You are not the center of the universe
I am in the middle of a bunch of books right now: three on sales and selling, one on marketing, two on leadership, one on startups, and a couple on the business of consulting.
One book I’m not in the middle of — but hope to be soon — is The Pale Blue Dot by Carl Sagan. An ex-prof of mine shifted our perspective using the concept of the pale blue dot. None of your personal turmoil can be seen from the edges of the solar system. Everything that’s got you so worked up right now is invisible when viewed from way out there. From Pluto, our planet is just a pale blue dot. The concept of the Pale Blue Dot gives me perspective when I get a little too worked up over the daily grind.
If you want some more food for thought, please check out my friend Floyd’s essay on Ocean Mind.
“Ocean Mind” is being receptive, appreciative and embracing of all of the differences that exist in human beings. These differences can include: race, language, culture, beliefs, religion, gender, sexual orientation, physical condition, physical appearance, education, politics, socio-economic position and even personality.
Floyd’s a great guy who’s starting an organization to help spread the idea of Ocean Mind in the hope of bringing diverse groups of people together. I’ll post his website here as soon as it’s up and running.
Certainly. I always need to give myself some perspective when I get really worked up over things, and this sounds like an awesome concept. I like to completely sever my connection to the network, pack off into the woods and go toe-to-toe with nature.
Even when I’m not out guiding in the wilderness, it’s fun to lean back in the office chair and reflect about where I’ve been and what I might have done in the last year. Sure, at the moment I may be pulling my hair out trying to fix display glitches in Internet Explorer, but eight months ago I was dressing a pocketknife wound with a maxi-pad and surgical tape.
Seriously, what’s worth taking seriously? It’s all about perspective.
I dig your site, and kudos for always having something thoughtful to say. Way to churn through the personal MBA!