SaneLife

The dictionary definition of the word “sane” is, “free of mental derangement, having a sound, healthy mind.” Now, the dictionary definition of the word “derangement” is, “disarrangement, disorder.” So, in order to call yourself sane you have to have complete mental order and arrangement. Can you say that about yourself? If you answered no to that question, doesn’t that mean that you are insane? It’s true that some people are more insane than others to the point where they have lost all control over themselves, but unless you have total control over your mind aren’t you insane by definition?

In every thing that you do, there is a correct series of actions in which to take in order to do it correctly - a formula.  Now in order for you to come up with the correct “formula” for the things that you do, you must first understand all aspects of what you are doing.  Take Algebra as an example.  If you are trying to figure out how to solve an advanced equation but you don’t know basic arithmatic, do you think you will solve the equation correctly?  The same is true for all aspects of your life.  So in order for you to do the different aspects of your life correctly, you must first understand the actions that makes up those formulas. 

What I’m doing right now has a formula.  There is a correct formula for me to follow in order to correctly explain to you that all of the aspects of your life have formulas.  Did I follow the formula? Was the goal of explaining that there are formulas in all of the aspects of your life achieved?

I move on to grief.

The four stages of grief are denial, anger, depression, and bargaining. Acceptance is not a stage of grief but rather the stage after one goes through the grieving stages. The four stages of grief are often applied to intense moments in your life that are difficult to deal with, such as the death of a loved one, because they are easier to see in these applications. However, the reality is you go through these stages much more often than a few times in your life. You go through the stages of grief every time you grieve over the smallest of things, just not on the same scale.

Imagine you are looking forward to a dinner party with a friend which gets canceled shortly before it is supposed to take place. What do you feel? Anger? Sadness? Do you question whether or not your friend could do this? Do you try to bargain? It might not be all of these things like in more intense cases of grief, but it is definitely one of them. Does this not explain almost all of human emotion? Fear and worry are really just you not wanting something to happen that you will cause you grief. Denial, anger, sadness, and bargaining are tools you use to help your psyche deal with the things you grieve.

I propose that acceptance of what is real is the only way to vanquish these emotions. If you truly accept that your friend canceled dinner a little to late for comfort, then how can you grieve?

Imagine two men playing a game of chess. Their goal by playing that game is, obviously, to beat each other. One man is satisfied with the goal of just beating his opponent. However, the other man decides that this goal isn’t specific enough and breaks it down into a more specific desired outcome. His goal becomes to make his opponent’s King not be able to move, and at his disposal are a small number of different tools that he is to use to accomplish this task. Who do you think will win?

Let’s say you are bad at Math and Science but good at English and History. This is due to the fact that, at some point in your life, you figured out the tools on how to master English and History but never figured out the necessary tools for Math and Science.

Think of your life as a series of roads. You are born on a road which forks into many different roads. Every choice you make from that point on leads you down the path of a new road, but still in the same general direction of previous choices, or roads. Down these roads of thought, you figured out how to master English and History. So if you had chosen a different road then maybe you would be good at Math and Science. How do you find that road? Well, to put it simply, go look for it.

I will begin with the concept of intelligence.

The illusion that you have a fixed intelligence when you enter the world is one that is absolutely absurd. Intelligence, put frankly, is how much you have figured out about how to figure things out. Your intelligence expands when you figure out more about how to figure things out. If you ever cannot understand a concept being told to you, it is because you haven’t figured out how to understand the concept, not that you cannot understand the concept. So in order to figure something out, you must first figure out how to figure it out.