Josh and Joshette’s it’s time for our weekly philosophy post. Like always I decided to write about an obscure teaching. This teaching comes to us from a pianist so this will be different. So let’s dive in.

The exact teaching is: Gazing at the stars will not save you from the abyss at your feet. This looks and sounds like a floor is lava teaching but it is and isn’t at the same time. The floor is lava? No, I’m not referring to the children’s game. The floor is lava basically means no matter what you do nothing seems to go your way aka no matter where you step the floor is lava. Before you ask, yes this is a BooksByJosh term. The first part of this teaching “Gazing at the stars”, in my opinion, means wishful thinking and/or looking towards the future. The second part “the abyss at your feet” (middle part is self-explanatory), in my opinion, means the issues you are facing and/or the present. I have given two definitions for each part because this is a complex teaching. Don’t worry I will break them both down for you.

My first translation is Wishful Thinking will not save you from the Issues and Problems you are facing. I know there are countless books and videos about the power of positive thinking. Just hear me out, if your arm has been chopped off thinking positive won’t attach it back to your body. That’s the type of positive thinking I’m addressing. If you are facing hardships then you must address them rather than wishing them away. If you are struggling financially then don’t just play the lotto and wish for more money, go out there and make more. I remember when I was young watching my father mow lawns for beer money. Instead of wasting his own money to buy beer he took two hours out of his weekend and mowed a couple of lawns. After mowing the lawns he had enough to buy beers for him and his friends for the entire weekend. This might sound unrealistic to some of you so let me use one of my personal experiences. I am overweight and can no longer work out like I used to. Instead of wishing I was in shape, I work on losing weight as best I can with what I have. I can’t run so instead I walk a lot (about 20 miles a week), can’t use my right arm so I do squats and crunches. I’ve also been told my sugar was high and I stopped my intake of sugar. I could have said that eventually, I will be in shape and healthy or blame someone other than myself but I followed this teaching.

My second translation is Looking towards the Future will not save you from the Present. Basically looking down the street will not save you from tripping over a rock that is in front of you. If you focus on the end result you may end up missing out important steps during the process. A prime example of this was me leaving work last night. I was looking forward to getting home and planning out my evening and I left work walked halfway home to then realize I had left one of my phones at the job. This definition of the teaching is the same as an older saying that my father always told me: Don’t count your chickens before they hatch. The future is ever changing so we can’t focus on something that is not definite. You have to live in the now, even the master Bruce Lee talks about this. In the second chapter of his philosophy book ‘Striking Thoughts,’ he teaches the importance of living in the now. To quote him “To live in the now you must die yesterday”. You must not dwell on the past (Bruce Lee) or on the future (Josh) but rather the present. Don’t worry about what will happen when you accomplish your goal, worry about what you are doing right now to achieve it.

I literally brought another philosophy teaching into my interpretation of this one. This teaching from a pianist is that powerful if you understand it and learn how to apply it to your life. I know that I’m going to apply this teaching to my life and business by living in the now. I would always tell myself that in the future my site will grow or my products will sell in time. Sounds nice but if I don’t put in the work now then that future will never come to fruition. That’s it for today’s post, so stop with the wishful thinking and focusing on the future and just Make It Happen.