Talk Show Podcast: Stride and Prejudice

The following podcast is the audio version of the short story Stride and Prejudice which was posted few days ago. As someone who has always enjoyed listening to audio novels, I have done my best to edit an appealing audio presentation by incorporating elements that I personally find attractive and alluring in the various audio programs that I regularly listen to; I sincerely hope that you would enjoy this 11-minute program.   

Alternatively you can download the podcast here

Stride and Prejudice, a Short Story by Dan Mulligan

“Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness.”
Mark Twain (American Humorist, Writer and Lecturer. 1835-1910)

Stride and Prejudice, a Short Story by Dan Mulligan

At the onset of fall, a mockingbird was roosting in her nest on top of an oak tree contriving the plan for her forthcoming voyage towards south. She was so engrossed in her scheme that she woke up before dawn and sat there contemplating regarding all the elements that would affect her trip. “The wind could be turbulent on the course, which means I ought to rest at least every two hours; furthermore, the temperature begins to ploddingly increase as I approach the South so it is imperative that I stop by as many rivers as I can in order to gulp some water.” She was still examining her strategy as the sun began to rise.

Following the dawn, a shrike that happened to nest on another oak tree right next to the mockingbird woke up as the daylight began to infiltrate the breezy forest. As he stretched his wings he saw the other bird immersed in her own mind deeply pondering.

“Morning neighbor” said the shrike,
“Oh hi, good morning” responded the mockingbird,
“What is going on? You seem quite preoccupied.”
“Oh, I am just planning for my trip south; I am going to stay there for the next six months”,
“And why do you want to do such thing when you can stay in this marvelous place?”

The mockingbird gave a wide gaze to the surrounding and said, “Indeed, it is very appealing here, but only during spring and summer, I have already began to get the chills at nights even though we have not even reached the midst of autumn”, The shrike felt an immediate surge of patriotism gripping his every fiber of being and told with an austere inflection: “You are going to South? Do you know that our fathers all moved to North because they were already disgruntled by the bleak circumstances in the other locals? Have you forgotten that our ancestors constantly faced lack of resources back in the past whereas here we build our breeding-grounds at the top of the long oak trees and have sufficient space in our nests which allows us to extend our wings freely? Can you find such reign in South?” The shrike commenced raising his voice as he ended one sentence and started another.

“What is all the temper for?” incredulously asked the mockingbird from the shrike;
“Because you are disregarding this lush land of ours and travelling to South, this is our land, and it has been like this for as long as we can recollect”,
“But I thought that all the birds that live in this forest originally come from the eastern shores?”
“Who told you that? I am a pure Northerner and I am certain that my family and grand-parents were just like us, seriously though, what makes you think that we come from the east?”
“In one of my trips east, I saw for myself many of our kinds; as a matter of fact they had been there long before North was populated by us”

The shrike who got clearly mad at this point simply responded harshly: “Listen; you can defect to the South, but I do not allow you to discredit our fine land, North is the best place in the whole world and you obviously do not deserve to enjoy its full benefit; I am going to stay here all year long to relish my dynasty”
“Are you positive that your dynasty is really here? How do you justify staying in this area during the freezing days of fall and winter? I was lucky to get a cold last winter, you were the one who suffered from frostbite”

The shrike could not find a good response, after all he could not deny the frostbite; in this way he merely asked another question instead of giving an answer: “And do you really think that your dynasty is in South?”
“I do not care much about dynasty since I cannot remember choosing my birthplace, I cannot ignore the fact that our ancestors were actually from east, and most of all, I recall very distinctively that last winter here I got sever cold and I do not intend to experience the same misfortune  once again, that I know for a fact”.Given that the shrike did not have as much information and his anger was mounting by the minute, he simply decided to fly off of his nest without saying anything else. 

"I have no country to fight for; my country is the earth, and I am a citizen of the world."
Eugene V. Debs

Later that day the mockingbird began her journey south, eventually after long days of flight and rest she finally arrived at the South; the warm ambience south made her so overjoyed that she launched into singing in the southern style; a phoebe heard her chant and got closer to see who is singing this beautifully in southern style. The phoebe was initially surprised as his eyes were laid on the mockingbird. Seeing her feathers, the phoebe instantly realized that the crooning bird must come from The North.

“Your southern singing style is so natural for a northerner” The phoebe said interrupting the mockingbird’s serenade.
“Oh hi there, thanks for the compliment, yes I can sing in both northern and southern style, I hope someday I can learn to imitate the eastern style as well” responded the gleeful mockingbird. 
“What brings you to the South?” The phoebe asked curiously,
“Well, I am going to stay here while the North is experiencing fall and winter”
“How come you do not want to stay here all year long?”
“Because fall and winter in South collides with spring and summer in North and for me spring and summer are more important than the actual place”
“You know that our falls and winters are much hotter than North, besides we southerners have the longest history and the richest culture among all the species of birds” said the phoebe trying to sell a culture that he did not own; 
“That is true, but the trees here are not as tall as I like them to be, also I have heard there are so many hawks in South”, 
“If the South is so bad then what in the world is the reason for coming all the way to South?” demanded the phoebe with prejudice,
“I never said here is bad, as a matter of fact there are plenty of things that I love about this place, yet I prefer to be where I am happier, and given how much I love warm whether there is no better place for me than the South at this time of year.” 

"A nation is a society united by a delusion about its ancestry and by common hatred of its neighbors."
William Ralph Inge

The phoebe finally told the mockingbird with a frank tone: “Down here we do not hang out with those who are different from us, we are proud of our history especially given that one generation after another, we made these lands our property”

“What could you possibly be proud of?” asked the mockingbird, “you were not even alive when hundreds of years ago the new breeds of birds settled in this area?” she finally ended her statement by rhetorically asking: “I thought we are supposed to be proud of what we have accomplished not what was accomplished by someone else many years ago?”
“When I say I am proud of my lineage, then it means you should damn well comply, listen, if you do not want any trouble around here then you might as well respect our heritage”
“I certainly do respect your heritage, but I thought that your ancestors came from the west and settled here?”
“What is your point?”
“I mean your land could be the West as much as the South, or even the whole world for that matter”

“Listen” the phoebe was trying to utter something but instead found himself unable to respond, he then tried to jump to other branches in order to go back to his nest,
“Why do not you fly?” asked the mockingbird
“My wing was broken last winter” answered the phoebe with a sense of disgrace,  
“Let me guess; the tree where your nest was rested was cut by a logger, you then fell on the ground and broke your wing?”
“What makes you say that?” responded the phoebe with a surprise on his face,
 “I did not know that, I just guessed. Although I know the fact that the humans around here are farmers during spring and summer, and work as lumberjacks during fall and winter”
“How did you know that?”
“Well, it does not matter how I knew that, in the end that is why I only stay here during spring and summer”

"Let us have but one end in view, the welfare of humanity; and let us put aside all selfishness in consideration of language, nationality, or religion."  ~John Comenius, 17th century philosopher

Resource vs. Resourcefulness

Pondering regarding the lives of successful individuals is both inspiring and surprising all at the same time. As a counselor and coach, I have always been astonished by the irony when it comes to achieving greatness among human beings. 

Most of the people who seek my help do so as a result of the imminent nuisance in their lives, but once I dig deeper I recognize that the majority of these persons who find themselves lost actually come from relatively wealthy and affluent families where they had everything they could possibly demand to triumph in life. Expensive gifts, attention, best schools, all means of support, yet you see that many of them are in fact dissatisfied with their lives and continue their existence without much sense of purpose. 

On the other hand, you come across folks who have been through all sorts of crises, kids who did not have enough money to buy food while they were at school, people who have been abused in every conceivable realm growing up, and despite experiencing the type of things that make someone else cry; interestingly enough, very often these people are the ones who make the most out of their lives. 

Thus, the question lingers: What makes the difference between the lives of those who come from nothing and manage to achieve everything, and the people who start their lives amidst all the feasible assets and end up dispirited and hopeless? 

The most outstanding answer to this question was given by Tony Robbins in his historic presentation at TED few years back. He declared that what we truly need in order to thrive and flourish is not resource, but rather resourcefulness. The distinction between these two are quite transparent, while resource refers to the material advantages such as money, time, and social status, resourcefulness is all about using whatever you have in your possession so as to solve difficult problems; creativity, passion, goal, love, determination, conscientiousness, motivation , and most importantly the ability to dream are what constitute the foundation of resourcefulness. 

In the following speech, the legendary Tony Robbins clarifies what truly makes the difference in the quality of people’s lives: 

Talk Show Podcast Episode Twelve, Slowing Down the Life

 

Dwelling in the modern societies, particularly in metropolises, is correlated with a hectic and fast pace that prevents most of the people from taking delight in their present moment. We are led to believe that we ought to accomplish every task as fast as we can; it is as if the whole world is going somewhere pretty quickly yet the majorities do not know where they are going.

Those who know me would tell you that I am a fan of Buddhism as well as Taoism, the ancient Chinese philosophies that consider life on its own purposeless and devoid of meaning. Buddha monks believe that life comes from NOWHERE and goes to NOWHERE while in between there is NOW-HERE.

Thus, this philosophy of life which is used in mediation focuses the life’s attention on merely the present moment rather than the past or the future, and attempts to seek none other than peace of mind by not getting involved with the things that are of no real importance.

I sincerely hope that we would not end-up becoming like one of the grown-ups in the historic book The Little Prince written by Antoine de Saint−Exupery. I yearn that you, the listener, try to slow down if just every now and then, sit for a slow conversation, and try to smell the flowers on the way.  

Alternatively you can download the podcast HERE

Talk Show 2.0 eBook : The Sweet Sixteen of Personalities Written By Dan Mulligan

As promised earlier to the attendants of Talk Show, I, hereby, present you with Talk Show 2.0’s first free eBook with the title The Sweet Sixteen of Personalities: Achieve Superior Relationships and Careers with the New Presentation of the 16 Personality Types of MBTI Designed for the People of the 21st Century. If you are interested to know more about your personality; if you would like to make better decisions in your romantic relationships and business; if you would like to know what you are more suited  for then this free eBook is just for you.

After questioning hundreds of attendants in my Talk Shows I realized that only a small minority of us are fully aware of our personalities, our capabilities and our true desires. In one of my most favorite books of all time The Future of Liberalism, Alan Wolfe mentions that “Modern life, in short, is characterized by millions of people running around utterly clueless about their goals in life”. Yet, the good news is, that by merely being cognizant of the 16 personalities we can dig deeper inside of our consciousness and locate our strengths, weaknesses, desires, and abilities.

Read the book online here

Download the book for free here

Please Criticize Me! By Daniel Mulligan

If you want to see me on top, if you want to help me understand my imperfection and improve myself, if you want to make me aware of the self-induced obstacles that are preventing me from reaching my true potential, if you want to allow me to act more maturly, if you want to expand my capabilities and enrich my areas of expertise, if you want to teach me a practical lesson, if you want to grow my emotional intelligence, if you want to assist me in my journey of self-discovery, if you want to make me more likable, if you want to increase my chances of getting result from other people, if you want to make it easier for me to be superior in health, wealth, and wisdom, if you want to give me a marvelous gift and only receive my thanks in return, if you truly want to make me happy then do not compliment me for I am confident enough to compliment myself all day long and thankfully I receive quite a few thumbs-ups from others every now and then.

 

However, I would like you to criticize me since that way you will do me a far greater favor. So,…Please criticize me! Thanks.  

The Motivational Quotes of the Week

1) Many of the things you can count, don't count. Many of the things you can't count really count.
- -Albert Einstein

2) Everything that irritates us about others can lead us to an understanding of ourselves.
--Carl Jung

3) It is not what we take up, but what we give up, that makes us rich.
— Henry Ward Beecher

4) The dreamers are the saviors of the world.
-- James Allen

5) I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am in.
-- The Bible, Phillipians 4:11 (NASB)

6) Don’t ask what the world needs. Ask what makes you come alive, and go do it. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive.
-- Howard Thurman

7) Remember that everyone you meet is afraid of something, loves something, and has lost something.
-- H. Jackson Brown Jr.

8) How does one become a butterfly? You must want to fly so much that you are willing to give up being a caterpillar.
-– Trina Paulus

9) Say what you want to say when you have the feeling and the chance. My greatest regrets are the things I did not do, the opportunities missed and the things unsaid.
-- Jim Keller

10) You can have anything you want if you are willing to give up the belief that you can't have it.
--Robert Anthony

My Faith

Once upon a time a friend asked me: “What is your religion?” 

To that question I gave the following response: 

“I am a liberal and thus believe that we all have the rights to choose our faith, and with the same token I am inclined to respect other people’s choice of belief system. However, I would use the same autonomy not to select a faith, but to create one. In this way I have set to establish a faith with my own limited knowledge, by myself, and for myself while respecting those who have decided to adopt their beliefs from the convenient sources such as organized religion. 

Hence, I am neither a believer nor a non-believer, neither Jewish nor Christian, neither Agnostic nor Atheist, since for me to be any of those demands conformation without ample information; to be categorized as such requires faith or lack thereof without sufficient reason since the futile attempt at proving the supremacy of your beliefs upon others requires the inherently flawed illusion of righteousness as well as a better-than-thou-attitude which only results in repudiation and intolerance. 

Religion is a choice that people make in order to appear just, I on the other hand do not choose to be right, but rather I choose to be happy.”

A Happy Day for New York, Same-Sex Marriage Legalized

Promoting the mental health as well as social status of LGBT has always been one of my passions in the world of psychology and politics. As a devoted liberal, I realized that unfortunately most of the LGBT’s suffer from lack of self-confidence and it is quite painful to hear that almost 40% of this minority group goes through their lives either attempting suicide or contemplating to do so. 

While I am heterosexual myself, I have always considered sexual orientation to be a result of genetic predispositions. Due to lack of knowledge and dogmatism homosexuality was considered a disease in the ancient times and most often the identity of the homosexuals were kept a secret.

However, the American Psychiatric & Psychological Association has removed homosexuality from the list of mental illnesses more than three decades ago, and thus the new gay movement began. More and more celebrities, politicians, social workers, nurses, athletes, and etc came out of the closet and set out to ignite a movement to “promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty” for all the homosexuals out there.

Later, the liberal movement which consists of both hetero and homosexuals joined this movement in order to increase its effectiveness thereof. It is safe to say that there exist plenty of individuals from all walks of life who support the LGBT in their strive to make their voice heard. Nowadays, the gay movement’s voice can be heard on the streets, behind the podium, and even on national TV in political Talk Shows such as MSNBC’s Rachael Maddow Show.

Well, it finally happened, and it happened in none other than my beloved New York City. On Friday June 24th, New York law makers legalized same-sex marriage and New York will become the sixth state where gay couples can get married along with Connecticut, Iowa, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Vermont and Washington, D.C. 

Alas, we witnessed many gay bashers on the internet who condemned this movement and posted insulting messages on various forums, that is why I decided to write this post and tell all the gays out there:

Not all heterosexuals are homophobic and that there are plenty of us out there who understand you and foster your grand cause. I personally would like to congratulate the gay movement for this significant achievement.

As Martin Luther King emphasized on the concept of freedom and liberty  in his magnificent speech known as  “I have a dream”:

“And this will be the day when all of God's children will be able to sing with new meaning:

My country 'tis of thee, sweet land of liberty, of thee I sing.

Land where my fathers died, land of the Pilgrim's pride,

From every mountainside, let freedom ring!

And if America is to be a great nation, this must become true.

And so let freedom ring from the prodigious hilltops of New Hampshire.

Let freedom ring from the mighty mountains of New York.…”

And that bell was irrevocably heard, the ring of freedom was heeded in New York City. So I would like to leave all of you gays with one sentence:

Be happy of who you are, come out of the closet, and show the world that sexual orientation is no more important in determining your destiny than your color of preference, thus it is time for all of us to come together as humans and enjoy thriving in  a free world.   

 

The Future of Medical Science

In one of our Talk Shows the subject turned to euthanasia where we discussed the morality of killing a patient with an incurable illness painlessly. 

During that discourse one of the attendants gave an example regarding one of his friends who was fully paralyzed from the neck down after a disastrous accident and the fact that he only wanted to die so his suffering would stop. When it comes to such patients who have lost hope, alas, samples are ample.

I personally believe that the term "incurable disease" in the medical science should be replaced with the term “not curable yet”. Simply put, the technology within the medical field is progressing rapidly thanks to the digital and computer science, and everyday new solutions are emerging for ailments that were considered to mark the end of functional life merely years back. 

Believe it or not, the future of medical science is glorious to say the least. The digital technology allows a doctor to carry all the information she needs during her diagnosis in a tiny iphone; via robotics we can now prepare fully functional machinelike limbs for the paralyzed and limbless alike. Nanotechnology allows extremely microscopic robots, as small as a blood cell, to traverse the circulatory system and monitor all the vital functions and detect ailment. The social networking and communication technology can give the patients the opportunity to visit their doctors online without having to leave the comfort of their houses since only about 30% of all visits to the doctor’s office actually require physical presence of the patient, and many other new innovations that are on the way. 

Robotics helps paralyzed patients to not only walk, but also take the stairs.

We are already amidst a robust evolution in the world of health and medicine, so those of you who know a friend, relative, or acquaintance with a severe illness that seems incurable by most doctors, just remind them that their disease is merely “not curable yet”. All they have to do is to trust in the future of the medical science.

I would strongly recommend you to watch the following speech by an experienced oncologist named Daniel Kraft concerning the drastic expansion of the medical field in the upcoming years;    

Two ways to be motivated: Self-motivation and Self-motivation!!!

Being a motivational speaker more than anything else made me realize that no matter what I do or say, how energetic, funny, or inspirational my speeches are, the ultimate impact (to make others motivated) is merely a function of how induced each and every attendant wants to be from the inside.

I have had one-on-one consultancy sessions with people from all walks of life. A mother of a three-year-old who was contemplating divorce, a young man who just got graduated and was depressed due to unemployment, a middle-aged woman who could not find a suitable partner until the age of 40, spirited couples who were passionately in love with one another but were afraid of the challenges of immigration and its toll on their marriages, a 27 year old lady who did not like her job and felt that the reason behind her being single is that she is not good enough, a talented civil engineer at the beginning of his third decade of existence who felt that the only way to avoid the problem was by running away from the source, a youngster who claimed that his life had no purpose and that he did not know what he wants out of life, an intelligent and extremely talented transsexual who was contemplating escaping his family and country after being beaten and humiliated for the longing to be a woman, and many other cases where I was fortunate enough to contribute my ideas and thus improve the quality of thinking for the subjects.

Sometimes many of these sessions went on for a long time and had to be repeated periodically; many eventually decided to change their life, some, however, did not. On the other hand, I was once acquainted with a well-versed brain surgeon who was so happy with life that he said “I love my life, in fact, even if I lose my job as a surgeon I will certainly be able to work as a laborer and still be happy, what is the difference between me as a surgeon, and a laborer? We are all humans and we all can achieve happiness in whatever we do”.   

The previous example is a sufficient ground for what I am about to say: 

Motivation comes from the inside, not the other way around. Despite the fact that we all could benefit from listening to the magnificent speeches by motivational speakers all across the globe; while the fact that laughing at the jokes that I often throw in my own speeches may light up your heart and give you a temporary boost, the initial spark of incitement can only be ignited by ourselves rather than the others. 

Only those who gathered all their determination, focused all their attention, and made up their mind to motivate themselves for a better change left my counseling satisfied, and subsequently those who just wanted me to change their life by sweet words or hypnosis without any internal craving or the will to do what it takes were no more motivated after the sessions were long over.    

If you are sitting at your place waiting for the world to change for you, or someone to come to your rescue you might end up waiting for a long time, as a matter of fact, unbelievably a significant portion of the population on earth actually wait for their whole life, and finally at their final moments, express unbearable regrets for waiting to be motivated to do what they thought to be right.

In conclusion I would like to leave you with the following quote from Stephen R. Covey :  

Talk Show Podcast Episode Eleven

A whole new series of Talk Show 2.0 podcast begins by talking about the impact of judgment and the results that are likely to come out of judging the people around us. Join Dan Mulligan and Jack L.J. as well as Steve N.B. the guest of the show for a hot debate that features the following questions:

• What is judgment?

• Why do we judge others? What is the result of doing so?

• What role does judgment play in determining one’s success as well as relationships?

• How can we reduce the negative role of judgment in our lives?

All of those questions and more are answered in the next 25 minutes that you will spend with us.

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