Right and wrong do not exist in the eyes of the universe. Right and wrong are the constructs of human mind, which makes them automatically biased and subjective. That makes it difficult to define it and even harder to discuss it. But, I have not set out to define what wrong or right is. I have set out to talk about what wrong or evil represents or what it means.

I can draw the best parallels to wrong or evil with pain. What exactly is pain? How would do you define it? It is tough. Yet, we know why it exists. Pain warns us when there is something wrong, when something is not working harmoniously. When we get hurt emotionally or physically, it hurts. Only because it hurts we know that what happened was damaging to our well being. Pain is simply a form of information telling us that we are going against the grain.

Evil is similar to pain. It exists for a reason. The mere existence of it informs us, that our society has long ways to go before we all live in harmony. Evil or wrong doing is not an inherent human characteristic. Many times circumstances “force” people to act in a ways that damage the fabric of the human kind. The real question then is why do those circumstances exist that create incentives for people to do wrong.

The best answer to that question is that our society is very imperfect.  The number of crimes can be a very good indicator of how well the society as a whole is doing in living peacefully together. So instead of looking at people who do wrong as if there is something wrong with them, let us look at why they did what they did because that is the true cause of the evil.

It is easy to lock people up and put them to jail, but it is important to realize that targeting individuals is not going help. In a way, they are just victims to the circumstances, in which any other person might have reached a similar course of action. So the real solution to eliminating evil in the world is not the elimination of criminals, but the elimination of the root causes of evil, which give rise to wrong doing: poverty, hunger, inequality, etc.

Those are the real driving forces behind the evil acts committed by humans. Now, I am not saying that individuals do not have choice over their actions and that they should not be punished. I am not saying. What I am saying is that punishing criminals is scratching the surface.It is like taking pain killers to eliminate the pain instead of treating the root cause of the problem.

Rarely, if ever we dig down deeper to understand other people actions and motivations and try to eliminate those incentives, which allowed the negativity to flourish.

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Image Source: Ghetu Daniel

The recent global financial crisis, which originated in the United, caused a lot of discussion worldwide. There are a variety of topics, which can be discussed, but one that I think deserves the most attention is the law.

Law defines what is legal and what is illegal. It tells us the boundaries within which the firms and individuals can operate. Law sets up the rules, which we must follow or face consequences otherwise. Consequences are of course a matter of enforcement of the law by the government. Government has the role of an utmost importance: it has to create the laws, interpret the laws and subsequently enforce them.

I am sure what you just read above is nothing new. But have you really thought about the implications of it? Anything that is not defined as being illegal, by default is legal. If the law does not cover it, then you are free to act on it. Furthermore, even if you are acting within the bounds of law, does not make it alright. As Aristotle famously said: “Law is reason free from passion”.

When you look back at the event that took place before, during and after the unfolding of the crisis you will not find many people going to jail. The select few where the ones that committed fraud such Bernard Madoff and a couple of others. Everybody else operated with the bounds of law, yet their unethical and almost immoral behavior brought down the global world economy. The only problem is that, for the most part, being and unethical and immoral is not illegal or against the law. There are only select few cases where unethical behavior can be considered illegal.

By everybody, I mean all of the players in the global financial crisis such as: the mortgage originators, the mortgage brokers, the real estate agents, the servicing firms, the insurance companies, the investment banks, the banks, certain regulators who failed to do their job properly and even the media who had a part in feeding the real estate bubble. Nobody did anything that was illegal per say, and not many people went to jail for bringing down the global economy, but they armies of people played a part in the crisis.

The question is, shouldn’t it be a crime to cripple a global economy? I am not the one to answer that question, but the issues becomes obvious. Behavior that occurs with the bounds of law, is not always moral behavior and might eve have more adverse consequences than certain illegal behavior. For example, it is at banks discretion who it gives out the loans to and there is nothing illegal when you give a loan to somebody that is asking for it. But there is a problem, when you charge that person fees and then turn around and sell the mortgage to be securitized, receive the cash back from the principal and lend out again. None of the above behavior, was illegal, but it put undue risk towards the rest of the society.

But then the question becomes, do we classify immoral or an ethical behavior as illegal? If so, how doe we prove that something is immoral or unethical? Of course there are other ways to discourage immoral or unethical behavior such as setting up incentives against such behavior, but then the ball goes to the governments court. Government, like I mentioned before is the sole player who sets up, interprets and enforces the laws and creates a playing field for the society.

So, then the question becomes, is it the governments fault for setting up faulty rules, which allow personal interests to be put above the society’s interests?  I think it might be the case. It is a huge responsibility, but it is the only player that has the power and the resources to create a fair playing field for all of the players. Like, I mentioned before, judging which behavior is ethical or immoral can too close of a call, but creating incentives against behavior, which puts the whole society at risk, is something the government should take complete responsibility over.

I understand, that is work in progress and it will a long time before we have perfect system set, if that is going to happen ever at all. In the mean while, I believe it falls on the shoulders of ordinary citizens like you and I, to remember that just because it is legal does not always make it alright and that the true moral compass does not lie within the law, but it lies with our hearts and our consciousness.

Sometimes we just make the wrong decisions. Sometimes we become shortsighted and focus only at the things that are the most convenient and most pleasant at the moment. Some of us even confuse that with “being in the moment”. All of the above simply means that we are discomfort averse individuals.

We seek out pleasure and try to avoid discomfort. Inherently there is nothing wrong with that. However, if you look deeper into that all sorts of problems rise to the surface.

Seeking out pleasure and comfort while avoiding discomfort is a form of procrastination. Procrastination is like robbing yourself in the future. It is like taking a credit on your future and your goals and never really working to pay it off. It is like cheating yourself.

If we continuously borrow against our future, then eventually we will have to pay the price as we cannot postpone discomfort forever. More importantly, discomfort forces us to grow and change and progress. Comfort in a sense kills progress and joy of learning in life.

But the real question is why we act like that? One possible answer, as it is proposed by Joseph Stiglitz, is that we lack vision in our lives. We do not know where we are going, we never think of our or others future beyond today. Without vision, our values are useless. If we do not know where we are going, even the best compass in the world will not help us get there.

Without a vision our lives become bland and boring. We lose interest in life. Vision is not simply a goal to achieve. Vision is desire to change, it is a vision of positive change for yourself and those around you. If you do not have a vision to guide your life, your daily actions will lack direction, passion and drive.

But how do we “get” vision? I think it starts with curiosity and a  desire to overcome a challenge. Vision starts with a desire to become a positive role model for others. Visions starts with a desire to do good and change the world for the better. If we do nothing to contribute to the well being of others, then what is the purpose of us living on this earth?

No, we are not mean to merely exist on this planet. Our life only has meaning in the context of other individuals, human beings. Without others, there would be no reason for us to exist. Yet, over and over again, individualism is drilled into our heads.

Then we become so overly concerned with ourselves, that our life loses meaning because we forget that our life alone is meaningless. Others give meaning to our life. Maybe it is about time, for America and the world to stop focusing on individualism as much and promote social values that bind and bring people together as one unit.

Indeed house divided falls. But what happens when the house is divided into hundreds of millions of individual pieces? It is even surprising that some parts of the world have not fallen apart just yet.

Having a vision means being concerned not only for yourself but for those around you. Having a vision will cure you of the disease of the shortsightedness. It will help you make the right decisions, and stop robbing yourself and others of a bright future.

What is your vision? What is your drive?

I guess this is going to be a rant. A backlash against technology. Sort of rage against the machine, if you will.

Technology is useful and I am thankful for it. Matter of fact, I would not live in any other age if I had my choice. I would still live where I am today. I am fascinated and excited about the rapid pace of technological inventions. They are happening so quickly that I cannot even keep up with them, nor I have the desire.

I am a bit immune to innovation at this point of time.

If I am such a huge fan of technology, then why make a statement that it is making a life boring? Well, to be fully honest, it is not the technology that is making life boring, it is the extent to which people use it. I believe that on large scale, individuals world wide are misusing technology. At the very least, they are not using it to its fullest extent.

So, in the end people are to blame. But still…

Internet and all of the innovations associated with it, have put the information at our finger tips. If we did not want to, we would not have to leave our room to “get to know” the world. Everything, absolutely everything is online. Anything from pictures, to videos to news is online, one click away.

Technology is convenient, but at what price. It is a price that I am not willing to pay.

To me, modern technology takes the mystery, adventure and the joy of discovery out of life. At the very least, it has the capability to do so. Directions to anywhere in the world are  there, pictures of the most beautiful places on the earth are there, directions for anything and everything are easily found.

That is all great, but is it possible that the ability to go exactly where we going, find exactly what we are looking is limiting our knowledge and experiences in the world?

How are we supposed to get lost? How are we supposed to make mistakes? How are we supposed to be surprised? How are we supposed to be impressed? How are we supposed to experiment and learn? How? Some of you might ask, why would you want do any of the above things?

I believe that it is fun. I believe that is what life is all about. Life is about discovery, excitement, the unknown, the danger and adventure. Yet, technology has the ability and does make many of those elements out of our lives. During the human evolution technology has been there to provide us with comfort and convenience.

And, people love convenience, predictability and comfort. They love it. Most of us, would choose that over the unknown, the unpredictable, the dangerous. Yet, those are the exact ingredients that we need to grow and experience life to the fullest. Funny thing is that most of us understand it, yet still choose comfort.

Like I mentioned before, technology is neither good nor bad. It is the way that we use it (or rather misuse it) that makes it bad or good. And, I think many of us are  making the wrong choices. It is great to have options. But just because an option is there does not mean that we have to take it.

If used the right way, technology can enhance our lives beyond what we thought possible. But, sometimes, just sometimes, we need to know when to stop, take a break from it and dive into the world of uncertainty, surprise and adventure.

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Image: Photo8.com

I am very excited to share with you all yet another guest post.

This time, I wrote an article for Goodlife ZEN.

“You can find weekly, practical inspiration at Goodlife ZEN. Get a new take on life, find creative ways to make your wildest dreams come true, and become what you aspire to be.”

Warm thanks go out to Mary, who gave me the opportunity to share my thoughts on her great and inspiring blog.

5 ways to escape the escapist weekend

Here is an excerpt form the article:

“It is Thursday. You are already thinking about Friday. It is Friday morning. You are thinking about Friday afternoon. It is Friday afternoon. It is here.

What do you do?

We all look forward to weekends because it is the time for us to relax, become refreshed, and energized. Ironically enough, only a few us manage to do that. The rest of us just use the weekends to escape from our problems, troubles, work, and “reality” all together.”

Click here to continue reading…

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Image: nattu

I deleted my facebook account. Pretty much sums it up. It is pretty simple to do, once you find the link that you need.

I deleted my facebook account and I feel great. One simple reason: I realized I had no use for it. I realized that as I was talking to my brother. It just suddenly dawned upon me that I was just mindlessly wasting my time on this social network. I realized that I never really needed facebook. Many people quote that in “this increasingly busy” world it is harder and harder to stay connected with people. That is what they say. They also say that it is almost a necessity to have facebook.

I disagree.

Facebook is and always was a cheap substitute to real communication. Instead of calling somebody and saying “Hi” we stalk them on facebook and leave a 5 second comment here and there. Instead of meeting our “friends” in person and sharing the experience of a journey, we just put the pictures up on facebook and let others click through them. Instead of sending a personal invite or an actual gift, we send electronic invites and electronic gifts (which costs money!). Instead of asking a girl/guy out in person or over the phone, we instead “poke” them on facebook. Instead of calling somebody to wish a Happy Birthday we just leave a wall post. Instead …

This could on forever. The point is this: facebook encourages superficial and insincere communication. So what that we have hundreds of friends on facebook. Do we really keep in touch with them all? Do our “friends” just become another news feed item that gets lost amongst a hundred others? In the end, you are just cheating yourself.

What about the emotional energy that you spend over facebook: the privacy settings, the changing user interface, the dislike button and so on. Is it really worth spending your time and energy being upset about those things? And what about reading those overly negative status updates of people you barely know? What about people fighting over their relationship status on facebook? What about losing jobs over something you did or said over facebook? What about the possiblity of you being harassed by a criminal?

I had enough of that and that is why I decided to delete my account.

Now, I do not have to worry about either of those things. Now, I will know who my true friends are because they will call me or send me an e-mail if they will want to meet up. It’s a great way to eliminate dead-weight from your life. People have and always will appreciate a call, a sincere letter or an e-mail. Sure, we can all say that we are “increasingly busy”, but to me that’s bunch of nonsense.

If you do not have enough time to stay in touch with your friends through a phone call or an in person meeting, then you might have you priorities all wrong in your life. Think about it. Since when did relationships were pushed back into the background of our “busy” lives? It’s time to change that and remember what matters and ditch the deceptively “useful” technological tools.

If you want to establish a presence online and still keep your private life private, then there are plenty of other tools to consider. For your professional career, you might want to consider joining LinkedIn and as a tool for your personal expression and creativity consider blogging. Using only those two powerful tools, you will be able to create a strong and powerful image of yourself online, while keeping your private life private and your relationships deep.

I am sure some of you find facebook extremely useful and that is fine. The point here is to become aware of how the use of technology is affecting your life and really deciding if it is right for you.

Question: Do you have a facebook?

In essence this article is about the power of words. To be more specific it is about branding.

It seems that branding is the new kid on the block that everybody talks about. It really is worth our attention for that exact reason.

Brands can be used for positive or negative purposes. On the positive side, brands help us make  better decisions and save us time and money in the long run. On the negative side, it can lead us to making bad decisions and costing us time and money. It can have positive impact for both producers and consumers of the image.

I am going to examine the following four scenarios using real life examples:

• a brand having a positive impact on a producer of a brand
• a brand having a positive impact on a consumer of a brand
• a brand having a negative impact on a producer of a brand
• a brand having a negative impact on a consumer of a brand

I am going to look at the case of Mac vs. PC as it seems illustrate the positive and negative effects of branding on both consumer and producers the best. Also, everybody should be very familiar with the ongoing battle between a Mac and a PC :)

Microsoft vs. Apple

For years, Microsoft has dominated the software market with Windows. Because of the dominance, it was able to monopolize the market and reap substantial profits. When it came to making a choice, you probably did not even think about it twice and just bought Windows. The name of Microsoft on the software made the decision easy.

On the other hand, for years Apple was suffering because of a bad reputation it had. Buying a Mac did not even cross anybody’s mind when choosing an operating system. Apple was clearly experiencing the negative effects of branding.

In the mean while, consumers were at the whim of Microsoft. When it made a good version of Windows, everybody was happy. Companies were saving money and time, consumers were happy with the product and the decision that they made. However, at times Microsoft would make products such as Windows Millennium or Windows Vista, which made the businesses and consumers want to just drop Microsoft products and never look at them again.

Yet, we were the ones making a decision on buying the products because of the established brand.

Then, Apple made a turnaround. Someway, somehow it made it’s way back to consumer’s minds and Microsoft finally had some serious competition to the Windows OS. Because of the brand image that the Apple started building, many people switched to Macs. They started thinking twice before just buying a PC with Windows on it. And so, Apple was doing great for last couple of years. It introduced products such as iPod, iPhone and so on. People were buying them like hot pancakes, not thinking about it twice. In this case, the Apple was winning big.

It seemed like consumer would just buy anything that Apple made. A very similar story to Microsoft’s. Regardless of how much benefit the product actually had, people just bought it.

For that exact reason, Microsoft and Apple became comfortable with their brands and started producing half baked products, which hurt many consumers financially. If you are thinking Microsoft, think Vista; if you are thinking Apple think iPad and countless versions of iPod.

Lessons Learned

When we benefited it was because of branding. When we were hurt it was because of branding. There is an important lesson to be learned here.

Companies and the products that they produce change. Yet, the image the we have of that brand usually lags behind. Sometimes, it never really changes.

That is even more of a reason to be aware of changes not only in our own preferences and needs, but to be aware of how companies/entities that stand behind the branding change. Many times, the image the company originally established does not live up to it’s current status. That is the difference between reality and perceived reality.

Are you looking beyond brands, piercing the image that the companies want you to see? Do you check if it is congruent? Is what you see, what you get?

It really goes far beyond just firms and their products. The same exact concept applies to individuals, governments, countries, social groups, television companies, friends, families and schools. So, become aware of brands that are currently in your mind and ask: “Is this image congruent with what the company/firm/friend/country/social group really stands for at this moment?”

Remember: people change and so are the entities that they represent.

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Image: paperocks a.k.a evalinda

I wrote a guest post for Write To Done, which I would love to share with the rest of you! Before, I go into that, I would like to thank Mary for being so open to my ideas and accepting the article! I felt amazing after she said yes! After all, over 15,000 subscribers received my article. Talk about peer pressure :)

The article talks about the blogosphere as playground: a place where we can have fun and just play for the sake of playing. If you want to learn or remember how to play, then you might to check out the article.

Either way, here are some of the bits from the article:

“I have one question for you: “When did you grow up?”

OKAY, that is actually just the first question. Here’s the rest.

Do you remember that exact moment when you decided to stop having fun and start being serious? Do you know when your careless smile was replaced by a frown? Do you know when you stopped believing in your dreams and decided to become reasonable?

Maybe it was around the time when you stopped playing.
Until that point, the whole world seemed to be your playground!”

If you are curious as to what happens next, read on:

The Ultimate Playground: Blogosphere

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Image: soulholder

What do you do over the weekends?

Are you one of those people who cannot wait for Friday to come around? Do you hate Mondays? Do you actually relax during the weekend?

Many people do not think twice about what to do over the weekends. It’s Friday. That means happy hour right after work, then going out with friends, spending tons of money during the night at the bars, then waking up in the morning feeling like crap trying to get better throughout the rest of the weekend. And so it repeats itself over and over again. And it is the norm to most of the population.

For the most part it starts in college and it never really stops after that. I used to be one of these drunk faces on Friday or Saturday nights, wasting my money and life away. I am glad I stopped before it was too late.

Time is precious and we ought to spend it wisely.

Many people lead lives they do not like, having jobs that they hate and the weekend seems like the perfect escape into the drunken illusion with friends where the pain and the worries seem to fade away. Yet, in the long run it accomplishes nothing. Well it accomplishes couple of things: it ruins your health, ruins your finances and it gets you nowhere. Sure, it is fun to hang out with friends and catch up. Yet, for most people it becomes a destructive habit, a routine, a fake escape from unwanted life.

Well, for better or worse I have spend a large portion of my college career just like that. Matter of fact, my weekends would start on Thursday nights and end up on Saturday nights. Every weekend. I did not think twice of it. It seemed fine. I was sucked in and stuck. Yet, I found myself more and more doing it because everybody else was doing it. It sucked. I had to stop and think. Something was wrong. Is this all there is to do over the weekends? Is his all I am here to do on this earth?

The answer was no. The life has so much more to offer and it is a waste of time to be engaged in such activities! This made me reconsider my priorities and my goals in life. I realized I did not have any and that was part of the reason why I was going through college days so blindly – I lacked purpose. Now, I have purpose, I have things that I want to do and accomplish. All of those things take time and money to accomplish, so I’d rather focus my energy on doing things that take me somewhere as opposed to those that keep me stuck in a destructive routine.

If you find yourself in this lifestyle, then there are many things that you should consider. Am I happy with my life? Am I happy with my job? Am I happy with where I am going? Am I working towards fulfilling my life purpose? Chances are that you will find yourself answering now to most of those questions. That is why exactly those are the reasons why you are engaging in destructive weekends.

I am not saying that you should never do this or that you should eliminate hanging out with friends or having some fun once in a while. No. What I am saying is to become mindful of what you are doing. Every action has an opportunity cost to it. So think about what you are missing out by spending those weekends going out, playing beer pong, watching football  and spending money while developing a drinking habit?

I can think of at least a couple of things that you can do with that time and money. You could save the money for an awesome trip, a car, a house, a book or you could simply invest it towards your retirement. You could spend that money on theaters, plays, performances, martial art lessons, great food, a romantic dinner with a date, learning how to scuba dive, picking up a yoga class and so on! You could spend the time on meditation, on developing yourself, finding for a better job, developing or finding a passion of yours, changing your life and rediscovering your life purpose!

Are you sleeping? I want you to wake up and smell the roses and find your own purpose in life and lead others to finding theirs! Think about it. Just think about it.

I am proud to announce my first guest post on Walter Adena’s blog LionSlinger.com. In this article I reconsidered the way people look at love. The basic idea that love is not an emotion, but a state of being.

Reconsidering Love

When I sat down to write this article, I wanted to call it: “What Love Really Is”. As soon as I started writing, it hit me. All of us are unique and all of us experience life differently. That is why we all have a unique understanding of what love is. Trying to prove to you what love really is would be simply pointless. I would be dissing your intelligence and your experiences in life by stating that you all are wrong and I am right about love.

Instead, I will just give you my unique perspective on love. I will tell you what I think love is not, what it is, and what it ought to be. Maybe, just maybe my insight will enrich your life and add a unique perspective that was not there before.

Continue reading here…