Business 63 – A Pandemic Proverb A Day Keeps Uncertainty And Fear Away

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Marcus Aurelius: How To Have Character | Renaissance Man Journal

Warm up

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  1. What industry do you work in and what is your role?
  2. What are your responses in your role / position?
  3. Can you describe to the function of your workplace / company?
  4. How many departments, how many offices. National or International?
  5. What are the minimum requirements for employment ie Education or Experience?
  6. How many opportunities are there to ‘move up the ladder’?
  7. What is the process for changing job roles ie Interview? Test?

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General discussion about your workweek:

  1. Current projects? Deadlines? Opportunities?
  2. Anything of interest happening?

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Script

1. The uncertainty and stress of the Coronavirus nipping at our heels while we’re trying to work might be the biggest battle any of us has ever fought. But what about the ones we fight inwardly every day of the pandemic? What about the fears, insecurities, self-doubts, and hopelessness? A large body of research shows that proverbs reverse negative internal messages and cultivate hopefulness by providing a broader perspective, especially in times of threats to the self.

2.  The greatest minds in history remind us that a hopeful perspective can pull us through obstacles and challenges like the pandemic. Some of the wisest and strongest figures in history overcame meteoric challenges because of their resilience.

3.  Positive affirmations from the greatest names on the planet, past and present, can help us persevere through the outside battles and win our internal struggles. Embedded in pithy, bite-sized quotations these kernels of wisdom can calm our minds and soothe our hearts. Although short and easy to read, their echoes are endless.

4. The positive messages have the potential to lodge themselves within you. They summon your inner resilience, ease your mind and nourish your soul in a deeply meaningful way, escorting you with hope through the ups-and-downs of the daunting days ahead.

5. “You have power over your mind—not outside events. Realize this, and you will find strength.”—Marcus Aurelius (121 AD-180 AD), Stoic philosopher and Roman emperor.

6. “The world exists as you perceive it. It is not what you see but how you see it. It is not what you hear but how you hear it. It is not what you feel but how you feel it.”—Rumi (1207-1273), 13th Century Persian poet and Islamic scholar

7. “It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent. It is the one that is most adaptable to change.”—Charles Darwin, (1809-1882), scientist 1809-1882

8. “Life ain’t about how fast you run or how high you climb. It’s all about how good you bounce.”—Mark Twain (1835-1910), American writer, humorist
9. “Of all the liars in the world sometimes the worst are our fears.”—Rudyard Kipling (1865-1936), novelist, poet, and journalist
10. “Your battles inspired me—not the obvious material battles but those that were fought and won behind your forehead.”—James Joyce (1882-1941), novelist and poet
11. “The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.”—Franklin D. Roosevelt (1882-1945), 32nd President of the United States from 1933 to 1945
12. “Every strike brings me closer to the next home run.”—Babe Ruth (1895-1948), Hall of Fame baseball player
13. “A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty.”—Winston Churchill (1874-1965), Prime Minister of the United Kingdom during World War II 
14. “The world breaks everyone and afterward many are strong in broken places.”—Ernest Hemingway (1899-1961), novelist
15. “Alone we can do so little; together we can do so much.”—Helen Keller (1880-1968), author and political activist 
16. “The cave you fear to enter holds the treasure you seek.”—Joseph Campbell (1904-1987), American professor, writer, and orator
17. “Everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms—to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one’s own way.”—Viktor Frankl (1905-1997), neurologist, psychiatrist, and Holocaust survivor
18. “The only tired I was, was tired of giving in”—Rosa Parks (1913-2005), civil rights activist
19. “If you can’t fly then run, if you can’t run then walk, if you can’t walk then crawl, but whatever you do you have to keep moving forward.”—Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929-1968), American minister and leader In the Civil Rights Movement
20. “Ours is not the task of fixing the entire world all at once, but of stretching to mend the part that is within our reach.”—Clarissa Pinkola Estés, (1945-  ), American writer and Jungian psychoanalyst
21. “If uncertainty is unacceptable to you, it turns into fear. If it is perfectly acceptable, it turns into increased aliveness, alertness, and creativity.”—Eckhart Tolle (1948-  ), author and spiritual teacher
22. “And once the storm is over, you won’t remember how you made it through, how you managed to survive. You won’t even be sure, whether the storm is really over. But one thing is certain. When you come out of the storm, you won’t be the same person who walked in. That’s what this storm’s all about.”—Haruki Murakami (1949-  ), Japanese writer
Discussion

1. What are most well known proverbs in Japan? – Why do you think they became so well known?

2. Do you have any personal favourite sayings/proverbs/quotes? Perhaps one which you occasionally remind yourself of?

3. Many of these quotes are from influential activists, politicians and writers of the 20th century. Who would you consider to be the most influential of these in Japan?