ATTACHMENT AND AVERSION

"Love what is." 

~ Byron Katie ~

My senses have radar for attachment and aversion. I like the way this smells- totally delicious- but not that. I see beauty here, but not there. One taste is like heaven, and another I have to spit out. Sound can be fun and festive, or oppressive.
     So the question is, how can we neutralize our sensory perceptions? Perhaps, by valuing observation and awareness over judgment.

I bring awareness to the value judgments of my senses and let everything just be what it is.

BEING ADAPTABLE

"All that Adam had, all that Caesar could, you have and can do... Build, therefore, your own world." 

~ RW Emerson ~

There's a defiance in me, and I don't think I'm the only one. When someone tells me I have to do or approach a task or goal in a particular way, there is something in me that wants to do it differently just to prove them wrong.
     Still, I generally try it their way at first, figuring they know better than I do, and squash my defiant extincts. And then, ultimately, I have to adapt the strategy to my perspective anyway because, let's face it, one size just doesn't ever fit all.

I adjust how-to solutions to suit my perspective, my skill-set, and my aim. 

FEELING STUCK

"To think too long about doing a thing often becomes its undoing." 

~ Eva Young ~

Though we may feel irrepressibly stuck, we never are. Movement of some kind or another is always possible, whether it be externally, or on the inside regarding our perspective and attitude.
     Action illicits results. We can take a walk, have a conversation, think about something in a new way, or get to work- any of these is an option, and any of these will inevitably shift what's stuck.

I appreciate that action is the key to a new view.

EFFORT OVER TIME

"Honest labor dispels melancholy." 

~ James Lendall Basford ~

I'm not sure what it is in us that has a desire for results without effort, or results with minimum effort. We erroneously think that having things handed to us will create an ease of pressure, and yet, I'm not sure it does, and the victories that are won as the result of focus, diligence, and sustained effort over time are sweet like none other.
     Would we rather be an overnight success, or cultivate respect and recognition and build a firm foundation that will endure? It's a question worth considering, and, while a part of us likes the idea of the former, greater long-term satisfaction likely comes from the legitimacy and continuity of the latter.

I appreciate the long-term value of sustained effort over time.

EXPERT OPINIONS

"The time and place are mine when I am equal to the time and place." 

~ Muriel Strode ~

It's so hard to trust ourselves amidst the world of opinions and how-to information. Others who seem better informed make suggestions that don't resonate, and rather than simply understanding it's not for us, we take it on and think there's something wrong in our way of seeing and believing. This is hugely dis-empowering.
     Let's trust ourselves more than we do, and give ourselves credit for being experts at the specific challenges of our own individual lives.

I listen to the experts, and make sure to appreciate that their's is not the final word. 

THE NEGATIVE POWER OF "SHOULD"

"Judgments prevent us from seeing the good that lies beyond." 

~ Wayne Dyer ~

We are constantly judging ourselves and others by unconscious standards. How are we doing? How do we, or they, measure up? And how does life measure up- to our expectation, and our sense of right and wrong and how things should really be?
     It's the "should" that gets us, and mostly at the thinking level. We should be better, stronger, thinner, further along the path. And our friends and family should be this, that or the other thing. And life! Well, life should definitely be easier, and more fun.
     Whatever the hidden scale may be, the challenge is that neither we, nor the people around us, nor the world is usually as we would have them be, so we experience letdown, and a sense of frustration and lack. Let's change this. Let's leave the shoulds behind, raise our awareness, and move into choice and acceptance instead of punishing, deconstructive judgment.

I examine the extent and negative impact of my "shoulds," and accept myself and others as we are.

SHARING THE LIGHT

"There is no effect more disproportionate to its cause than the happiness bestowed by a small compliment." 

~ Robert Brault ~

I saw a woman in a restaurant with the sun shining on her making her shirt sparkle brilliantly, and when she got up, I commented on it. "What a pretty shirt!"
     She had her arm in a sling and said, "Thank you," and then a minute later she said, "I really appreciate you saying that," and pointed to her arm. "It's been a rough week."
     "What did you do?" I asked.
     "I broke my wrist."
     We had a moment of connection, a transfer of light and energy between us that made us both feel good.
     How often do we think someone is lovely or well put together, and don't say a thing- just let the moment pass? Let's not. Let's share compliments with everyone, freely, and from the heart.

I communicate positive feedback every time I feel it, or see it.

HERE AND GONE

"Death is not warden of life, not thief, nor enemy- but Life's most equal partner." 

~ Terri Guillements ~

Someone I knew to say hello to and share a smile and a few friendly words with died last week in a fatal car crash. One minute she was here, and the next, gone, and that could happen to any of us, any day. It's a good reminder to get over our petty resentments and complaints, to get into gratitude and appreciation for all that we have, and all those who we love.
     Let's not take anything for granted, and get busy following our dreams.
     Life is steady and repetitive and predictable, until it's not.

I count each day as a great and gracious blessing.

SWEET SILENCE

"Silence is the universal refuge." 

~ HD Thoreau ~

We live in a noisy world- a world of traffic and phones ringing, dogs barking, radios, people talking, construction, computer sounds, clanking silverware- it's bottomless, a bottomless pit of sound... which makes silence a beautiful and refreshing thing.
     And yet, because of the nature of our noisy world, silence can be challenging to come by, and even when we find it, it can be overpowered by the internal chatter of our minds. So we must learn to seek it out and create it consciously, in our minds, our homes, our cars, and outdoors. For it is in silence that we hear the wind blowing, the birds singing, and the still small voice of God.

I take a break from all technology and relax into the healing powers of silence.

STAYING UNSTUCK

"It is better to stir up a question without deciding it, than to decide it without stirring it up." 

~ Joseph Joubert ~

What seems real and critical today can completely shift in importance overnight; can be forgotten in a week, and cease to matter entirely in the flash and understanding of new knowledge. Flux is the name of the game- constant movement, adjustment, adaptation, and improvisation, along with a willingness to level up or let go, as circumstances require.
   

I free myself from fixed positions and remain flexible and bending.

LIVING LEARNING

"The tombstone will be my diploma." 

~ Eartha Kitt ~

It's exciting to learn new things. It opens up whole new worlds. We come to see and understand and know what we didn't know we didn't know. What can we learn today? How can we broaden our perspective, our realm of reality, and our reach?

I am curious and willing and ever-open to learn what I don't know.

EGO

"At one end of the scale of the unconscious egoic pattern lies the compulsive habit of faultfinding and complaining about others... at the other... there is physical violence between individuals and warfare between nations."

 ~ Eckhart Tolle ~

Our egos debilitate and disable us as they strut about all puffed up and thinking they know best. It's ego that wants to do it all alone, ego that moans and groans, and ego that holds us back. Anything new is not safe.
     Ego chokes us while promising glory. It's the ultimate passive-aggressive bully. Let's learn to recognize it and stand up. Let's believe in what we might accomplish beyond its grasp.

I free myself from ego imprisonment.

ALIGNING WITH OTHERS

"Sticks in a bundle are unbreakable." 

~ Kenyan Proverb ~

Comparing ourselves to others is a dangerous business because it separates us. Instead of looking for ways to contribute, to relate and collaborate, we seek ways to talk ourselves out of the game entirely- by being better, or, not good enough.
     It's a level playing field. We all have strengths and weaknesses, assets and liabilities, harms and victories. Power, pleasure, and creative possibility come when we align with others, not when we oppose them, or compare out.

I acknowledge the great potential that comes from knowing I am one of many while still being unique in my own right.

WHAT MATTERS

"If you want to build a ship,

don't drum up people together to collect wood and don't

assign them tasks and work, but rather teach them

to long for the immensity of the sea."

~ Antoinne De Saint-Exupery ~

What's more important than what we can teach others to do is how we can make them feel. It's more about leadership and less about control, more about love and less about instruction, more about the heart and less about the head.
     What matters are spiritual principles rather than to-do lists and agendas.
     What matters is connection, conviction, compassion and cooperation.
     What matters is acceptance and trust.
     What matters is being human, and being authentic, and being the real and vulnerable deal.

I lead from the heart.

IMPACTING THE WORLD WHERE WE ARE

"We can do no great things, only small things with great love." 

~ Mother Teresa ~

It's more powerful to make a positive difference in our families and our communities than in trying to save the world. The reality of our potential impact is limited at best, so all we can really do is affect the world where we are.
   

I love and honor the people I encounter and interact with on a daily basis.

NOTHING TO LOSE

"I may not overcome the inevitable, but O, it is mine to see that the inevitable does not overcome me." 

~ Muriel Strode ~

Having nothing to lose is a confident position. If we will be no worse off by taking a risk, and might, potentially, be better off, why not take it? And even if we don't get the long shot result we are hoping for, the mere fact that we had the pluck to ask for it strengthens our position in life and the sense of power that we feel inside.

I am going for it, and don't hold back.

ACTION OVER FEAR

"Doubt's sole insidious function is to make us worry ourselves sick so that we might avoid the very risk or effort that would destroy it." 

~ Brendon Burchard ~

The antidote to fear is action. Worried thoughts stall us in paralysis. We wonder what if this and what if that with always negative imagined outcomes. But when we start moving, when we start doing, when we start intentionally propelling ourselves in the direction we want to go, then we make progress. New possibilities open up, and by taking action we build confidence - that we can actually do it, and that what we don't know we can learn.
     So let's get moving and keep moving, and give ourselves some credit whenever we take a break- that we went on and followed through and traveled some distance, in spite of fear and doubt, and the whole litany of unfriendly voices determined to hold us back.

I do something every day to keep me moving in the direction of my dreams. 

FACING INDECISION

"To decide is to make peace within and let the chips fall where they may." 

~ Lisa Tabak ~

Being indecisive is seriously limiting. Living in a state of wish-wash, going back and forth from one maybe to another means nothing is actually happening except for a lot of mental strain and discomfort. And whining about not knowing what do and expressing overwhelm and confusion is equally crippling.
     Let's decide already! Just to do it, just to do something. Inaction gives us nothing and keeps us nothing but stuck.

When faced with indecision, I give myself a few minutes, weigh the pros and cons, take a deep breath, and decide.

KEEPING OUR HOUSES IN ORDER

"I got the blues thinking of the future, so I left off and made some marmalade. It's amazing how it cheers one up to shred oranges and scrub the floor." 

~ DH Lawrence ~

Keeping our lives in order from a practical standpoint goes a long way towards our feeling steady and grounded and able to deal with the challenges of life. Making our beds in the morning, cleaning up after we eat and eating well, doing laundry, moving our bodies, maintaining our cars - just generally taking care of all that we are responsible for- these are the keys to good living. It's simple, yet profound. Without doing these things, we suffer unnecessarily by knowing that we could, and quite easily, be doing a much better job.

On a daily basis, I take care of all the little things in my life that need taking care of.

LABOR DAY

"With every civil right there has to be a corresponding civil obligation." 

~ Edison Haines ~

Originally observed to "pay tribute to the contributions and achievements of American workers," for many of us, Labor Day has become a pack-every-inch-of-fun-that-you-can-into-the-last-weekend-of-summer event. The energy of Labor Day to me feels like a deep sigh- like the fun's now over and it's time to get back into the seriousness of school, and of life. Our invitation to splash and play feels truncated- terminated by popular agreement the first Monday of every September...
       It's so far from what it once was, because we have come so far. Today, for the most part, at least in America, decent working conditions, wages, and reasonable hours on the job are the norm, and we don't engage in or support child labor. We take these things utterly for granted.
     In memory of the honorable history of the fight for labor rights, let's pause amidst our summer's end barbecues and swimming adventures and be grateful to those indomitable human spirits that came before us, and made things better, and spoke up when they could, so easily, have remained silent out of fear.

I celebrate the history of the Labor movement, and feel grateful for all the ways I benefit from the strides they have made!

Link to a brief and interesting article on the history of Labor Day: 

https://www.dol.gov/general/laborday/history