Mindset | Perseverance | Individuals

“It does not take a majority to prevail, but rather, an irate, tireless minority keen to set brushfires of freedom in the minds of men.”
– Samuel Adams

Perseverance | Freedom

“It does not take a majority to prevail, but rather an irate tireless minority keen to set brushfires of Freedom in the minds of men.”
– Samuel Adams

Nature | Perseverance | Inspiration

Book Review: Talent Is Overrated – What Really Separates World-Class Performers From Everybody Else by Geoff Colvin

TheBreakaway | BreakawayConciousness
Zy Marquiez
April 14, 2017

Talent Is Overrated – What Really Separates World-Class Performers From Everybody Else by Geoff Colvin is a discerning book that aims to home in on the salient differences between the very top tiers of individuals in a variety of fields and the rest.  With a rather unorthodox approach, the author poses a new theory about why so many individuals are great,  and what got them there.

Colvin delves into why Ben Franklin, Tiger Woods, The Polgar Sisters, Jerry Rice, and many others rose to become the crème of the crop.  Gleaning from them, the author also shows how individuals can finetune their personal repertoire to gain insights and learn to practice in similar fashion.

In his quest for answers within abstruse subject, the author samples various disciplines in society in his effort to get to the bottom of what ‘talent’ really means given all the talk about it.

Colvin does an reasonable job of arguing the case for deliberate practice and other ideas.  Be that as it may, the book could have used some more scientific evidence or studies referenced just to bolster the argument and bring more fuel to the fire.

Irrespective of that, though, the matter talent might boil down to the individual and their inherent mental faculties and the beliefs they themselves hold.

As the author ponders in his own words:

“What do you believe?  Do you believe that you have a choice in the matter?  Do you believe that if you do the work, properly designed, with intense focus for hours a day and years on end, your performance will grow dramatically better and eventually reach the highest levels?  If you believe that, then there’s at least a chance you will do the work and achieve great performance.

“But if you believe that your performance is forever limited by your lack of a specific innate gift, or by a lack of general abilities at the level that you think must be necessary, then there’s no chance at all that you will do the work.

“That’s why this belief is tragically constraining.  Everyone who achieved exceptional performance has encountered terrible difficulties along the way.  There are no exceptions.  If you believe that doing the right kind of work can overcome the problems, then you have at least chance of moving on to ever better performance. “[1]

That’s what most people want, a chance, an opportunity.  And why wouldn’t that opportunity be there for the taking?  It’s merely a choice.

For those that might wonder if people are really born with talent,  Colvin elucidates:

“…a hundred years later, abundant evidence showed clearly that people can keep getting better long after they should have reached their “rigidly determinate” natural limits.  The examples were not just great writers, artists, business people, inventors, and other eminences producing their best work three or four decades into their careers.  By the late nineteenth century, scientific research was showing repeatedly that ordinary people in various lines of work could keep getting better even after their performance had apparently plateau.  Typists, telegraph operators, typesetters – highly experienced workers in all these jobs, whose performance hadn’t improved in years, suddenly got markedly better when they were offered incentives or given new kinds of training.  This evidence was obviously a big problem for the you’ve-got-it-or-you-don’t point of view.”[2]

Such data is actually quite refreshing, because it shows that this is not merely an issue of being born with talent.  On the flip side, it is also not as simple as merely working hard, because most people work hard.  The main takeaway is that as long as proper practice is designed and undertaken, progress and growth can be developed in countless professions.

Given all the data collated that shows how certain individuals became extraordinary, the information presented by the author is worth ruminating upon at length.  And seeing as Colvin also gave individuals a jump-off point, the book does hold a lot of significance one way or another.

If you wish to read a book that offers value, ideas to ruminate upon which might just change your life, and also want to know what separates the top tier from all the rest,  get this book.

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Sources:

[1] Geoff Colvin, Talent Is Overrated – What Really Separates World-Class Performers From Everybody Else, p. 205.
[2] Ibid., p. 63.
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This article is free and open source. You are encouraged and have permission to republish this article under a Creative Commons license with attribution to Zy Marquiez and TheBreakaway.wordpress.com.
___________________________________________________________
About The Author:

Zy Marquiez is an avid book reviewer, researcher, an open-minded skeptic, yogi, humanitarian, and freelance writer who studies and mirrors regularly subjects like Consciousness, Education, Creativity, The Individual, Ancient History & Ancient Civilizations, Forbidden Archaeology, Big Pharma, Alternative Health, Space, Geoengineering, Social Engineering, Propaganda, and much more.

His own personal blog is BreakawayConsciousnessBlog.wordpress.com where his personal work is shared, while TheBreakaway.wordpress.com serves as a media portal which mirrors vital information usually ignored by mainstream press, but still highly crucial to our individual understanding of various facets of the world.

Conformity Crisis: Curiosity Vs. Conformity

TheBreakaway | BreakawayConciousness
Zy Marquiez
April 11, 2017

“Human spirit is the ability to face the uncertainty of the future with curiosity and optimism.  It is the belief that problems can be solved, differences resolved.  It is a type of confidence.  And it is fragile.  It can be blackened by fear and superstition.”
– Bernard Beckett

“The first and simplest emotion which we discover in the human mind, is curiosity.”
– Edmund Burke

Children are the most inherently curious people on earth by far.  This is in their very nature, like breathing is to people.  Watching a youngling carry on and about, asking questions about everything in sight is a wondrous sight.  It matters not what lies in front of them, there is no mountain to high, or not valley to low.  They are capable, because their curiosity hasn’t been dampened by society.  In their nascent stages, a child’s imagination is boundless; this prompts children to see reality itself as boundless, which allows them live in a world of vibrant stories and endless journeys which have not been stultified.  In fact, they believe they are so capable they often get themselves in trouble, as we have come to know.

Because children are inherently curious, they act as little sages, they are like little philosophers.  Ironically, philosophy means the love of wisdom.  Children, by using their curiosity as a platform for understanding the world, are attempting to gain wisdom of reality and its inherent intricacies.   There is much to be learned about that.

From the full breadth and scope of human history, two of the best philosophers to learn from Socrates and Descartes.  The former is known as “the Father of Philosophy” and represents best classical philosophy; the latter is known as “the Father of Modern Philosophy” and represents best of modern philosophy.

What all children have in common with these two great minds is their ability to question.  Just like Socrates and Descartes employed the ability to question everything, so do children.  This is a great gift, because it yields many results in gaining knowledge of the world, and more importantly, of the self.

Unfortunately, later in life, children’s curiosity gets shoved brashly aside.  One could even go as far to say that curiosity is surgically removed from the individual’s repertoire and only a ghost of curiosity’s former self remains.  Whether by parents, public schooling, church, or any other way, children are asked to: [1] conform to standards imposed on them stifling their uniqueness and creativity, [2] to trust authority unquestioningly, and by trusting authority they are ‘taught’ [which in other vernacular is called indoctrinated] into [3] not questioning authority.  That triumvirate of nonsense [sn] leaves kids, like a ship with a busted rudder unable to sail in the sea, unable to be free in mind as they would be if they weren’t forced to conform.  Moreover, these children grow into adults that are incapable of questioning anything because they do not have the curiosity that’s the fuel for seeking truth and employing critical thinking.  We also know that critical thinking does not get taught in public schooling.

All of these above issues cause a great imbalance, because the individual forfeits their natural path that they would have originally followed had they not been stultified

While adults have a much harder time posing questions beyond superficial ones, if they even do so at all, children are vastly capable until their creativity is corralled.  Before the creative consciousness of individual gets sealed away in a vault, it’s important not to allow that ever to take place.   Curiosity needs to be fostered and cared for in continuous fashion.  It’s the inherent curiosity that children feature which the adult world lacks in droves.

Mortimer J. Adler & Charles Van Doren, in their quintessential How To Read A Book – The Classic Guide To Intelligent Reading, put it best:

The child is a natural questioner.  It is not the number of questions he asks but their character that distinguishes him from the adult.  Adults do not lose the curiosity that seems to be a native trait, but their curiosity deteriorates in quality.  They want to know whether something is so, not why.  But children’s questions are not limited to the sort that can be answered by an encyclopedia.[Bold Emphasis Added][1][Emphasis Added]

Adults, however, seem to lack this very type of curiosity, the boundless type.  Admittedly, adults are ‘curious’ about the weather, or about other superficial issues, but it’s not even close to the same magnitude.   Part of the reason is because as adults, we have been taught not to question and we have been indoctrinated to follow orders and always follow authority.  Trust authority is something that gets hammered in our youth, like nails.  This is why adults follow orders en mass in modern days, even though over a century ago this wasn’t always so.

What makes it worse is that when adults see other people ask questions and get reamed by for it, as if questioning authority is a deadly sin, the learn to retreat into a state of fear and conformity falling back into ‘official reality’ – the one in which you must not question.  Continuous conformity continues to tow the party line of via this mass societal engineering with nigh no end in sight.

Regardless of how people ended up losing curiosity and end up conforming, if an individual never leaves the confining, restrictive and stultifying part of the system, the individual will never be able to become an incisive, questioning, critical thinking individual.  And those who never arrive at their full potential will only living life at a fraction of their capabilities when compared to the full breadth and scope that is to be had if an individual is robust and self sufficient.

We should seek to go beyond the confines of conformity and be our own very inherent authentic selves.

The individual needs to be open-minded enough to see when someone is trying to put them in a box, and brave enough to stop those that seek to halt their conscious awareness of issues, no matter who it is.

Only through achieving unbounded awareness of what one is capable of are individuals to free themselves from the confines of conformity and reimplement the original constitution of curiosity they were endowed with.  Then, and only then, will individuals follow their inherent curiosities into new journeys, into a new life.

If individuals are to master themselves, if they are to be able to get in tune with their deepest self, they will need to be allowed to make their own mistakes – children and adults equally.  If individuals are not allowed the opportunity to make mistakes and go through obstacles opportunities for growth, they will never master themselves. 

The only way to breakaway into conscious creativity with curiosity is through the employment of imagination and ceaseless curiosity.

Via imagination, life becomes boundless – an ocean to be traveled upon.  Thereafter, the embers of curiosity are reignited, and the ideas start to take place, possibilities ensue – wonder begins .

From there, an inquiring individual can go through life, searching, willing, and able to journey on their path in search for life’s hidden treasures, venturing towards their personal mysteries.  Or they can remained stultified just as the system has made many become.

Curiosity or conformity.

Freedom, or societal subjugation.

The beauty of this conundrum is, it’s merely a choice.  One way or another, everyone always decides.

Every.  Single. Day.
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[1] Mortimer J. Adler & Charles Van Doren, How To Read A Book, p. 264.
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This article is free and open source. You are encouraged and have permission to republish this article under a Creative Commons license with attribution to Zy Marquiez and TheBreakaway.wordpress.com.
___________________________________________________________
About The Author:

Zy Marquiez is an avid book reviewer, researcher, an open-minded skeptic, yogi, humanitarian, and freelance writer who studies and mirrors regularly subjects like Consciousness, Education, Creativity, The Individual, Ancient History & Ancient Civilizations, Forbidden Archaeology, Big Pharma, Alternative Health, Space, Geoengineering, Social Engineering, Propaganda, and much more.

His own personal blog is BreakawayConsciousnessBlog.wordpress.com where his personal work is shared, while TheBreakaway.wordpress.com serves as a media portal which mirrors vital information usually ignored by mainstream press, but still highly crucial to our individual understanding of various facets of the world.

Obstacles | Strength

“I’ve never met a strong person with an easy past.”
– Atticus

The Trailblazer

TheBreakaway | BreakawayConciousness
Zy Marquiez
April 4, 2017

“The journey of a thousand miles begins with one step.”
– Lao Tzu

Amidst the backdrop of society, there is a bifurcation taking place in many forms, and for many reasons.  Division abounds in certain areas, and quite more trenchantly than ever before.  My contention for this division is that, in part, it’s being lead by an ignorance of many issues.  This ignorance stems from the deliberate dumbing down of society that’s been taking place for nigh a century.  People weren’t always so unaware, but that matters not in this instance.  The question is: if people ARE being dumbed down, and they certainly are as recent evidence suggests, what CAN a person do about it?  It’s a sage question, and there are many answers to that.

How one answers that above question depends on what type of individual a person is.  Regardless, though, the point is that there are options out there for individuals to educate themselves.  We have begun cataloging some of these on this very blog, and will continue to do so as long as the blog runs as a service to humanity and individuals who value education.

Either way, when moving forward through life, there comes a time where the individual reaches an obstacle on a road, such as the possible instance above.  The individual, upon arriving at the fork in the road, has two choices to make.  The individual may ponder each choice at length in order to find out what suits them.  But what if neither choice suits that individual?

Perhaps there’s another option.  Perhaps, the individual, upon arriving at the fork and the road will realize that there aren’t only two options, even though it seems there’s only two options.

People that live within the box, think within the box, and breathe within the box, will only ever be able to see two paths upon the fork on the road.  Incisive individuals will see additional possibilities.

The individual trailblazer will not merely restrict themselves to what others have done before, to merely walk paths paved before them.  The individual trailblazer will seek to blaze a trail – find new paths, create new paths.  Exploring life to the fullest, living outside of the box with no concept of a box is the essence of this individual.  And their creative consciousness is how they unleash this very essence.

Only a trailblazer can create a new path from what seems strewn in obstacles.  And only you can create something so unique nobody has ever done it before.

Perhaps you are on that very path because only you can walk it.

This idea is best encapsulated in the following statement by philosopher, writer, and essayist Ralph Waldo Emerson:

“Do not go where the path may lead, go instead where there is no path and leave a trail.”
– Ralph Waldo Emerson.

That statement is the very definition of the road less traveled, because nobody could have ever traveled it if you’re the first one blazing a trail.

Next time you arrive at a fork in the road, and there seems to be only two paths, ruminate deeply.  Are there only two paths?   Or is it only a mirage?

Perhaps, instead of turning right or turning left on the fork in the road, you notice that there is another possibility that you can create between both paths and you go straight.

Sometimes, what seems like an obstacle is merely a waypoint on your journey.  Don’t be afraid to test the waters, don’t be afraid to venture into the unknown.  The world today is what it is because of people who went beyond previously thought of limits and created nigh everything we know of today.

But to spawn resounding change we must make berth into the future, we must walk our own path.

Thought obstacles may be present, though the path may harbor darkness and you may be unable to see the path, make sure to keep your inner fire going, keep that torch going.  Don’t be afraid to use your very essence, your very goodness, your light, to cast a new road.

Always remember, a path paved in darkness can be followed by light, but a path paved in light cannot be followed by darkness.

Blaze a trail that shines forever and blazes into eternity.
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This article is free and open source. You are encouraged and have permission to republish this article under a Creative Commons license with attribution to Zy Marquiez and TheBreakaway.wordpress.com.
___________________________________________________________
About The Author:

Zy Marquiez is an avid book reviewer, researcher, an open-minded skeptic, yogi, humanitarian, and freelance writer who studies and mirrors regularly subjects like Consciousness, Education, Creativity, The Individual, Ancient History & Ancient Civilizations, Forbidden Archaeology, Big Pharma, Alternative Health, Space, Geoengineering, Social Engineering, Propaganda, and much more.

His own personal blog is BreakawayConsciousnessBlog.wordpress.com where his personal work is shared, while TheBreakaway.wordpress.com serves as a media portal which mirrors vital information usually ignored by mainstream press, but still highly crucial to our individual understanding of various facets of the world.

Book Review: Everyday Tao – Living With Balance & Harmony by Deng Min-Dao

TheBreakaway
Zy Marquiez
March 19, 2017

Eastern philosophy is a rather intricate subject that has many different viewpoints.  This particular book couples well into that philosophy.

Everyday Tao – Living With Balance & Harmony by Deng Min-Dao is a very insightful book.

Split up into 15 different sections, Everyday Tao covers a variety of ways into which individuals are able to get in tune with the Tao.  The 15 sections are: nature, silence, books, strategy, movement, skill, craft, conduct, moderation, devotion, perseverance, teaching, self, simplifying and union.

Using Chinese ideograms, which contain inherent stories therein, the author brings about much meaning showing the reader what each ideogram breaks into and what insights can be had.

The way the book is set up, each individual insight covering no more than a page, makes this the type of book that can be read straight through, or on a day-by-day basis.  For me, the latter offered much enjoyment and meaning because I was able to digest and discern much of what the book provided and ponder it deeply therein without rushing.

Through and through, the book offers a no-nonsense approach into Taoist insights.  As someone who’s relatively new to Eastern Philosophy and am open minded about it, there was much to appreciate, regardless if one is locked within a particular paradigm or not.  This volume offers much value, and if you’re seeking more to read on Tao or Eastern Philosophy, do not hesitate – get this book.

Consciously Creating The Road Of Change, The Road Of Tomorrow

TheBreakaway | BreakawayConciousness
Zy Marquiez
March 15, 2017

“I never see what has been done; I only see what remains to be done.”
– Buddha

Change is ever-present in our society.

Everywhere we look, in every realm we glance at, in every discipline we gaze into, there is a salient stream of change taking place.

Change is inherent to being part of a living system, that of nature – it is the rollercoaster upon which our life rides from beginning to end.

Throughout history we have examples of conscious individuals that have spawned ceaseless change through their individual actions and creative potential.  One of these individuals was Martin Luther King Jr.

Many people are quite familiar with King’s ‘I have a dream’ passage, and rightly so.  The  thoughts he expressed via that remark spawned wildfires that still burn to this day.

Another salient quote of his was:

“Life’s most persistent and urgent question is, ‘What are you doing for others?’”

In a world where many people want change, where many people expect change from elsewhere , where many people demand change from outside avenues, it would be wise to take King’s words to heart.

Can we help other people with some health issues?  Can we help individuals with any particular setback they may run into?  Can we seek to make ameliorate the pain someone else might be feeling due to some troubling issue?  The question echoes endlessly:  What can we do for others?

Speaking of others, there is a certain section of the populace who seem to think that the only meaningful change that ever can happen must come from the outside – from others [i.e. politicians].  Ironically, the very change that can help us and help others is by putting our very consciousness and creativity into action.

Understanding that it is the individual who holds the power is emblematic to knowing that it is the light that shuns the darkness.  The one holding the most power in your life is you.  In each of our lives, it is us – the individual – who holds the aces in the deck.  However, we’ve been taught from youth to become dependent on others.

Need to learn about health?  Seek doctors.  Need to learn about spirituality?  Seek religion  Need to learn about schooling?  Seek schools.  Etc, etc, etc.  Rinse and repeat, endlessly.  We are taught to seek answers from elsewhere, never from ourselves.  Rarely will individuals here it is they who are the power players in their own game of life.  Rarely will we hear as individuals that it is us who are capable of creating our own solutions for ourselves, that is is us who can pave or own path.  But that is the truth.

Each and every one of us has power to attain understanding of countless issues, and its a lot simpler than most think, although it does take some work.  Perhaps modern life with endless conveniences and nigh everything at hand has made most of us lazy, and we have all gotten soft – when compared to our ancestors – when it comes to self sufficiency, but the fact remains that knowledge and awareness for us, and for other individuals remains at arms reach, ready to be had.  All we need to do is grab hold of it and bring it closer to us.  Awareness of what’s possible for all individuals is key.

Helping others attain an awareness of what’s working against them in life is an idea that’s become a catalyst in my life for quite some time.  This is because the burgeoning issues we are facing physically, mentally, psychologically, and so on are only getting more pressing by the day, and it’s imperative for cognizant individuals to come to terms with it, because they stand to get run over by the very system they work for, the very system that harvests their every branch of life.

Being keenly aware of the dastardly clever comptrollers that work behind the scenes and their modalities is but a start.  Be it incessant propaganda with the mainstream media, an onslaught of social engineering in its many forms, or a veritable storm of mind control, the scale at which we are facing troublesome issues is compounding quite rapidly.

Be that as it may, attaining individual self empowerment through proactive, responsible action is the gateway to our solutions.

By each of us employing conscious creativity and our unending inherent potential, we will finally be able to detach from the system-imposed paradigm we are brought into and reach more mindful pastures.

Therein, as we begin [or continue] to transition from a reactive and stagnant state, to a proactive and conscious state, those meddlesome issues that have plagued us will begin to melt away like snow in the dessert.

Always remember, the impetus for change begins with you, with your deeper consciousness.

Ponder a bit, what would Martin Luther King Jr. have accomplished if he chose to stay stagnant over the pressing issues that he faced?  The course of history would be far, far different.  Thankfully, that potentiality went by the wayside.

Ponder about what drives you; fight for what you believe in.  Don’t wait for issues to arrive at your doorstep before taking action because it will be too late.

Let’s quit falling into the whirlpool of twisted lies that are becoming more and more obvious every day.

Only through conscious action will we be able to reach the potential/goals that we each as an individual inherently has.

Keep searching.

Keep growing.

Keep learning.

Keep planting seeds.

Realizing how much we are capable of as individuals is far more important than anything else, and to be inactive when our own life needs us the most is the pull the plug on our own tomorrow.

Enjoy life – your gift – and make it count.

Become emboldened by your creative potential and let it take you into tomorrow.

After all, if you put your mind to it your creative potential cannot be thwarted.
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This article is free and open source. You have permission to republish this article under a Creative Commons license with attribution to Zy Marquiez and TheBreakaway.wordpress.com.

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About The Author:

Zy Marquiez is an avid book reviewer, researcher, an open-minded skeptic, yogi, humanitarian, and freelance writer who studies regularly subjects like Consciousness, Education, Creativity, The Individual, Ancient History & Ancient Civilizations, Forbidden Archaeology, Big Pharma, Alternative Health, Space, Geoengineering, Social Engineering, Propaganda, and much more.

His own personal blog is BreakawayConsciousnessBlog.wordpress.com where his personal work is shared, while TheBreakaway.wordpress.com serves as a media portal which mirrors vital information usually ignored by mainstream press, but still highly crucial to our individual understanding of various facets of the world.

300 Word Memories #2 – Perseverance

TheBreakaway
Zy Marquiez
February 27, 2017

“We acquire strength we have overcome.”
– Ralph Waldo Emerson

“People who say it cannot be done should not interrupt those who are doing it.”
– George Bernard Shaw

It seems that no matter where one ventures in life, no matter where one attempt to make berth, there’s always going to be obstacles in the way.  Sometimes, these obstacles can be overcome with perseverance and determination.  Other times, it is not so simple.

Whether it is family, work, business, school, relationships, it seems that each of these areas always has something to offer for growth that keeps us on our toes, although many times we might not see it, or even want to come to terms with it.

Living in a society in which governments overlook freedoms, schools overlook education, businesses overlook quality, the medical establishment overlooks health, religion overlooks morality, it’s no wonder many people disappointed with what life has to offer.  In great part, people’s point of views and virtues are literally molded, from the ground up in clay-like fashion, by these very institutions.

Regarding this disturbing trend, regarding those pulling the strings, Edward Bernays, the father of public relations, once had this today, which he shared in his book Propaganda [review here]:

“The conscious and intelligent manipulation of the organized habits and opinions of the masses is an important element in democratic society. Those who manipulate this unseen mechanism of society constitute an invisible government which is the true ruling power of our country. …We are governed, our minds are molded, our tastes formed, our ideas suggested, largely by men we have never heard of…In almost every act of our daily lives, whether in the sphere of politics or business, in our social conduct or our ethical thinking, we are dominated by the relatively small number of persons…who understand the mental processes and social patterns of the masses. It is they who pull the wires which control the public mind.”[1][Bold Emphasis Added]

Such truly is the state of the world, and has been for nigh a century.

If the groups socially engineering these changes were not morally bankrupt, then many significant issues would be a lot simpler and perhaps better.  On the flip side, though, one could also argue that there would be less to learn as a society, and as individuals, if these obstacles opportunities were not available.  Of course, this is not to give silence to evil acts nor to justify them.  This is simply to point out that from every obstacle, there is something to be learned, and we usually learn the most when we are put to the test in keen fashion.

There are times that no matter what we do, it seems like the storm is coming, and we will be in its path, no matter what we do.  When that time comes, we need to be resolute in our character, and realize that facing obstacles, no matter how tough it may seem at the time, will always yield a more robust individual repertoire.

Only by weathering the storm do each of us as individuals end up being forged by the fire, like a sword that is cast ironclad, but in our case, we are cast in the profound lessons of life.

Only by being aware of the door opening, may we find a new path.

And only by walking through the fire will we know that we are immune to the flames.

Stay strong, because you are forged by the very thing that the Universe is made of.  And since we are each a reflections of the Universe, as the Universe is boundless, so is our resolve.

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Sources & References:

[1] Edward Bernays, Propaganda, pp. 37-38.
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This article is free and open source. You have permission to republish this article under a Creative Commons license with attribution to Zy Marquiez and TheBreakaway.wordpress.com.