When I was thirteen I landed a summer job at a small mom and pop business, a combination lawn mower repair shop run by 'pop' and a picture framing business run by 'mom'. I often worked with mom in the morning (because my hands were clean) and with pop after lunch.

One morning late in the summer pop grabbed me before heading into mom's shop and told me he needed me all day. He directed me towards an old beat up riding lawnmower and simply said "Fix it". When I asked what was wrong he snapped as he turned away "Won't start".

I had been working there for several month, so while I knew the diagnostic routine this was my first solo affair. Sheepishly I walked over to where pop was working and asked "Where do I start?" He answered cryptically "At the beginning."

Flummoxed I walked back to my machine and stared at it, hoping it would further instruct me. It did not. Of course I knew what to do and the owner knew that as well. So after a little more dithering and stalling I got over my fear and started at the beginning.

Thankfully On The Beach isn't as cryptic as pop was and lays out in Essay Three the steps we need to follow to begin the Antidote.

Click here to find out how. 

Most of us rarely consider we might be living in a poisonous environment, let alone 'consuming' poison by way of our lifestyle, career choice, mental and emotional attitude and perspective or even by way of the friends and acquaintances we keep. And yet all of the above and more are in many respects more toxic to us than anything we might possibly eat or drink on a regular basis.

I constantly speak of the urgent need to question everything in our lives, particularly ourselves and those 'things' we take for granted and rarely see for what they really are. On The Beach explains why and how we might do this from his perspective in the second installment of his brilliant series "The Antidote".

Click here for Essay Two.

It is only when I stretch my perceptual muscles and disturb my cognitive dissonance that I experience personal growth. Left alone within my mental echo chamber and surrounded by me, myself and I while engulfed in glorious self affirmation and ego saturation, what purpose is served by exercising anything other than the button marked confirmation bias?

But......when deliberately challenged to move well beyond my comfort zone by pushing all sorts of triggers and buttons, essentially to put myself off my mental/emotional feed, all kinds of things, thoughts and understandings can and do 'happen' when I allow them to  penetrate. All it takes is a little courage and the willingness to put aside my faiths and beliefs and take a walk on the wild side.

"On the Beach", a premium member here on TwoIceFloes.com and a long time corespondent of mine, has penned a six-part treatise with the promise of more to come. On the Beach has a lot to say and I for one have found great value in reading his essays.

As I have told several others along the way when contemplating what to them appeared to be disturbing or troubling information, "You do not have to believe what you are reading....but you must seriously consider it." I emphasize 'seriously' because it is only when we open our minds to alternative thoughts and feelings do we activate the growth within.

Please click here to read Essay One: Introduction of "The Antidote".

Cognitive Dissonance