SUNDAY, 27 JUNE 2004
Prove your … no, prove the SELF
Two dozen foreigners sit around tables full of beer and food, eyes focused on a big screen with live rugby. The man himself sits practically with his nose pressed against the screen as he thinks with his mouth full of fresh pizza: “It’s good to be around people again. The proof of the pudding is, after all … no wait, the proof of self is, after all, in the eating … no, not that either, the proof of self is in appearing!”
The formula that leads to result
What is the difference between me and Joseph Stalin, or between me and Bill Gates? The difference is results of our lives.
Joseph Stalin, Bill Gates and I were all born in particular places at particular times, within communities with particular needs. If Stalin were born in 1979 instead of 1879, in the same town in Georgia, with a relatively similar domestic situation (adjusted for 1979 reality), his life would have produced different results. The same can be said if I were born in 1771 and not in 1971. The importance of fate data – where you were born, when, and as whose child, and events later in your life about which you have no control, or did not have control – and the needs of the community can NEVER be underestimated as factors contributing to the final results of a particular person’s life.
The only other factor that plays a significant role is choices. Stalin chose against the path that would have led to him becoming a priest, and chose in favour of joining Lenin and the Bolsheviks. So I have chosen, for example, against whatever employment I could have obtained in South Africa and opted in favour of teaching English in Taiwan to keep myself alive. The choices Joseph Stalin had made had a dramatic impact on who and what he became, and on the results he produced of his existence. The choices I have made so far in my life have also had a dramatic impact on who I am at the present moment, and on the results that I have so far produced of my existence.
The following formula can thus be suggested: RESULTS OF YOUR LIFE = FATE + NEEDS OF THE COMMUNITY + PERSONAL CHOICES.
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