The Most Important Thing To Know

THE MOST IMPORTANT THING TO KNOW
By
William Cottringer, Ph.D.

“My quest has taken me through the physical, the metaphysical, the delusional and back...~John Forbes Nash.

I am sure you all remember the powerful move, “A Beautiful Mind” (a great movie and book title!) in which the Aussie actor Russell Crowe played the Princeton Genius and Nobel Laurite John Forbes Nash. Dr. Nash’s primary quest was to discover one truly unique idea, which he did with his non-cooperative economic game theory. And, being a mathematician, that was quite a feat.

I was so intrigued with the movie and the person, I e-mailed the Princeton professor and even got a meaningful reply! If you haven’t gone to the popular website offshoot, do so at http://www.princeton.edu/~mdaniels/PD/PD.html I think the paradigm shift from win-lose, uncooperative zero-sum games to win-win cooperative ones is finally taking hold, maybe with a little t help of Stephen Covey’s “Seven Habits ” book several years ago.

Somewhere in between a very frustrating day at work with my mind near implosion, a delicious patty melt, seasoned curly fries with ranch dressing, a draft Coors Lite pint and shot of Dewar’s, I think I had a truly unique idea that I had to run home to my computer and try out. Here it is:

"The most important thing to know in life is the many things to strive to reach a healthy balance between and the few that you should just hold your breath, close your eyes and jump in with all fours."

If this idea is really just old and retold, it certainly is a new twist for me. Balance has been a very important part of my personal growth journey and even giving up a small part of that core value hasn’t been easy. In fact, I think it is really just one of those gradual transformational things that seemed to happen overnight.

Here are just a few of the many areas I have found it helpful to try and reach a healthy balance between extremes:

• Doing vs. being.
• Talking vs. listening.
• Maintaining vs. growing.
• Frivolous spending vs. spendthrift saving.
• Working vs. playing
• Feeling vs. thinking.
• Acceptance of other people vs. encouraging improvement.
• Overindulgence of pleasures vs. stark abstinence.
• Quantity vs. quality.
• Abstract ideas vs. practical solutions.
• Planning vs. spontaneity.
• Zooming down on details to zooming out to the big picture.
• Scurrying for short range fixes vs. planning for long-range cures.
• Creating chaos vs. restoring order.

Now the question becomes, what things am I going to commit to 101%, holding my breath, closing my eyes and jumping in with all fours? Here is my short list so far:

• Seeking the pure truth apart from contaminated versions, shallow thinking and the myth of objectivity.
• Being all accepting and including, especially in adversity.
• Giving all generously and taking none selfishly.
• Practicing humility without traces of egocentricity.
• Letting go to hope, faith and optimism.
• Seeking win-win outcomes all the time.
• Focusing on change and letting results come as they will.
• Embracing the wisdom of insecurity.
• Loving and serving God, family and friends generously.
• Slowing down and simplifying.

It might just be the process of me using this idea to sort the gold from the sand, which will get the best consequences for me. But then again I always seem to be three-fourths of the way to my destination when I wake up to where I am going. I have been making this transition all along and can only see that in the real view mirror.

Does this idea seem to describe where we are going on our journeys in a novel way, or is this all just old and retold and repackaged? I can handle the truth!