Words of wisdom and miscellaneous facts by Dr. Wysong and others.
This is an accumulation over several decades and the accuracy cannot be attested to.
75. GROWING UP
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11/5/2019
When we are young children our parents fulfill every need and define our world in what seems to us as absolutes. We never again have it so simple, easy, or well packaged. Growing up and away from that secure nest is no small task. Some fight it to their dying breath.
As a child we feel we are the center of other people's universes. Parents, relatives, teachers, and other adults create that self-centeredmess (spelled correctly) with their love and nurturing. Although that is important to our early development, we can't let it go to our heads. Unfortunately, it's easy to get comfortable with the notion that everything is about us. Growing up means coming to understand that it is not. As our bodies and brains mature, our horizons should stretch. Questions we once did not have will come to haunt us with uncertainty. If we ignore these new and indefinite horizons and questions, we remain intellectually a child. It is no better to accede to society's accepted answers and subjugate ourselves to 'experts.' We remain children when we pirouette around our responsibility to seek truth by looking for a sufficient payload of unjustified beliefs to keep everything well defined and sure. Substituting experts and the consensus view for our parents is just like moving back home. We leave our genetic mommies and daddies and move in with the mommies and daddies society puts in their place. Growing up for real means to use our own mind and heart to search for as many answers as we can, always remaining open to truth, and conceding that there are some things we may never fully understand. On any clear night look into the sky. It should be a humbling experience and give perspective. The Earth is just a small planet in just one galaxy among millions. Our planet receives only 2 billionths of the light energy from our average star/sun and there are trillions of suns in the universe. We are infinitesimally puny in the greater scheme of things. No matter how much we would like to think so, it is ridiculous on its face to assume we are the focus of the universe. Adulthood means humility and admitting human ignorance. There are no omniscient moms, dads, experts, or other authority figures we can rely upon for all the answers. When humans proceed as if they know everything, as if their brain speck defines the universe, harm results. War, disease, oppression, poverty, and environmental degradation can all be linked back to those who position themselves as having authority and truth, and to millions of complicit human lemmings who let others be their surrogate mommies and daddies.
​Adulthood is a continuing process requiring search, openness, change, and self-reliance. It means malleability and a willingness to put the SOLVER principles first in life. It will never be as easy as just taking another's word for it, regardless of their credentials. Since belief is the seed from which all human activity, good or bad, arises, each of us must take responsibility for developing our own humble and reasoned philosophy of life. We must be especially wary of any unexamined belief that owes its existence to the mere words of another frail and faulty human. We are really not free to embrace any belief we fancy any more than we are free to believe two plus two equals seven. (This timely and interesting idea that—we are really not free to believe as we choose—is developed fully in the companion book.)
If we let our conscience and our desire for truth guide us, and we recognize that the search for truth is a continuing endeavor, we have the best hope for a better world, and a grown up and better us.
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11/5/2019
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Introduction
1. We Can Agree 2. Possibility Thinking 3. The Solver Principles 4. Our Owner's Manual 5. We Live in A Unique Time 6. Being Health Smart 7. The Illusion of Youth Health 8. The Good Old Days 9. Timing Life 10. Exercise 11. Hormones and Steroids - A Two-Edged Sword 12. The Female Hormone Problem 13. Growing Older 14. Squaring the Curve 15. Healthy Dos and Don'ts 16. The Medical Profession 17. The Greatest Threat to Health 18. Don't Surrender to Medical Care 19. But We Live Longer Today 20. Dollars Don't Make Health 21. Disease Does Not Strike Us 22. Germs Don't Cause Disease We Do 23. From Where Does Healing Come 24. The Best Food 25. Food Ethics 26. Healthy Weight 27. Healthy Eating Ideas 28. First Things First 29. Hopelessness 30. Depression 31. Memories 32. Addiction 33. Blaming the Parents 34. Surviving Tragedy 35. Touch 36. Music as Healer 37. Humor 38. Pets as Life Savers 39. Pet Keeping - A Serious Responsibility 40. The Myth of 100 Complete Pet Foods 41. Feeding Pets as Nature Intended 42. Industry vs. Earth 43. Population 44. Modernity's Deception 45. Animal Rights 46. Biophilia 47. Respect for All Life 48. Doing Good With Business 49. The Global Economy 50. The Power of Money 51. Financial Affairs 52. Work as Friend 53. Government 54. The End of Civilization 55. Freedom Is Not Equality 56. Sex 57. Being in Love 58. Marriage - The Union of Opposites 59. Divorce 60. The Family Nest 61. Having Babies 62. Children 63. The Empty Nest 64. Experience 65. Education 66. Life Is Uncertain 67. Things Mound Up 68. Murphy's Law 69. Life's Predictability 70. Finding Home 71. Learn From History 72. Shaping the Future 73. The Other Line Always Moves Faster 74. Little Things Add Up 75. Growing Up 76. Alone 77. Hope 78. Paying the Success Price 79. Change A Wonderful Thing 80. Being the Best You Can Be 81. Do Something, Something Happens 82. Change the World 83. Growing Good People 84. Words 85. Genius 86. Listen and Learn 87. Mind Over Matter 88. Looking Good 89. Protecting Yourself 90. Self Sufficiency 91. Life Is Math 92. Ethics 93. Conscience 94. The Long View 95. Being Real 96. Change 97. End and Beginning |