The Power of the Paradox: Warrior Mind Podcast #328
Over four years and going strong! With over 500,000 downloads from over 9 countries and 5 continents’…. this is the Warrior Mind Podcast.
In this episode of the Warrior Mind Podcast I’m going to discuss the power of the paradox and how it effects our personal performance.
Paradox
“The test of a first-rate intelligence is the ability to hold two opposed ideas in mind at the same time and still retain the ability to function.” F. Scott Fitzgerald
The big paradox in personal development: SELF ACCEPTANCE
“We learn from history that we do not learn from history.” – Georg Hegel
In Western society, we have been brought up with opposing virtues and values. This includes our views on making money, food and even sex.
We have our religious and moral values that include celibacy, giving, fasting and dealing with loss.
Because of all the opposing energy, there is internal turmoil and confusion that becomes a greater part of who we are.
Transforming our energy from opposition to a true paradox is a part of our evolution. When we engage with the opposition, we are crushed by the difficulty of life’s events and problems we face.
Too often, people will waste their precious life energy and engage in an internal warfare. When you have a conversation candidly with friends and hear the narration from them, you can hear all the things going wrong in their lives
Enjoy this podcast on the power of paradox
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When you oppose your own situation, it creates a short circuit in the body and it drains your energy. This doesn’t get better over time until you start to work on a life balance.
When you transform opposition into a paradox, it allows you to see both sides of the issue.
Imagine that you should be working on a new book in the morning, but you would rather do something else entirely.
If left in opposition, the pair will cancel each other out. However, if I agree to sit there and work on the book while both are present, a superior situation will present itself. A compromise may even be made to achieve some life balance by choosing to end early as a reward and to do something that in the final hour of allotted time.
Sometimes, a compromise can be better than the internal opposition, but still not the best solution. For example, if I were to walk instead of work, I attempt to accommodate my need to be exercising outdoors, while the work still needs to be done.
Although this is not a true paradox, when you have two conflicting impulses for a period of time, they will force each other to do something and to produce an event that serves both of them.
This is in no way a compromise, but rather a deeper level of understanding that helps to put your life into perspective. It will allow you to understand what you should be doing. This can prove to be very valuable.
I am somewhat tempted to describe a solution, but it would be very misleading for those looking for life balance. After all, many solutions need to stem from the individual situations that people face. A solution should incorporate the dynamics of both opposing energies they are facing.
Isaac Dinesen, the Danish author of “Out of Africa”, once wrote that there are three occasions for true happiness in human beings.
- The first is a surplus of energy – province of youth.
- The second is no pain – fleeting, temporary
- The third is doing the will of higher self – comes after long work and experience.
If you have gotten past the absolute certainty in life, then you have come to understand that there in an importance in the will of your higher self. This is a place where you will discover joy and achieve the heritage within you that can inspire and haunt you.
To become our true selves, we need to bring together our list of virtues and combine our neurological needs and combine them to create a paradox that is noble.
- This means accepting it is not only good to win, but also healthy to lose.
- While it is good to have money, giving to the poor also has its value.
- Freedom is great for a person, but there also needs to be some authority
As we view the paradox in our lives as we try to achieve a life balance, we open ourselves to new possibilities. We shouldn’t focus on the opposites that are in adverse to our goals, rather understand that there are there to help us to better achieve what is destined for us.
You can’t label any of these items in secular and religious. Instead, you need to look at things like they are the divine truth. That way, you can see beyond what is hidden and problematic and move forward beyond it.
Staying loyal to the paradox give you the ability to benefit from the unity. The most valuable piece of the experience is benefiting from the experience that comes from surrendering to the paradox.
In the medieval world, there was an understanding about the experience and how it would take a person beyond the opposites colliding and bring harmony, along with infinite knowledge.
When you remain in the paradox, you will find that the answer that it is there beyond the compromise and the quarrel. You will find a unified attitude that will help to focus your energy and give you true enlightenment.
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