Public Opinion vs. Your Reality

"He who has overcome his fears is truly free" - Aristotle

After encountering the same situation twice (in the lives of others) in one day, I feel compelled to shout the following from my virtual rooftop to the world.. Public opinion is a valid resource in that from public opinion you can glean a common understanding of how situations and actions are viewed. Essentially it often acts as a basic compass for action and opinion.

While all that is true, the biggest lesson that I've learned literally in my whole life is that in no way, shape, or form does this objectively define a situation or predict results. Albert Einstein said, "Imagination is the preview of life's coming attractions." I couldn't agree more. If you can imagine an outcome in your mind, you are up to half way (20%-50%) to creating and realizing it. I'm not telling you that you can literally do anything you can think of in the way you first imagine it, however I am saying that there is only one way to find out. If you've taken the time to imagine something that excites you, you OWE it to yourself and will be doing yourself an injustice not to pursue whatever it is. I know a lot of professors and potential teachers that think there are no teaching jobs, and I also know around 10 people that have walked into full-time employment after graduating. I know people that get intimidated by people in positions of power and never look to oppose them, and I know a few people (self included) that chose to outwork the competition and ended up beating the odds in a big way (guess who your favourite VPFA is). I know people who talk about the lack of employment in their area, and I also personally know almost 100 entrepreneurs who have CREATED their career as opposed to looking for it (self included).  I know people that aspire to win a championship, and I know people who actually pursued championships in sport (self included). Could we have all failed? Absolutely. And many of us did along the way.. And then we learned, and then we adjusted, and then we succeeded.

I should note that I'm only including that I've jumped over these hurdles to humanize the experience. There is nothing special about me or anyone else who has attained success. The only reason we, and you have been successful (whether you realize it or not) is because of one word. Grit. Look it up.

All of the highest achievements in the lives of the most successful people we know have come through risk. In a coaching theory class I learned that the characters "危机" can be used to represent "risk" as well as "opportunity". Whether this is true or not I can confidently say that all opportunity comes with risk, since you can always unsuccessfully pursue an opportunity. I quote this all the time, "a lot of us are not all the way satisfied but are scared to lose security in what we do have". Moral of the story? To get to better circumstance you must be willing to embrace change and is of failure. The point is not to be scared of failure because that cognitive roadblock gives way to analysis-paralysis. It literally stops you from doing things. That's not to say embrace failure as a good think on par with success, it refers to the mindset that ever experience is either a success or an opportunity to grow. It's a mindset.

Let your fears motivate you.
 #GROE - Growth Respect Opportunity & Excellence

Love,
 Kyle Denzel Rose

Love & Perspective

The topics are Love and Perspective. I thought about this after wishing a few acquaintances happy birthday today and thinking, "Wow, I actually could completely love this person, have them as a best friend, lover, coworker, roommate anything!" I shouldn't say I thought this, I more felt it. Emotion guides our thoughts  and while I'll be the first person to say that emotion often clouds proper logical judgement, I also believe that it has just as much potential to empower productive and positive passion.

Literally everyone around me continues to affirm to me how ineffable the beauty of the human experience is. Individually, and i truly mean individually there is something special, meaningful, unique and interesting to be learned and experienced from every interaction you have. You just need to look at it the right way. It's all perspective for me.. In the last year I've changed a lot about my life, and it came after taking one of the hardest emotional hits I've ever taken. there is light to be found in the darkest hour. The same darkness has transformed me into an ambitious, insightful, positive and motivated individual who loves everything about himself. And that's the best position you can be in to love others, you have to love yourself first :) and you should. The more I learn about people the more I love about them. Watching people grow physically is amazing however the feeling you get watching them grow as an individual is again, ineffable. I used to get teased a lot for "falling in love a couple times a day" and I recently realized it was just that from an early age I've been able to appreciate things about girls that most don't see or don't value. That very often gets confused with romantic love, because people these days don't just call a girl beautiful unless they want something physical.. I'm getting to a place though where I can love, everyone. It's so easy to love, try it. <3

"Every experience, no matter how bad it seems, holds within it a blessing of some kind. The goal is to find it."
-Buddha

"Be a reflection of what you'd like to see in others. If you want love, give love. If you want honesty, give honesty. If you want respect, give respect. You get in return what you give."

"With everything that has happened to you, you can either feel sorry for yourself or treat what has happened as a gift. Everything is either an opportunity to grow or an obstacle to keep you from growing.

YOU GET TO CHOOSE."
-Wayne Dyer

The following quote is long, however awesome (and set the original tone and reason for the blog post):

“Nietzsche was the one who did the job for me. At a certain moment in his life,the idea came to him of what he called 'the love of your fate.' Whatever your fate is, whatever the hell happens, you say, 'This is what I need.' It may look like a wreck, but go at it as though it were an opportunity, a challenge. If you bring love to that moment—not discouragement—you will find the strength is there. Any disaster you can survive is an improvement in your character, your stature, and your life. What a privilege! This is when the spontaneity of your own nature will have a chance to flow.
"Then, when looking back at your life, you will see that the moments which seemed to be great failures followed by wreckage were the incidents that shaped the life you have now. You’ll see that this is really true. Nothing can happen to you that is not positive. Even though it looks and feels at the moment like a negative crisis, it is not. The crisis throws you back, and when you are required to exhibit strength, it comes.”

Joseph Campbell, A Joseph Campbell Companion: Reflections on the Art of Living.

I'll leave you with one more quote that I've known for a year now without being able to put into words..

“If you paint in your mind a picture of bright and happy expectations, you put yourself into a condition conductive to your goal.”

- Norman Vincent Peale

#GROE

The Principle of Risk & Opportunity

Here is a simple principle I learned in 2013 that I have just about mastered in 2014. Risk and opportunity go hand in hand! In fact, In the summer I was told that the Vietnamese character for risk was the same character used for opportunity. Think about it though.. Remember the times when you felt like you were enjoying life the most, you were doing something "risky" weren't you? Spending money that you could have spent more responsibly (at a concert/event with friends), accepting or applying for a job you really wanted even though you were not guaranteed the job, going to university to pursue a degree is risky because you might fail, telling someone your dreams, and the most risk is taken when you trust someone completely with your heart and really bear your soul. 

All of these circumstances are extremely risky, whether you realize it or not however they also yield the highest rewards. So the advice, what I would like to communicate to all of you out there is that you should take risks. Live your life in a way that allows you to constantly be doing what excites you the most and pursue your passions. I have recently been given the opportunity to effect the university year of thousands of students and as scary as that can sound, It excites me! I now whole-heartedly love to see the opportunity where other may see risk.   

In 2013 I had something, that I would give anything not to lose and I lost it! This came due to me taking probably the most important risk, to be honest. Anyways, without diving too deep I'll just say that I lost something I did not deserve to have and that led to a world of life changing opportunity. Beginning with a redefinition of opportunity that included challenging times as "opportunities to grow". I realized the challenge before me and accepted it. Throughout 2013 I took risks by changing the way I lived my life, this mainly included:
I do not want to spend too much time talking about myself however one of my favourite quotes sums it up, "Wisdom is nothing more than healed pain". 
I've met a lot of people in the last year, more influencial people than in the 21 years before. I've reached higher hieghts and overcome greater challenges due to my understanding of this principle. It is wise to live life in a way that allows you to pursue your passions and whatever you think will bring you happiness.. When you do this, always think to yourself if you really want it and if you do, CHASE IT! When living with this notion and always acknowledging the Principle of Risk & Opportunity, you will not have regrets. Try it, and tell me what you think.
-how I communicated with people 
-the perspective I used to approach life
-the way I presented myself
-who I surrounded myself with
-how I challenged myself physically/mentally/emotionally


..Let me just tell you that all of the best experiences I had in the last year came via trusting/pursuing those urges and interests. Suddenly I find myself first knowing that I deserve what I lost and then noticing that I have much much more than I had ever had before in several other areas of my life. The Principle of Gratefulness is a whole-nother principle though



If you live life behind a wall of security, you are safe but are you living it to the fullest?

#GoldenThoughts