I had to laugh, that sense of humour again…none of us are intelligent enough.
I dont usually do this because its not important to me to toot my own horn but here we go …
I have 2 university degrees, from real universities where I lived on campus, attended classes in lecture halls and studios over a period of years in 3 different cities. One of them is from the most prestigious and difficult schools to attend, and my roommate was from a powerful diplomat family.
I also have graduated from a Therapist Training Institute which required 3 years of my life, 50 hours of therapy in real time with a living breathing therapist, 100’s of hours in process groups, rigorous and involved testing and supervision with volunteer clients…
and I practice what I’ve learned over all those years,
every single work day
with the real live at-risk teens.
None of my diplomas were “bought”, all of them were earned with blood, sweat and tears, and guess what? I dont have any of them framed and hanging anywhere to impress. I also am not pompous enough to put any initials behind my name. I think its the down and dirty, in the trenches work I do with teens that keeps me humble enough to not be impressed by what degress I have, or you bought…but by what I DO, and what the people who work next to me and care about kids DO.
It matters very little what one says…seriously…Plato was fucking brilliant, but he doesnt put food on people’s tables or convince kids to get into detox or rehab…
it matters what people DO.
It matters what YOU do.
I saw an interview with Bono recently. I really have always liked U2’s music but I wouldnt have considered them heros. Bono said that after having made more money than any man could spend in a lifetime, and having felt and seen the adoration of so many people for his creative work, he asked himself what life was for. And the answer he came up with? It had nothing to do with money or fame. It had to do with reading Dalai Lama, Mother Theresa…it had to do with “becoming the best man he could be”. And that meant doing everything he could to make this world better, it meant getting involved to make a positive change, it meant really listening to people, touching them with his hands, making contact with his eyes, letting them know he 'sees" them…the opposite of narcissism.
Which blows me away. Only because you’d think someone who is filthy rich and adored by thousands would need to maintain that to keep from feeling a sense of loss of self. But its the opposite for him.
Its what a man DOES, what he BUILDS, how he uses his physical or intellectual or spiritual strength to help people, the people he loves, his neighbours, his community…its how he demonstrates his worth through ACTION that makes a man.
Its never measured by how small he can make people who are suffering feel.
…it never is that…
I invite you to impress us with action that makes this world a little bit better, and give up this other…immature, wasteful stuff.
Its time.
And just block out and do not let sv pollute your thoughts… brush it off and like DD said, it is good practice!