Category: Human Nature

Guilt is a powerful emotion that can be both helpful and harmful. While it can be a catalyst for change, it can also become a persistent and paralyzing force in your life.

To overcome guilt, it is necessary to adopt a war mentality, which demands taking complete ownership of your life and actions. This requires discipline and self-control.

Realize that your guilt is not helping you, it is actually harming you because you wallow in it instead of actually improving yourself.

This is why you must begin the war on guilt.

The war mentality is about assuming complete responsibility for your life and actions. It is a mindset that demands courage, strength, and tenacity. When you adopt this mindset, you take control of your life and refuse to let your circumstances or emotions control you.

To overcome guilt, you must learn to identify the source of your guilt and take decisive action to rectify it.

This requires an unwavering commitment to self-improvement and a willingness to confront uncomfortable truths about yourself. You must be willing to admit your mistakes, take responsibility for them, and make amends where possible.

One practical technique for overcoming guilt is to engage in self-reflection and introspection. Take time to reflect on your actions, thoughts, and emotions.

Identify the sources of your guilt and consider how you can rectify the situation. This may involve apologizing to someone you have wronged, making amends, or taking steps to avoid repeating the same mistakes in the future.

Another technique is to focus on the present moment and take action to improve your life. This may involve setting achievable goals, creating a plan of action, and working diligently to achieve your objectives. By focusing on the present moment and taking action to improve your life, you can gradually overcome the guilt that is holding you back.

Do not waste your time with guilt. It is not helping you. It is stopping your progress towards being who you want. Just take command of yourself, declare war on your weakness, especially the weakness of your guilt.

I want to share with you some simple tools I am using to become more sociable. One of these tools is active listening.

Active listening is the practice of fully paying attention and engaging with another person when they are speaking. It involves not just hearing the words being said, but also understanding and empathizing with the speaker’s perspective. That involves lifting your perspective from your own mind and trying to look at issues from the perspective of others.

If this is done in a discussion, it does not need to be done for the purpose of being a soft, mushy, spineless individual who stands for nothing. You are not viewing things from multiple perspectives for no reason. You are trying to avoid being one-sided in your thinking. And you are training to be multi-dimensional in your thinking. Active listening is a way to expand your viewpoint to allow you to be more strategic in social situations as well as in your life.

Active listening is an essential skill in any relationship, whether it’s with a friend, family member, colleague, or romantic partner. It helps to build trust, develop a better understanding of issues, and manage conflicts. Here’s how you can improve your active listening skills and put them into practice in your daily life.

What is active listening in practice?

Active listening goes beyond just hearing what someone is saying. It involves actively engaging with the speaker, using verbal and nonverbal cues to show that you are paying attention and interested in what they have to say. This includes things like:

1. Maintaining eye contact

2. Nodding your head

3. Asking clarifying questions.

Some key elements of active listening include:

• Giving the speaker your full attention.
• Avoiding interrupting or talking over the speaker.
• Restating what the speaker is saying to show/check that you understand.
• Asking open-ended questions to encourage the speaker to expand on their thoughts.
• Expressing empathy and trying to see things from the speaker’s perspective.

How to improve your active listening skills

Improving your active listening skills takes time and practice. Here are some ways you can get started and expand on the key elements listed above:

• Pay attention to your body language and nonverbal cues. People will give you much more of their story with their body language. You do not have to read tons of books or take courses to understand this. Use your humanness to communicate with people. Trust your intuition. Look to see if they are comfortable or not. Where are their eyes moving? Make sure you are facing the speaker and maintaining eye contact, as this shows that you are engaged and interested. Avoid crossing your arms or looking at your phone, as this can signal disinterest.
  
• Practice mindful listening. This means focusing on the speaker and the conversation at hand, rather than letting your mind wander or multitasking. If you find your mind drifting, try taking a deep breath and refocusing on what the speaker is saying.
  
• Avoid interrupting or talking over the speaker. It’s essential to let the speaker finish their thought before jumping in with your own response. If you do need to ask a question, make sure to do so after the speaker is finished. It is okay to pause after someone finishes speaking. you do not have to jump into a conversation response immediately. Give yourself a few moments to think after the person completes their statement. Not only will you demonstrate that you were listening and not thinking about what you were going to say, but you will calm yourself down if you are anxious and allow yourself time to formulate a complete thought based on the complete thought of the other person.
  
• Restate what the speaker is saying. This helps to show that you are paying attention and understanding what they are saying. You can do this by repeating back key points or paraphrasing their thoughts in your own words. Then if you misunderstood anything the speaker was saying, you give him/her a chance to clarify and restate their thoughts again so you are both on the same page. You may be discussing or arguing about something, and this tool allows you to argue about the same idea. Many people waste hours fighting because they did not define terms properly or they did not take the time to understand the opponent’s position fully. You do not have to end up agreeing with them, simply understand what they are actually saying instead of what you think they are saying.
  
• Ask open-ended questions. These types of questions encourage the speaker to expand on their thoughts and ideas, rather than just giving a one-word response. Examples might include “Can you tell me more about that?” or “What do you mean by that?”
  
• Practice empathy. Try to see things from the speaker’s perspective and put yourself in their shoes. This can help you better understand their thoughts and feelings and respond in an understanding way [“I understand how you must feel”]. Again, you do not have to do this in order to chang your whole outlook and perspective. you are trying to expand your thinking. Understanding the opposite side in a discussion allows you to be a complete thinker with multiple dimensions.

Starting small with improving your active listening skills

Improving your active listening skills doesn’t have to be a daunting task. Here are some small steps you can take to get started:

• Practice active listening in daily conversations. Whether it’s with a colleague at work or a friend at a coffee shop, take the opportunity to fully engage with the person you are speaking with.
  
• Make a conscious effort to put away distractions. This might mean silencing your phone, closing your laptop, or stepping away from the TV.
  
• Set aside dedicated time for conversations. If you know you’ll be having a difficult or important conversation, make sure you have enough time to fully engage with the speaker.
  
• Take breaks to process what you’ve heard. If you’re having a long or complex conversation, it’s okay to take a break to process what you’ve heard and gather your thoughts.

Practical ways to use active listening in real life

Active listening is a skill that can be applied in a variety of different settings, from personal relationships to professional ones. Here are a few practical ways you can use active listening in your daily life:

• In personal relationships: Active listening is essential for building strong, healthy relationships with loved ones. It can help you better understand and support your partner, friend, or family member, and can also help to resolve conflicts and miscommunications.
  
• In professional settings: Active listening is an important skill in the workplace, as it helps to build trust and understanding with colleagues and clients. It can also improve your ability to collaborate and work effectively as a team. It can also help you navigate the workplace and manage power dynamics with skill.
  
• In conflict management: Active listening can be a valuable tool for resolving conflicts and misunderstandings. By fully paying attention and trying to understand the other person’s perspective, you can more effectively address and resolve issues.
  

Conclusion

Active listening is a valuable skill that can improve your relationships, manage conflicts, and enhance your professional and personal interactions. You can build trust, foster understanding, and create more meaningful connections by fully engaging with and understanding the speaker. Whether you’re just starting out or looking to fine-tune your active listening skills, the above tips and techniques can help you get started

It seems like every month something is happening. Nothing of importance is happening, but modern culture would have you believe the opposite.

Black month.
Gay “pride”month.
Hispanic Month
Women’s Month

Not everyone deserves to have their own month. Cultures are not created equal. Sexual choice is irrelevant and doesn’t make anyone special.

Chromosomal background is irrelevant and does not make anyone special.

Each of these months or celebrations is continued propagation of this false idea: you are special just for being you. Now while it is true that every individual is valuable in the eyes of God and that all people are created equal. It is not true, however, that you are special because of some genetic characteristic or behavioral chose that you cannot control. all of that is irrelevant.

Furthermore, many cultures are not only common, but inferior to other cultures. Take Islamic culture. If you are interested in Women’s rights, you cannot also be interested in Sharia law. You are putting a lion and a sheep in the same room and asking them to “get along”.

Culture does not make you special. In fact, nothing can make you special outside the individual effort you put into your own life. your group membership is irrelevant. The nature of your genitalia is also irrelevant.

Everything in the universe has an identity. It is controversial to say with certainty who postulated the Law of Identity. Nevertheless, it is a powerful law, stating that “A=A”. The letter A can only be the letter A. It cannot be the letter B or C. Everything follows this same law. It must be what it is and can be nothing else.

That sounds like an obvious statement, but it is one that most people, including Christians, never think about or take advantage of once they realize its power. If you know the principle of identity, you can control much of your behavior naturally and with minimal effort. This is because not only do we have identities, but we strive to act in accordance with those identities at all times.

The principle of identity allows you to behave in specific ways without constantly having to make large decisions in your mind. Identity eliminates the need for arbitrary decision-making by giving you the answer to every decision in advance.

The man whose identity is one of a non-smoker knows exactly how he will respond every time he is offered a cigarette. The racks of cigarettes on the walls of the store melt into the background – he does not even notice them. They are not consistent with his identity.

One of the greatest human needs is the need to be consistent with one’s own identity. This is one of the greatest benefits of Christianity. It provides individuals with a perfectly clear-cut and well-defined definition of their identity. Every Christian does or should know exactly who they are, what they believe, where they are going, and what they are doing – because each of these things can be linked back to the identity of the Christian.

If you are a Christan, you have specific beliefs which you support with specific actions. You know how to behave and what is required of you if you have taken the time to firmly establish your identity and decide what you believe.

Clearly identifying yourself as a Christian makes it easier to live and make decisions because it eliminates the gray zones of spirituality. These gray zones are what make the philosophies of liberalism so problematic for personal discipline.

The philosophy of liberalism teaches that humans are essentially always going to fail, that sin is practically interwoven into human nature. So far, the philosophy is mostly true. Where it goes off track, however, is with its lackadaisical approach to sin.

Sin is considered to be inevitable, therefore, why fight against it? It is at that moment that the liberal philosophy, with all its good intentions, becomes very weak.

The identity of the liberal scoffs at and accepts sin. The spirit and identity of the hardcore Christian should be one of hatred of sin. The spartan Christian at all times possesses an extreme distaste for evil and self-imposes a rigorous standard of behavior. The normal Christian lives this way as well but is less extreme.

One of the benefits of a hardcore outlook on Christianity is its clearly defined identity.

With a clearly defined identity, choices increase in clarity as well. The difference between right and wrong is not blurred as it is with the philosophy of liberalism.

The person who is a world-class athlete became that way because he/she had a firmly established identity of who they were. They then backed up this identity with belief and efficient action in the direction of their goals. With the identity in place, it becomes more difficult to skip a day of training than it is to train. It is more difficult to cheat on their diet than to stay on the path of discipline.

Because as enjoyable as it would be to skip training or eat poorly, it simply does not align with their identity or with their long-term goals. The powerful pull of human nature to be consistent with the identity will allow them to stay disciplined and choose to train and eat correctly day after day after day.

That is the power of the principle of identity.

With Christianity, you have a natural identity that you can use to direct your life. On top of that, you can leverage the innate human need to be consistent with the self in order to motivate proper behavior.

Hypocrisy is not a natural state for human beings. Unless we are truly evil and self-motivated, we want to be consistent with ourselves. When we discover that we are not consistent with ourselves, we either go into denial, make excuses and rationalize, or we change our behavior to match our identity.

But notice that even excuses and rationalizations are attempts by human beings to change the definition of their behaviors so that they can stay consistent with their identity. If they can rationalize the sin, then they are still consistent with their Christian identity, even if only in their minds.

The more difficult path is to change the individual behavior instead of rationalizing it – and changing it to match the clearly established and defined personal identity.

It is also critical to include the clear-cut identity of sin. When we refuse to call sin what it is, we give it power. Because then eventually we lose the ability to differentiate between sin and good behavior. This is playing out to the detriment of all mankind at all times.

When you do not know that you should not pick up and play with venomous snakes, you end up picking one up and having it bite you in the face. Not because the snake was not dangerous, to begin with, but because you did not know the difference between a venomous and a non-venomous snake.

Ignorance and lack of ability to clearly identity danger can result in disastrous results. The same applies to sin. The inability to recognize and call out sin results in serial sin. If you do not know it is wrong, then what is to stop you from participating in that evil?

With a clearly defined identity, you give yourself the power to know exactly what behaviors are beneficial and which ones are not.

Also, with a clearly defined definition of sin, you give yourself the presence of mind to recognize evil for what it is and avoid it. You elevate your perspective as a general elevates his vision over the battlefield. With his enhanced viewpoint, detachment, and emotional control, he can make the most rational decisions possible. He can take advantage of terrain and the various strengths and weaknesses of his units. Without the understanding of the identity of his men, the identity of the enemy general, and the identity of the terrain, his battle would be disastrous.

You must take advantage of the principle of human identity when it comes to your own life. If you have a Christian identity, you already have the answer to many questions. You have a written and recorded standard of behavior in the Bible. Enclosed in its pages are the ways that you must behave as a human being. You no longer have to engage in the mentally arduous process of discerning moral truth. You can do that if you want, but you have the answers laid out already.

I am not encouraging you to avoid thinking for yourself and making your own decisions.

But many times people are placed in a situation where they do not know what to do, they have to answer those questions in the heat of the moment. That is not the best time to try to understand the underlying moral laws of the Bible. At that point, you simply need rapid decision-making.

Are you going to have sex with that woman or not? You have to decide in seconds, there is no time for moral and philosophical debate.

Are you going to drink to the point of drunkenness or not?

Do you steal or not?

You can work out the fine details of moral law later. But the war is coming for you.

And you will not have time to think about all those things in your soft, plush robe while reading your watered-down version of the Bible in your climate-controlled home on your day off from your cushy job. You will have to answer those questions in the heat of battle, with your sword drawn and your teeth clenched. At that moment you will rely on the strength of an identity carved in stone.

Without that identity, you will not know how to act. Without knowing how to act you will fail. Having your identity clearly defined and understood can prevent this from ever happening.

It allows you to engage in binary decision-making. Just answer yes or no. Every moral decision can be boiled down to a yes or no question that is simple to answer if your identity is established. If that identity is not established, you will be unsure and wavering. The unsure warrior loses his footing and falls. Do not place yourself in that position.

Conduct yourselves like men.