An Excellent Wknd [25.24]
Lessons from Little League & 3 thoughts from Anthony De Mello
Hello, hi, 👋
I’ve spent 349 hours (give or take fifteen minutes) watching my two boys play baseball this week. Want to know what I’ve noticed?
I’ve not seen one kid criticize a teammate for making a mistake - for letting the ball go through their legs, for missing a pitch, for getting tagged out at the plate. (Frustration, sure; blame, none.)
But it’s nearly all I hear parents grumbling about on the sidelines, between bouts of tight-fisted anxiety that their kid might mess up (thereby, apparently, forever dishonoring the family name).
These kids are, objectively, quite bad at baseball. But they are, without question, wonderful at having fun & brushing off failure.
It’s one of ten thousand reminders that we hand over the keys to our peace of mind too easily, too frequently, & for no good reason.
Let's get into it.
🗓️ THIS WEEK
Why This NOBULL Co-Founder Chooses to Do Hard Things (And You Should Too)
Exploring the transformative power of intentionally choosing hard challenges to build discipline & character, with Marcus Wilson.
The Daily Chase
Brief, focused essays delivered each weekday to Chase Club members. (🔓 indicates the post is free for the weekend.)
Tuesday: The Myth of Going It Alone (🔓)
Wednesday: The Weight of Judgment
Thursday: Frameworks Simplify Complexity
Friday: The Power of Real Connection
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🤔 3 THOUGHTS
Three ideas I came across recently that made me slow down - this week, all from Anthony De Mello, whose books I’m currently devouring.
You want to hope for something better than what you have right now, don’t you? Otherwise you wouldn’t be hoping. But then, you forget that you have it all right now anyway, and you don’t know it. Why not concentrate on the now instead of hoping for better times in the future? Why not understand the now instead of forgetting it and hoping for the future? Isn’t the future just another trap?
from Awareness: Conversations with the Masters
Something has upset you. Did you hear that expression? Something has upset you. That’s the way the English language is. That’s the way all languages are. “Something upset me.” Nothing upset you. The accurate way to speak would be, “I upset myself on the occasion of something.” But who speaks like that? You say, “You upset me.” No. “Your behavior caused me to get upset.” We hate that, don’t we? We love to make the world responsible, or people responsible, or life responsible, or God responsible: “You did it.” Not the upset.
from Rediscovering Life: Awaken to Reality
There is only one cause of unhappiness: the false beliefs you have in your head, beliefs so widespread, so commonly held, that it never occurs to you to question them. Because of these false beliefs you see the world and yourself in a distorted way. Your programming is so strong and the pressure of society so intense that you are literally trapped into perceiving the world in this distorted kind of way. There is no way out, because you do not even have a suspicion that your perception is distorted, your thinking is wrong, and your beliefs are false.
from The Way to Love: Meditations for Life
On Tuesday, Ben & I are answering a listener’s question about Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, & what to do when you find yourself at one level when everyone else is pursuing another.
Until then, keep chasing.
🤙 Patrick