Unpacking & Evaluating Myself - Sheldon Kopp's Laundry List

An Eschatological Laundry list: by Sheldon Kopp (thank you, Oliver Brukeman)

Evaluation criteria: 

• Things already learned from Max, then I will classify as "Still Learning" 
• Things I have already learned and acted on plus implemented in everyday life, then classification will be "Done (Thanks Max)". 
• For new things,  "New" 
• "NA" for not applicable to Max and I. 

So let's go one by one:

1. This is it ! - Done (Thanks Max)
2. There are no hidden meanings. - Done (Thanks Max). There is no magic so stop subjective bullshit. 
3. You can’t get from there to here, and besides there’s no place else to go. - Done (Thanks Max). You cannot escape yourself so stop planning trips to New Zealand. 
4. We are already dying, and we will be dead for a long time. - Done (Thanks Max), I live my life now without Max for eternity. 
5. Nothing lasts. - Done (Thanks Max), No kidding !!
6. There is no way of getting all you want. - Done (Thanks Max) plus my desires are none. 
7. You can’t have anything unless you let go of it. - Done (Thanks Max), so bloody true! 
8. You only get to keep what you give away. - New, deep insight here but overlaps with above point. 
9. There is no particular reason why you lost out on some things. - Done (Thanks Max)
10. The world is not necessarily just. Being good often does not pay off and there is no compensation for misfortune. - Done (Thanks Max)
11. You have a responsibility to do your best nonetheless. - Done (Thanks Max), my reason to keep breathing after Max. 
12. It is a random universe to which we bring meaning. - Done (Thanks Max). It's stupid to search for meaning (trust me, I have send over a decade searching for one). Keeping it simple - its a random universe, period. No need to bring meaning (and it's a boring topic with no end except causes immeasurable sufferings)
13. You don’t really control anything. - Not true. You need to keeping doing good irrespective of control. Marcus's wise words - Waste no more time arguing what a good man should be. Be one.
14. You can’t make anyone love you. - Done (Thanks Max)
15. No one is any stronger or any weaker than anyone else. - Done (Thanks Max). Another way of saying death is a great equalizer. 
16. Everyone is in his own way, vulnerable. - Done (Thanks Max), overlaps with above point. 
17. There are no great men. - Done (Thanks Max) and learned a lot from Montaigne. 
18. If you have a hero, look again: you have diminished yourself in some way. - NA. Some people do need role models but nor heroes. My role model is Max. 
19. Everyone lies, cheats, pretends ( yes, you too, and most certainly I myself). - Done (Thanks Max). This goes back to point 13, you can minimize evil and suffering that you unleash. None is innocent, we all have blood on our hands - thank you Reinhold Niebuhr. 
20. All evil is potential vitality in need of transformation. - Well this is bullshit, sorry. People don't change so easily. When it comes to evil, our prison system breeds more evil and no work is done on the transformation front. 
21. All of you is worth something, if only you will own it. - NA, boring self centered preaching. Turning focus outside of yourself helps develop gratitude and serenity. 
22. Progress is an illusion. - Done (Thanks Max) and learned so much on this from John Gray. 
23. Evil can be displaced but never eradicated, as all solutions breed new problems. - Done (Thanks Max). Road to hell is paved with good intentions. 
24. Yet it us necessary to keep on struggling towards solution. - Done (Thanks Max). My inference on 19 and 13. He is contracting himself between 24 and 13. 
25. Childhood is a nightmare. - Bullshit. 
26. But it is s very hard to be an on-your-own, take-care- of -yourself-cause -there- is-no-one -else-to do-it-for-you-grown -up. - Done (Thanks Max)
27. Each of us is ultimately alone. - Done (Thanks Max). You were born alone and you are going to die alone, period. 
28. The most important things, each man must do for himself. - Done (Thanks Max)
29. Love is not enough, but it sure helps.  - Done (Thanks Max). I go one step over and usually say - Love is overrated. Changing mind is most valuable thing in the world. 
30. We have only ourselves, and one another. That may not be much, but thats all there is. - Done (Thanks Max)
31. How strange, that so often, it all seems worth it. - Done (Thanks Max)
32. We must live with the ambiguity of partial freedom, partial power, and partial knowledge. - Done (Thanks Max) and learned so much from Buddha. 
33. All important decisions must be made on the basis of insufficient data. - Done (Thanks Max). Continuation of above point and hence, I love Bayes Theorem. 
34. Yet we are responsible for everything we do. - Done (Thanks Max)
35. No excuses will be accepted. - Done (Thanks Max)
36. You can run, but you can’t hide. - Done (Thanks Max)
37. It is most important to run out of scapegoats. - Done (Thanks Max). There is a shelf life on how much you can blame your parents (and others) - J.K.Rowling.   
38. We must learn the power of living with our helplessness. - Done (Thanks Max)
39. The only victory lies in surrender to oneself. - Bullshit. This in the realm of self-centeredness. Surrender to uncertainty and randomness (not oneself) but keep trying.  
40. All of the significant battles are waged within the self. - Done (Thanks Max)
41. You are free to do whatever you want. You need only face the consequences. - Done (Thanks Max)
42. What do you know…for sure…anyway ? - Done (Thanks Max), Socrates and then Montaigne. 
43. Learn to forgive yourself, again and again and again and again. - NA

I have a lot of "Done's" and zero "Still Learning". It is not that I am not being humble but I think Max taught not to learn passively but act and implement in everyday life. 

There are zillion other things I am still learning but from Sheldon's list, it just happens to be zero.