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A few days ago Hubby and I watched Capitalism: A Love Story by Michael Moore.  We really enjoyed watching it.  My favorite part about his films are that they open up my eyes to things I didn’t know before, and the movies always get me thinking and stir up some great conversations between my husband and me.

I’m not going to preach to you the good vs. bad about Capitalism here.  Plus I don’t want to ruin the film for you if you have not already seen it and would like to, but I will share with you one of the thoughts I had.

Success

Do you remember a few days ago when I said I believed success is related to the energy that goes in?  There are some times when this is completely wrong.  One such time being when you are working your butt off in a system that is working against you.  In that case it is very hard for many to achieve success even with a huge input of energy.  Not necessarily impossible, but very hard nonetheless.

What Does It Mean?

That being said, in my opinion I think it is important for us as a society and as individuals to re-evaluate exactly what success means.  The definition of success should probably vary from person to person in some ways depending on what is most important to you. 

It’s All in the Name

If one chases success solely in terms of money, power or fame I think finding happiness in that would be very hard to do.  For me personally, I believe the more love and support we give out the more happiness that is created both in our own lives, and in the world, hence the name Give Love Create Happiness. J

Growth from Opposition

Whether you truly believe in capitalism, are completely against it, or are somewhere in the middle, I think watching films or reading information that opens your eyes to new ways of thinking is beneficial.  Trying to put ourselves in someone else’s shoes, and see things from their perspective helps us grow.

I love the idea of challenging myself and my beliefs by learning about opposite perspectives.  Maybe you’ll find yourself coming out feeling stronger about your beliefs than you did going in, or possibly you’ll start to question why you think the way you do?  Either way there is growth in that.  There is beauty that comes in being wrong, so I urge you not to be scared of it!

What’s Wrong with Being Wrong?

Initially a scary aspect of starting a blog and openly writing about my feelings and experiences on a number of topics is that there is going to be documentation for the world to see of many times when I’m wrong.  Times when I firmly believed one thing and now no longer do.

Since then I’ve changed my perspective.  Being wrong is exciting and I plan on doing it a lot!  The writing of Scott H Young helped open my eyes to the idea of “practicing deliberate wrongness.”  Being wrong means I’m growing.  That is what I am aiming to share with you, the growth along my journey.  My greatest hope is that it will in some way help you too.  Not that we are going to feel the same way on all topics, in fact we’ll probably see things differently a lot, but we’ll open each other up to new growth.

Challenge Me

On my journey I’ll probably be wrong often, and I encourage you to challenge my thinking on things.  Open me up to ways I didn’t see before.  I’m only coming from the experience of one life, and that is so very small in the grand scheme of things. 

It All Comes Down to Love and Support

Know that underneath it all I am aiming to come from a place of love and support.  Most importantly I want you to know that I am extremely grateful for the tremendous support I am receiving by you sharing this amazing ride with me.  Your energy never goes unfelt.

Thank you for the love and happiness your support is creating for me daily!

 
Life is a love story.

*Thank you very much for your comments, support, and advice yesterday!  It really helped me get a new perspective and gave me some wonderful ideas for how to face the challenge.  By the way the not-so-nice word Big Brother picked up absolutely came from our household.  You know when you stub your toe, step on a sharp train, or get hurt in general...yeah that’s where it came from!  With your help we feel like we can better deal with the situation and we now feel better pre-pared for the future.   Thanks again!!


Question of the day:

Finish this sentence

I was wrong when...

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Comments

08/03/2010 11:49pm

I haven't seen that Michael Moore film yet. Sometimes I really like him and other times not so much. He seems a little too commercial to be a documentarian but he often has interesting points all the same

I was wrong when...I can't remember off the top of my head. But I know I'm wrong about something daily. So sometime today I was wrong!

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08/04/2010 4:38am

I was wrong when I believed I could only speak in class if I was 100% correct. I truly believed in the "if you don't have anything good to say, don't say t at all" rule. It is still difficult for me to speak up in most circumstances, because I analyze how people will react. I really wish that someone taught me that it was okay to be wrong when I was growing up. You, my dear, are definitely a smart lady and your children are blessed to have an amazing mom!

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pat
08/04/2010 7:51am

I was wrong (many times) when I blamed others for actions that were truly only mine.

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08/04/2010 8:31am

Great post Wendy! I didn't know about that documentary; I'll have to look into it!

I was wrong when I doubted myself for turning down a job that paid well but guaranteed misery. Thank goodness I did!

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I was wrong when I thought that being older meant being wiser. Adults/people in authority are human, thus inherently fallible. Ugh - big learning curve in my life. (this in no way discounts the wisdom of all elders but is a comment on how I need to own my own wisdom/gut/instinct instead of giving too much away)

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08/08/2010 2:55pm

Argh! It seems we agree on alot, but I have to disagree with your affinity for any MM "documentary." :-) I just feel like he has too much of an agenda to listen to anything he says...I think he spends more time editorializing than documenting, but to each his own. I always encourage people to use his material as a jumping off point for seeking out actual facts.

Anyway...I was wrong when I thought I couldn't handle being a mom. I think we can all handle much more than we give ourselves credit for.

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