Donald Trump is Good!?
Doanld Trump is good for what? Someone said he’s, “a good for nothing imbecile.” Huh? Stop that.
Come on. Everyone has value. Blanket statements are usually flawed (Trump’s own phrases like, it’s a total disaster, it’s terrible, he’s the worst, and therefore, ‘good for nothing imbecile’ can’t be wholly correct).
Look for the GOOD. See the good.
Do you know what GOOD Donald Trump, really, offers us? Trump offers us serious personal growth opportunity! Now that’s good!
Wait. What? By pissing us off? Well, maybe. Yes! From a personal growth perspective, this whole presidential campaign has hints, clues and indicators that open doors to personal growth.
I learned long ago, never to wrestle with a pig. You get dirty, and besides, the pig likes it. – George Bernard Shaw
But, the question is whether we pay attention and grow; or whether we bathe in the mud and squeal.
From a personal growth perspective, if you deny there is mud, then you won’t grow. Do we choose to grow? Or, do we get caught up, pissed and feel helpless?
This is a meandering, sometimes playful, look at various personal growth principles that often trip us up. Let’s begin the festivities with a a pattern. Donald Trump will make a statement. Then he will deny saying it.
Denial!
Trump made a denial on ABC per Politifact, saying “I don’t condone violence.” Later, we flash to Trump saying, “We’re not allowed to punch back any more. I love the old days. You know what they used to do to a guy like that in a place like this? They’d be carried out on a stretcher, folks,” Trump said at his February Las Vegas rally. “I’d like to punch him in the face, I’ll tell you.” You don’t have to watch the video as you’ve probably seen it.
The above video may be (should be) bothersome to you. For any personal growth to happen in your life, you must recognize, admit and own up to your issue. If you don’t clearly recognize an issue, then you will never resolve it.
Further, you’ll see his political surrogates deny the above actions. That’s a losing battle when it bleeds through to others. This activity lends itself to an environment where people can say anything. Then just deny it saying it. “That’s not what I meant.” It’s a responsibility issue.
Personal Growth Tip: Take a breath. Relax. Take control. YOU are the one in the position of power of your life and thoughts. If you are denying, you are not growing.
What is Donald Trump good for? Illustrating that denial is for the birds.
Lying!
Lying is hard to handle. In teaching personal growth, one of the most frustrating things is that people hang onto opinions of themselves that just aren’t true! Beyond that, they also have been fed information that is WRONG from books, friends, parents, seminars (stump speeches), and so on. Therefore, they are trying to build a life on lies.
If your life and foundation is built upon lies, then your house will crumble (any good builder knows that). From Politico, “Trump is a chronic liar and dissembler; this has been demonstrated beyond any reasonable doubt. He repeatedly makes factual errors, large and small, in his statements.”
Personal Growth Tip: Being truthful and honest is the only way to build a solid foundation on which to grow. Really notice where and when you may lie to yourself. Disarm. Be truthful.
I will absolutely release my taxes if I run for president.” Well that is a lie. Donald Trump is good for showing us that one lie is too many.
Fear!
A wonderful principle in the United States of America is freedom. Freedom allows for growth and for personal expression. This happens much more effortlessly without FEAR. Opportunities are born in the absence of fear.
A core principle in personal growth deals with freeing yourself from fear.
For example, Bubba has a goal. Inner fear can paralyze Bubba from reaching his goal. So, the question arises, from where does Bubba’s fear come? The answer is many places. Birth, childhood, life traumas and limitations accumulate.
It is made worse by a political candidate harping on and embellishing situations. There becomes less freedom if you are stuck playing in the mud.
Your fear can come from friends, family and the media. Life becomes a choice whether to promote fear or promote peace. We can responsibly decrease inner fear of our country. Media outlets shine bright lights with fear based reporting. When a presidential candidate bathes in fear mongering, we have a problem. This seeps into the consciousness of society.
Personal Growth Tip: Keep an eye on your news sources. Are they pissing you off? Intelligently look at the big picture. It’s a beautiful world with so much to appreciate. Be a positive example.
Displacement!
Here’s a simple definition of displacement. You have an emotion toward one object. You direct action toward another. So, it is said that 11 women came forward saying that Trump groped them or made unwanted sexual advances. If even one of those is accurate then he cheated on his wife. What is Trump’s response?
“BILL CLINTON DID IT!” Stop that. What happened to being a GREAT POSITIVE EXAMPLE yourself? This is the president of the United States. I believe this needs to be a positive example position. What happened having a good family, being a good parent and being a positive example. Oh, that’s right. We have that. Barack Obama.
Donald Trump acts in a lot of ways that are not positive example. Then shifts the blame or shines the light elsewhere. Grow up.
Personal Growth Tip: Be great yourself. Never mind the people playing in the mud. Go high.
More Displacement and More Lies!
What’s THAT SMELL? Short story – when I was 19, I had a terrible car accident which left me in the hospital for six weeks. For the first 10 days, I was comatose. Therefore, I had no traditional showers! When I ‘came to’ I said to my mother, “IT SMELLS IN HERE!”
I didn’t realize that the smell came from my own body, my skin, my blood and my recovery. I see Donald Trump the same way. He smells. But blames the people around him. Examples abound!
Trump suggests that the Clinton Foundation is corrupt. The Clinton Foundation has an A rating, helping MILLIONS of people around the world. Right or wrong there is an interest in helping the world. According to Politics USA, Trump is the corrupt candidate with a charity problem, not Hillary Clinton.
At the very least the foundation serves Trump. He purchased a 6 foot portrait of himself for $20,000. He hasn’t put any money into it for 9 years. He had paid $258,000 of his own legal bills with Trump Foundation money. The difference between the two foundations is night and day. He smells. He blames someone else.
Personal Growth Tip: Do you smell? It’s fine! Just don’t blame someone else. Address the issue.
Donald, his surrogates and his children have said that he will never lie. This is a funny video because it shows Donald’s repeated lies and flip flops.
The Power of Words!
How could someone run a country with these habits? How can you run your life with these habits? Think about words and messages. One of the things that gets me about this campaign is this. Trump can give a speech and lie. He can twist words, adjust the meaning of his words and bend the truth.
Here’s the thing that ‘gets me.’ 🙂 People work hard every day. They don’t have time to fact check. Therefore, they believe these words. They act on these words. The get fired by based on these words. This is disheartening to me.
Host of HBO’s Real Time, Bill Maher said, “people don’t know anything. When people don’t know anything, politicians can say anything.” Why can Donald Trump tell 1,000 lies? No price is paid for lying, spreading untruths and for being ill-informed. Just deny it and have a surrogate say, “I think what Mr. Trump meant to say is…”
This happens too in Personal Development books. It all sounds good when you are reading it. But, have you noticed that the information which is written in the book doesn’t always stick? The words don’t penetrate. Therefore your habits remain the same. You don’t grow.
Personal Growth Tip: Discern your own information. Think! Read! Grow!
Combining this with the previous “displacement” discussion, if you say something loudly enough, it might stick!
Personal Growth Tip: Use this principle for yourself. Speak loudly in favor of yourself. When you speak angrily of others, your energy is bound.
Defense Mechanisms!
A defense mechanism would be the parent of displacement and many other reactions. If you are defending, then you subject yourself to being in a position of fear. Freedom (and safety) allows growth. When you are in defense mode, you are less likely to go to the library, study, learn, create and dream.
When you are in defense mode, you are not delivering your own message. You are responding to something. Here is an example. Donald Trump makes a claim about Hillary Clinton that is factually untrue (like, “Hillary Clinton is a Bigot”). An aside principle is that his statements are often more of a reflection of himself.
Naturally, Hillary must make a statement in her own defense (if you speak something loudly enough or long enough people might believe it). In her response, she is not talking about her own issues and plans as she must spend time rebuking inane statements.
Personal Growth Tip: Don’t create ‘false defense mechanisms.’ We even judge others for no reason at all. A judgment is a battling with your own self. It’s not productive (just like our country is battling within itself). That is you shine the light on the weakness of another without owning up to yours. Don’t be afraid of your own inner hurt. Embrace it.
When you trigger defense mechanisms you put yourself into a limited state. Living your life in an, “I’ll kick ‘yer ass” mode keeps you in a limited state. Trump gets upset and says, “I would bomb the sh*t out of them.”
More than that, creating fear within the population increase personal armor, which decreases growth. Growth comes from the inside out. Allow it.
Personal Growth Tip: Don’t spend your energy engaged and fighting back with mosquitoes. Move to living in joy and freedom.
Blame!
When you point fingers at other people, you take the power from yourself. Make sense?
Taking it a step further (and one of the greatest points herein) is this. As a country, we tend to blame politicians (with good cause a lot of times), but too much weight goes into our blame. We live in a beautiful place. Our lives are better and better each day.
We have overcome a lot. America IS Great! Yes, we all have fears and concerns. To blame others for problems, reduces your own ability to resolve anything. At the moment, Donald Trump is behind in the polls. He is blaming the media for that. He is blaming his accusers for his sexual assaults on them. He is blaming the election process saying that it is, “rigged.”
Personal Growth Tip: Are you living in a fantasy world? When things don’t go your way, do you take responsibility? You have more power than you think. Focusing on ‘other people’ hurting you.
Excuses!
Saying the election rigged. leads a conversation in the world that there are ‘outer forces’ if you don’t win. Take responsibility. Voter fraud is not true. The amount of voter fraud is minuscule.There were 31 cases of voter fraud out of ONE BILLION VOTES between 2001 and 2014. What percent is that?
0.00002%.
Getting hit by lightening is more common that voter fraud. You are more likely to see a UFO than experience voter fraud. Dying of constipation is more common. If you say something long enough, loud enough people begin to believe it. The video is here.
You want personal growth? Or, do you want to make excuses as to why you “can’t!?”
Personal Growth Tip: Your excuse is usually invalid. Don’t invest so much energy into it. Invest your energy in the solution.
Childish Behavior!
“I’m not the puppet. You’re the puppet!” Donald Trump actually said that in the debate. Good Lord. Do I even need to comment? Sometimes I wonder, “is this really happening?” Is this man really running for president of the United States?
Are people really thinking of voting for him? I have heard that there has never been a more unqualified candidate than Donald Trump. Whining that, “she gets more time than me.” Interrupting Hillary, “wrong!”
Personal Growth Tip: Grow the f*ck up.
Vulnerability!
One of the greatest personal growth concepts is this – Understanding and opening yourself up to your own areas of your own vulnerability. How does this relate to Donald Trump?
He keeps moving forward (no matter how much of a buffoon he may look like – he doesn’t care). You and I might be cautious in being exposed for even a mild infraction. Trump doesn’t care.
He had to know that women would come out with sexual groping claims. He had to know that his Trump Foundation would be exposed. He had to know that his dealings in foreign countries would be exposed, which might compromise his ability to govern.
He had to know that the media would crawl up his a** with a microscope. He opens himself up. He doesn’t care. He moves forward.
Personal Growth Tip: Go for it! You don’t have as much baggage as Trump. You deserve the greatness and deserve that greatness as much as anyone.
Anger!
Anger has a limited reach. It’s like bouncing a ball off a wall. There is a big bang, but eventually the velocity runs out. Further, we hurt and limit ourselves with anger more than anything else. If we are angry at one politician and act from that anger, WE become not whole. The politician is still who he/she is.
Do you notice that people seem to WANT to be angry? We want to hang onto our anger. It’s easier to blame someone else (Hillary is dishonest. Trump is a bully). Neither is a greater truth than YOU having the power. You have ability.
You may have seen a quote attributed to Buddha:
“Holding on to anger is like grasping a hot coal with the intent of throwing it at someone else; you are the one who gets burned.”
Below, Trump appears to incite anger at his rallies and in the country. Really? Well, this gives us a hat to hang our anger on. It validates a feeling that we have. Let it go. Take personal responsibility. Trump incites anger in many ways. Here’s one.
Personal Growth Tip: When you feel anger coming on, breathe. Realize the anger is frustration within you. You aggravate it by various talking points. Feel peace instead of firing yourself up. Find solutions that are related to peace and respect for others.
Accuracy – Lipstick on a Pig!
Tony Schwartz, who was the ghostwriter on Trump’s book, “The Art of the Deal,” has made a statement. That statement guides us toward the need to know the insides of a person.
“I put lipstick on a pig.” The ghostwriter of Trump’s “The Art of the Deal” has some regrets https://t.co/RPIxxcHjS1pic.twitter.com/XfOf6SUltv
— The New Yorker (@NewYorker) October 20, 2016
Personal Growth Tip: Your inner energy is your power. Don’t get caught up in the shiny object. Focus on and flourish the truthfulness and character of your inner self.
Not in Touch with Reality!
“I’ll Kick ‘Yer Ass!”? Have you ever heard his tough guy? He’s really not that tough, just acts it. If it were a movie, someone bigger and stronger would come along and ‘kick his ass.’
In many ways Trump is like this guy – a bunch of hot air with little knowledge of foreign policy. This is dangerous.
Personal Growth Tip: Again, if you want your own growth, take responsibility and be thorough.
Personal Growth Tip: Are you living in a fantasy world? When things don’t go your way, do you take responsibility? You have more power than you think. Focusing on ‘other people’ hurting you.
Misleading Yourself!
Without accuracy, how can you build? Trump should know this with his background in construction. If his large buildings had a shaky foundation, they would crumble. Honesty builds strength.
It was widely agreed that Hillary Clinton won the first presidential debate. If you are going to build greatness in your life, you need truths. CNN’s objective poll said…
Every on-line poll, Time Magazine, Drudge etc., has me winning the debate. Thank you to Fox & Friends for so reporting!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 28, 2016
Trump was quoting online polls, which are incorrect. The reason is that an audience may be geared to one political party, they may be influenced by bots or they may be voted multiple times by one person.
In personal growth, if you mislead yourself thinking that X is good for you (because it serves to calm an inner fear, for example), then you inhibit your own growth. You will just be suppressing that pain.
Trump said, “I think I would have a very, very good relationship with Putin. And I think I would have a very, very good relationship with Russia … He does have an 82% approval rating.”
That approval rating is not so credible.
Giving!
In my opinion, the reason you don’t grow personally is that inner energy is restricted. You outer actions act in accordance with your inner fears (restrictions or resistance). I believe that giving releases inner restrictions and attachments. When you give, you ‘become’ greater (your release those resistances). You expand. Your inner currency increases. You are more powerful and healthier.
Trump has proven to generally not be a giving person (unless the giving serves himself). He feeds his ego/energy. His ego appears to be large. His Trump Foundation doesn’t really give to the degree of some other foundations. But, if his foundation has given money, other people’s money has been used! Not his money. After that, maybe he gets a tax credit for giving. This is a huge Red Flag.
Personal Growth Tip: When you feed your own ego, it limits a broader growth.
Relationships!
Think about how you communicate with yourself. This inner relationship may be the most important aspect of personal growth. When you are angry (or judging), you are actually fighting with yourself. This is comparable to the republican party fighting with the democratic party. STAGNATION.
The country will not prosper when there is inane fighting amid its people (this unfortunately is created by news stations and half-truths – don’t stand for it).
Personal Growth Tip: You may have the appearance of targeting your anger outward. But, there is a battle inside of YOU. Clear it up. I believe it will be easier to work on your own personal growth than to wait for the democrats and republicans to heal their divides.
Trump’s inability to create relationships that are win/win will make political life difficult for him.
Personal Growth Tip: Create win/win inside of yourself. Feel peace. Love and respect others. Understand their motivations. This is bottom up strength.
Chains and Shackles!
Goodology talks about, inner energy being the currency of personal growth. When you feel limited and/or shackled, you fear movement. It’s like an elephant with a rope tied to its leg. The elephant is well strong enough to break away, but deep inside remembers being tied as a youngster.
Donald Trump wants to express himself freely, which may be why he’s not so interested in the structure of Government. The United States of America does have rules to follow (three branches of Government, House, Senate, etc). Win or lose, Donald Trump wants to express himself! This is the freedom that he enjoys.
I think he also felt restricted by the republican party. It was a release for him to split with Paul Ryan:
It is so nice that the shackles have been taken off me and I can now fight for America the way I want to.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 11, 2016
Trump’s freedom allows him to express himself led by his own instincts. Whether it’s right or wrong, he felt freedom. You can do the same thing. Find situations around you that are not in line with your ultimate goals. Release them!
The elephant is bound, but comes from an inner fear deep within. And, the issues based in fear can hold you back! Find the shackles and release them.
Twitter Wars!
How thorough can you be in 140 characters? I have a thing with Goodology and personal growth that goes like this. Personal growth material can be like eye droppers of information. Real personal growth is a huge undertaking. There is a scarce chance you can experience personal growth with eye droppers of information.
Think about a tomato growing, or a tree growing. An eye dropper of water won’t help! Right? A decent size maple tree needs 250 gallons of water per day! Eye droppers won’t do it.
More than that, we must bring the world together in an adult way. Hillary Clinton has policies. Donald Trump has tweets. Childish jabs on Twitter don’t bring the world together. See the New York Times laying out The 281 People, Places and Things Donald Trump has Insulted on Twitter: A Complete List.
Personal Growth Tip: Be thorough. Changing a habit takes 66 days. Invest in your own personal growth with patience and steadfastness.
Personal Growth Tip: Are you living in a fantasy world? When things don’t go your way, do you take responsibility? You have more power than you think. Focusing on ‘other people’ hurting you.
Patience!
The world wants everything to happen so fast. Trump will get in and BOOM. He will shake things up. The government is a very complicated organism. There is a lot of attention needed.
One action or two would make it appear as if Trump is making progress. But, in my opinion, the rest could crumble.
One does wonder what people see in Trump. Many are reacting from anger. This is not a solid foundation on which to build. Others are acting in line with their political party. Still others have an issue that is important to them; like abortion, guns, increased defense spending, or others.
Reacting from one issue is not whole thinking. It’s fragmented thinking. Take a breath. Be whole.
Personal Growth Tip: We need to see the whole picture. With that, we need patience moving one step at a time in the right direction.
Feeding Ego!
Surprising that we are talking about Ego in an article about Donald Trump. But, let’s see if we can force the pieces together. Ego is a person’s sense of self-esteem or self-importance. Looking more deeply, there is an energy within that needs to be fed. Some folks have larger appetites than others! That means they have a larger energy within to feed.
If you are feeding your own energy and inner hurts, rather than looking at the whole world, this could be a limitation. An important element moving forward is togetherness. Defeating terrorism will be more successful when we are not fighting within ourselves or among ourselves.
Personal Growth Tip: Look within. Are you feeding your own ego? Or, are you expanding and looking out
Finally!
This leads to the biggest TIP of all. We must understand that there are reasons that people vote for Donald Trump. We must understand them. We must recognize these reasons. We must honor the people and their reasons.
As a country, we need to come together – whoever is elected! The president needs our support. We need to understand what the Trump supporters want! We have to understand what the Hillary supporters want. Then provide it.
We need to do this from the bottom up. That means supporting each other. Don’t blame the government. Don’t blame others. Take as much responsibility as you can. Build greatness within yourself, within your community and expand outward.
Similarly, from a personal growth perspective, YOU need to do some things. Take MORE control of your life. Stop blaming. Take responsibility. Stop judging. Accept. Stop being angry. Live in peace. The power is NOT outside of you. it’s inside of you.
A mosquito is annoying. You can swat the mosquito away.But, new mosquitoes will arrive. Candidates will come and go. You can spend the rest of your life using the same talking points for each new candidate that comes down the pike.
If we don’t resolve the issues then we will be barking at each new candidates with the same words. We build greatness through love, respect, understanding and peace. This way, as a country or with personal growth, you are building with the strongest foundation possible. I wish you the best. Let’s all realize that Donald Trump is good for something. So, are the people who support him. Understand. Empathize. Resolve. Bottom up Growth.
Have a Great Day.
