to those who feel like a mundane life gets one nowhere

[funchy]

I hear some of you feeling like if you could just quit your job and change everything, you could be someone and change the world. I wanted to tell you about someone who lived the most mundane life you can imagine but changed the world anyway; his work is famous even now, 150 years later.

The other day in class the discussion was about Gregor Mendel. He was just a monk who did monk things at a monastery. One of his jobs was to help maintain the vegetable garden. How mundane can one's life be, walking around in a robe and spending the days growing the monastery's food?

Mendel didn't complain. He didn't just do his job; he studied and explored it. He kept records and tried different things. His works, published in the 1860s, introduced the world to the science of genetics. His records of his plants' traits and breedings gave us the concept of inheritance, traits, purebred/hybrids, and the idea of the genetic basis of life.

Through genetics, the world can grow better food, making food more affordable. We can address illnesses such as Downs or Tay-Sachs. We can understand drug-resistant germs. Think how many lives are saved.

If a monk in a pea patch can change the world, anyone can.

[Dan.Linehan]

When I was younger I had a real affinity for being rebellious. It manifested in a lot of negative ways.

As I got older, I gradually realized that breaking the law, being mean spirited and selfish, etc, those are never really signs of true rebellion. In fact, lifestyles like those are all too commonplace.

Living a truly heart-centered and ethical life is much more difficult.

[Plato]

Yeah, Mendel is the man! They only discovered his work, like 60 years later wasn't it?

Dan: I tried driving at the speed limit today rather than my usual "as fast as I think I can get away with"... It was difficult but oddly satisfying. Luckily I had my Jack Johnson CD to keep me cool.

[CAlex6977]

So I kinda felt a resonance with the title of your thread. However when I got inside it was not what I expected. Its pretty amazing what a simple monk did for the world.
My issue is I have my own business. I live comfortably alone in a one bedroom apartment. I eat healthy, I excercise daily, I drive sparingly to my office(Usually walk or ride), I recycle, I read daily, I meditate now and again. My business is quite fullfilling and I provide good value to my customers. I also write a thing or two in my blog now and again to try and express myself. I pretty much live the life many people want. At least this is what I thought I wanted when I was stuck in my day to day job over the years being an electrician, a carpenter, a print press operator, a fast food employee, a waiter, a bartender and a HVAC technician. Now I have the life I thought would be awesome. While it is quite relaxing and well easy. I do not feel that I know where to go from here. I have time and energy but I haven't figured out where to apply it.
I guess I need to go out and discover some new hobbies or something. What is everyone else doing out their to "Change the world" so to speak. Thanks for reading and if you want to know more about me you can find it here. Life as I See it

[Eisho]

Originally Posted by funchy

I hear some of you feeling like if you could just quit your job and change everything, you could be someone and change the world. I wanted to tell you about someone who lived the most mundane life you can imagine but changed the world anyway; his work is famous even now, 150 years later.

The other day in class the discussion was about Gregor Mendel. He was just a monk who did monk things at a monastery. One of his jobs was to help maintain the vegetable garden. How mundane can one's life be, walking around in a robe and spending the days growing the monastery's food?

Mendel didn't complain. He didn't just do his job; he studied and explored it. He kept records and tried different things. His works, published in the 1860s, introduced the world to the science of genetics. His records of his plants' traits and breedings gave us the concept of inheritance, traits, purebred/hybrids, and the idea of the genetic basis of life.

Through genetics, the world can grow better food, making food more affordable. We can address illnesses such as Downs or Tay-Sachs. We can understand drug-resistant germs. Think how many lives are saved.

If a monk in a pea patch can change the world, anyone can.

A great story. I believe he was able to find the challenge in his situation and keep himself mentally engaged. I think if people can do the same thing on a daily basis, while they may not go down in history, they can lead a very happy and creative and positive life.

Cheers,

Eisho

[sbdiane]

Originally Posted by CAlex6977

So I kinda felt a resonance with the title of your thread. However when I got inside it was not what I expected. Its pretty amazing what a simple monk did for the world.
My issue is I have my own business. I live comfortably alone in a one bedroom apartment. I eat healthy, I excercise daily, I drive sparingly to my office(Usually walk or ride), I recycle, I read daily, I meditate now and again. My business is quite fullfilling and I provide good value to my customers. I also write a thing or two in my blog now and again to try and express myself. I pretty much live the life many people want. At least this is what I thought I wanted when I was stuck in my day to day job over the years being an electrician, a carpenter, a print press operator, a fast food employee, a waiter, a bartender and a HVAC technician. Now I have the life I thought would be awesome. While it is quite relaxing and well easy. I do not feel that I know where to go from here. I have time and energy but I haven't figured out where to apply it.
I guess I need to go out and discover some new hobbies or something. What is everyone else doing out their to "Change the world" so to speak. Thanks for reading and if you want to know more about me you can find it here. Life as I See it

Your story resonated with me. I went from hard-working, low-paying jobs to well-paying, satisfying jobs and found that something was missing after a while. Maybe it was too easy, I do not know.

I quit and went for a very long walk. I walked for 3 months. During that time I learned a lot. I saw that when I have very little I feel more free. I saw that when I have very little I want very little. The universe will actually give me the things I need when I need them, too. I have learned that the best life is one where you have not too little or too much.

I am now back home trying to sort out what I learned and live by it. I have crappy jobs again but I feel like I am doing them out of a place of gratitude instead of resentment. I am just trying to make extra money while I gather clients for my freelancing and explore other career options. I want to change the world if only by having inner peace and a simpler life. It is hard because I live surrounded by stuff and with someone who struggles so hard to have more. It is a test of what I have learned and I hope that I can keep the lessons I learned alive inside me and that things will work out for me here in civilization again. It is not easy. The fear of lack always creeps back in.

[CAlex6977]

@SBDiane

Thanks for your post. It would be even harder for me if I had a partner that did not have the same views as me. Im really glad that I have kept my personal relationships free and open without being tied in with someone specific. I always felt i did not fully know myself so how can I be in a commited relationship.
I also felt like your story was a bit of Forest Gump...haha. I was just walking. Hey it worked for him right. Im glad you have found a good way to meld your two ideas together.
Personally its about a mundane life. I just go about my days and do my thing without any real different happening everyday. I guess its a battle between comfort life and mundane life. Maybe steve would say "Comfort is mundane". I need to search for something new and exciting I suppose. Being in Vegas you would think I could always come up with something. Thanks to everyone for reading here and also for checking out my blog.

[Becca Glouzstein]

I have spent the last 10 years living a 'mundane' life - raising my 3 gorgeous kids at home 24/7. It was the most difficult, crazy, wonderful, growth-inducing, soulful time of my life.

If I have learned anything in that time it is this:

The most beautiful and meaningful moments in life (the ones that you will remember and look back on fondly) are the everyday, ordinary, 'mundane' moments; watching the kids favorite program with them, going for a walk and noticing the things that a 2 year old notices, sharing an orange, watching the kids faces as they sleep, hot chocolate on a rainy day, just sitting with friends or family around a favorite table or under a favorite tree and chatting, cooking something you know they'll love, welcoming them home...

On a recent 'Oprah' they were asking people how they would spend the day if they had only one day left to live. Nearly everyone said they would spend it with their loved ones doing normal, everyday things.

You can find the sacred in the mundane if your heart is open in gratitude.

inspirationformothers.com

[Boreas]

Originally Posted by funchy

I hear some of you feeling like if you could just quit your job and change everything, you could be someone and change the world. I wanted to tell you about someone who lived the most mundane life you can imagine but changed the world anyway; his work is famous even now, 150 years later.

The other day in class the discussion was about Gregor Mendel. He was just a monk who did monk things at a monastery. One of his jobs was to help maintain the vegetable garden. How mundane can one's life be, walking around in a robe and spending the days growing the monastery's food?

Mendel didn't complain. He didn't just do his job; he studied and explored it. He kept records and tried different things. His works, published in the 1860s, introduced the world to the science of genetics. His records of his plants' traits and breedings gave us the concept of inheritance, traits, purebred/hybrids, and the idea of the genetic basis of life.

Through genetics, the world can grow better food, making food more affordable. We can address illnesses such as Downs or Tay-Sachs. We can understand drug-resistant germs. Think how many lives are saved.

If a monk in a pea patch can change the world, anyone can.

Interesting thread. I draw two things from it:

1. That Mendel was living what is perceived as a mundane life, but what was in fact an incredibly and exciting life to Mendel. So I think the point is for us to find out what excites and interests us in the world and apply it to everything situation we are in i.e.: learning and testing our limits . In other words, it is more the personal drive and alignment that gets rid of the mundane, and not our actual surroundings and environment.

2. Self acceptance vs. Personal growth: We have to accept who we are before we grow. We don't do any good blaming our situation for who we are or the life we lead.

[Boreas]

Originally Posted by CAlex6977

What is everyone else doing out their to "Change the world" so to speak.

I think the mystery of consciousness is a good cause that everyone can read up on and try contribute to. The fact that we as humans cannot explain our own awareness, what it means to live and feel, is pretty startling and it would be nice to do it.

Another great cause in my mind is aging in the biological sense, which is also still a mystery.

[jtracy]

I think that having a mundane life only refers to the activities you do. It says nothing about how you do them. Gregor Mendel was one example of this. Another is the story I heard about a mentally handicapped person who bagged groceries at the supermarket. You can't get a much more mundane job than that. But this guy decided to do something special. He collected a lot of inspirational sayings and slipped them in people's bags of groceries. Between that and his warm smile, the line he worked in quickly became everyone's favorite. He took a mundane activity that most of us would find really boring, and turned it into something that really made a difference to people. It's not what you do, a lot of the time, it's how you do it. It's your motivation and enthusiasm. It's your passion. Gregor Mendel obviously had a passion for finding out how plants breed. Most of us have "mundane" lives. We can't all be superstars. But it is the way that we approach our lives that makes the difference.

[Brutha]

1. That Mendel was living what is perceived as a mundane life, but what was in fact an incredibly and exciting life to Mendel.

I don't think that there's reason to assume that Mendel was more excited than other normal people.

His records of his plants' traits and breedings gave us the concept of inheritance

His records were only read by the scientists of the day after other people did gave us the concept of inheritance.
He gets the credit because he was first, not because he brought us those ideas.

[Boreas]

Originally Posted by Brutha

I don't think that there's reason to assume that Mendel was more excited than other normal people.

Hah! Good point, fair enough.

Didn't he draw little smiley faces all over his notebook? The man lived in ecstasy I tell you!

[Starman]

Originally Posted by Becca Glouzstein

I have spent the last 10 years living a 'mundane' life - raising my 3 gorgeous kids at home 24/7. It was the most difficult, crazy, wonderful, growth-inducing, soulful time of my life.

If I have learned anything in that time it is this:

The most beautiful and meaningful moments in life (the ones that you will remember and look back on fondly) are the everyday, ordinary, 'mundane' moments; watching the kids favorite program with them, going for a walk and noticing the things that a 2 year old notices, sharing an orange, watching the kids faces as they sleep, hot chocolate on a rainy day, just sitting with friends or family around a favorite table or under a favorite tree and chatting, cooking something you know they'll love, welcoming them home...

On a recent 'Oprah' they were asking people how they would spend the day if they had only one day left to live. Nearly everyone said they would spend it with their loved ones doing normal, everyday things.

You can find the sacred in the mundane if your heart is open in gratitude.

inspirationformothers.com

Becca Glouzstein:

I completely agree with you; mudane is in the eye of the beholder.

I wish I could have had a mom like you,

*Starman

[Becca Glouzstein]

Starman - you really are a *Star* Man cos you just made my day!
Bless you.

[funchy]

Originally Posted by Brutha

He gets the credit because he was first, not because he brought us those ideas.

In my opinion, he did bring us the ideas. He compiled all his studies and published "Experiments in Plant Hybridization" in 1865. The world just wasn't ready yet to hear what he had to say. Perhaps the conclusion we can draw is that some of us DO change the world but we may not live to see the full extent of that impact?

[Brutha]

In my opinion, he did bring us the ideas. He compiled all his studies and published "Experiments in Plant Hybridization" in 1865. The world just wasn't ready yet to hear what he had to say.

But nobody took the paper seriously.

Ideas alone are worth nothing if you can't convince other people.

This is similar to some college student today writing a bachelor thesis that contains some extremly important insight.
Twenty years later someone else who does a lot of research discovers the same thing and convinces the world that the ideas are right.

The college student didn't change the world. The person who discovered the ideas later but convinced the world changed it.
But the college student would still get the academic credit for the discovery.

[funchy]

Originally Posted by Brutha

But nobody took the paper seriously.

Ideas alone are worth nothing if you can't convince other people.

This is similar to some college student today writing a bachelor thesis that contains some extremly important insight.
Twenty years later someone else who does a lot of research discovers the same thing and convinces the world that the ideas are right.

I disagree. Some of the most profound ideas were not accepted immediately, and that doesn't diminish who discovered them or their importance. Look at all the new science ideas that at first were ignored: a round earth, sun as center of solar system, evolution, natural selection, age of the Earth, what fossils really are, etc.

It's human nature to reject a totally new way of looking at something. It makes people uncomfortable because it challenges so much of what they thought was right. I believe it's almost a requirement for a huge idea to take awhile to be accepted; it's proof of how radical and new the idea really is.

At least that's just my way of looking at things.

[Acting Like Godot]

It depends on how you look at it.

To me, the essential point is not so much about whether you gain recognition for anything. The essential point is about whether you find your own life engaging, interesting, fulfilling, meaningful or exciting.

The trap that many people fall into is that they believe that their circumstances have trapped them, such that their lives therefore cannot be engaging, interesting, fulfilling, meaningful or exciting.

For example, they believe that due to the limitations of their age, qualifications, wealth, job, health etc etc, they are inherently handicapped in their ability to lead an engaging, interesting, fulfilling, meaningful or exciting.

To me, the point of the Mendel example is that even in circumstances that appear extremely mundane or limiting, there is usually plenty of scope for an engaging, interesting, fulfilling, meaningful or exciting life. Mendel may not have received recognition in his own lifetime, but I believed that he must have found his beans and flowers very interesting (otherwise he would not have done so much original, groundbreaking work on them).

I guess the starting point may be about taking a deep interest in the things, events and circumstances in your immediate experience. Wherever you are, start from there. Even beans can be a universe onto themselves; how many available universes have you not explored yet?

[Corrina]

Thank you for this story! It's so true. My philosophy is that it's actually when we embrace the mundane that our lives become a lot more meaningful. I tell my clients to Be the Small Things in life, make them purposeful, be awake in those small moments...here is where life lives and purpose grows.

[darkw0rker]

The problem is everyone wants to be someone else but themselves