Tag Archives: lower seat

Critical

Critical: (adj) judging

Two sentences:

  1. I am so good.
  2. I am no good.

Amazing, isn’t it?

Just changing one word in that phrase—from “so” to “no” or from “no” to “so”—renders a completely different conclusion.

It’s where the human race bounces.

Somewhere between so and no, we’re always on a journey to over-exaggerate our value or else proclaim ourselves wormlike.

Matter of fact, if I were to capsulize—perhaps even in a nutshell—what prevents us from becoming nutty is realizing that both profiles are stimulated by a flash-bang of insanity somewhere in the deep regions of our cranium.

No one is SO good.

Even in the midst of excellence, there is error that challenges to increase effort.

And no one is NO good.

Even within those souls we consider worthless, one can find value, even if that one only refers to God.

This is why a nation, or dare I say, a world of critical souls saying critical things to make their critical nature produce critical cynicism, causes the planet to teeter on a critical cliff of danger.

A critical condition.

I don’t agree with the axiom, “if you can’t say something good don’t say anything at all.”

Nor do I assert that everyone who is critical offers something to the “great conversation.”

I have developed a simple procedure in dealing with my fellow humans:

If I view something, hear something, watch something or read something that they have produced and there is nothing at all that I like about it or understand or appreciate or concur with, I remain silent.

Because to be honest, a critical contribution is only valuable if it follows a positive encouragement. If there’s nothing positive to say, being critical places the burden of guilt onto the judge.

In this case, that would be me. I can’t afford the guilt.

If they pursue, and say, “You didn’t have any opinion on the material?” I quickly grab the beauty of the lower seat and reply:

“Sometimes things go over my head.”

 

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Arterior

Arterior: (adj) nearer to the back, especially situated near the back of the body or to the rear.dictionary with letter A

I did not know this word.

Candidly, there are many words I write about that I did not know the definition for until I went through the exercise of reading about their verbal personality.

But this definition immediately popped a piece of philosophy in mind, that I adhere to all the time, even though others might find it counter-productive.

It is a spiritual principle which has great emotional application in the practical world: “Take the arterior seat.”

Yeah.

  • Sit in the back.
  • Don’t push so hard.
  • Don’t thrust yourself forward.

The truth is, the squeaky wheel gets the grease once and then is replaced with a new tire. We are fatigued of those who are self-promoting, only to discover that in most cases they have too much “self” and not that much to promote.

When the Good Book tells us to take the lower seat, the writings do not stop there, making us believe that we just did this to be humble. No, it is very clear that the reason we take this arterior seat is so we can be called up by the desire of other people instead of the strength of our own ego.

It is also a warning–if you place yourself too high on the totem pole, somebody more worthy comes along and bumps you down.

It explains that the greatest danger in life is humiliation–not being ignored–humiliation by being forced to a lower seat instead of choosing one for ourselves.

I have worked this principle so many times that I can boldly guarantee it to you.

It’s not so much that pride goes before the fall. It’s more like pride is the fall that leaves us suspended in mid-air, unable to gain any footing.

 

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