On Being Defensive & Never Ready
For Whatever Life Brings
The Felicitous Foundation of Self-Actualization & the African Renaissance
What intensity of Gallantry is vital in diluting defences, as a function of clearly conceptualising Uncontestable Understanding?
"Oh Time, oh Still and Now. Pregnant with things impending. You travel the cold path with me, Arousing restlessness and hope."— Antonio Machado, Spanish Poet & Playwright (1875–1939)
"We that are young shall never see so much, or live so long."— Shakespeare, King Lear (1605), Act 5, Scene 3
"Here comes the trout that must be caught with tickling."— Shakespeare, Twelfth Night (1601), Act 2, Scene 5
"Experience is, for me, the highest authority. The touchstone of validity is my own experience… I find that I am closest to my inner, intuitive self, when I am somehow in touch with the unknown in me… Then simply my presence is releasing and helpful."— Carl Rogers, American Psychologist (1902–1987)
"What a man can be, he must be. This need we call self-actualization."— Abraham Maslow, Motivation and Personality (1954)
"A person is a person through other persons. None of us comes into the world fully formed. We would not know how to think, walk, speak, or behave as human beings unless we learned from other human beings."— Ubuntu Philosophy, as expressed by Desmond Tutu
"The courage to be is the courage to affirm one's own being in spite of those elements of existence which conflict with essential self-affirmation."— Paul Tillich, The Courage to Be (1952)
W HAT IS YOUR FLAVOUR, your texture, your impact? What do you stand for, what do you believe in? What has made you what you are? What colour do you intend to give the fabric of your TIME? A well-nourished life is pegged on our need for respect from others and need for self-respect. Through competence, confidence, MASTERY, achievement, independence and freedom, we cultivate self-esteem; through recognition, acceptance, status and appreciation we cultivate self-respect. When these needs are not met, one becomes psychologically undernourished. Psychological 'Nourishment' is anchored on how much one values oneself — not bragging, but quietly knowing one is worth a great deal. Not thinking one is perfect, but knowing one is worthy of being loved and accepted. Upon these wheels, one holds one's head high, armed with the courage to try new things and the power to believe in oneself — keeping one's respect even when mistakes are made. Gallantry is the lubricant that dissolves defensiveness — the generous, courageous willingness to understand another's interior world before asserting one's own.
Uncontestable Understanding — The Living Acrostic
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