Have you ever worked for and received a degree or a certification or a something in a something, or maybe you did something that not too many other people have accomplished? Then, when it was mentioned that you had achieved that something-something, did someone else claimed that you did not do it? They had no proof of this fact. They were just believing whatever it is they were believing; based upon whatever false reality they were living in. Nonetheless, their claiming it caused doubt about who you are, what you’ve done, what you’ve achieved, and what you may have accomplished.
 
I always find the reality of this reality interesting. There is so much truth out there based upon so many lies. Yes, a lot of people do claim things that are just not true. And, in this day and age there’s ways to fabricate an entire existence. But, what is a lie? A lie is only a lie. This being said, there is a whole other reality. There are people that actually work to achieve something. They go through the process. They take the courses. They take the tests. And, they gain the degrees or the certifications or the whatever.
 
There are also those who go out and actually do that something-something that few other people have done. The list of these accomplishments and/or certifications are vast. So, there’s no real way to limit them to just one or two things. This being said, it seems that for everything someone achieves, there is always someone who claims that what they are saying is a lie.
 
Look around the Internet. So many people are saying so many negative things about so many people. It’s really sad.
 
But, disparaging someone does not change the truth of their truth.
 
I think back to a funny situation that happened to me in Bangkok, Thailand in the later part of the 1980s. After the point I earned my Ph.D., I was sometimes using the title doctor in front of my name instead of mister. You know, I thought it may get me better service and the like… Yeah, I was a bit young, I guess??? I was twenty-eight when I earned the degree and I was probably thirty when this situation I’m about to explain took place. But, that’s really not all that young considering there are a lot of academics out there now who have earned their doctorate at the age of twenty-one. No comparison intended, but Albert Einstein earned his at the age of twenty-six. So…
 
But, that was then, this is now. …Now, when asked I about it, I just say, “It has expired…” Like I used to use as my bio-line, “Former Swami, Former Punk Rocker, Former Ph.D.”
 
Back to the story before I get too far off track… I was having lunch at the coffee shop of the Oriental Hotel along the Chao Praya River in Bangkok. Thai people are not noted for being subtle in any manner. That’s not an insult; that’s just a statement, based in the reality of their cultural norm. In fact, they can be quite straightforward in what may be considered as quite rude by other cultures. Anyway, I was sitting there enjoying my lunch when I hear this one of the staff members, a waiter, just ripping me up and down. It was really quite funny because he didn’t realize that I could understand Thai. He was saying all of these really negative comments about me. Saying I could not be a doctor?  I was way too young. I had long hair. And, just going on and on and on and on to whoever would listen.
 
When he came back to my table, to ask if I had enjoyed my meal, I decided to speak to him in Thai. I told him thanks for the meal, and could I have my check. Obviously, he was quite taken aback by me speaking Thai. Me, however, I thought it all was very-very funny, as I’m not one of those people who has ego riding on any of that kind of stuff. …Or, gets insulted by that kind of nonsense.
 
In any case, he went all into apology mode and all of that kind of stuff. All the kind of stuff I really didn’t care about or need to hear.
 
See, this is just one of the facts of the facts of life, people believe what they want to believe. But, much of what they believe is based upon nothing more than their own internal projection. And, some people are very loud in their beliefs, as wrong as those beliefs may be. Have you ever had anything like that happen to you? Have you ever done anything like that?
 
I know in the martial arts, that kind of nonsense has gone on forever. Everybody has insulted the rank of other people, questioning and claiming it was not real. Or, somebody earned it in some fake way. Or, proclaiming that person is just No Good and they are better. Yet, the people who are proclaiming all that kind of stuff, based upon negativity, it always seems to turn out that they are the false practitioners who are not grounded in any true sense of the martial arts. And, not only do they not possess advanced rank themselves, but they are really walking a very dark road because they are not embracing the true essence of the martial arts which is self and generalized positivity.
 
The point I’m trying to make here is, life is based upon what you believe. That’s the case for everyone. But, if what you believe is not based in the truth, but is instead based upon the not-true, what are you left with? And, if what you believe is based upon the false projection of someone else. …Somebody else who believes they are the one who possesses the capacity to define another individual, yet, they are wrong, then what? What is the truth of the lie you believe?
 
I think it’s important for you to take a look at your own life. What have you believed? What have you told others you believe? Where did you gain the beliefs that you hold? And, have you ever been real enough with yourself, when you find out that you are wrong, to truly correct not only what you believed, but what you projected about that other individual or that other situation to others? Have you ever owned your lie? Have you ever owned your false, judgmental-based projections?
 
If you look at people, you find that many/most of them are based in ego. Ego, meaning that they do everything from a position of Self. What does operating from a position of Self actually mean? It means that they are selfish. They are only thinking about themselves. They are only seeing reality as they choose to see it. Whether that reality be true or false.
 
By behaving in this manner, all of life—the life of that person and the lives of all the people that person influences are altered for the negative. Why? Because they are solely operating from the very limited perception of what they want and/or choose to believe. But, belief is not necessarily the truth.
 
Think about this as you go through life. Think about this as you believe what you believe. Think about this as you listen to what other people believe. Is what they’re saying based in fact? Or, is what they’re saying simply based in what they’re projecting onto the reality of this place we call Life?

You can help or hurt this reality. Your life. Your choice.