Rise or Fall? - Grasshopper

It’s just an opinion, but I truly believe it’s easier to go down to the level of another than to rise up to an ideal.

I’m reminded of the quote attributed to both Benjamin Franklin and Roman philosopher Seneca: “He that lieth down with dogs shall rise up with fleas.”

 

I just watched the classic movie “As Good As It Gets” with Jack Nicholson and Helen Hunt, and in one scene Nicholson says to her, “You make me want to be a better man.” That’s rising up.

 

Going down has the same building blocks: emulating the expectations, attitudes and actions of others who don’t make the effort to rise up.

 

Let me quote the proverb: “Birds of a feather flock together.” Again, that cuts both ways; it depends on who you surround yourself with as to whether you rise or fall.

 

Falling down is easier than getting up. It’s gravity at work.

 

I can piss and moan with the best of them, but if I surround myself with P&Ms (pissers and moaners), I won’t have an exemplary target to aim for.

 

Here’s a clue that you’re stuck in glue: You complain all the time. That activity keeps you focused on down vs. up.

 

“What if” is a magic phrase that gives you a glimpse of a higher level. “What if” gives you something to aim for, rather than the resignation that goes along with belonging to a caste system of your own making.

 

What if you aimed higher? My guess is you would be flying with a different flock and you wouldn’t have to keep flea dip in stock.

 

All the best,

John