Quantum Entities At Work and Home Pt 2

Peace Be With You!

I hope you have gotten through this year without too much stress, strain, and pain. I hope your family came closer together rather than drifting further apart. I hope your organization, business, or employer was able to manage the turbulent economic environment. The political turmoil in Washington, across the country, and around the world certainly made it even more difficult to avoid getting stressed out over one thing or another. Barring those who by choice or circumstance live in virtual isolation from people and technology we are all challenged by the conditions of the world in which we live. We (humans) affect our world in innumerable ways, most of which are obvious. On the Macro (large scale) Level we see our city landscapes, interstate highways, species extinctions, and water, air, and soil pollution to name a few.  We can also see that our various methods of organization and our diverse cultures, the ways in which we utilize natural resources for example, also have their influence on our world.

If we zoom in to the Micro Level (small scale) we will see the level of social interactions and individual choices and the consequences of those choices. This is the level upon which our manifest influences on the world depend. This is the objective level from which our positive and negative influence on our world emerges. But we are not finished! We can zoom in one more time to the level where individual distinctiveness begins to fade. Where the apparent gaps between individualized physical forms and the distinctions between our various social structures begins to disappear. This is the level where we can see how our individual choices affect the larger whole and how the larger whole affects us. This is the Quantum Level. The Quantum Sociological Perspective says that we affect each other and our environment in ways that are seen and unseen. QSP says that the level of objectified forms must be respected but the reality of the world can only be understood by comprehending its energy nature as well as our own. Looking at your world through the lens of QSP is like looking into one of those two-dimensional images that suddenly becomes a three-dimensional picture when you finally relax and your eyes (and your brain) shift their perspective. In my last Post we discussed Axiom 1. You might want to read or review it before reading on. Better yet you might purchase a copy of Letters To U: From The Mysterious Dr. M. – The Handbook On Being Human in order to gain a deeper insight into this Quantum Reality and its influence on your family life, social relationships, and business success.

Axiom 2

The strength of the Quantum Personality is dependent upon the nature of the relationship and the interaction between the individuals precipitating the formation of the Quantum Personality.

Sometimes, when you meet someone for the first time you get a sense of them that is not explained by their physical appearance, their style of dress, their body language, or even their words. Explaining this inner knowing to someone else is not easy and maybe not even to yourself, but the feeling is as real to you as any objective part of the moment. In the language of QSP and the Handbook On Being Human what you are feeling in that moment is the person's Energy Signature, the total complex of energy responsible for, connected to, and emanating from the existence of anything and everything. The existence of this radiant energy property connected to all things has been well documented in the traditions of the ancients, the research into the Kirlian Effect, and most recently in the observations of Quantum Physics and Quantum Mechanics. The ancients spoke of this energy in many languages - Ase, Prana, Ankh, Aloha, Nkra, and Ntu, to name a few. Today scientists are describing what the ancients knew using terms like, unified field, quantum energy, dark energy, dark matter, and string, to name a few.

Now picture in your mind two people arranging to meet for the first time. Lets say, a very important business meeting. Someone looking on from a distance might see the two people approaching each at say, eight feet apart. However you, with your understanding of the quantum reality, can see that long before they close the gap, shake hands, and greet each other, the radiant energy field emanating from each of them moves through an infinite field of energy and makes contact. In fact, as you allow your mind to relax and escape the artificial boundaries of the objective reality you begin to see that these two individuals’ energy signatures began to make contact from the very moment that they became aware that they would be meeting each other. QSP says that is what happens in the Quantum Reality!

When the two people (lets make you one of them) sit down for their business meeting things seem to go well. All the right things are said, and all the body language and gestures reinforce the spoken words. But you get a feeling that unsettles you. You cannot explain it but your confidence in what you are hearing and seeing begins to fade into doubt. What you may be feeling is an inconsistency in the other persons energy signature. Remember, the Energy Signature is the total complex of energy responsible for, connected to, and emanating from the existence of anything and everything. That means that if there is dissonance within the individual, there is a disturbance in their energy signature AND, other people can feel this inconsistency if they are paying attention at that level. This is why it is important to BE YOURSELF! If you are untrue to yourself people can feel the dissonance in your energy signature. If you trust totally what you see reflected or expressed in the objective reality you can be deceived. If you learn to trust what is communicated to you on the Quantum Level you are less likely to be deceived.

The strength of the Quantum Personality is dependent upon the nature of the relationship. In this scenario it is a potentially important business relationship. If the relationship is indeed valued by both of you and the business potential is significant, both of you are likely to spend considerable time thinking about the upcoming meeting and its potential implications. You will spend time thinking about the other party, trying to picture them, how they look and what they will be like. All of this anticipatory energy reaches out to the other person long before the meeting takes place and adds to the strength of the Quantum Personality that is taking form. If the social interaction between you is positive then the Quantum Entity (Quantum Personality) that forms will have a positive energy signature causing feelings excitement, positive anticipation, and interest. If the interaction between you is negative the Quantum Entity that you share will have a negative energy signature causing stress, anxiety, distress, and anticipation of a negative experience and outcome. Long before your next planned meeting you may begin dreading the meeting and even feeling physically sick over it. You both are now connected to and share in a Quantum Personality, a Quantum Entity that will influence your future relationship unless you come to understand the quantum nature of your world and learn how to manage and reconfigure the quantum entities that you create.

QSP gives you a language and conceptual framework to understand things that you experience everyday, those unexplained experiences of inner knowing, of seeing behind the veil, of sensing other people’s Energy Signature. And don’t let our example place any limit on your thoughts about Axioms 1 and 2. You form Quantum Entities in every situation, at home, at work, in social gatherings, at school, and anywhere else that you meet other people. It should be obvious that all Quantum Entities are not the same. I will share some of their varying characteristics in my next Post on Axiom 3. Until then, Be Well!

There is more to life than what touches our eyes, ears, nose, mouth, or skin!

There is another way of Knowing!

There is another way of Being!

Visit me at Sharif-Enterprizes.com to learn more about 

concepts and services that can benefit you and your organization.

Peace and Health!

Preview The Handbook On Being Human, vol I

The Quantum Entities at Work and Home

Are US Corporations still of the mindset that their workers are valuable resources worthy of being nurtured as important and long-term members of the corporate family? Or, have US Corporations decided that the global labor market is too full of highly qualified and eager workers that nurturing the sense of mutual loyalty between corporation and labor force is no longer necessary? I don’t need to tell you the answer. It is more than just the fact that more and more jobs and career opportunities are being sent overseas. It is also the changes you experience in your everyday work environment and routine as your company strives to adjust and survive in the highly competitive global marketplace. For many people the work environment is someplace you want to get away from as quickly as possible. Unfortunately, it is also true that for many people, even when they do get away from the work environment, they are so emotionally intertwined with its negativity that they end up bring it home with them as their constant companion throughout the evening and night. There is an explanation for that! A reason why the stuff from work seems to cling to you (or you to it) and keep you stressed out day and night. The answer has to do with the quantum nature of the universe from the Quantum Sociological Perspective (QSP).

Many corporations and organizations think that they only have to manage their employees of record. They also tend to think that this management is best accomplished through published policies, protocols, and procedures. That can be a big mistake! Have you ever seen a stop sign actually stop a car at an intersection? Not me! The only one I’ve ever seen actually make a car stop at a red light or stop sign is an alert and careful driver. Policies, protocols, and procedures can provide a useful framework but the bottom line is all about the people in your organization and how they feel about coming to work. High turnover is organizational hemophilia, bleeding human potential. Having stressed-out workers is like corporate atherosclerosis, clogging up productivity. Maintaining a negative work environment is like a severe case of corporate influenza, a virus attacking all vital systems. Every corporation and organization should be working to nurture a long-term relationship with their employees because it is those career workers who are dedicate to the organization’s goals, highly skilled in the company’s business, and who can maintain the integrity of a positive corporate culture. For the body to remain healthy the vital fluid of the body (blood) must be contained, its pathway of circulation must be kept clear, and the body’s immune system must be kept responsive enough and strong enough to recognize and ward-off illness and disease (dis-ease). The body is an integrated system where each part performs a specialized function that is interdependent with every other function and system. The body is also an arena of conflict where different systems compete for limited nutritional resources, and the failure of one system can have cascading effects upon other systems creating an ideal environment for chaos to erupt. The health of the body as a whole is dependent on the health of each of the parts. Every aspect of the body must be cared for. When one part of the body fails, the whole person is affected. This description of the body applies equally to corporations and other organizational bureaucracies.

If an organization has 50 employees, even after considering that there are a host of relationships between the 50 employees that must be managed, there is also the nebulous but powerful Quantum Entity of the organization that must be understood, recognized, and refined. The Corporate Culture and the Quantum Entity of the Corporations are interrelated, interconnected, and interdependent. The Quantum Entity of a Corporation is both a consequence of the corporate culture and a significant influence on the character and persistence of the culture. I’ve discussed QSP and outlined twenty-seven (27) QSP Axioms in Letters To U: From The Mysterious Dr. M. – The Handbook On Being Human, vol I. Lets look at your work and home environment through the lenses of QSP.

Axiom 1

When two or more individuals interact a Quantum Personality or Quantum Entity is formed. This Quantum Entity comes into being in the Quantum Field because of the aggregation of human consciousness and is not an independent entity. It is the whole that emerges as a result of the interaction of the parts. [The whole is greater than the sum of its parts but not independent from them.]

Everything that we know of, animate and inanimate is radiating energy. That energy has a specific characteristic that is the energy signature of the person, place, or thing from which the energy emanates. You know this! You feel people from a distance all the time, don’t you? Science, metaphysics, philosophy, spirituality, and tradition may not agree on the origin and significance of this energy, they may speak of it in radically different terms, but it is there – Everything Vibrates! (Hermes). Everything extends beyond its empirical self! There are many ways that you and I experience this energy, the most common being the way you and a family member or close friend seem to tune-in on each other even over great distances, or the immediate positive or negative feelings that you get about some other people, and the persistent positive or negative feelings that define the relationship between you and those with whom you have regular contact, like co-workers. In order to fully appreciate the message in Axiom 1 and those we will discuss in future Posts, you need to think of your thoughts and feelings as having an existence that extends outward from your physical body. It is also important to see that as being true about every other person, all 7 Billion. See yourself living in an ocean of energy, a matrix formed from the energy signature of every other person, place, and thing on the planet and ultimately in the Universe. Like the brain and its billions of neurons forming synaptic networks you also form associative links. These associative links show up as Quantum Entities. The Quantum Entities that you form can be positive or negative, sources of happiness and success or sources of misery and emotional pain. Whether at work, at home, or at your favorite place to shop you are forming Quantum Entities during all your social interactions. It is the strength of the Quantum Entities that you form between yourself and others that influences their ability to follow you home. The Quantum Personality of a corporation is the aggregate of the Quantum Entities that corporate administrators nurture among themselves and their workers.

In my October Post on Emotional Addictions I spoke about the biochemical aspect of our relationships. Hope you will check it out if you missed it. In my next few Posts we’ll focus on the QSP Axioms and Quantum aspects of our relationships at work and at home.

There is more to life than what touches our eyes, ears, nose, mouth, or skin!

There is another way of Knowing!

There is another way of Being!

Visit me at Sharif-Enterprizes.com to learn more about 

concepts and services that can benefit you and your organization.

Peace and Health!

Preview The Handbook On Being Human, vol I

Emotional Addictions

It is not easy dealing with addicts or addictions. Most of us accept that as a commonly known fact. Most of us also tend to associate the terms addicts or addictions with the use of various forms of illegal or prescription drugs. We think of the poppy fields, the cooking kitchens, drug smugglers, drugs in the medicine cabinet, street dealers, crimes, and users. We see addicts and addictions as part of a darker side of life that is peripheral to our everyday existence. You should remember that the most prolific source of drugs in the world is your own body and you can develop Addictions to Emotions as powerful as any derived from pharmaceuticals or other substances.

We tend to assume that everyone is miserable being miserable. But that is not true! Our instincts and emotions are established in our genetic code and facilitated by our biochemistry and neurophysiology. Some people have a need to be in negative space, they are miserable until they create and syndicate it, and if you are not careful you could become one of them. This topic is discussed thoroughly throughout The Handbook On Being Human. There are a few drugs like methamphetamines that can create an almost immediate addiction. But with most drugs and especially the bio-chemicals of your body-mind the addiction process can be gradual and imperceptible. You see them all around you at work, school, and home, Negative Emotions Addicts. They stand out as exceptional in their ability to provide negative or contrary comments in any discussion, to fine fault with any idea or plan, to diminish the worth and input of others, and to mystically create an argument out of thin air. Regardless of the occasion or the mood and intentions of the group their presence is virtually guaranteed to throw water on the campfire during the best part of the midnight storytelling.

If you are fortunate, you also know people who seem to bubble with a genuine enthusiasm about life whenever you see and interact with them. They exude an energy that is contagious, that perks you up, and makes you want to ride on their higher plane of life. They inspire, comfort, motivate, encourage, calm, and cultivate you simply by their way of being in the world. Unlike their dark counterparts whose faces are often marked by grooves and shadows shaped by years of dark thoughts and sour intentions, these others’ faces are full of light and an unspoken joy about being alive in the moment. We choose to be one way or another but the choice is not made all at once. Developing your particular kind of Emotional Addiction is a gradual process of aggregating the effects of hundreds of choices we make everyday. Each choice directed by some sense of need or desire, charged by anticipation of emotional fulfillment, and fueled by the biochemistry of your body-mind.

Every human emotion has a bio-chemical and neuro-physiological correspondence in the body. These chemicals of emotions are extremely powerful opiate-like substances that influence our mental states, moods, feelings, emotions, and metabolism. How successful your body-mind is in its efforts to preserve your wellbeing depends on whether you are in negative space or Peaceful Space. Being in Peaceful Space and Creating Peaceful Space stimulate the Relaxation Response (a series of biochemical, neurological, and physiological changes that bare the opposite of the stress reaction).

These negative people that you may deal with everyday may have become addicted to the biochemistry of negativity. When they act-that-way they experience a release of biochemical drugs that satisfies a dependency they have formed over some period of time. Often, they are unaware of the extent to which they are creating the negative relationships between themselves and others. They come to rationalize and justify their actions by placing blame on others. Like alcoholics they can persist in denial for years until someone who cares is willing to risk an intervention. If you allow people like this to get-to-you it is just a matter of time before you will begin disliking, and then hating going to work, home, or school. That means you will begin to become negative in those shared places and the situation can only get worse from there.

When you carry yourself in Peaceful Space your oxygen consumption decreases, your respiratory rate decreases while respiratory efficiency increases, your heart rate decreases, elevated blood pressure decreases, muscle tension decreases, and alpha brain waves increase (heightening creativity and intuition). Your body-mind functions most efficiently and more in line with its design and ultimate potential when you are in Peaceful Space. When your body-mind is experiencing cordiality, friendliness, and a sense of belonging, encouragement and supportiveness, empathy and compassion, kindness and sensitivity, and attentiveness and mutual safety, you are operating with a different biochemistry and neurophysiology, a different energy signature. The biochemistry of Peaceful Space will improve your self-control, tolerance, achievement, and intellectual efficiency, meaning improved verbal fluency, quick, clear thinking, and perceptiveness.

Excerpts from: Letters To U: From The Mysterious Dr. M. - The Handbook On Being Human, vol I [Preview]
 

Living in a Quantum Reality Part II

Taking up were we left of last month lets discuss a two more sources of stress.

Cultural, National, and Local Forces
Uncertainty! We’ve used the word quite a bit in the US recently but uncertainty exists in every nation on earth today. You, no matter what nation you call home share the experience of uncertainty emerging from the Cultural, National, and Local Forces that surround you as you read this Post. The closer the concentric circles in the series are to the center, to you, the more obvious their presence and possibly the greater their impact. All of the social institutions of your particular culture and society (government, military, economy, family, health care, religion, education, and the media) insert themselves into and exert themselves on your life experience. Navigating Cultural Forces is becoming more difficult as technology and innovation accelerate the pace of change. Businesses downsizing to compete in a global economy, entire sectors of the economy disappearing, political parties and decision-makers locked in partisan fights to the determent of the general population, chronic unemployment, predator practices by government and business partners driving people from their homes, the medicalization of every human experience (drugs or surgeries to cure the consequences of the human response to dysfunctional environments), and on, and on, and on.

These concerns can seep into your life like shadows passing under a door. Or perhaps for you, these Cultural, National, and Local Forces are felt more directly, like a strong wind blowing open a door, or a violent storm destroying the door and all that surrounds it. It may or may be what resides in the forefront of your mind. But it is there, surrounding you just as completely as the air that you are breathing. Concerns about neighborhood security, border security, national security, political stability, and financial security weave themselves into an amorphous threat looming over all of your choices about the present and the future. All of the pain experienced by everyone who is suffering because of the potential negative consequences of national and cultural choices is aggregated in the atmosphere and energy signature of the planet. The notion fabric-of-life is no mere expression. There is a very real fabric of life, of energy connecting everything to everything else. Everyone else’s reality creates the context in which and the material out of which you must create your own reality. If your stress management strategies and tactics fail to mount an adequate defense against the negative energies emanating from these outer circles the consequences will certainly be compounded.

Personal Forces

Some people refer to the your body as the temple of your mind. The implication being, that you are more than your body, more than the sum of the parts. I have talked about the body-mind-spirit as representative of the whole and of your Ori as the connection you have with the primordial forces of life, those existing at or from the beginning of creation and time. One of the first things you become conscious of when you awaken in the morning is how you feel in your own body. Feeling good? Potential positive consequences are awaiting your call! Feeling bad? Potential negative consequences are looking for a way to exert their affect on you! Obviously you cannot hope to withstand the forces exerted by the manifestations of those outer circles if this core inner circle is weak and lacking in vitality. Your ancient Ancestors didn’t have to worry about stress management as you do. Their process of daily living occurred in a more balanced context. Some of the circles in the series that we’ve discussed are artifacts of what we call the Modern Age. On a twelve-hour clock we might say that the Modern Age started at around 11:59. You are living under conditions unlike anything humans have experienced before in all of our history. This dynamic rate of change just started a few hundred years ago, it is accelerating, and it is already virtually out of control.

We’ve discussed five sources of stress impinging on you from the Universal Forces to Personal Forces. Because the source of stress comes from one of the outer concentric circles, does not mean that it will have less affect on your level of stress. If a meteor was suddenly heading for your hometown that reality would make your everyday personal reality seem small as a matter of concern. Of the five concentric circles, representing five levels of pressure being exerted on you, the most manageable is the fifth, Personal Forces. There are all of these forces exerting themselves inward on you but you also have the power to exert some pressure outward creating a permeable field of energy around yourself that both protects you from stressing over the negative stuff and allows you to direct your positive energy outward into those outer concentric circles. There really are very simple things you can do to shift your mental state from anxiety, worry, and fear to calm, confidence, and fortitude.

Remember, you are always standing at the center of the concentric circles that surround you. You are always at the center of your own life experiences. You are the only one living your life. Others may have a part to play in it but only you create the meanings that your experiences have to you. Here is a simple mantra that you can say to help you create a shift in your energy signature whenever you find yourself starting to stress or to fall into some habitual pattern of behavior that generally leads to your being stressed out.

Stop! Take a deep breath! Close your eyes if the situation permits! Repeat this mantra with a deep relaxing breath in between each verse.

I am here! (Breathe!)
In this moment! (Breathe!)
In this place! (Breathe!)
In this body! (Breathe!)
With this intention! (Breathe!)
Everyday, in every way, (Breathe!)
I’m getting healthier, stronger, better, wiser! 

(Breathe!) (Breathe!) (Breathe!)

This mantra helps you to locate yourself in your reality, to gather yourself, to collect yourself, to center yourself, and to ready yourself to function at your higher levels of mindfulness. Whatever the circumstances, the moment that you are in, is the only moment in which you can choose to act! The place that you are in is the only place in which that action can take place! And the body that you are in is the only one that you can direct to act according to your will! It all centers on and starts with you. After repeating the mantra turn your attention back towards the source of stress and notice that you will feel ready to approach the situation differently.

Visit me at Sharif-Enterprizes.com to learn more about 

concepts and services that can benefit you and your organization.

Peace and Health!

Preview The Handbook On Being Human, vol I

Article of the Month: September 2011

Odic Impressions: Bad for Business?

Living in a Quantum Reality, Pt I

Everything Is Connected! It is a simple statement with profound significance. It is a fundamental axiom of the Quantum Sociological Perspective and has direct application to your efforts to manage your stress. Getting your stress under control is like lubricating the gears of a machine. Stress is a drag on your performance; it is a drain on your life force and vitality. In order to get control of your stress and your life you need to be able to locate yourself relative to the forces that are affecting your life. Actually, that is pretty simple! Everything is connected and you stand at the center of everything. Think about it! No matter what it is that is affecting you, consciously or unconsciously, you experience it from a single place in the universe of experiences. Some argue that this center is your physical brain. Others suggest that this center is something greater than the sum of its parts, more than the physical brain, something more transcendent. In QSP this transcendent aspect of each of us is called your Ori (inner head, divine mind, higher consciousness).

Imagine yourself standing at the center of a series of concentric circles. Each of the circles represents a source of forces that exert pressure inward toward the center of the circles, inward towards you. Some of these forces exert themselves without making their presence known or their influence obvious. Others are in your face day in and day out! The number of concentric circles you imagine could get pretty big depending on how detailed you want to get. I’ll mention some of the broad categories for which there could be numerous subcategories. First lets just focus on identifying these categories and mentioning some of their potential positive or negative effects.

Universal and Cosmic Forces

On the outer perimeter of your series of concentric circles are Universal Forces affecting all people and things in the world or in a particular group. The effect of these Universal Forces is applicable in all cases. They are ubiquitous. Nothing escapes their influence. For example, if you believe that there is a Supreme God then by definition the influence of that God would have to fall into the category of Universal Forces since He, She, It is omnipotent, omnipresent, and omniscient, Creator and Sustainer of all that exists. This spiritual worldview opens you up to hope, a sense of purpose, and of eternal life at the same time that it exposes you to the possibilities of guilt, judgment, self-criticism, and damnation. Likewise, scientists in the field of astronomy have come to the conclusion that the Universe is expanding. If that is true then some force, seen or unseen, sentient or not is causing the Universe’s continued expansion and it is affecting everything. You may not be aware of the ride, but that doesn’t change the fact that there is a Universal Force affecting you in ways that lie beyond the range of your everyday awareness. This more material, mechanical, or atheistic worldview opens you up to a sense of life’s purposelessness, randomness, and chaotic tendencies at the same time that it offers you the freedom to act without fear of ultimate consequences. There doesn’t seem to be much that you can do about the expansion of the universe but perhaps simply being aware of it is enough to help you expand your mind and put the rest of the circles into perspective. I think it is easier for women to grasp the significance of this category of forces than for men. No offense guys but women have a direct experience with the moon and with each other when in long-term group settings that opens their minds up to this level of thinking. Of course, both men and women who follow their astrology chart, have astrological readings, or engage in some other form of metaphysical orientation have at least broadened their minds to this level of thinking. You are encapsulated in a seen and unseen reality that you experience in some way everyday. Take a moment each day to think about that! Everything is connected!

Global Forces

Inside the field of the outer circles is another circle of forces that affect you more directly as they push toward your center. After all, you do live on planet earth. Whatever goes on with her is going to have an effect on you. That should be obvious by now but it seems that there are still too many people in denial about the impact humans are having on this planet. The argument seems to be that humans are having a significant negative impact on the global ecosystem with signs of catastrophic consequences already beginning to manifest themselves (global warming, air pollution, super viruses, species extinction, invasive species, insect invasions, dead rivers and lakes, melting polar regions, regional climate shifts, more and bigger fires, larger earthquakes, stronger and more frequent hurricanes, and on, and on, and on). The counter-argument seems to be that the science is inconclusive, what we are seeing are the result of natural cycles, the environmental movement is a conspiracy to undermine US businesses, that scientists are distorting the data to make things seem worst than they really are, we have more pressing issues than restricting the hands of US industry with costly environmental mandates, and on, and on, and on. Standing in the center of the argument is you. Maybe that last rain storm, or flood, or snowstorm, or earthquake, or fire, or tornado, or hurricane, oil spill in your town got you thinking. From one news story to another you hear people repeat the same description, I’ve been here a lot of years and I’ve never seen anything like this. If you are one of those people, or a relative or friend of someone who has experienced one of these increasingly catastrophic events than the above-mentioned arguments seem unrelated to your everyday life. You are busy wondering how your sister in N.Y. is handling the peculiar and extended heat wave or if your family’s house in Arizona is threatened by the wildfires. Or whether the river is going to consume your business. And under all of the stress that comes with those events, comes the questions, will it happen again? Are things really going to get worst? Should I move? Where should I move?

Maybe you don’t leave the house everyday worrying or even thinking about the consequences of these kinds of global forces, but they are there nonetheless. Whether they are affecting food prices, travel arrangements, holiday plans, or the cost of doing business these Global Forces are exerting pressure inward towards you with the potential to generate tremendous stress. Everything is connected!

International Forces

We are fast approaching the 10-year anniversary of the horrific events of September 11, 2001. It was one month after my visit to Ile-Ife, Nigeria. It was my daughter’s birthday. My sister worked in the Wall Street area but decided to stay home that day. My cousin got out of the building in time. Ten Years later, the world seems less of an international community and more of an international battlefield. While people around the world cry out for freedom, justice, and equality their national governments and civil and religious leaders seem to be moving further and further apart. Tension abounds everywhere and presses inward towards the center, inward towards you. How can you help thinking about it? It permeates the environment like an obnoxious odor stifling your breath in ways that you may not perceive. Vile words filled with hatred assault your ears trying to drown out sanity. Horrific images assail you eyes trying to make your mind and heart numb to humanity’s rapid descent. You send a donation hoping it can make a difference in some distant part of the world and then wonder if corruption will stop it from ever reaching those in need. Negativity breeding more negativity and standing at the center of its focus is you. You see it all and experience it all from your own unique perspective. Only you know the whole truth about how the pressure of these compounding concentric circles affects you. War, famine, disease, poverty, and other such conditions around the world are not separate events. From a Quantum Sociological Perspective they all exert their influence on each other and on the energy signature of our planet (positive or negative, anabolic or catabolic, sustainable or degenerative). You live within that field of energy and are affected by it whether you are conscious of its affect or not. In other words, you can begin to feel somewhat sad or depressed, or anxious, or stressed not because of any direct experience of your own but because of the quality of the energy signature of the planet generated by international events. Everything is connected!

By the time I finished writing what was suppose to be Part I of this Post it was 2000 words long. And that was just Part I. So this topic will be covered in several Posts. Next month I’ll complete my list of significant forces in our imagined series of concentric circles. Then we will talk about dealing with the negative forces and stress emanating from each of these sources.

To be continued

Visit me at Sharif-Enterprizes.com to learn more about 

concepts and services that can benefit you and your organization.

Peace and Health!

Preview The Handbook On Being Human, vol I

Article of the Month: August 2011

Capitalism and the Goddess

Who is the Boss? Pt II

Last month we discussed the important relationship between your ‘I’ and your ‘Me’ Aspects of Self and about the interplay between the Feminine and the Masculine Principles of Mental Gender. Every individual, whether male or female, has a masculine and a feminine aspect to their mental processes. It is true that your ‘I’ aspect of self is responsible for your ‘me’ aspect of self. But it is also true that there are times when it is best to allow your ‘me’ to take charge. The reason is that the ‘I’ and ‘me’ aspects of self use different information and functions to carry out their respective tasks.

You can think of your ‘I’ aspect of self as the General who is constantly scanning his or her computer screens and charts to ascertain the latest facts about what is going on in the theater of operation. Strategies to achieve the major or overall aim of the operation must be outlined. Tactics to achieve the specific end of the immediate conditions must be planned and implemented. Remember, your ‘I’ aspect of self operates in the conscious, willful, and objective processes of your brain (the organ of soft nervous tissue contained in the skull and functioning as the coordinating center of sensation and intellectual and nervous activity). In this sense, your ‘I’ aspect of self is always in the process of trying to cognitively figure things out. It functions in the realm of cognition (the mental action or process of acquiring knowledge and understanding through thought, experience, and the senses). In our scenario, as the computer screens quickly change from one set of data to another, the General is challenged to keep up with all of the information coming at him or her. Stress mounts! And in reaction, the General determines to pay attention only to what is deemed the most important objective information. As a result, other possibly relevant information is overlooked. Not to mention the fact that some of the relevant information that the General needs has to be acquired, aggregated with other ‘intelligence’, and processed before the General will see it.

Once the tactical orders have been given and become operational and once the tactics have put the overarching strategy back on target, if the General is wise, he or she will go and take a rest (meditate or sleep). It is during meditation, meditative exercises, and sleep that the other magnificent qualities and attributes of the ‘me’ aspect of self come into action. Your ‘Me’ aspect of self operates in the subconscious, subjective, intuitive, and passive realm of the mind, and is responsible for inspiration and insight. The mind is the element of a person that enables them to be aware of the world and their experiences, to think and to feel. It is the faculty of consciousness and thought. It is the term we use to speak of the mental processes of the brain in contrast to its physical form and neuro-physiological processes. During meditation or sleep the General’s ‘Me’ aspect of self will take all of the information associated with the General’s command and generate associative links between it and all of the General’s related knowledge and experiences. And in the process the ‘me’ aspect of self will nurture latent ideas and new insights into maturity to address some of the concerns that underlie the General’s stress. He will return from his brief period of meditative exercises or she will awaken from her sleep with new tactics to confront the opposition and assure the success of the strategy. Think of field operatives, Black Ops teams, and spies on the ground gathering facts, observing links, and making well-grounded assumptions about bits and pieces of information. This is what your subconscious, passive, intuitive, and creative aspect of mind is doing while you are in the state of meditation or sleep. Another good reason why ‘I’ need to take care of ‘Me’!

Everyone takes their turn at struggle and no one escapes those circumstances that bring stress flooding into their lives. From going to buy some apples to taking the children to visit the zoo, life is filled with predictable and unpredictable experiences that can stress you out. Some stress is good and necessary! But constant attacks of acute stress, or chronic stress (continuous high stress over an extended period of time) is more than not good. They are bad, dangerous, and life threatening. Learning how your body-mind communicates the need for a time-out is one of the most important things you can discover about yourself. Knowing how to manage your stress in ways that also invigorate your entire body-mind-spirit is a treasure that will serve you for the rest of your life.

Who is the Boss? You are! And my goal in writing this monthly Blog is to help motivate you, your family, your organization, and your company to Take Stress Seriously! If Sharif Enterprizes, Inc can assist you in enhancing your quality of life we look forward to hearing from you! Remember, your questions and comments on my Posts are welcome and appreciated!

Visit me at Sharif-Enterprizes.com to learn more about 

concepts and services that can benefit you and your organization.

Peace and Health!

Preview The Handbook On Being Human, vol I

Article of the Month: July 2011

Capitalism and Stress, Part II

Who Is The Boss?

Sometimes it is our own choices that generate the greatest amount of stress in our lives. In fact, I could probably get away with saying that more times than not we are the architects of our chronic stress. I started blogging over a year ago and found that I enjoyed the process of sharing my thoughts and responding to your questions and comments. Since I have several interests that are important to me, before long I had started four blogs and at one point was posting at least six to eight posts per month. Sharif Enterprizes, Inc is my consultant business site and The Quantum Sociologist is the blog for that site. I’m also a martial artist and give my students and others feedback and guidance on my Seifu-Sharif Blog. There is my non-profit corporation, the Peaceful Space Project, Inc. and of course I have to have a Blog for that program. And then there is my spiritual work that calls me to post on my Ile Awo Orisa Blog. Well guess what! It was my decision (choice) to start all four of these Blogs and the truth is that I really enjoy the process.

However, after a while keeping up with all four blogs with multiple posts each month started to be too much. I began to feel the fun and joy of the process gradually being replaced by the stress of keeping up with the demanding writing schedule for four distinct blogs. In other words, I had created a situation that was beginning to stress me out. I decided that it was in my best interest and in the interest of my readers for me to work out a better schedule and I settled on one post for each Blog on a monthly basis (four blogs, four posts, one per month for each blog). As soon as I decided on this new schedule, I began to feel better about my whole process, especially my ability to provide my readers with well thought out and written post on each of the sites.

Now why did I bother to share the above comments with you? There is a very important reason. Of course I want you to be aware of the fact that I will be posting to this blog once per month during the first full week of the each month. But there is also a very important lesson to be learned from what I shared and that lesson can be found in the following statements. I chose to come into the world, but the world can only see me. ‘I’ am responsible for ‘Me’! Thousands of years ago, the great Egyptian thinker Hermes formulated a theory about the nature of the human mind. His theory, based on his observations of the relationships and interactions between males and females is referred to as Mental Gender. Hermes suggested that each individual, both the male and the female have two essential qualities, capacities, or characteristics of the self. These two work together to make each individual a whole and balanced human being.

The Masculine Principle of Mind or the ‘I’ Aspect of the Self

Your ‘I’ is the conscious, idiosyncratic, willful, and objective aspect of your self. It is the aspect of your mental processes that distinguishes you from everyone else. It is the decision-maker in your community of mental parts. Your ‘I’ aspect of self is the command-and-control center of your mental processes. At least it is suppose to function in that capacity (‘I’ am responsible for ‘me’!). Your ‘I’ aspect is one party in the conversation that is constantly going on in your mind. ‘I wonder how he (or she) will react to me.’

The Feminine Principle of Mind or the ‘Me’ Aspect of the Self

Your ‘Me’ is the subconscious, subjective, intuitive, and passive aspect of your self. It is the social self that results from internalizing the social expectations and demands of others. Your ‘me’ aspect of self is like a soldier under the direct command of a superior officer. At least it is suppose to function in that capacity.

With these two concepts in mind (no pun intended) you can begin to act more effectively in managing the stressors that may be undermining your health, satisfaction, and happiness because you have identified the two primary types or sources of the stress in your life, the ‘I’ and the ‘Me’. If you take the time to really reflect on this topic you will come to recognize that one of the primary sources of your personal stress is your ‘I’ aspect of self. You see, ‘I’ am the one who decided that it was up to me to write my weekly Posts to my Blogs. And as the responsibility of writing weekly posts to four different Blogs began to weigh on ‘me’, a conversation began to emerge in my mind. “I wonder what people will think of ‘Me’ if I miss my weekly postings.” Can you see your own similar self-imposed circumstance and hear your own similar internal dialogue?

We will follow up on this Post next month but in the meantime here is a simple exercise you can do to empower yourself and gain greater control over the stress in your life. Each time you feel yourself getting stressed-out, repeat the statement to yourself, “I am responsible for me!” What you will find is that you will begin to move away from playing the blame game (that is, citing he, she, your sister, your brother, or your mother, father, husband, wife, boss, co-worker, etc. as the reason for your stress). This is simply giving your personal power away and ensuring your personal misery. Instead your internal dialogue will begin to move away from ‘them’ and begin to center on the relationship between your ‘I’ and your ‘Me’ aspects of self. What can I do to deal with and relieve me (myself) of this particular stress?

When I began to recognize that my schedule of posts was becoming a source of stress for me, I took charge and came up with a solution (schedule) that would work better and feel better for me. Sometimes your stressors may stem from a more complex source or set of circumstances but that doesn’t really change the point I am making in this Post. Whatever the source or circumstances, your approach to solving the problem should always begin with the awareness that “I am responsible for me!”

Who is the Boss? You are!

To be continued!

Visit me at Sharif-Enterprizes.com to learn more about 

concepts and services that can benefit you and your organization.

Peace and Health!

Preview The Handbook On Being Human, vol I

Article of the Month: June 2011

Capitalism and Stress, Part I

Work-Related Stress Part II

If you are working as a household manager, and corporate employee, or going to school, you are undoubtedly dealing with some level of stress. If your stress level is high and unrelenting then your health is at stake and you need to develop some strategies for dealing with your stress. Technological advances, the pervasiveness of media and their commercial brand of advertising, and globalization are converging like a tsunami wiping away our old world and bringing us face to face with a seemingly unstoppable new reality. (Did You Know 3.0)

Understanding some of the sources of your work-related stress is the first step towards working out some solutions. Last month we discussed Poor Work Conditions, Work Overload, and Time Pressure. Here are some others to consider!

Role Conflict

Are you caught between two supervisors or managers who constantly give you incompatible assignments and deadlines or otherwise keep you locked in a dilemma that you seem unable to resolve? Damned if you do and damned if you don’t! Please one and earn the wrath of the other. Then your situation is an example of Role Conflict. This kind of occupational stressor can also emerge as a result of what might otherwise be a joyful occasion. Maybe you’ve been on your present job for a number of years and have developed close social relationships with a number of your co-workers. Then to your great joy you get that promotion you have been working so hard to get. Now comes the Role Conflict! How should you act towards the group of friends who you now supervise or manage? The occasion can create an inner struggle centered between your personal and professional relationships. Should you still chat with them on the job and go to lunch with them as you have for years? As more and more women move into areas of the economy that were formerly reserved for men, or vice versa (men becoming nurses, and pre-school teachers) they too can experience Role Conflict as they strive to balance career expectations with the social expectations assigned by the culture.

Role Strain

You could be an artist who was asked to work on an assignment that you feel exploits children, something that you are very strongly against. You also are under contract and at the time believe that your future career is dependent on your keeping the job and fulfilling the terms of your contract. You also don’t want your reputation to be damaged in any way. While completing the assignment you will likely be experiencing Role Strain, your social professional position as artist imposes demands and expectations on you that are in conflict with some aspect of your foundational personality and self-concept.

Role Strain can also occur when your work environment requires you to tolerate the behaviors or activities of co-workers or the company even though they may be in conflict with your deeply held religious beliefs, established health practices, or cultural traditions. Certainly Muslims who seek out opportunities to make their daily prayers during the workday experience Role Strain. Another form of role strain is called Role Ambiguity, which occurs when aspects of the job and workplace are unclear and employees are forced to deal with inconsistencies, confusion, and remedial work to correct errors that they know could have been avoided if instructions were clear in the beginning and if everyone followed their instructions.

Thwarted Ambitions

What a tragic loss for the individual and the company when employees’ ambitions are thwarted. It is obvious that everyone cannot rise to the top, but it should be equally obvious that those employees who strive to rise should find their path challenging, but open. Too often good workers find their path blocked not because of a failure on their part, but because of biases and prejudices that lurk in the shadows of corporate and organizational environments. Race, ethnicity, religion, gender, appearance and a host of other biases and prejudices can act like a scalpel cutting away at the vibrancy and creativity that arises in diverse environments. Thwarted Ambitions is also a powerful stressor because a sense of injustice travels with it and it can cause the individual to feel both frustration and resentment that can lead to depression or rage.

Social Change of the Fourth Kind

You can review my article on Social Change of the Fourth Kind (Preview). We are currently experiencing this level of social change as depicted in the video clip Did You Know 3.0. Now that we discussed some of the sources of work-related stress lets talk solutions.

Try this problem solving exercise!

Step 1: Decide the source of your work-related stress.
Step 2: Decide who are the co-workers, supervisors, or managers most directly connected to the source of your stress.
Step 3: Write a detailed statement of what you see as the problem and the solution.
Step 4: Write the conversations you would have with each of the people who you identified in Step 2. Say what you really wish you could say!
Step 5: Edit! Now rewrite the conversation taking out all of the stuff that would only make things worst.
Step 6: Add into your conversations the benefits that the other individuals will receive from solving the problem.
Step 7: Pick any day at work and imagine yourself having that conversation with each of the people on your list.
Step 8: Decide whether you really believe that your best attempt at talking the issues through with any or all of the individuals would make a positive difference.
Step 9: If your decision is yes, then go ahead and try to change your situation by encouraging them to change in some way.
Step 10: If your decision is no, then accept that in your present work environment this is something that you are going to have to cope with so the change is going to have to come from and start with you.
Step 11: Determine not to dwell in the negative because that will allow the situation at work to also poison other aspects of your life.
Step 12: Give yourself something positive to do as a short break during the workday. (A few minutes of Qigong practice is always good and requires no equipment.)
Step 13: Do something to help you release the negative energy of the day immediately after leaving work. Some music, inspirational materials, or a special interest program on the radio can all help to make your drive or ride home a first step in coping with a situation (that for the moment) you cannot change.
Step 14: Check out some of the information and recommendations on my various web sites.

Visit me at Sharif-Enterprizes.com to learn more about 

concepts and services that can benefit you and your organization.

Peace and Health!

Preview The Handbook On Being Human, vol I

Article of the Month: April 2011

Got Stress?

Work-Related Stress

I can remember hearing people make fun of traditions of other cultures and peoples who take time to relax during the middle of the day. How can they waste their time like that? No wonder they can’t keep up with us! Ha! Ha! Maybe we are the ones wasting time. Shorting our lives by not finding the right rhythm for living. Work is just that! Work! Some of us are fortunate enough to enjoy the work that we do, but it is still work. For most of us it is something we do out of necessity and it takes time away from the other things that we would rather be doing. Enjoying the kind of work that you do is important but it is not the only factor that impacts on your level of work-related stress. A degree of work-related stress should be expected – after all it is work! In fact, the right measure and kind of work-related stress can and should be beneficial to the entire company serving to motivate, inspire, encourage, and facilitate work-related performance and job satisfaction at all levels. The problem comes in when companies undermine the systemic health of their organizations by first, failing to give adequate consideration to the toxic nature of work-related stress; and second, failing to provide their employees with opportunities to participate in stress mitigation activities on the job. Both employers and employees should be mindful of these sources of work-related stress.

Poor Work Conditions
Work conditions range from a comfortable chair and good lighting in an office to the proper equipment and facilities on a work site. Job expectations in relationship to the organization, management, and supervision of the work are also a part of the work conditions. Trying to meet high performance expectations under poor work conditions is like trying to squeeze a camel through the eye of a needle – if you get my drift. It is stressful for everyone associated with the process. Who in an organization knows better what work conditions frustrate them in the performance of their jobs than the people doing the jobs? Companies that fail to seek and address suggestions coming from the production level of their organization are wasting human energy and financial capital. Think of it this way! The more ideal the work conditions the less drag on performance. The less ideal the work conditions the greater the need to provide workers with opportunities to mitigate work-related stress during the workday.

Work Overload
As a CEO, President, or Executive Director you’re probably thinking, what else can I do? This has to get done! From neighborhood to international organizations the world of globalization is generating production pressures and levels of competition so dynamic that many simply cannot keep up. The effects of work overload cascade downward and outward like a waterfall narrow and powerful at the top and broadening itself like a pyramid as it wears away the surface of everything below. The increase in work tasks associated with the accomplishment of an organizational goal can be geometric as a project moves from the administrative to the production level of the organization. When the administrative team of an organization fails to take the task-pyramid effect into account in setting goals for their production teams they increase the amount of stress in the organization and assure decreased performance. Unless they are wise enough to provide their workers with training in effective on-the-job stress management techniques.

Time Pressure
Work overload and time pressure go hand-n-hand. Each level of your organization needs to understand and take into consideration the relationship between the task-pyramid effect and the project time-line. In other words, it is easier for a manager to commit to giving a 3:00PM briefing than it is for his secretarial staff to put together the 23-page slide presentation that they are assigned at 2:13PM. The secretarial staff is put under increased stress because of that management decision. Maybe 3:30PM would have worked! Or at least, there should be an opportunity for the staff to manage that work-related stress once the project is complete. The body-mind cycles up and down naturally throughout the day and work-related schedules and demands can interrupt these innate rhythms with negative consequences to your health. Creating opportunities and taking advantage of opportunities to manage work-related stress on-the-job is essential to maintaining personal and corporate health.

Next month we will comment on Role Conflict, Role Strain, Thwarted Ambitions, and Social Change of the Fourth Kind as sources of work-related stress.

Visit me at Sharif-Enterprizes.com to learn more about 

concepts and services that can benefit you and your organization.

Peace and Health!

Preview The Handbook On Being Human, vol I

Article of the Month: March 2011

Navigating the Currents of Cultural Forces

Getting The Most Out Of Your Stress

If you have explored our web site and newsletters then you have already learned a lot about stress. You have also learned about Social Change of the Fourth Kind. You also know that we are experiencing this level of social change at this very moment. And that means most of us are experiencing high and in many cases chronic levels of stress. Loss of jobs brings financial stressors, family tensions, self-esteem issues, and other worries and concerns that seem overwhelming. Having to lay off or fire workers who you have known for years gives rise to empathy and compassion mixed with a good measure of guilt, just enough to make your heart feel heavy and for you to feel helpless. Seeing the cost of all of the things that you need to survive go up as your real income seems to go down creates its own set of anticipatory fears as you wonder how long our fragile security will hold up. Wondering what kind of future your children will face as you watch the world churn into new and unfamiliar configurations. There are no shortage of stressors for you to manage.

Of course all of these everyday concerns are taking place in the context of the stressors emanating from larger neighborhood, municipal, state, national, and global shifts in the social fabric that also ultimately find their way into your consciousness. Mass murders, terrorist threats, immigration issues, political tensions, international uprisings, economic instability, health care access and cost, food and product safety, unsafe drivers, identity theft and Internet security, and let us not fail to mention global warming and other environmental issues. Unless you live in a cave or the woods, or have decided to turn off your television or ban the news in your home, you are probably bombarded with hundreds of auditory and visual images of this fragmented world of nightmares everyday. You have also learned as a friend of Sharif Enterprizes, Inc. and a visitor to our web site that Stress Kills! That is the worst-case scenario but some of the chronic debilitating effects of stress can make your life a real drag. So ask yourself, Got Stress? If your answer is yes, then you need to do something about it!

Getting The Most Out Of Your Stress begins with recognizing that the term stress represents and refers to a real set of bio-chemical and psychological changes that occur when you are confronted with persons, places, things, or events that trigger your Fight-or-Flight Response. This is a subject that the Mysterious Dr. M. covers thoroughly in the Handbook On Being Human, Vol I. (Preview) Here is another fact to keep in your mind. You may remember it from grade school. Energy is neither created nor destroyed only changed from one form to another. Now put the two ideas together! Yes! Stress, the stress that can present a problem for you is a transfer of energy from those persons, places, things, or events that trigger your Fight-or-Flight Response and you must somehow convert that energy into a non-toxic form or release it through a healthy and beneficial outlet before it can have its detrimental effects on you. Since these negative stressors have an affect on both your both and your mind (your thoughts, attitudes, emotions, mood, level of enthusiasm, etc.) the methods you use to transform and utilize the energy must satisfy the needs of both your both and your mind.

Qigong (Chi Kung) practice is an excellent method for managing your stress. Qigong is an ancient form of exercises practiced fervently throughout China for centuries. It is both similar to and different from East Indian Yoga. Qigong involves breathing exercises that help to balance heart rate, blood flow, respiratory rhythm, and blood oxygenation. It also includes postures and body movements that help to relax the muscles, stimulate the vital organs and systems of the body, and enhance flexibility and coordination. Qigong exercises are generally referred to as a moving meditation referring to the Peaceful Space (Preview) one enters into while practicing the exercises. You can learn more about the Benefits of Qigong Training by clicking on the link in the Seifu-Sharif.com Library. (Preview)

Don’t waste your positive energy fighting with the negative energy that emerges in the course of everyday life. In stead, take that negative energy and transform it into positive energy by doing something beneficial to yourself or helpful to others. That is part of the Prime Directive of the Human Family.

Peace and Health!

Preview The Handbook On Being Human, vol I

Article of the Month: February 2011

Navigating the Currents of Cultural Forces