"Out of difficulties grow miracles."- Jean De La Bruyere

One of the big things that stuck out to me was how Raul overcame prejudice in his life. People assumed what he was capable of based on his ethnicity, social status, or geographic background He used peoples negative comments as fuel to improve himself and his education. He chose to assume that what other said was not coming from a bad place even if it was, to assume that it was for his betterment. One of the ways it was possible for him to do so was by tuning into universal consciousness. This allows you to overlook the individual, societal and local expectations of others and focus on finding yourself  and determining your own expectations. 

Application: As someone who is mixed, black and white, I face prejudice from both sides of the spectrum. I would 100% agree in the way Raul handles it as I handle it the same. I don't let others expectations of me determine who I am or what I do. I just simply am who I am, and my faith has definitely helped me reach that point. For me, I wouldn't call it a universal consciousness that I'm tuning into, but my faith pushes me to look beyond myself and the individual to what is good for all of mankind. I want to continue to think in this way each and every day.

Raul was able to reach new levels of creativity to become an amazing inventor. For him, creativity spawns from a place of wanting to test the boundaries of what is possible and what is known. Its doing something that challenges the way someone thinks, because it is not something they believed could be done, let alone by the person who accomplishes it as in Raul's case. He believes being born into the world today with technology and relative luxury has really stunted creativity. He says, "Creativity has nothing to do with art of being intellectual advanced." He goes on the explain that creativity is how you view nature in relation with you assistance in life, but in order to see the endless possibilities of nature to aid us, you have to be exposed to it and observe it.

Application: I grew up in a family with a decent financial standing. I couldn't agree more. Nothing stunts creativity like having every convenient thing you need handed to you. Thankfully, I am drawn to simplicity. I enjoy being outside in nature. The only thing I haven't thought about it considering how to use nature. I have never considered myself an inventor. I would actually much rather we leave nature in her current state before we deplete all her resources. For me, the take away will be maybe observing nature to think of ways we can stop depletion. What could be made to replace some of the resources that we take from nature everyday. 

Another concept that really caught my attention was intensity or drive. Raul urged the listener to get rid of fear and really commit to a risk no matter where it might take you, even if it ends in failure. He stresses learning by doing, inductive reasoning rather than deductive reasoning. Don't read about how somebody else accomplished something. Figure out how to accomplish it yourself, with your own creative ideas. He stresses, "Everything is a process. " You have to just go about the steps and not try to skip ahead to the result. In fact, he would say the motive should be discovery no matter the outcome. It is in the process that you discover problems, ideas, and the solutions. 

Application: I would argue further, that growing up in relative comfort stunts a person's intensity as well. You are not fighting for survival, looking for practical ways to aid the problems your facing in poverty. Everything is handed to you. You kind of lose the drive to work hard for anything. This is an area I am trying passionately to grow in. I want to be driven. I want to chase after a risk, even if failure is the outcome. I definitely could grow from trying inductive reasoning more often on a daily basis.