Where do you park your two boats?
In a pair of docks.
Paradox.
Just what is a paradox? I’ll tell you. It is a seemingly absurd or self-contradictory statement. But. When that statement or “thing” is investigated or explained, it may prove to be well-founded. It may just be true.
Carl Jung once said: “Only the paradox comes anywhere near to comprehending the fullness of life.”
I’m not sure about this. I’ve given it much thought, and I see that our awareness becomes widened with the discovery of a paradox in our lives. So I guess, in that way, Jung was right.
And I’ve found a few for us to consider on The Medium website, which are listed below. But I also found a gazillion on Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_paradoxes
That said, I’ve come to this conclusion.
The paradox makes my head spin, and I suddenly feel like I’m in some sort of vacuum with absolutely no understanding of the world we are in.
I’ll say it again. A paradox is a statement or proposition that seems self-contradictory or logically unacceptable. BUT. It may reveal an underlying truth upon closer examination.
Paradoxes seem to challenge my understanding, and they prompt deeper thinking about the concepts they present. And then I bust.
For example, the statement “This statement is false” creates a paradox because if it is true, then it must be false, and if it is false, then it must be true. Paradoxes are used to illustrate complex ideas and provoke thought about the nature of reality and reasoning.
They remind me of me at the math chalkboard in the eighth grade.
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“Sometimes people don’t want to hear the truth because they don’t want their illusions destroyed.” — Friedrich Nietzsche
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“It is not the answer that enlightens, but the question.” — Eugene Ionesco
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“The truth is rarely pure and never simple.” — Oscar Wilde
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The blah, blah, blah.
MORE on those Paradox Examples:
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• The Growth Paradox
Growth seems to happen gradually, almost imperceptibly at times, and then all at once.
The way bamboo grows is one of the best examples of this.
Bamboo can barely be seen for the first five years as it builds extensive root systems underground. Then it explodes ninety feet into the air within six weeks.
Our own personal and professional growth can follow a similar trajectory. The growth paradox reminds me to be patient.
• The Oxygen Paradox
The oxygen paradox states that oxygen is vital to life but too much of it can be deadly. It’s similar to how too much food can clog a person’s arteries, too much exercise can damage muscle tissue, and too much sun can cause skin cancer. It doesn’t seem to matter what “it” is in life because when something becomes unbalanced, it ultimately becomes toxic. Breathing too much oxygen is no different.
• Picasso’s Paradox
There is a famous tale of Picasso in the marketplace and it goes like this:
Picasso was walking through the market one day when a woman approached him. She pulled out a piece of paper and said, “Mr. Picasso, I am a fan of your work. Please, could you do a little drawing for me?”
Picasso smiled and quickly drew a small, but beautiful piece of art on the paper. He handed it back to her. “That will be one million dollars.”
“But Mr. Picasso,” the woman protested, “It only took you thirty seconds to draw this little masterpiece.”
“My good woman,” Picasso smiled, “It took me thirty years to draw that masterpiece in thirty seconds.”
• The Wisdom Paradox
Albert Einstein captured this best when he said:
“The more I learn, the more I realize how much I don’t know
Sometimes turning down opportunities is the best way to create them.
Discernment is the key to success.
“People think focus means saying yes to the thing you’ve got to focus on. But that’s not what it means at all. It means saying no to the hundred other good ideas that there are. You have to pick carefully” — Steve Jobs
• The Failure Paradox
Michael Jordan brilliantly said:
“I’ve missed more than 9,000 shots in my career. I’ve lost almost 300 games. Twenty-six times I’ve been trusted to take the game-winning shot and missed. I’ve failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed.”
All successful people know that in order to succeed they must fail a bunch of times. When failure is seen as an opportunity to learn and grow, everything changes.
• The Talking Paradox
Talking less often means there’s more to say because the opposite of talking is listening.
“We have two ears and one mouth so that we can listen twice as much as we speak.” — Epictetus
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The Paradox. My head hurts.
