Are You a Bear or an Eagle?
Here is another great artcile from Steve Pavlina. It is a similar (but much better worded) discusssion I gave about sheep in my Awakening. A good read for those of us who are allready Eagles…
Are You a Bear or an Eagle?
Here is another great artcile from Steve Pavlina. It is a similar (but much better worded) discusssion I gave about sheep in my Awakening. A good read for those of us who are allready Eagles…
Are You a Bear or an Eagle?
January 9th, 2006 at 5:10 pm
The article hints at some good points, and could have been educational, but the tone of the article feels self congratulatory and when I ask myself what information was given I don’t have an answer.
Being familiar with time management literature I could see where he was coming from, which is a naive place.
People do bow down to easily to their fears, but not everyone can be an eagle. Some people don’t have economic opportunities, live in countries with limited freedom, or they have people to care for.
January 9th, 2006 at 5:26 pm
I agree.
If you read the rest of Steve P’s site, you can see it is loaded with ‘look what I did, aren’t I great’ stories. Whether it is getiing a 4 year degree in 2 years, surviving on little sleep, successfully earning a living blogging, whatever.
He is kindof pompous in that regard, but it does not diminish the point of the article. I agree with you that not everyone has the opportunity, and I don’t think he says that. As someone who has had those oppurtunities, I understand I was lucky in that regard. It does not dimish the fact that it is nice to be here.
I wish everyone could have the awakening I did, truly. I try (though not as forcefully as he seems to) to show people, by my actions mostly, that life can be a whole lot of fun just to live. Shit happens, you bet, but you can choose not to focus on it.
January 9th, 2006 at 7:56 pm
I generally enjoy Steve’s site and articles although sometimes he comes across as ‘pompous’ as you said, but in this case he is flat-out over-the-top full of himself. I strongly agree with the first commenter here. I’m sorry, but he is a ‘bear trainer’? And how does he and his wife know when they are conversing in public that all of the people around them are ‘barely conscious’ etc. The entire article is about how he and his wife are above and better than everyone else! Oh I’m sorry, he, his wife, and “other eagles.” Maybe he needs to put in more concrete examples of instances where he is an eagle and others are bears because the way it is presented almost entirely in analogy here comes across as EXTREMELY egotistic, I mean he sounds like a bipolar person who is currently on an up and experiencing delusions of grandeur.
This first paragraph is so incredibly insulting to “most people.”
“We often look around at all the sleeping people in the world, noting that they barely register as conscious beings…Their conversations are nothing but trivialities in the grand scheme of things.”
To me it sounds like he is saying when he’s in public and sees say, the trash collectors pass by cracking jokes, he is chuckling over how he is so much more conscious and profound than they are.
Maybe his next self-improvement project should be cultivating a little humility.
January 9th, 2006 at 8:19 pm
I agree that I don’t often like the judgemental tone of some of Pavlina’s stuff, for example “Their conversations are nothing but trivialities in the grand scheme of things.” Seems a very self-centred perspective.
Steve: “People do bow down to easily to their fears, but not everyone can be an eagle. Some people don’t have economic opportunities, live in countries with limited freedom, or they have people to care for.”
I don’t think Pavlina is saying that becoming an eagle requires you to live on passive income and spend your waking hours enlightening “bears”. After having read a fair bit of Pavlina’s articles I think this definition of an eagle is somebody who “lives consciously.” That is all.
Given this, why do you believe that that people with lesser economic opportunities and lesser freedoms would be *unable* to be an eagle? How would having people to care for be a hindrance?
I know hardships and constraints in my life have often been the catalyst for me to grow, and I only wonder whether it could do the same for those living under the hard circumstances you mention.
Given that the title of the article is “Are you a bear or an eagle?” I think his intention is to get readers to recognise the separation of living with and without a heightened perspective and to ask them to make a choice to step over the line and to live life consciously.
January 9th, 2006 at 9:03 pm
I have one big problem with the post in question. What right does any eagle have to forcibly attempt to wake a bear? Just because the eagle has awoken, and can see a higher state of life, that does not empower them with any form of moral supremacy.
Sure, help people, show them the way, and even urge them to move forward from time to time. But it’s their life; if they are a bear then let them be a bear.
The last stage of becoming an eagle is to understand that other people are in control of their lives, and it’s their choices that define those lives. Taking enjoyment from tormenting those that have not come to see your view of existence is no better than a child tormenting ants.
When they are at a stage in their lives when they are capable of undergoing the awakening, they will seek out an eagle. When the student is ready the teacher will appear.
Oh, and caterpillars and butterflies would be a better analogy than bears and eagles - there is a real progression between the two. Though, they are a lot less changed with elemental emotional meaning, which would make the article sound less impressive.
January 10th, 2006 at 3:44 am
I am still a bear, but one that got out of the cave and looks at the eagles.
Steve is saying “Look, I can can fly, you can fly too!” and some people like to focus only on the “look I can fly” part thinking that he is full of himself.
I’ve got very little courage, so change is taking place at a very slow pace. Steve’s site is fueling that courage so for me has a great effect. I guess the most value out of Steve’s site is drawn by the bears at the entrance of the cave, the ones looking at the eagles. Some eagles chose to look only at the sky! Steve’s courageously entering the cave
January 10th, 2006 at 11:06 am
I’m the original poster in this comments thread.
I would like to say that it is refreshing to get mature and intelligent replies to what I had to say.
I too enjoy Steve Pavlina’s site. By popping into it at work and reading some short entries I get inspired to make better use of my time.
Does anyone know of any similar sites? Something like what Steve Pavlina does but without the self congratulatory tone in the writings?
FWIW, one thing I always liked about Stephen Covey’s original book is that toward the end of it he admitted that he struggled, hard, following his own principals.
It helped me to read that.
I can’t see Steve Pavlina doing that in a heart felt way.
January 11th, 2006 at 9:20 pm
I landed here via the trackback on the Pavlina article, and I’m glad I did. Like some of the other commenters, I found this article of his to be quite distasteful and, to echo Laurie, childish. In fact, the tone was so over-the-top that I wonder if Steve P isn’t simply putting it out there to see how it will play with this audience. We’re all talking about it, aren’t we, thus driving traffic to his site and helping generate ad revenue.
If his intentions were indeed genuine, well then, he’s sorely misguided. So you think you’re enlightened? What, because you’re a good goal setter? That’s great. But what makes you think that there aren’t other, more-enlighted people, overhearing your conversations, and mocking your “barely conscious” existence?
And honestly, who gives a crap? We’re all still just physical animals working through our lives, trying to learn and improve and enjoy the ride. It’s the “trivialities” that make us most human. They are to be embraced, not mocked.
I like a lot of Steve P’s stuff, but he lost a lot of credibility with this one article.
January 12th, 2006 at 9:31 am
It is too bad Steve Pavlina doesn’t have any competition.
Everything he says can be found in any time management book, but I find it useful to have that stuff doled out in daily snippets on the web.
Going to the web at work is a needed break for me, but it easily turns into a big time waster sometimes. Being able to go to a time management site and get inspiration for better time use on the web, a place where I might otherwise waste my time is a tremendous boost to my daily productivity.
I get inspired and get off of the web much quicker.
January 12th, 2006 at 9:41 am
Oddly enough, he seems to have a somewhat redeeming reply ( I haven’t read the full thing yet ) to the comments about his attitude in his latest blog entry
January 15th, 2006 at 10:32 pm
Steve,
I don’t really see that as a reply to what we are discussing here– a.k.a. his arrogant, judgemental and condescending attitude– he just seems to be addressing the criticism that his ’standards are too high.’ It’s not the same thing. Or am I missing something?
January 16th, 2006 at 9:02 am
Hi Alison;
I don’t think you are missing anything.
I wrote Steve an email telling him that he was losing the ability to inspire people sine he was coming off as being apart from and better than other people.
It seems like that blog entry was response to his having listened to my points.
That I feel he listened and exposed a not so flattering aspect of his life changes my opinion of him.
I do agree that he needs to be aware of how the tone of his writing hits people.
Perhaps another polite email from someone else might help Steve.
March 1st, 2006 at 1:08 am
granted, this is the first thing ive read of stevo, but it sounds like he’s been eating a 10 strip a day for about 6 years and needs to lay off the metaphors. my question for steve is simple: what our are lives really about?