Learning from Dogs

Reflections on a year of Blogging.

Learning from Dogs would not be anything without you, dear reader.  So what follows is an accolade to you.  This Blog first saw the light of day on July 15th, 2009.

By the end of 2009 there had been a total of 15,800 viewers.

In comparison, by the end of 2010 there had been a total of 85,200 viewers, a growth of 439%!

Today, the last day of 2011, the total number of viewers for the year will be in excess of 243,000, a breathtaking increase over 2010 of nearly 158,000 viewers (184%).

So from Pharaoh and me, thank you all so very, very much and a Very Happy New Year to you all.

Happy New Year everyone!

More musings after a year of ‘blogging’.

The greatest realisation that the last year has produced for me is that, in the end, it is our attitude to everything around us (that really means our attitude to everything within us) that is the most important thing in the world.

Yes, that’s a grand statement – everything in the world comes down to attitude.

Why?  Because our attitude drives our thoughts and behaviours.  Our attitudes are the manifestation of our internal energy.  Think about it! Your attitude to something fuels the energy that goes into that belief. And, as so many of the great teachers in life say, “We get more of what we think about most“!

Here’s Wayne Dyer in his book, There’s A Spiritual Solution To Every Problem:

Our institutions are built and organized around the idea of facilitating, regulating, and guiding human behavior.  You cannot go to schools, businesses, governments, or even churches, mosques, or synagogues to negotiate the presence of energy.  These institutions exist to deal with the material world and to keep human beings in line.  They vibrate to the lower energies of the material world and often are the source of, rather than the solution to, your problems.

Eventually, enough people will reach a higher state of spiritual vibration and form a critical mass.  Then you will see institutions emerge that are not designed to regulate, facilitate, or guide human behavior, but to access, implement, and teach a spiritual approach to life.  In short, the purpose of our institutions will shift from controlling to promoting bliss.

We can go back much further and see the same message.  Here’s an extract from Galatians 5:1:

Live by the Spirit, I say, and do not gratify the desires of the flesh.  For what the flesh desires is opposed to the Spirit, and what the Spirit desires is opposed to the flesh; for these are opposed to each other, to prevent you from doing what you want.  But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not subject to the law.

Now the works of the flesh are obvious: fornication, impurity, licentiousness, idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, anger, quarrels, dissensions, factions, envy, drunkenness, carousing, and things like these.  I am warning you, as I warned you before: those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.

By contrast, the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.  There is no law against such things.

One can explore the writings of many other great thinkers and see the same message coming over time after time.

The peoples and creatures upon the face of Planet Earth are involved in one of the greatest experiments of all time.  How will we survive the next couple of hundred years?

We all truly know that our ‘institutions’ are not the answer, indeed they are part of the problem.  Conversely,  we also know that mankind has the ability, literally, to move mountains. The last year has shown, on a personal level, that a fundamental change in attitudes can also move emotional mountains.

It’s been an honour to publish Learning from Dogs for the last year – and I am very moved that so many of you have chosen to call by.  Thank you.

By Paul Handover

What interesting times we live in.

Came across a relatively new Blog with the title The Fourteenth Banker.  Caught my eye because of the similarity to the book written by Simon Johnson and James Kwak of Baseline Scenario fame.  Here’s an extract from the ‘About’ piece of this new Blog.

In response to the comments of folks in the Congress and oversight regimes, I have created this blog as a home for bankers who need to speak out and do not have a central clearinghouse or a safe place to do so.     Big banks now treat their employees like property, bought and owned.     Typically employees must subject themselves to all sorts of potential sanctions, forfeitures of compensation, clawbacks and even lawsuits if they speak in ways we often have thought were protected speech.   I am not talking about revealing confidential customer or proprietary information, I am talking about simply commenting on a company, management philosophy, making general observations or raising concerns.     It makes one appreciate unions even if not historically supportive of unions.   At least management and labor can have a debate.    Not so in today’s large banks.    Gag orders are written in the most intimidating way, included in Codes of Ethics, attached to incentive plans, posted on the company home pages.     We should ask ourselves, what is the big secret?

Do support the Blog by calling by.  Here’s a taste of what they are writing about:

Lying at Leyman

What is a million between friends?

Read this piece from Bloomberg Businessweek How Much Did Lehman CEO Dick Fuld Really Make?

This can only be called what it is. Delusion. Delusion about self, society, morality, values and anything else you can name. These are symptoms of a grave illness which is too common among those in power. In fact, the illness may be the requisite to power.

By Paul Handover