Mission Wildly Overcompensated

The Tibetan Buddhist teacher, Venerable Lama Karma Samten, has this to say about laziness:

"There are four kinds of laziness, and the most destructive of these is when you have no self-esteem and no inspiration because you think 'I can't do it. Its impossible for me', so you don't respect yourself and you put yourself down."

In this context he is talking about the possibility of spiritual growth, but the words have relevance to our mundane world.

They are valuable words in a time when people feel that they can't affect much in the world. That they don't count, and what they do, doesn't matter.

They could be stuck in a dead end or feel there is no possibility of improvement or change personally or in their community.

I am reminded of the zeal that Bush held when he misguidedly announced 'mission accomplished.'

So presumptuous and driven by their own unmerited hubris are and were the neocons along with Bush, that they assumed all would be just ducky in Iraq as soon as the troops hit Baghdad. Freedom would flow naturally like water from a stream. How absurd and tragic.

This is perhaps an example of the extreme opposite yet equally destructive side of the laziness equation.

This is when you're alleged confidence has no skill or experience. Somebody takes the opera stage at Carnegie Hall and yet has never sung a tune, let alone studied music, and they proclaim 'concert nailed.' The understanding of an accepted standard and the reliance on the thread of reality are both missing.