What to Watch for Wisdom

Today at a glance:

• Success at Any Cost… 🫰

• Open Your Mind 🧠

• Be the Reason… 👍

• Journal Prompts 📝

• Random Acts of Wiseness 🗓️

• Rate This Week's Newsletter! ⭐️

Estimated reading time: 4 minutes, 39 seconds

🫰 Success at ‘Any Cost’ is Too Expensive

Before we dive in, I share some mild spoilers about a number of shows and movies below.

🚨 You have been warned! 🚨

Some of my favourite shows have narratives where the main character lose themselves on their pursuit for success.

It’s a great reminder for us as viewers that we need to be careful as we chase success.

There are numerous examples of this.

One of the best fictional ones is Breaking Bad.

It follows Walter White, a chemistry teacher turned methamphetamine manufacturer.

He starts producing and distributing drugs to pay for expensive medical treatments, but gets caught up in the lifestyle that comes with dealership.

Without spoiling too much, it’s safe to say that he loses himself as he tries to provide for his family.

But this isn’t just a threat for made-up characters!

There are documentaries like Netflix’s Fyre which shares Billy McFarland’s journey to disgrace for defrauding millions from investors.

Another show that shares this narrative is Dropout. This tells the story of Elizabeth Holmes who became disgraced for defrauding investors and lying about the medical results from her ‘revolutionary’ machines.

And there’s many, many more examples.

As someone who can get carried away themselves, I find it beneficial to watch these shows to remind myself of the importance of staying grounded.

If success will cost me my mental health, my family, my morals or my faith, it is far too expensive.

🧠 Open Your Mind

Another way in which I have gotten wiser is through broadening my perspective on other people’s lived experiences.

A great example of this is BlacKkKlansman.

For context, this masterpiece is about Ron Stallworth: the first African-American detective to serve in the Colorado Springs Police Department.

Determined to make a name for himself, Stallworth bravely sets out on a dangerous mission to infiltrate and expose the notoriously racist Ku Klux Klan.

I will never truly understand what it is like to live as a member of the BAME community, but this movie allows me to get a glimpse of some of the painful impacts of racism.

Another example is Clarkson’s Farm.

Jeremy Clarkson has a questionable character and holds many views that I vehemently oppose, but he has opened my eyes to the challenges that farmers endure.

Since he’s started his show, he’s experienced challenges with weather, Brexit and local politics.

These are things that every Brit has been impacted by, but my experience with 3 weeks of non-stop rain or Brexit seems inconsequential in comparison to that which British farmers have had to survive.

When we get a glimpse into the struggles that other people have to endure, we find a new depth of compassion and empathy that was otherwise not attainable.

When we open our minds to learn about someone else’s experience, we become wiser.

🥳 Honesty Matters

One of the shows that I have enjoyed the most over the last few years has been The Traitors.

This is a show where approximately 25 contestants all enter a large house together, completing challenges to increase the prize pot with the hope that they may get a share of it at the end of the show.

However, throughout the programme some people are either murdered as some players secretly playing as the traitors remove players from the game and others are voted off as the faithful try to remove the traitors from the game.

The British version, the American version and the Australian version - they were all gripping TV.

Even though I found much of the psychological manipulation painful to watch, it taught me a lot about myself as I considered what I would’ve done in the participant’s situations.

Most notably, the takeaway I had the most from watching this show was:

This is obviously not a game-winning strategy, but it is much easier to sleep on my existing mattress knowing that I haven’t left someone with trust issues than it would be to sleep on the most expensive mattress money could buy, but with the knowledge that some people may find it difficult to trust again.

Being honest is an invaluable quality, and one that’s becoming increasingly rare nowadays.

Be the reason someone believes in the goodness of people.

🗓️ July’s Random Acts of Wiseness

How is it already the second half of the year?!

Let’s make the most of the next 6 months by devoting it to getting wiser.

The Random Acts of Wiseness are small daily activities that we can do together to get wiser.

Download July’s activities for free here:

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😊 Thank You!

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Catch you in the next issue!

Thanks,
Michael

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