A man once contacted a large number of celebrities, sportsmen, stars and famous people. “How do you achieve success in life?” he asked them, and then later collated their responses into a book. Charles J. Acquisto’s Wisdom to Grow On basically boils down to:
- Continuously grow and educate yourself by reading and listening.
- Actively engage with life by persevering or striving.
- Focus on small steps in your day-to-day living—use time wisely, in other words.
- Work on maintaining harmonious relationships through love and honesty.
- Work towards a greater good in the form of a religion, cause, dream or personal goal.
- Stay happy by maintaining a positive attitude.
- Accept everything that comes your way, and don’t take yourself too seriously.
- Be the change that you would like to see.
Most of this advice is what you’d expect. None of it particularly moved my earth, but there was nothing that you’d argue with.
The strongest message that came through, though, was the exhortation to be true to your self. ‘Live authentically’ spelled out letter after letter. Only then, the respondents insisted, will a person be serene. Only then, as Anne Wilson Schaef puts it, will you be “in tune with your own inner guidance, awareness, integrity, spirituality and morality”. It’s good to demonstrate who one is by doing what one loves and is drawn to. ‘Dare to be different. Dare to be your deeper self.’
I find it ironical that people need to be told to be themselves. Sea anemones don’t. Salmon don’t. Even our pets need little instruction. It just goes to show how thoroughly our behavior and thinking is pervaded from without. On the one hand we live in an age of information, but on the other there’s obviously a clear and present need for us to learn how to ignore most of it.
1. What happens when we die?
2. Is there an afterlife?
3. Does my pet have a soul?
4. Are all religions on the right track, one of them, or none?
5. Is there a god (we can depend on)?
6. If so, what is our relation to He, She or It?
7. Is there a purpose in life, or are we free to eat, drink and make merry?
8. Are we more responsible to ourselves, or to others?
9. Do we possess free will?
10. Are we governed by destiny?
11. Does a law of karma operate?
12. Does reincarnation occur?
13. Is transmigration possible?
14. Is there a guru who knows what it’s all about?
15. What do I do to get enlightened?
16. Good and evil—which is which, and why?
17. Do heaven and/or hell exist?
18. Do souls need ‘saving’?
19. Is sinning a worry?
20. Are people punished for doing wrong, and rewarded for doing right?
21. Is it wrong to kill (for food)?
22. Why is a wicked world tolerated by a higher power?
23. What makes something alive or dead?
24. What is the meaning of existence?
25. Déjà vu consists of what?
26. What does it mean to be ‘spiritual’?
27. Does logic lead us anywhere useful?
28. What is our role/mission/duty?
29. What is reality?
30. Soul, mind and body—how do they operate?
31. Is sex okay for purposes other than procreation?
32. Is there merit in abstaining from alcohol, drugs, meat and tobacco?
33. What is the nature of consciousness?
34. Where do other life forms fit into the picture?
35. What is the nature of time, space and infinity?
36. What does being at the centre of the universe tell me?
37. Why aren’t other people much bothered by questions like these?
38. Where precisely in my body is ‘home base’?
39. Where do I go when I sleep?
40. Am I the same person that was as a child?
41. What are memories?
42. What are dreams?
43. If I achieve self-actualization, what next?
44. To strive for enlightenment—is that the ultimate goal?
45. How does one achieve perfect happiness?
46. Is love the pinnacle of what it means to be human?
47. What do I do when I have a different opinion from the consensus?
48. How can I be both ordinary and uniquely special (I feel that I’m both)?
49. I feel separate from, yet connected to others—which is it?
50. Is their a ranking or importance of species?
51. Is it okay to regard our family and friends as more important than others?
52. Where do I fit into history?
53. How do I reconcile my worldview with that of others?
54. Do I live according to ‘standard’ practice, or do I go my own way?
55. To hold some belief—is that warranted?
56. If there’s only one answer, doesn’t that make everyone else wrong?
57. Are artificial intelligence and the singularity on the agenda for the future?
58. Is there life on other planets?
59. Are there parallel universes?
60. Is time travel possible?
61. When and where are the beginning and the end of time?
62. Was there a Big Bang?
63. Does Einstein’s god play dice?
64. Should we be concerned about aliens, UFOs and terrorists?
65. How do we stop wars once and for all?
66. Is human nature an insoluble problem?
67. How can we stem nationalism/tribalism?
68. Is it meritorious to sacrifice your life to save another?
69. What would bring about spontaneous global co-operation?
70. What would bring about a global mind shift?
71. What would render all previously wrong thinking obsolete?
72. Does the meme of ‘progress’ work for us?
73. What is the cure for greed?
74. How can fear and worry be nullified?
75. How may negative emotions such a jealousy, envy and enmity be avoided?
76. What is the crux of the mind-over-matter conundrum?
77. What stops people applying the golden rule?
78. What knowledge would empower us never ever again to panic?
79. Should we live in the present, the past, or concentrate on the future?
80. Are some people ‘higher’ than others?
1. The Doors is/are my favorite group
2. Eggplant is my favorite vegetable
3. I resumed stamp collecting after a hiatus of four decades
4. I find public speaking easy
5. I fall asleep within minutes
6. I score highly on I.Q. tests (whatever that implies)
7. I've completed several walks of over 1000 km . . . barefoot
8. I’ve trekked in the Himalayas
9. I didn’t speak English until I started school
10. I’ve travelled by ship through both the Panama and Suez canals
11. My first child is 23 years older than the youngest
12. I have a B.Sc. in Biochemistry
13. I can’t use urinals
14. I spent more than 8 years on a book that was never published
15. I’ve written over 5000 haiku over a ten-year span
16. I’ve lived and worked in India and Japan
17. I was vegetarian for 25 years
18. I learned to meditate at age 15
19. I took piano lessons for 5 years, passing every exam, but one, with honors
20. I suspect that I’ve high-level functioning Asperger’s syndrome
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| Not me |
21. I can almost ride a unicycle
22. I’ve lost track of the number of marathons I’ve run
23. I’m happily married for the second time
24. I've cycled comfortably on snow and ice
25. I don’t watch TV
26. I rarely drink, and have never been drunk
27. I’ve never done any drug
28. My gall bladder, along with 14 stones, was removed
29. I have read aloud the entire The Lord of the Rings
30. I was born at midnight but don’t know the date of my birth or zodiac sign
31. I once walked 150 kilometres in 35 hours
32. I only got my car driver’s license at the age of 28
33. I have appeared on two TV game shows
34. I relate to Kwai Chang Caine more than I do David Carradine
35. As a teenager I was really into Surrealism, Op Art and Dada
36. I have memories from when I was a baby (cribs, nappies, bath-time)
37. One of my great-grandmothers lived to be 100
38. My first favorite movies were Papillion and 2001: A Space Odyssey
39. I use the bathroom several times during the night
40. I use earplugs whenever it’s too noisy
41. I can read whilst walking
42. The first cuisine I ever mastered was Indian
43. I spent a week travelling across the USA by bus
44. In my fifties, I weigh what I did when I was 17
45. I remember when The Beatles broke up
46. I remember Robert Kennedy being shot, but not his brother
47. I can’t abide gardening
48. I hated how my face changed when I turned 16
49. Heinlein’s The Door into Summer was the first book I stayed up all night to read
50. Our family first got television to see the moon landing
51. I am 16 years older than my wife, but we feel the same age
52. I still hope to set a personal best for the marathon
53. I tend to wear the same comfortable clothes
54. When I began cycle-touring, traffic wasn’t yet a problem
55. I could walk at the age of 10 months
56. I’m still in the process of figuring myself out
57. I have never bought bottled water
58. I am most content in my own company
59. My fingernails are thin, round and flat
60. I have the hairiest legs of anyone I know
61. I don’t put salt on my meal
62. Too much sugar makes me sneeze
63. I hate to lose at chess . . . but also to win
64. I’m not attracted to Western women
65. I can’t imagine being homosexual (though am not homophobic)
66. After Muhammad Ali retired, so did I (from watching boxing)
67. I own thousands of books
68. I knew it was true the instant that I learned about Peak Oil
69. I feel at home in Japan
70. I could eat bibimbap every night
71. I'm the only one in my family never to have smoked
72. I never use an alarm clock
73. I have gone for more than a year without toilet paper
74. I’m allergic to nothing that I know of
75. I get second hand clothes and wear them into the ground
76. I like using computers, but they frustrate me
77. I’ve entertained the ex-Prime Minister of my country at my home
78. I started listening to rock after watching a Jimi Hendrix documentary
79. I always read on the toilet (I must)
80. I use the smallest dab of toothpaste when I brush
81. I hardly use soap or shampoo
82. I’m an excellent teacher, but it leaves me exhausted
83. I’ve never owned a dishwasher
84. I’m not averse to foraging
85. I attempted to set a world record in 2008, 2009 and 2010
86. I own perfectly good tape cassettes over 30 years old
87. I’ve never been in trouble with the law
88. When I stroke the left corner of my mouth, the inside of my left ear itches
89. I grew a beard for 16 years
90. In my teens, I read nothing but science fiction
91. Every year my wisdom grows exponentially, yet I feel I’m just a neophyte
92. I could do anything that I set my mind to; I just don’t want to
93. At school I was second in my year, but the top guy was literally a genius
94. In a face-to-face situation, I can’t speak to save myself
95. I’ve never had a broken bone
96. I haven't any tattoos or body piercing
97. I'm named after both grandfathers
98. I feel most at ease in other countries
99. I’ve spent as much on a photo-editing workstation as on a house
100. I’ve solved the mystery of being to my own satisfaction
