Lijit Audience Analytics

About

Why did I launch this site?


Many things led us here.  The odyssey has been quite fulfilling, in spite of all the trials and tribulations.  I'd like to share some of the driving forces and concepts behind The Practical Life.




Table of Contents
  • Balancing Life Works 
  • The Taboos of Communication
  • Fanaticism is Passion Mixed with Ignorance
  • Changing the Dog-Eat-Dog World
  • The Authenticity Movement
  • Paradigms for Progress or Regress
  • Practical Spirituality
 


Balancing Life WORKS!
With so much information at our disposal, how can we make sense of it all?  Is the advice out there sound or self-serving rhetoric?  We hope to help you tackle the very real issues in life as simply as possible.

We believe that there is no work-life balance because life and work should flow together.  We work to maintain a certain lifestyle for ourselves and our loved ones.  We work to enhance the lives of others.  Ideally, we work because we love what we do and we love helping others.

Balancing life WORKS and we hope to show you the many realistic ways YOU can do it.  We believe in you.  Let us help you unlock your true potential. 



The Taboos of Communication

We live in a politically-correct world where everyone is so paranoid and self-conscious due to how exposed and closely-monitored we are at times.  Most try to please everyone, which is a foolish endeavor, but others are so crass and mean-spirited that you wonder if they ever heard of The Golden Rule.


Discussions of religion, politics, and even sports can quickly turn those we consider friends into enemies.   Strong opinions just have a way of separating people, rather than uniting them.  Does it have to be that way?


Not at all.


History has shown us that the greatest wars and segregation of mankind comes at the hand of over-zealous believers.  It doesn't matter what we believe but, when we let our beliefs disrupt and demean others, we cause the great divide to widen.  Just think about all the wars that were started under the pretense of a great cause, such as religion...




Fanaticism is Passion Mixed with Ignorance

It is ignorant to think that our truths are the only things that matter.  To some degree, all truth can be proven wrong or right.  Going back to religion, there are so many belief systems that are almost exactly the same, yet we adhere to different labels and violently oppose those that disagree with us.  This sort of blind fanaticism is dangerous and we want to help fight that.


Passion is a wonderful thing.  It keeps us driven.  Mixing passion with ignorance, however, is detrimental to everyone.


One of our goals here is to challenge the sort of dangerous knowledge that hurts humanity.  We want to bring people closer together, challenge ourselves and each other, and bring meaningful interaction.  We don't have to agree on everything, but that should not keep us from being friends!






Changing the Dog-Eat-Dog World

Wouldn't it be nice to find a little corner of the Internet where you can just be yourself and talk about real-life situations without being judged?


Well, we're here to tell you: come as you are. 


While we all may fall into the trap of judging people and making generalizations, we want to focus on the stories everyone has to share.  Together, we'll learn from each other.  We'll learn to focus on behaviors and not be quick to judge.



This doesn't have to be a dog-eat-dog world.  We can all get along if we step back and stop trying to be right or liked all the time.  Just be courteous and authentic.

Really, some folks are so caught up with "winning" that they don't realize that no one really WINS.  It's all a matter of perspective, how we frame things.  A more productive, fulfilling line of thought can be, "How can I be more fulfilled and purpose-driven, while enriching the lives of those around me?"

Finding the joy in our lives, as they currently stand, will help us push on for a better tomorrow.  Surely, do not become complacent when it comes to improving yourself but also do not forget to appreciate yourself and others around you.  Again, it all comes back to balancing life.

The practical life unlocks our ability to be optimistic yet realistic, hopeful yet joyful, driven yet peaceful..  All good things must come in moderation! 





The Authenticity Movement

Authenticity has come under attack, especially in the blogosphere, yet this is the direction of things.  People are losing trust in companies hiding behind brands, spin, and hype.  We're looking for warm connections and deep, meaningful interaction.

We want to be engaged.


Authenticity gives a face and a soul to the Internet and the business world alike.  It's all about making sure we market ourselves in consistent, genuine ways.  In doing so, we build long-lasting relationships based on mutual trust and respect.  It takes more time than mass marketing and automated systems but it works.


We hope to embrace authenticity by sharing our real stories and being a bit more vulnerable than most would like to risk.  On the flip side, a certain degree of anonymity is required since there are those out there that would like nothing better than to be ugly trolls in our happy little space.  Come, be real with us.  Challenge us but don't be mean-spirited about it - we could learn so much from each other and we put a little more on the line, no?







Paradigms for Progress or Regress

It may be easy to judge someone and dismiss a powerful message when their credibility, track record, or core values are lacking.  One thing we'd like for everyone to embrace is that there are paradigm shifts that bring progress for mankind..  but there are also paradigm shifts that bring regress.  Let's focus on the foremost.


When we embrace the right paradigm, our perspectives change completely and we find ourselves in positions to learn so much more.  The bickering and ugliness of needless competition, preemptive judgments, and ignorant generalizations can easily dispelled if we step back and re-assess things.


The first step is accepting diversity, even if we don't agree or understand conflicting ideas and beliefs.  To appreciate each other more, having an idea of what shapes our world views goes a long way.  Life is filled with mini paradigm shifts but we have to pay attention, opening up our hearts and minds alike.


For example, the person that dislikes all blogs may have just met some really self-serving, rude bloggers but maybe, just maybe, we can show them what a warm, welcoming community a blog can be.  If we're quick to "jump the gun" we may very well shut ourselves out of some great opportunities to meet wonderful people and try exciting new things.

This is one of many points we hope to drive home as it enables us to take a more holistic approach to life; that is, we see just how connected everything.  Rather than relying on psychoanalysis, which puts things in very static buckets, we can appreciate the true dynamic nature of the human person.  That's when the fun starts!







Practical Spirituality

Ah, this is a tricky area.  We all have different religions, beliefs, creeds, and mantras so we can't possibly agree on those matters..  BUT we can agree on the principles and values that underline a lot of that stuff.  That's what we'd like to call practical spirituality: living a principle-driven, purpose-focused life where we help others, rather than create more segregation.

Sadly, modern religion has become a sort of sport, whereas the fans of different teams proverbially attack each other and refuse to explore the other side.  It is more blind fanaticism set ablaze.  Rather than try to convince each other to join our side, why not unite?

Here, we say, "Come as you are."

We'd like to show you how the principle-driven life can help you enhance your life while enriching the lives of others.  We don't need to place more barriers between each other with foolish chest-beating and aggressive selling.  Consider all the slaughter that takes place in the name of religion.  Losing site of the spirit of teachings and focusing on the letter of the law only hurts our individual causes.

As Mahatma Gandhi suggests, let's be the change we want to see in the world...