“Chaos is mater, origin, source, mother; materia, the substance from which all things are made.” - Jordan Peterson.

Tired.

Even if I work 4 to 5 hour shifts I’m always exhausted at the end of the day.

Kind of pathetic, yeah?

I’d like to excuse myself by saying it’s my first job ever, but maybe there’s something wrong with me.

I went to my physiotherapy appointment, had a shower, had dinner, goofed off for two to three hours and now here I am.

It’s 9pm and I still haven’t read my ten pages.

Sigh.

Seems like we’re only doing ten pages today, folks.

This is why we go with low tangible numbers. 

No matter how tired you are you can just push through it.

And hey! I’m writing my thoughts as I actually read - maybe it’ll be more cohesive this time.

Stats 

Habit: Reading

Date: 08/02/2018

Currently Reading: 12 Rules for Life: An Antidote to Chaos

Previously Read: N/A

Pages Read Today (Minimum 10): 10

The Book Of The Day

source

Jordan Peterson’s ‘12 Rules for Life: An Antidote to Chaos’!

Gather around people! 

We are on Chapter… drum roll, please… two! 

Yes, yes, I know! Exciting stuff!

What are we going to learn today? What’s in the box book today?

Rule 2: Treat Yourself Like Someone You Are Responsible For Helping

"Why won’t you just take your damn pills?"

Well. First of all. I do, thank you very much, Mr. Peterson.

Never mind. Peterson went on to reference a study - if you give medicine to 100 people, 33 won’t fill the prescription, 33 or 34 will fill it, but won’t take it correctly or consistently. 

So who is to blame for the patient’s lack of responsibility in taking the pills? Or was it the doctor’s responsibility?

It is interesting to note how the ‘blame’ is placed on patients who don’t take their medicine, based on the profession of the professional. 

Peterson notes that psychologists take the blame, thinking that their advice was not effective enough. This is in contrast to doctors. 

Of course, this is quite a generalizing statement, as well as so over-arching you can dismiss it based on your own experiences.

So here’s a question which is raised in the book.

Why do we care for others so much, but not ourselves? 

Why is it that when you are hurt you insist on going on, disregarding the detrimental side effects to your body, whether short term or long term, then immediately drop everything when someone close to you does the exact same thing?

Peterson’s example goes between you and your pet, where he raises the exact same questions, except instead of another person it’s about your cat, dog, fish or bird. Unsurprisingly, Peterson finds his answers within one of the Bible’s stories.

In relation to religion and spirituality:

“Because we are so scientific now - and so determinedly materialistic - it is very difficult for us to even understand that other ways of seeing can and do exist.”

Because we are used to our lives currently with science and materialistic possessions, we are only computing what our eyes see and take what is correct and true information as fact. It reminds me of a quote which I heard whilst watching American Horror Story: Hotel.

“And you have made yourself blind to everything but what your eyes can see.” - American Horror Story: Hotel. James March.

Peterson talks of chaos and order in relation to the Bible, however, since I’m not a particularly religious person I can’t really make any comments on it. I can only understand as much as I read. 

I am not too sure of the references presented, but the ideas still come through. 

“[Chaos and order] are perceived, experienced and understood as personalities - and that is just as true of the perceptions, experiences, and understanding of modern people as their ancient forebears. It’s just that moderners don’t notice.” 

“Chaos is possibility itself, the source of ideas, the mysterious realm of gestation and birth.”

“Elkhonon Goldberg, [...], has proposed quite lucidly and directly that the very hemispheric structure of the cortex reflects the fundamental division between novelty and routinization.” 

“An idea is more credible when it emerges as a consequence of investigations in different realms.”

Sleep time!

It is of no use if I don’t put in some effort.

Yes, the quality may be a bit lower than the last three days, but I’m still pushing myself into doing it. 

It reminds me of when I first started my Korean words habit. 

It would be late in the night, no matter how tired I was, I would push through with learning 20 words.

When I look over those memories I can only think - ‘Had I not pushed through I wouldn’t have learned so much, nor would I have ended up in this position.’

A step a day, my friends. 

Brick by brick.

Perhaps I will tell you stories about my hiking trips. 

But anyway,

Thanks for joining this ride! I hope you’ve enjoyed it thus far. 

Tell me what you think of the book at its current stage! What are your thoughts on the quotes given and questions raised?

And don’t forget to follow if you’d like to see more updates and thoughts from me,

C8!

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