The Union Between Souls

The Union Between Souls

In her new book “Bittersweet,” Susan Cain discusses why sadness and the happiness of melancholy are key to achieving self-transcendence and the union between souls. As with the majority of people, you’ve probably been taught your entire life to look at the positive side and be happy no matter what. While there is a place for optimism and looking at the bright side, by burying your melancholy and sadness, you may actually be doing yourself a terrible disservice

In my solo episode this week, I discuss the science of learning. What it is, how we form our memories, and why it is so important for our future success.

PASSION STRUCK WITH JOHN R. MILES

Q&A with John and Susan Cain

Episode 121: Q&A: Bittersweet, the Happiness of the Melancholy, and How Sorrow Creates the Union Between Souls

In this week’s episode of Pasion Struck with John R. Miles,?John does a Q&A with his friend, Susan Cain. They discuss the happiness of the melancholy, the importance of raising children to value sorrow, longing, compassion, and disappointment, why we need to concentrate on bittersweetness, and more.

Key takeaways:

• The Whole Idea of Bittersweet.?Susan explains, “The message that we are sending our kids and our adult selves, the messages that when things are going well, that’s the main story. And when you experience sorrow or longing, that’s a detour from the main road. If we could instead understand that it’s all the main road, then what that would do is normalize our experiences. When difficult things would come to us, we would be able to experience them very differently, and also look at other people’s difficulties in a more open way, because we wouldn’t find them so scary, or so distasteful.”

• Raising Children to Value Longing, Sorrow, Compassion and Disappointment.?Susan remarks, “My perspective is that we need to normalize it for them. We need to teach children from an early age, not in a heavy way, but just in a matter of fact, the way that this is part of life. I feel like one of the things that we need to do as parents is, while they’re still under our loving rooves, that’s actually the best time to be exposing them gently to the things that the world has in store so that they can understand when those things happen. That this is part of it, that this is part of the deal. But joy is also part of the deal, and to help them work through it and understand it. I think one of the best things that we can do for our kids is to explain the totality of life to them while they still are with us and, and still have parental love to help them navigate that.”

WHAT'S INSPIRING ME

All around us, people talk about success, and the repercussions of what it is and how it is achieved weigh heavily in society today. These definitions are thrust on us by how others perceive our success and how we define it for ourselves. Famous author and leadership coach Miles Munroe once said, "True success is not a project but a journey." Munroe summarizes that success is not achieved by a single event but by a succession of steps and actions. The quote illustrates that we are never to conclude that a person is unsuccessful simply because of temporary situations that do not fit into the general definition of success.

WHAT I'M READING

Everything is #@%!ed: A Book About Hope

In this book, Mark Manson makes the argument that the uncomfortable truth about the world today is that even though we have experienced a paradox of progress, the world is facing nihilism and the pure indulgence of materialistic things. It is power for power’s sake. He discusses throughout the book what is happening in the world that is actually making us feel worse, despite everything getting consistently better all around us.

Check out my entire reading list.

QUOTE OF THE WEEK

"Our impulse to respond to other beings’ sadness sits in the same location as our need to breathe, digest food, reproduce, and protect our babies; in the same place as our desire to be rewarded and to enjoy life’s pleasures."

- Susan Cain

PRACTICE OR HABIT TO TRY

Many people resonate with former First Lady Abigail Adam’s quote,?“Learning is not attained by chance; it must be sought for with ard/or and attended to with diligence.”

What do you think the most important word in that sentence is?

Diligence.

A lot of us focus on?doing, especially when we set out to learn new things.

That is useful and appropriate.?

But it’s crucial to pay as much, if not more, attention to seeking knowledge and making intentional learning efforts.

As with every worthwhile thing in life, learning is improved only by persistence and consistency.

So think about it.

We all learn differently, and understanding the science of learning principles helps us all uniquely learn better.

And the more we know, the easier it is to learn and understand new things.

That’s all for now!?

Grateful for YOU!

LIVE LIFE PASSION STRUCK!

John

P.S.?What is the Science of learning?

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