Month: September 2021

The Messiah has come – and she has left the building

Photo by Jim Sung on Unsplash

Naomi Osaka lost to the Canadian teenager Leylah Fernandez in the 3rd round of the US Open tennis tournament 2 days ago.

It’s New York. It’s the end of summer. It’s a major. They all combine to make for gripping atmosphere at an epic event. This year is providing some great tennis and exciting storylines. Teenagers are knocking out seeded players on a daily basis. For example Carlos Alacraz of Spain handed Stefanos Tsitsipas an early exit. With Federer, Nadal and Thiem not playing, #3 seedTsitsipas no doubt saw himself in the semi finals at the least. Not anymore.

Fernandez frustrated Osaka to the point of getting a warning for throwing her racket 3 times.

By nature Osaka prefers not to be the centre of attention but her outstanding play puts her in the limelight.

Actually she has an aversion to attention, social anxiety. It is proving to be more powerful than her ability to focus on successful professional tennis and everything that brings. Specifically the media spotlight. That spotlight , thanks to non stop social media, is as pervasive as it is superficial.

Is it because of the attention? Or the lack of privacy? Or not winning sometimes? Or parenting?

Does it matter?

Naomi Osaka has a life. We are not invited. She has a career like you and me. Her career requires post match interviews which in her case are stress inducing. She makes fabulous money. I’d love that money. But the impact of her professional life on her personal life appears to be too much. This spillover of the professional life onto the personal life happens to millions of people a year. So it is probably happening to someone, somewhere right now. And again now.

Naomi Osaka is not the answer to our dreams. We are the answer. Let her go.

I love seeing the thrilling underdogs, the awesome performances, the inspiring comebacks just like anyone else.

The more we live our dreams and goals the less we put our lack of self realization onto others. Be they our spouse, children, or some random athlete.

Put down the phone. Get out there. Reveal the new you. Make new friends. Breathe. Forgive. Focus.

The New You Series – Advice – Guidance and Wisdom

There is a well known adage that perhaps was coined by Confucoius or is alluded to in the Bible.  Either way it goes like this:

‘Give a man a fish and he eats for a day. Teach a man to fish and he eats for a lifetime.’

It would appear to hold true. This is very much the Rich Dad/Poor Dad juxtaposition.

Perhaps, in hindsight, there is a line missing:

Forget to demand respect for the planet from the man and he will destroy fish stocks and end up giving his children farmed fish full of chemicals. 

Let’s look at the adage through the lens of: Advice, Guidance and Wisdom.

At the level of advice is ‘give a man a fish’

At the level of guidance is ‘teach him to fish’

At the level of wisdom is ‘demand respect, from yourself and others, on behalf of the planet’  

Photo by Priscilla Du Preez on Unsplash

Advice

Is for guys

Application is to work life, guy life, ego buoyancy, for not looking stupid, to the now

Forms of Advice – tips, sayings, phrases, guyisms, answers, encouragement

Advice provides timely ideas for someone to make decisions to get results.

Advice for any person, at any age in any stage in life.  It is useful to daily life and can stand the test of time. 

Provenance – brain

Relevance – bridging the moment with what you want

Photo by Anaya Katlego on Unsplash


Guidance 

Guidance is for men.

Application – Guidance is a resource for learning to deal with fear, for growing awareness, for understanding others, for facing the future.

Forms of Guidance – story, map, the legend on a map, questions, challenges

Guidance hints at the man you become if you listen to it and let it impact your life

Provenance – heart

Relevance – love, the need to love and be loved

Photo by JD Mason on Unsplash

Wisdom

Is for The New You,

Application is for participation in service to something bigger than you, curiosity and reflection

Forms of Wisdom – crystalized, dense yet light in its transmission, mysterious and confusing and settling

Wisdom is the language of the instinct talking about finding meaning and integrating it into life

Provenance – soul

Relevance – magnetizing to the truth and electrifying to action

—

Practice all 3 (Advice – Guidance – Wisdom): Know the difference so advice doesn’t get passed off as guidance; and wisdom doesn’t get reduced to guidance.

Demand advice from your peers, guidance from your parents and wisdom from your elders.