philosophy Archives - Life Bites

Lance Armstrong Fallen Hero

This very moment, I'm watching Part I of Lance Armstrong's interview with Oprah. As calm as I've seen him in an interview, he finally comes clean about using performance-enhancing drugs. A quick look on twitter turns up a series of disgusted statements from self-righteous media characters and others lining up to throw their stones: "What a snivelling, lying, cheating little wretch @lancearmstrong revealed himself to be tonight. I hope he now just disappears. #LiveWrong", writes Piers Morgan. "After years of lying to my face, Lance Armstrong apologizes in an email. He can keep it. My column: http://espn.go.com/espn/story/_/id/8852974/lance-armstrong-history-lying …" writes Rick Reilly.…

Full circle: reflections on losing a friend

On losing a friend to death: Every day of our lives, causality is playing out, leaving no one behind. One day, we are working on causes; dealing with consequences the next. Some days, our past comes knocking back, just to see if we learned from it the lessons we were supposed to. Sometimes, the lesson is compassion. Sometimes it is self-love. In the last month, I've been pushed to look at the past twice, once to learn to forgive and the other to see where I would be if I hadn't learned my lesson. I learned the latter by losing…

Surrendering the ego for a true victory

We want to control our lives to have a better chance at happiness. But if happiness and peace are the goal, surrendering the ego is what we should strive for. I speak not of waving a white flag at life and giving up on dreams. I mean, bow to the presence of the moment, to enjoy it for what it is. The thought came to me last night while I struggled to get to sleep. Notice my language: I struggled. In fact, this is what most of us do daily: struggle, try to control, fight... to be happy. It occurred…

Merrily, merrily… life is but a dream

Philosophy finds its way into our lives through unexpected sources, such as children songs. ¨Row, row, row your boat gently down the stream. Merrily, merrily, merrily, merrily. Life is but a dream¨. The first time I heard this song (not long ago) I was listening intently. I needed to learn the lyrics so I could sing them to my daughter. The profoundness of the last rhyme wasn't lost on me. I quickly wondered why someone would teach a child such a song. A native Spanish speaker that I am, I can't hear a reference to life being a dream without…