The three umpires... which one are you most like?

Last night, before I got to bed, I wanted to "talk to" Source.

OK, I actually don"t know what Source is. But over the past 10 or so years I have learned that Source either doesn"t know something, and will let me know, or what source says yes to is actually true.

The conversation was about money, about my business, about the numbers that seem to tell me that nobody loves me any more...

Now, I have been learning how to ask questions... so I asked if my business is in trouble... No, was the surprising answer. Did I do something wrong? No, was the answer. Do I need to worry? No, was the answer. Do I need to do anything? No, was the answer. Whatever is going on is not me.

OK... hm... interesting.

Can I consider this sudden lull in business a good thing? Yes. If I refresh my business, put more energy into it... is that a good thing? Yes.

Now, why am I sharing this?

Because I want to share with you that we don"t see past our noses.

Imagine driving in a thick fog, or if you are in my area, in a whiteout...

If you imagine things, you are reactive, if you drive faster than you could walk, your chances of making a mistake are 100%. You are as good as blind.

And sometimes, in life, it is like that. Or maybe always?

But we never find out, unless we become experimenting machines. Poking reality, so we can get more information than just lamely sit there, hoping.

Poking is not what you normally do, do you? You tell yourself, or more precisely, the voices tell you that you are in trouble, or that you know what"s going on, and then you react.

But you don"t know. You can"t know.

• I was sure that suddenly I was in trouble. That maybe there is gossip about me on the internet.


• One of my students" water wasn"t charging. He KNEW that it was his headphones, and to prove it, he switched to another one.

What he didn"t consider is this: the solar storm was interfering with the water, with the charging...

You always behave as if you were smarter than anybody else.

I recommend that when you feel smarter, you rein in your horses, slow down, and say: it ain"t necessarily so.

The voices will always tell you that you are smarter... Smarter than anyone. Because only you can know.

And every time you act on what the voices tell you, you are indeed stupid. Because what you act from: I know. or I know better.

Humility is being willing to not know. Humility is being willing to look. To wait. To ponder.

But the voices have no patience for that... The voices will keep you a "smart asshole", pardon my French...

When you are listening to the voices, you are ALWAYS reactive. And you are always taking wrong actions, ineffective actions, actions that take you further from the straight and narrow that leads to the good life, to health, wealth, love and fulfillment. Always.

In big things and in small things.

Given the limited perspective of the human mind... we cannot know everything; in fact we know very little. And even what we know we know from the voices and the memes... and what we know is wrong.

What we call common sense is from the voices. What we call intuitive is also from the voices.

When I learned Aikido, I could see that what is intuitive is going to get me killed. I wanted to push when what would work is pulling.

When I want to convince someone to do something, the strategy of pushing is intuitive... but what works is pulling.

And when something looks dangerous, the intuitive is to react sharply... whereas the strategy that works is to look deeper, and see.

And in my case: Talk to Source... lol.

And maybe ask: is there anything I don"t know? Could it be that I am suddenly a zombie chasing mirages?

Or say: It ain"t necessarily so.

The three umpires story is one of my favorites:

A reporter is interviewing umpires (the judges in baseball for you non-Americans).

How do you call ball or strike? He asks.

He has three umpires in the studio, a rookie, who is still green, a journeyman who has some years under his belt. And a seasoned umpire, who has been doing this for decades.

• The rookie answers: I call it the way it is


• The journeyman answers: I call it the way I see it


• The seasoned umpire answers: It ain"t nothing till I call it.

And thus is life. When you react or respond: you really call it... and then have to bear the consequences. But consider that you are a rookie umpire in the game of life... all that "I call the way it is" arrogance has rendered you an ineffective "umpire"... and you spend an awful lot of time picking up the pieces instead of moving your life towards the good life.

I can see it from the sidelines. Not the correct actions, mind you, but your mistakes. And I see that they all come from your arrogance and the voices.

Humility is being willing to suspend all you know, so you can look, so you can listen, so you can learn.

Lack of humility will kill your life. Every time.