Tetris is like Life and Life is like Tetris

Dear Circle, 

I am assuming you are all familiar with a very popular game of Tetris.  I have played it as a child and recently have gone back to it as a part of my train-the-brain exercises.  What I have found make me appreciate the game much more...

We often wonder how to live our lives and sometimes feel like things are being thrown at us way too fast.  The "problems" just keep coming and coming and we feel overwhelmed.  However with Tetris and with life you start to excel only then, when you realize that every forethcoming block is there to assist you.  Tetris is designed to help you get the wanted result.  No matter what you do and how wrong you fit the pieces Tetris is there with upcoming blocks to get you out of the situation.  You just have to understand how it is helping you and instead of panicking - thank it for its assistance and make it work.

Tetris is a wonderful metaphor for the life itself.  Experiences we bring on are there to help us and instead of rejecting them we need to realize the significance of the "blocks" and deal with them.  Life is designed in much the same way as the game is and once you give up the struggle with each individual piece you can succeed.   

Taking things personal...

Dear Circle,

During a meditation class today our instructor mentioned in passing people taking things personally and a flashbulb went on for me.  The reason we take things personally is because we have a very low understanding of who we are.  If we understood who we truly are we wouldn't take things others say to be true.  For instance, if someone calls you an "Idiot"....if you know yourself well (and hopefully don't think of yourself as an idiot) you wouldn't pay attention to that because it doesn't matter what others say, you know the truth.  If you don't know yourself you will get offended because you will think ...well He thinks I am an Idiot I need to prove I am not or worst of all you will think that perhaps he knows you better then you do and maybe you are an Idiot so you take it personally.  I realize this is simplistic but it leads to the same point - get to know yourself and you won't take things so personal!

Competition is the answer???

Dear Circle,

As my wife and I were driving yesterday she asked me a question...As I look at people, she said, I see them trying to do what is best for their children, spend time teaching them, driving them around, working hard in order for them to live better...We are all fundamentally good at heart, why don't we get along better? To which I responded with an answer I didn't expect. I said it and then thought about it after I said it, it was a bit odd, kind of like the saying that I don't know what I think until I say it.

My answer was - The reason why we don't get along is competition. Let's look at schools and see what is the main theme of our education starting very early in our lifetimes...one must compete. We are being graded for everything...praised for being the best and punished for doing poorly. We are judged on everything, the homes we live in, cars we drive, clothes we wear, music we listen to, friends we have, etc, etc, etc. Then we turn on the TV and see that reinforced - athletes, celebrities, lawyers, doctors, White Color, Blue Color...we are being programed that in order for us to have the things we need we must "be the best" even if that means others suffer. And then we are surprised at all the people behaving negatively towards each other. We think of others as competition not as one of us. That underlying thought form permeates our whole life. Even in marriage when we are supposed to be thinking of each other as ONE we compete (one of the reasons I suppose why divorce rate is so high).

Please understand me correctly. I am not against all competition. I love sports and I want to compete. However, we fail to realize that the drive we so long for shouldn't come from incentives of a grade or money, it should come from deep yearning to learn and experience from within. Only then we will truly drive ourselves to become better not inspite of others but with them....and maybe make this world a better place to live for all.

Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde theory at play in our Economy...

Dear circle, I realize that my blogs lately have been political in nature and for that I ask you forgiveness.  However, since politics and human structure are innevitably linked it is rather interesting to analyze. For instance, the idea of top-down economics or trickle-down economics is fascinating to me. It presumes that by giving money to the wealthy we will enrich the poor since the wealthy will invest their earnings in businesses that lead to jobs, etc. To me this is the same fundamental issue of Dr.Jekyll and Mr.Hyde. Trickle down economics assumes everyone to be Dr.Jekyll but just like the book we keep proving ourselves wrong. Just like Communism that assumes that everyone will be kind to one another so does this idea within Capitalism. Even though it is not dealing with emotion but rather the drive of individuals to make money and for that they need others that will eventually benefit, I think it is flawed. A quick example, who will ensure the police and the teachers will make decent money? I don't think those who are wealthy will care to provide good education and protection for all, they would hire for themselves. Such is the idea of laissez fair.
And that leads me to spirituality and realization that again we as society are very immature and are only concerned with the good of the individual and not all individuals. Politics and the antics we see on TV are just another indication.