Laughter in surprising places

I received this link in an email from the Friends of His Holiness the Dalai Lama in Australia. HH the Dalai Lama is teaching a number of programs in Sydney, Melbourne and Hobart in early December 2009. This clip is delightful and I just wanted to share it.

Enjoy the laughter and click here.

Want a laugh?

Found this fun cartoon slideshow on Matthew Handy's website. He's a mathematician with a sense of humour.

If you are having trouble seeing the whole cartoon, hover your cursor over the bottom right corner of the slideshow box and select the option to view the cartoons on "full screen", then just hit "Esc" to return to normal screen view.

Find more photos like this on dotmaths

Respect and Empowerment

Just wondering -

If we gave others the respect we crave and allowed them to feel empowered the way we would want would we all get along better - ALL the time?

It seems that anger, frustration and feelings of lack of significance (whether real or imagined) make us react in ways that may not be in our best interests and leads to arguments, discord and distrust. This might be a bit simplistic but I think it is part of the picture of stress in our lives.

We need to be responsible for our actions and reactions, and our feelings as well.

In some ways, it is all about us, but as everything and everyone is linked, it is all about it all.

Assumptions say more about us

What assumptions do you take into every thought and conversation you have?

I recently read Dr Irene Pepperberg's wonderful book "Alex & Me" about her 30+ year working relationship with an African Grey Parrot, Alex.

Through her work, and in her book Dr Pepperberg considers the acquisition of language in non-primate animals, the nature of intelligence as well as our attitudes and prejudice relating to our place in the animal hierarchy. She wrote that other scientists did not believe her work, nor did they take it seriously and she was attacked for her conclusions from a number of areas. This might be based on a scientific rigour, our reluctance to think outside the box, an unwillingness to question previously held beliefs, or a notion that humans have the only worthwhile definitions and standards to which all life should aspire. It was hard for many people to accept that something with a brain the size of a walnut could understand maths concepts, word formation etc.

Are you secure enough in your beliefs to be open-minded? Many other birds display some intelligence.

Facing Challenges

We face challenges in our lives virtually all the time.

We each have our own ways of dealing with each challenge. Sometimes we take them head on, charging like a bull at a gate. Other times we take time to let things settle - to see what is truly going on and give a considered response. Our actions can be based on our courage and resilience at the time, and our understanding of the situation.

Whatever it is that we do, we need to be flexible - ready to take a stand if necessary, but ready to give the other points of view due regard. Our approach might be different based on with whom we are dealing (whether they are part of our business or personal lives) and the potential impact and consequence of our actions and the situation we are facing.

Often there is no "right" or "wrong" way - there is just the way we have done something - and we might need to be ready to respond to what comes next. Being fixed in our attitudes and responses can be costly and limit our options for resolution.