Tag: Education

MAKE YOURSELF UNFIT ðŸ§ 

I find Frederick Douglass to be one of the most remarkable individuals. After escaping slavery himself, he went on to lead many abolitionist causes. This, in itself, is not all that remarkable. What I find so impressive is his wonderful oratory and the fact he was able to use his own story to serve the cause of bringing freedom to so many. He did this by writing a total of three autobiographies. His story of slavery cast a light on the horrors suffered by so many. He was able to do all of this by educating himself. He knew one of the best ways to demonstrate the absurdity of slavery was to serve as a counterexample of the enslavers’ argument that slaves lacked the intellectual ability to function as American citizens. In doing so, he spurred more change than had he lead a violent revolt, or turned sword and pistol on those who had enslaved him. In fact, by doing so, he would have actually lent credibility to their argument.

This may strike you, as it does me, a very powerful story from our past. It is much more than that. If we think of the racism, prejudice, and division that grips our world today, Frederick Douglass gives us a course to correct many of them. That is to be the best version of ourselves that we can be. This can be accomplished through educating and improving ourselves. We all represent more than just ourselves. We represent our city, our race, our faith, our political party and a million other associations we have. Fair or not, this is how it is. When we act in a manner that is less than our best, it reflects negatively on everything we represent. This is true whether we want it to be or not. Conversely, if we educate and evolve, it reflects positively on all we represent to others.

Another amazing thing about Frederick Douglass, was his understanding of the need to engage in meaningful dialogue with those who would oppose, or even enslave us. When people asked him how he could talk to enslavers, he would answer with the quote above, “I would unite with anybody to do right and with nobody to do wrong.” When we look at the current state of politics and social reform, it would seem the modern world could take a great lesson from Mr. Douglass. How about in your life? Are you willing to work with people you may not agree with if it will result in serving the greater good? Are you willing to go along with others in your group and not stand up in opposition even if you know it is wrong?

Frederick Douglass gave us a lot of great lessons. Two of which are the power education serves in freeing an individual. This is not only true of racial suppression, but freedom from economic slavery, ideological slavery, intellectual slavery and many other conditions that will keep us from rising to become the best versions of ourselves. If you find yourself held down, held back or held up from being all that you can be, the secret is education. This does not even have to be formal education. Daily visits to the local library can transform our lives and give us the power to rise above our current circumstances.

The second lesson from Frederick Douglass was the importance of engaging in meaningful dialogue with those we may view as our opposition. If we want to accomplish anything to serve the greater good, we must work together. It is a lesson not only for our world leaders, but for us to take into our own lives. This is how we solve disputes with coworkers, angry neighbors and any other situation we find ourselves in. I encourage you to study the life of Frederick Douglass and to read his autobiographies. It will not only be a great lesson in history, but you will learn many great lessons you can apply to your own life.

SMILE, IT IS TAX DAY!

Today in the United States it is Federal Income Tax day. Generally, a somber day for most. After paying what seems like the bulk of your earnings out of your paycheck, you have the dubious honor of paying some more today. Even if after paying your required amount every check, you get a small portion back, you still face the prospect of filling out time-consuming paperwork that can often be very confusing. At the least, you are going to pay someone to do this for you or face penalties for not doing so. This time of year we are also supplied with many facts of the not so logical way our government chooses to spend our hard earned dollars. Not very inspiring or motivational.

Before I continue, allow me to let you know I do not work for the IRS, nor am I a fan of tax season. That being said, today I stopped and pondered all that our tax dollars give us. Yes, there is lots of waste and mismanagement when it comes to government spending, but let us focus on what does get done. As I write this mid April has brought my city freezing rain and snow. The roads are currently being plowed and salted. I cannot imagine what it would be like if that were left up to the public to do. We can look at the sidewalks for an example. Some people shovel and clean them off, some do not. Imagine if the roads were the same. How would we get around? How long would we have to wait? How about sanitation? Imagine having to deal with your garbage daily. Would you take it to the dump on your own? Would there even be a dump? How about the public library? Free education for anyone regardless of race, religion or social status.

For a lot of us, tax day will always be a painful experience. By focusing on what we do receive from the money that is unceremoniously taken from us each paycheck, we may ease the pain we feel. If we look hard enough, for every story of the government buying a $200 hammer, we will find one of a young woman who studied at the public library and went on to become a doctor who saved many lives.

Could and should the government do a lot better? Absolutely and we can and should keep voting to make sure they do. In the meantime, let us be grateful that we do not have to bury our trash in our own back yard or clear the snow of the street in front of our house. While we are at it let us rent a movie from our public library and enjoy some of the tax day deals that some companies are offering.

A LIVING TREASURE

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It amazes me in our current culture how little value is placed on our senior citizens. They have seen more and experienced more than most of us. Whatever most of us are going through they have a story they can relate. They can also give us a gift of foretelling our future to a great extent. What do I mean by this? People that are older than us have not only seen a great deal in their own lives, but have seen a good many others live their lives as well. They essentially know if you play the game this way, the end result will be this.

The trouble is, when we are young it can be difficult to fully understand, or believe what they are telling us. Having not lived the amount of years they have, or experiencing what they may have went through it can often seem like we are speaking two different languages. So why would it be important to listen to someone speaking a language we don’t? In this case everyone will eventually learn this language.

Finding this all a little hard to follow? Let me share a personal story with you. My grandfather was one of the most important and influential people in my life. We had plenty of private conversations where he shared with me what he knew of life. There were times I found it hard to maintain interest and even others when I thought he was crazy. My grandfather passed away almost two decades ago. Here is the amazing thing, some of what he taught me I am only now able to understand. He teaches me, and I learn from him to this very day, almost 20 years after his passing. There are always moments when I wish he were still alive to clarify a point, or to answer a question. It is then I realize I should have paid more attention to the words he spoke when he was here.

So yourself a huge favor, when an elder speaks to you make sure you listen. They are our greatest teachers and our living treasures.

IT JUST KEEPS GETTING BETTER!

Fill in the rest of this sentence “Wow I sure wish I was better at ___” For each one of us it could be a million different answers. When I was growing up I admired several different actors in the movies, singers in bands. I always thought “Man, if I could just be more like __” In your daily life how many times do you catch yourself saying this? Or at the very least thinking it? There are so many skills and traits that would be fun to master. Adding new skills and refining other skills and traits does a number of amazing things for us. First, as we discussed yesterday it makes us more valuable. If you can speak two languages you are more of an asset than a person who can only speak one. Also once you develop a new skill in will give you a much greater sense of accomplishment and an urge to do more. So the obvious question that becomes, “how do we learn these traits?” well certainly to some extent that would depend on the trait which you are trying to develop. With the advent of the internet and a library or bookstore in every city the resources are endless. Watch a movie on the subject. Listen to a cd from and expert. read a book or listen to an audio book. check out a website. The best part about this learning is it is nothing like the learning we experienced in school. This type of learning will be fun. We pick the subject, we pick the medium we learn best in. As we become closer to our goal and notice changes and bits of knowledge we are picking up we gain momentum! That is powerful. Gain enough momentum and you can push past limits you thought were out of sight. So decide what you would like to learn today. Something fun, something that excites you, something that stirs your passion and choose how you would like to learn about that subject. Just getting started will get the juices flowing as you continue on closer to your goal is just keeps getting better!

THE SUPER HERO WITHIN…

yesterday we spoke of appreciating your value. Today we will discuss what is the easiest way to increase your value or like I enjoy saying “your awesomeness” Let us begin by asking a question, what things are you really not good at? Does a list immediately come to mind? Or perhaps some glaring fault that has become part of your identity? let me share with you one of mine. If you are a follower of this blog or perhaps one of my former teachers this next revelation should come as no big surprise. I, Neil Panosian, am a terrible speller. So bad in fact that quite often spell check’s suggestion for me on certain words is “go back to school” I joke about it, but it is true. If it were not for the afore mentioned spell check some of you might very well question what language this blog is in. So what have I decided to do? Become an author and blog writer. Seems kind of silly, but it is slowly improving my spelling. By slowly I mean I can now spell the word ‘experience’ without the use of a dictionary. So why would I decide to become a writer when I am not a very good at spelling. I will answer that in a moment, but first let me share something that many people may not know. There is a glaring flaw in our educational system. We have a predetermined set of principles we decided are important. if a child fails to succeed in any of these principles they are considered a failure, or a slow learner, or learning disabled. I am going to go out on a limb and say Picasso may not have passed a high school math test, yet we do not view him as a failure. Why? here is the secret. He worked at something he was naturally good at and passionate about. So ask yourself the opposite question, What is it, if I really think, that I can do better than most people? We all have something. The sad part is, if it is not what society or the educational system thinks is important we probably have not been encouraged to grow that talent. Well right now I am encouraging you! I tend to be good at talking to and listening to people. it is also a passion of mine. I genuinely care for people, even spelling teachers, and I like to be able to bring joy and happiness to their day. Now, I am currently employed as a postal worker. not a career known for its joyous demeanor. So I found a way to use and pursue my talent and passion. I have decided to make everyone’s visit to the post office the most fun and enjoyable one they have ever had. I have also started bartending part-time. A job whose main requirement is to make sure people are having a good time. So what is your talent? Can you draw pretty well? Buy yourself a sketch pad and some pencils! Can you tell a great joke? Learn as many as you can and share them. The world can always use more laughter. As for why I am writing a book, it is all about brining joy to the lives of others. So this weekend spend a few minutes really thinking about what your talent is and how you can develop and share it with the world. Who knows you may even end up changing your life as well!

THE POWER OF ENERGY

I’ve been asked various forms of the following question several times over the years, “How can I go around being happy when there are so many things in the world to be unhappy about?”.  People ask me this about the economy, famine, war, genocide, and all of the other fine issues the evening news likes to highlight.  It makes sense, how can we be happy when there are people starving on the other side of town?  How can we walk around feeling great when we read about all of the jobs that are being lost?  The answer really is in the question itself.  When we are focused on the problems of the world and see fit to discuss them at length we are only adding our energy to them.  It would be far better to send our sick friend in the hospital loving and healing thoughts while picturing them as whole and in perfect health.  Then it would be to feel bad for them and say “isn’t it terrible how ill they are”.  It is almost a force of habit to be involved in “isn’t it awful” type conversations.  Quite often we start them up as a lack of anything else to talk about.  “Isn’t that price of gas terrible?”  “I sure hope the economy turns around quickly”.  I must confess I find myself being involved in and sometimes starting such conversations.  By doing so I am not only adding my focus and energy and focus to the very thing I am lamenting, but I am also dragging the other persons focus and energy into the same direction!  How different would the world be if we placed our focus and energy on what we have to be grateful for and solutions rather than what we lack and the problems we have?  Next time you find yourself engaged in a negatively oriented conversation begin to think of how you can turn that conversation around.  Think of it as a game.  Make it a fun challenge.  Even if you fall short you at least have your energy and focus on turning a negative into a positive.