The Evil House Fly:

Why does the promised youth fail to live up to their potential? It's not for lack of talent, but for lack of understanding. Talents, like everything else, need to be managed, otherwise they can be as more liability than asset. ---Ecclesiastes/Kohelet 9:11-18 I have further observed under the sun that The race is not won by the swift, Nor the battle by the valiant; Nor is bread won by the wise, Nor wealth by the intelligent, Nor favor by the learned. For the time of mischance comes to all. And a man cannot even know his time. As fishes are enmeshed in a fatal net, and as birds are trapped in a snare, so men are caught at the time of calamity, when it comes upon them without warning. This thing too I observed under the sun about wisdom, and it affected me profoundly. There was a little city, with few men in it; and to it came a great king, who invested it and built mighty siege works against it. Present in the city was a poor wise man who might have saved it with his wisdom, but nobody thought of that poor man. So I observed: Wisdom is better than valor; but A poor man’s wisdom is scorned, And his words are not heeded. Words spoken softly by wise men are heeded sooner than those shouted by a lord in folly. Wisdom is more valuable than weapons of war, but a single error destroys much of value.

Death happens once on the macro level, but many times on the micro level. Disappointment, failure, setbacks are all forms of micro death. Many have lost all ambition because they've been burned once too many. Life is eternal; life is ever fresh and novel, it just awaits actualization. It's time to reengage with life, and live each moment as a completely unique opportunity for creative expression.

The rules of success are universal. The marshmallow test, which displays one's ability to delay gratification, may predict a future doctor who can endure med school, who saves lives for a living, or the drug lord, who patiently ascends to power, and who may kill to earn his bread. There seem to be many paths to success. The key is simply to choose one. In the face of the prosperous wicked, why oh why should we choose the path of good? Further, how can we have confidence that what we see as good is indeed good? Enter King David. In his death he taught that the "live dog is better than the dead lion." There may be many roads to success, and there are various ways to assert oneself, but there's only one source of life. You may have sculpted your body, achieved brilliance in your field, and developed an exquisitely beautiful personality, but did you create your own life?! By focusing excessively on our own accomplishments, on our personal power, we exhaust ourselves. We move further and further from the simple, raw power of life itself.

Happiness is a choice

There’s incredible power within. The million dollar question is how to unleash it? Solomon’s answer: Good habits, even one obsessively good habit. Good deeds center us, allowing the whisper of our inner voice to be heard. Develop an OCD like relationship with ONE good habit, it’ll change the entire trajectory of life for the better.

John Keats spoke of ‘Negative Capability’ — as explained by Robert Greene in Mastery. Our ego loves to explain and define. This leads to complacency, to a complete lack of sustained growth. Humility is the key. We can humbly recognize our complete insignificance before the Infinite. We know nothing. Now, we can rethink, redefine, everything. The sky is the limit. We no longer feel the need to hold onto our rigid thought patterns. Photo by https://unsplash.com/@cristofer?utm_source=unsplashandutm_medium=referralandutm_content=creditCopyText (Cristofer Jeschke) on https://unsplash.com/s/photos/searching?utm_source=unsplashandutm_medium=referralandutm_content=creditCopyText (Unsplash)

Life's the greatest teacher. Trial and error; seeing the good and the bad; comparing and contrasting; matching the the puzzle piece with it's true place; all create and build wisdom. Just start; you'll make mistakes, but you'll learn, and that's the whole point. Focus consistent effort in the right place, and you'll see success. Potential is a puzzle piece too, and it needs the right soil to bear fruit. Ecclesiastes/Kohelet 7:21-29 21) Finally, don’t pay attention to everything that is said, so that you may not hear your slave reviling you; 22) For well you remember the many times that you yourself have reviled others. 23) All this I tested with wisdom. I thought I could fathom it, but it eludes me. 24) [The secret of] what happens is elusive and deep, deep down; who can discover it? 25) I put my mind to studying, exploring, and seeking wisdom and the reason of things, and to studying wickedness, stupidity, madness, and folly. 26) Now, I find a woman more bitter than death; she is all traps, her hands are fetters and her heart is snares. He who is pleasing to God escapes her, and he who is displeasing is caught by her. 27) See, this is what I found, said Kohelet, item by item in my search for the reason of things. 28) As for what I sought further but did not find, I found only one human being in a thousand, and the one I found among so many was never a woman. 29) But, see, this I did find: God made men plain, but they have engaged in too much reasoning. We will be taking a short break until April (Verses by Sefaria--Photo by https://unsplash.com/@aginsbrook?utm_source=unsplashandutm_medium=referralandutm_content=creditCopyText (Anthony Fomin) on Unsplash)

What's the key to living a balanced life? It's staying above your circumstances. That way, the choice remains yours. You decide when to be soft, when to be strong, when to let go, and when to hold on fast. You are above definition, because human greatness cannot be pinned down to any one definition. Don't make the mistake of defining yourself, or others, by actions. While actions are an expression of where you may be today, they don't truly reflect what you can be tomorrow. Ecclesiastes 7:15-20 15) In my own brief span of life, I have seen both these things: sometimes a good man perishes in spite of his goodness, and sometimes a wicked one endures in spite of his wickedness. 16) So don’t overdo goodness and don’t act the wise man to excess, or you may be dumfounded. 17) Don’t overdo wickedness and don’t be a fool, or you may die before your time. 18) It is best that you grasp the one without letting go of the other, for one who fears God will do his duty by both. 19) Wisdom is more of a stronghold to a wise man than ten magnates that a city may contain. 20) For there is not one good man on earth who does what is best and doesn’t err. Photo by https://unsplash.com/@greg_rosenke?utm_source=unsplashandutm_medium=referralandutm_content=creditCopyText (Greg Rosenke) on https://my.captivate.fm/s/photos/tight-rope?utm_source=unsplashandutm_medium=referralandutm_content=creditCopyText (Unsplash)

Since we all have our own perception of things, how can we truly empathize with others? The wisdom of humility teaches us that reality is much deeper and goes much further than we can ever truly grasp. The other person's perspective, though very different than yours, is just as valid. Take a look around the room and realize that each person has their own inner world. That world is reality to them. Appreciate it, respect it, embrace it. Ecclesiastes 7:10-14. 10) Don’t say, “How has it happened that former times were better than these?” For it is not wise of you to ask that question. 11) Wisdom is as good as an inheritance, and even better, for those who behold the sun. 12) For to be in the shelter of wisdom is to be also in the shelter of money, and the advantage of intelligence is that wisdom preserves the life of him who possesses it. 13) Consider God’s doing! Who can straighten what He has twisted? 14) So in a time of good fortune enjoy the good fortune; and in a time of misfortune, reflect: The one no less than the other was God’s doing; consequently, man may find no fault with Him.