so that I can understand what they are saying. Do they mean for me to have a good day? Or are they making some sort of political statement under the guise of telling me to have a good day? I have no idea. But the attempt to figure that out is exhausting. And it’s pointless because I can’t really know for sure. So, while I would like to think - this person means well, I can't always be sure.
“Have a blessed day” is an obviously overt religious expression and the secular expression to "have a nice day" is so ubiquitous that to choose the blessed option is rather obnoxious and that makes me wonder why this particular person felt it was important to use that particular phrase in such an overt and inescapable way. And all this is way too much thinking to think for a simple phone call message and so I become super annoyed that the person who just attempted to bless me put me through all that extra annoying unnecessary thinking and I no longer really want to do business with them at all – unless I absolutely have to.
If you want me to have a nice day - say so. Don't annoy me by making me do extra unnecessary thinking and worrying. It isn't very nice, it isn't very Christian, it isn't very professional and it certainly isn't very humanistic. Religion is your personal business. Don’t make it mine.
What you believe really matters
I say it all the time. What you believe really matters. If
what you think is causing your problem isn’t really the cause of your problem
you won’t be able to solve your problem.
This is why Humanists reject supernaturalism. We are looking for the
real reasons why things happen so that we can fix it.
This is why when Humanism is applied to different fields of study, it yeilds such good results. Humanistic medicine and Humanistic psychology for instance have benefited from this compassion based natural approach to problem solving. We don’t think that people with mental health issues are possessed by the devil anymore. At least not in the west.
I ran across this article from Arab News which reports that epileptic seizures aren’t caused by Genies. It turns out it is curable. http://www.arabnews.com/%5Btermalias-raw%5D/epilepsy-curable-not-linked-jinns My son is epileptic so this caught my eye. I know my son’s epilepsy has natural causes and is treatable.
To me, this is a perfect example of why rejecting supernaturalism is so important and can help people. People are suffering from epilepsy without knowing that it can be cured. They are being treated as outcasts because their community isn’t aware that this is a natural as opposed to supernatural problem. What you believe your problem is really matters. It is the difference between solving your problem and continuing to suffer with it. Humanists reject supernaturalism because every medical problem studied so far has turned out to have natural causes. Genies have nothing to do with it.
Magical vs. Practical Thinking
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| You can't just wish your problems away |
Obviously I know the world doesn’t work like that. In order to solve my problems, I have to actually work at it. The problem is that magical thinking is really tempting. I mean, who hasn’t wished they could just teleport somewhere when they are running late?
The danger of magical thinking though, is at it’s greatest
when we are confronted by a problem we cannot solve. And yes, this does happen. Quite frequently
actually. This is why the Serenity prayer is so important. Yes, you must have
the courage to change the things you can, but you also need the patience to
tolerate the things you cannot change and, the wisdom to know the difference.
The reason you don’t want to resort to magical thinking is this. If you aren’t trying to practically solve your problem, you won’t know whether this is a problem that can be solved or not. You can usually only find that out by actively trying to solve your problem. While magical thinking is harmless if you are trying to solve a problem that can’t be solved, it will prevent you from solving the problems you have.
Better to at least attempt to solve a problem and fail than
to never try at all.
No Promises
As a Humanist life skills coach, I will never tell you how to get rich quick.
That’s because, very few people get rich quick. Even overnight sensations spend
years slugging along before they get their big break. My husband and I joke
that it will probably take me 8 years of hard work to become an overnight
sensation. And even then, I might never be.
 |
| Image: "Try Win Lose Dice" by Stuart Miles |
I can control the hard work. It’s the luck part that is
frustrating. But I don’t allow that to discourage me. Here’s why.
- I know that if I don’t at least make a good faith effort, I have no chance of success at all. So if I want to be successful, I have to make an effort. No good is going to come to me just from wishing.
- Even if I never achieve my dreams, the journey is still worth it.
Whenever I am struggling with something or frustrated and
ready to give up on some project I ask myself one simple question. What am I
doing with my life? The answer is always
the same. Living it. While I have short
and long term goals, my ultimate goal is to live my life to the
fullest. Even if I don’t ever accomplish my other objectives, as long as I’ve
lived life fully and did my best, I’ve succeeded. If I manage to help other people in the process - bonus.
If you want to learn more about how to live life successfully as a Humanist and without all the magical nonsense about how just improving your thoughts can improve your life - check out my life skills course - Living Made Simpler
You Ain’t Leading
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| Do you even know if they want to cross the bridge? Renjith Krishnan/ FreeDigitalPhotos.net |
It’s amazing how many leaders don’t get this. They get mad at people for failing to see how brilliant they are or how important the work they think needs to get done is. If people aren’t following you, the problem must lie in the stupidity of the followers who are refusing to follow. Right? Wrong. If people ain’t following you, it’s your fault. And launching ad hominen attacks on the people you would like to have follow you isn’t going to endear you to them.
If you want people to follow you, you first need to take the time to find out what it is THEY want to accomplish. They could care less about what you want. What they want to know is how you are going to help them accomplish what THEY want. But unless you are willing to find out what THEY want, you aren’t going to be able to help them see how your plan of action will help them. If you want people to follow, you need to step back, consider the problem from their perspective, and help walk them through step by step how what you are proposing is going to help them and you get to your shared goal.
Never underestimate the intelligence of your followers. They aren’t stupid if they aren’t following you, they are just being skeptical, and that’s a good thing. If you want to lead people, you first need to give them a good reason to follow you.
(If you want to get more information on Humanistic Leadership - visit http://humanisticleadership.com/ )
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