So far with this blog I have tried to talk about subject specific items and deal with these items in some relatively intelligent manner with the hope that I might actually say something interesting.
It's been a bit of hit and miss but overall I am happy with what I have written and discussed here. I have hoped for more response but in rereading some of the subjects, and my writing as a whole, I can see how I have not been as inviting to you readers as I should...so I would like to do that now.
I invite you to contribute to what is happening here....please...give me some topics you might like to read and have me write about. Things that interest you that I could create a dialog with. I also would invite you to respond by leaving comments on any of the topics I have already covered if you so feel inclined...as well as any of the topics upcoming....I would welcome what you have to contribute and be honored by your voice here. This includes challenges as well as support...who doesn't like a good friendly challenge? I believe this is how we learn...this is the wonderful thing about free speech...we can disagree agreeably...and hopefully learn from each other...
I will interject at this point...I do this not because I have run out of topics...far from it...but I want to be more interactive and for those that visit...make them feel welcome and part of. I know this is my blog but this is also a public forum for thoughts, ideas, and conversation. I hope that I am able to teach some, be entertaining some, and also interact some. Everything up until this point has...as it reads to me...been more from the teaching voice...I would like to keep that...but expand on it to include other things...one of them being your voice as well as mine.
I know I can be long winded and certainly can deal with topics in a heavy handed sort of way...and frankly I am OK with that and don't apologize for it...because it is part of who I am and how I write...but I do not want to alienate anyone from what I started this blog to be and that is a place to share ideas but also be an open forum for an exchange of ideas and thought. Thus the name...
So...without further dalliance...I openly invite you to participate...does anyone have a question or thought to share? You have read many of mine...what are your thoughts on the subject? What should the next subject be? What do you want to talk about? Say....hey....what's on your mind? This is after all...the thought lounge...
Tuesday, September 18, 2007
Saturday, August 25, 2007
Anchors...
As I travel down the lively and trodden path that I so often choose in my life, I will many times look up and see that I have stumbled in to a rediscovered but forgotten lane, teaming with memories and a completeness that I only know from having reached the end of this circle at a prior juncture. In some ways the story of my life is a story of repetition and recycling of experiences into a new and fresh moment and meaning. While I have seen the cycle of life repeat itself around me many times already and old things become new again...I always understand that it is with this insight and perception that I receive lessons and knowledge...however mundane or creative they might be.
Whatever understanding and knowledge I possess at this moment in my life...I do realize that it is with great leading by someone or something far greater than I. I have been gifted free will in this journey described as life...and I may choose how I perceive and view things about and around me...but it is with a great and profound respect that I humbly accept anything that has been bestowed upon me in regards to any ability to the understanding of any thing.
It is from this deep respect...this place of humility and reverence in my mind and in my soul...that I hold as a place of foundation. An anchor to those things in me that...in a moment of pride or arrogance...I might elevate to actually coming from me...but I know they do not. It is wrong for me to assume myself so superior to another...that I would believe myself more important...more knowledgeable...more understanding...more educated...more compassionate...more empathetic...more creative...or more valuable. I am not.
What I am...is unique.
There is very little that we actually know in this life. Most of the things we think we know...are things we take in through our abilities to perceive the world...our imperfect and often fallible senses. How is it that when standing on a set of railroad tracks...and gazing down the tracks towards the horizon...the tracks seem to converge? Do they converge? No...they do not. How is it that our memory of an event differs from a picture taken from it or a video long since forgotten which documented the memory? How is it that with given the right stimulus...we human beings remember things that never happened? Can we create pseudo-memories? Yes...we can...and we fully believe them. How can it be...that what things we hear...smell...taste...touch...and see...can so often be so different than the exact same things experienced by another standing right next to us?
It is because we are all unique.
But don't we all fail? Don't we all succeed? Do we not all bleed red and live in accordance to our own nature? Do we all feel the same pains and desire the same outcomes when faced with those pains? Do we not all love? So how is it that we are unique...if we are all so much the same? It goes so far beyond our senses and simply our experience. It goes down to the very core of who we are as individuals. Those things each of us sense as important. Those things that we...each of us...base our lives and existence on...what we stake our purpose in...what we anchor ourselves to...
Most of us are profoundly anchored in our sense of safety and security. We strive for attaining it and then work hard at maintaining it. We focus on it actually...at times...to our own detriment. But it keeps us anchored. There are some...for whom....safety and security only come by letting go of things that are held secure...things that are considered by the individual as safe...and it is there...without the appearance of safety and security that this individual feels safe and secure...because they believe that in their lack of safety and security...they are truly living...but it is an anchor all the same...
Our anchors are those things which keep us grounded and balanced. When an individual is most out of balance...it normally is coupled with their being untethered from their anchor...and away from their foundation. No matter how feeble our attempts at reconciliation towards balance come...we will not find our joy...our sense of serenity...our focus...our foundation...when we are untethered from our anchor.
So...I ask you...you who are reading this...what is your anchor? What is it in your life that anchors you?
And...
Do you have your joy? Your......joy....
Not your sense of safety and security...not your money...not your hobby or your profession....unless that is your joy...not your place in life...or your lot....not your accomplishments or those things you've amassed....
What...is...your....joy?
Whatever understanding and knowledge I possess at this moment in my life...I do realize that it is with great leading by someone or something far greater than I. I have been gifted free will in this journey described as life...and I may choose how I perceive and view things about and around me...but it is with a great and profound respect that I humbly accept anything that has been bestowed upon me in regards to any ability to the understanding of any thing.
It is from this deep respect...this place of humility and reverence in my mind and in my soul...that I hold as a place of foundation. An anchor to those things in me that...in a moment of pride or arrogance...I might elevate to actually coming from me...but I know they do not. It is wrong for me to assume myself so superior to another...that I would believe myself more important...more knowledgeable...more understanding...more educated...more compassionate...more empathetic...more creative...or more valuable. I am not.
What I am...is unique.
There is very little that we actually know in this life. Most of the things we think we know...are things we take in through our abilities to perceive the world...our imperfect and often fallible senses. How is it that when standing on a set of railroad tracks...and gazing down the tracks towards the horizon...the tracks seem to converge? Do they converge? No...they do not. How is it that our memory of an event differs from a picture taken from it or a video long since forgotten which documented the memory? How is it that with given the right stimulus...we human beings remember things that never happened? Can we create pseudo-memories? Yes...we can...and we fully believe them. How can it be...that what things we hear...smell...taste...touch...and see...can so often be so different than the exact same things experienced by another standing right next to us?
It is because we are all unique.
But don't we all fail? Don't we all succeed? Do we not all bleed red and live in accordance to our own nature? Do we all feel the same pains and desire the same outcomes when faced with those pains? Do we not all love? So how is it that we are unique...if we are all so much the same? It goes so far beyond our senses and simply our experience. It goes down to the very core of who we are as individuals. Those things each of us sense as important. Those things that we...each of us...base our lives and existence on...what we stake our purpose in...what we anchor ourselves to...
Most of us are profoundly anchored in our sense of safety and security. We strive for attaining it and then work hard at maintaining it. We focus on it actually...at times...to our own detriment. But it keeps us anchored. There are some...for whom....safety and security only come by letting go of things that are held secure...things that are considered by the individual as safe...and it is there...without the appearance of safety and security that this individual feels safe and secure...because they believe that in their lack of safety and security...they are truly living...but it is an anchor all the same...
Our anchors are those things which keep us grounded and balanced. When an individual is most out of balance...it normally is coupled with their being untethered from their anchor...and away from their foundation. No matter how feeble our attempts at reconciliation towards balance come...we will not find our joy...our sense of serenity...our focus...our foundation...when we are untethered from our anchor.
So...I ask you...you who are reading this...what is your anchor? What is it in your life that anchors you?
And...
Do you have your joy? Your......joy....
Not your sense of safety and security...not your money...not your hobby or your profession....unless that is your joy...not your place in life...or your lot....not your accomplishments or those things you've amassed....
What...is...your....joy?
Thursday, August 9, 2007
Balance...
Life is funny ya know? Sometimes...it just seems like life is just raining good stuff down on ya from all angles and all is well...and sometimes one just feels like one is getting all wet. But therein lies the good stuff...the marrow...the place in between....and just when the image of altered balance comes into focus and one can see where their own mistakes lie...the lesson emerges and one has the opportunity to learn.
Out of all the things that we focus on in our lives and all the myriad of messages that are besieged upon us daily...we have a tendency to become very out of balance if we do not pay attention to our priorities and our focus. In the content of our lives there is a hierarchy of importance and yet...our emotions can lead us to a series of choices that, if left to their own destitute and infectious ends, can leave us in a query about the state of our purpose and the dilapidated sense of safety that we coddle and elude ourselves with.
True...we do have a choice as to how we lead or follow...our nemesis...our hearts...as opposed to the logic and rationale of our minds...yet it is truly in our feelings that we loose ourselves and have the potential to loose so much more. We are complex beings and to allot an importance to our emotional life is our destiny and is quite healthy...it can create balance in one who is overly rational...but the balance is one of a very fine line for if the importance allotted is overextended and overemphasized we will surely fall into a deep well of suffering and longing...the likes of which are painful and at worst deadly.
Balance...in and of itself is a simple concept...however to create balance in one's own life, mind, and spirit is a complex task. A task that involves labor and tenacity yet is as subtle as it is vital. A task with meaning and deep reverence to those things held as important but left in a state of graceful abandon and acceptance. A place of personal accountability and integrity holding a deep wealth of wisdom and yet having the ability to be open and flexible to learning new knowledge and new directions.
Balance...means different things to each individual but also has a collective meaning that we all recognize and own in our hearts and understanding. We yearn for balance and for many of us it eludes us with the cunning and stealth of a great hunter/warrior. Even when worked at...often...we come to realize we are still continually making mistakes and choices that although show effort and attempt...leave us no more balanced than before and therefore leave us in a state of question. Do we repeat the mistake and try again...or do we change our tactic and reverse our course? Are we ever to gain an ongoing balance? Is this even a real and true option?
Or is it closer to the fact to say that just as riding a bike...a straight line is actually a series of left turns to center followed by a series of right turns to center to create the illusion of a straight line. The wobbly straight line is actually a wavy line impersonating a straight line. It is only upon close examination that one can tell the true nature. Balance therefore is never a steady course but a series of waves and corrections to bring one back into center. Balance...without it...we have chaos...and with it...we can achieve serenity.
Out of all the things that we focus on in our lives and all the myriad of messages that are besieged upon us daily...we have a tendency to become very out of balance if we do not pay attention to our priorities and our focus. In the content of our lives there is a hierarchy of importance and yet...our emotions can lead us to a series of choices that, if left to their own destitute and infectious ends, can leave us in a query about the state of our purpose and the dilapidated sense of safety that we coddle and elude ourselves with.
True...we do have a choice as to how we lead or follow...our nemesis...our hearts...as opposed to the logic and rationale of our minds...yet it is truly in our feelings that we loose ourselves and have the potential to loose so much more. We are complex beings and to allot an importance to our emotional life is our destiny and is quite healthy...it can create balance in one who is overly rational...but the balance is one of a very fine line for if the importance allotted is overextended and overemphasized we will surely fall into a deep well of suffering and longing...the likes of which are painful and at worst deadly.
Balance...in and of itself is a simple concept...however to create balance in one's own life, mind, and spirit is a complex task. A task that involves labor and tenacity yet is as subtle as it is vital. A task with meaning and deep reverence to those things held as important but left in a state of graceful abandon and acceptance. A place of personal accountability and integrity holding a deep wealth of wisdom and yet having the ability to be open and flexible to learning new knowledge and new directions.
Balance...means different things to each individual but also has a collective meaning that we all recognize and own in our hearts and understanding. We yearn for balance and for many of us it eludes us with the cunning and stealth of a great hunter/warrior. Even when worked at...often...we come to realize we are still continually making mistakes and choices that although show effort and attempt...leave us no more balanced than before and therefore leave us in a state of question. Do we repeat the mistake and try again...or do we change our tactic and reverse our course? Are we ever to gain an ongoing balance? Is this even a real and true option?
Or is it closer to the fact to say that just as riding a bike...a straight line is actually a series of left turns to center followed by a series of right turns to center to create the illusion of a straight line. The wobbly straight line is actually a wavy line impersonating a straight line. It is only upon close examination that one can tell the true nature. Balance therefore is never a steady course but a series of waves and corrections to bring one back into center. Balance...without it...we have chaos...and with it...we can achieve serenity.
Tuesday, July 24, 2007
The Flow...
Many years ago I was in a time in my life where my world was falling apart and I was confused, depressed, and my world had gotten very small. I became a single father...my marriage had failed...and I was at a loss as to where to go...what to do next....so we went camping up the Northern California coast...up past Eureka...and before Crescent City...to try to get my head on straight....and on our way we stopped along a few beaches...just to take it all in...
It was a cold overcast grey afternoon with the surf crashing on the shore. The waves raised up four or five feet as they pounded the sand upon meeting with the earth and as I looked across the stretch of coastline in front of me heaving and swaying back and forth in an eternal and violent dance...I noticed a strange sight. There was a stick...in the surf...stuck firmly in the sand...in the middle of the waves...at an angle...pointing away from the water. I spotted it and thought that it looked strange...this stick...out of sorts...pointing up the beach and towards the woods and mountains as if a figure on a ship of old...leading the way...and I wondered what in the world it was doing there...
I wondered if someone had stuck it there and thought...well...they must have haven't they? Every wave came crashing against it and as each wave pulled itself back into that wet salty expanse of the sea...there stood the stick...proud...strong...fighting...standing...and so I watched this stick...I couldn't take my eyes off of it really...it must have stood three feet above ground so I thought that it must have at least that much below ground level as well...and then another wave hit...with force and ferocity....and then receded as if whimpering back to the sea that it came from...to come back and try again...and yet the piece of driftwood stood...
Wave after wave...it would come in....engulf and completely submerge the stick...and then recede again so that I could see the stick in it's entirety...I was mesmerized.
I stood there...cold...bleak...misted...damp....depressed...curious...wondering...and then quiet...letting the experience just simply take me....I took it in...breathed it in with my spirit...and as I did...I heard the small...still voice...the one that comes when God is trying to talk to you...it is never thunderbolts and lightening for me...it is a small...still voice...and you have to shut the hell up inside yourself to hear it...and in this experience...for me...with this stupid stick...on this cold and damp beach in Northern California...I heard that voice...talking to me...directly....and He said...as I let my mind and my eyes take in this simply yet extraordinary scene...."This...is the flow." I heard it...and then I questioned it.
The flow? The flow....uh...the flow of what? As I asked this I watched another wave come crashing in. He said..."This is the flow...of life. When you are overwhelmed...and life has you engulfed...when life has simply overtaken you...you are submerged". As this finished I watched the wave recede again...and He said..."And then you can breathe".
I watched again...in utter amazement...at how simple...how very simple this message was...and how very accurate. The wave comes in...and the stick disappears...completely under water. The wave retreats and there again I can see the stick standing...and I realized that of course...the stick is standing throughout...even when under the water...it stands...waiting for the water to recede...so that it can again breathe.
Brilliant! In the very moment when I was in dispair...overwhelmed...submerged...I looked up...and God led me to a truth...a truth in life and in the universe...a principle in life.
Everything...runs on this flow. Life, energy, water, physics, gravity, chemistry, geology, health, disease, relationships, communication, politics, philosophy, religion, music, yoga, art, and even God Himself. Even in the worst of it...you will have that wave recede and be able to breathe.
There is pressure applied...pressure maintained...pressure released...and then pressure reapplied. In a circular cycle it just keeps going on round and round...like the rotation of our planet...and the morning stretch we do to squeeze our veins to make our blood flow after we awake from a nights rest. A way of restarting our bodies. Our lives work the same way...we just need to pay attention to the flow...see it...recognize it...take accountability for it...because the flow is there...life is....the flow.
It was a cold overcast grey afternoon with the surf crashing on the shore. The waves raised up four or five feet as they pounded the sand upon meeting with the earth and as I looked across the stretch of coastline in front of me heaving and swaying back and forth in an eternal and violent dance...I noticed a strange sight. There was a stick...in the surf...stuck firmly in the sand...in the middle of the waves...at an angle...pointing away from the water. I spotted it and thought that it looked strange...this stick...out of sorts...pointing up the beach and towards the woods and mountains as if a figure on a ship of old...leading the way...and I wondered what in the world it was doing there...
I wondered if someone had stuck it there and thought...well...they must have haven't they? Every wave came crashing against it and as each wave pulled itself back into that wet salty expanse of the sea...there stood the stick...proud...strong...fighting...standing...and so I watched this stick...I couldn't take my eyes off of it really...it must have stood three feet above ground so I thought that it must have at least that much below ground level as well...and then another wave hit...with force and ferocity....and then receded as if whimpering back to the sea that it came from...to come back and try again...and yet the piece of driftwood stood...
Wave after wave...it would come in....engulf and completely submerge the stick...and then recede again so that I could see the stick in it's entirety...I was mesmerized.
I stood there...cold...bleak...misted...damp....depressed...curious...wondering...and then quiet...letting the experience just simply take me....I took it in...breathed it in with my spirit...and as I did...I heard the small...still voice...the one that comes when God is trying to talk to you...it is never thunderbolts and lightening for me...it is a small...still voice...and you have to shut the hell up inside yourself to hear it...and in this experience...for me...with this stupid stick...on this cold and damp beach in Northern California...I heard that voice...talking to me...directly....and He said...as I let my mind and my eyes take in this simply yet extraordinary scene...."This...is the flow." I heard it...and then I questioned it.
The flow? The flow....uh...the flow of what? As I asked this I watched another wave come crashing in. He said..."This is the flow...of life. When you are overwhelmed...and life has you engulfed...when life has simply overtaken you...you are submerged". As this finished I watched the wave recede again...and He said..."And then you can breathe".
I watched again...in utter amazement...at how simple...how very simple this message was...and how very accurate. The wave comes in...and the stick disappears...completely under water. The wave retreats and there again I can see the stick standing...and I realized that of course...the stick is standing throughout...even when under the water...it stands...waiting for the water to recede...so that it can again breathe.
Brilliant! In the very moment when I was in dispair...overwhelmed...submerged...I looked up...and God led me to a truth...a truth in life and in the universe...a principle in life.
Everything...runs on this flow. Life, energy, water, physics, gravity, chemistry, geology, health, disease, relationships, communication, politics, philosophy, religion, music, yoga, art, and even God Himself. Even in the worst of it...you will have that wave recede and be able to breathe.
There is pressure applied...pressure maintained...pressure released...and then pressure reapplied. In a circular cycle it just keeps going on round and round...like the rotation of our planet...and the morning stretch we do to squeeze our veins to make our blood flow after we awake from a nights rest. A way of restarting our bodies. Our lives work the same way...we just need to pay attention to the flow...see it...recognize it...take accountability for it...because the flow is there...life is....the flow.
Saturday, June 30, 2007
Choice
It's funny how some things you go through in life are pivots and some things are not...and often the pivots are things we are not expecting would be such life changing events. Some things are obvious...like the birth of a child or sudden death of someone close. In those moments we see our world crumble and fall away...only to give way to a new perception and a new life. One turn and everything we thought we knew is gone...to be replaced by something unexpected and fresh...although many times the newness is not welcome...at least at first. Sooner or later though...we learn...adapt...and become the change we have experienced.
Sometimes it is not such an extreme event that is a pivot for us...and yet it sends us careening into a whole new direction...something we had not expected...and something that has the promise of a new experience.
What we do with our life...our view...our perception....our perspective...from that point on is about choice. How we choose to see things...all things....HOW we see things...IS a choice. We do have freewill in this regard and it truly is freewill although many people choose to be blind to this as a fact. How many times I have heard individuals complain because of "things just being the way they are" and how they don't know how to or "can't" DO anything about it...
Truth is...we choose how we see things...
Sure...environment will play a role in to how an individual is raised and taught to view things...and that is also absolutely true. However...our minds are free...and no one can restrain your mind unless you let them. This is also absolutely true.
Our genetics play a role in this as well...I mean...you are a part of who you came from...and this is also absolutely true...even if that fact is unsettling to you and you do not want it to be true....it is a biological fact...and yet...even in this truth....we have choices as to how we will take this information and process it for ourselves. It is up to us and how we perceive it and what meaning we give to it...which is our choice.
Choice is a funny thing because we always have a choice. Sometimes the choices we see seem to be all negative...but even in the worst situations there is always a choice. It might not be a great choice...but there is always something there...and most of the time...the very least of these choices...has to do with how we choose to see something...and how we will move on based on that choice.
Truth is....how we choose to see it...
Truth is...I choose to choose...and not have my choices made for me...
Truth is...I choose to hope...and I choose to believe I will be blessed for this choice.
Sometimes it is not such an extreme event that is a pivot for us...and yet it sends us careening into a whole new direction...something we had not expected...and something that has the promise of a new experience.
What we do with our life...our view...our perception....our perspective...from that point on is about choice. How we choose to see things...all things....HOW we see things...IS a choice. We do have freewill in this regard and it truly is freewill although many people choose to be blind to this as a fact. How many times I have heard individuals complain because of "things just being the way they are" and how they don't know how to or "can't" DO anything about it...
Truth is...we choose how we see things...
Sure...environment will play a role in to how an individual is raised and taught to view things...and that is also absolutely true. However...our minds are free...and no one can restrain your mind unless you let them. This is also absolutely true.
Our genetics play a role in this as well...I mean...you are a part of who you came from...and this is also absolutely true...even if that fact is unsettling to you and you do not want it to be true....it is a biological fact...and yet...even in this truth....we have choices as to how we will take this information and process it for ourselves. It is up to us and how we perceive it and what meaning we give to it...which is our choice.
Choice is a funny thing because we always have a choice. Sometimes the choices we see seem to be all negative...but even in the worst situations there is always a choice. It might not be a great choice...but there is always something there...and most of the time...the very least of these choices...has to do with how we choose to see something...and how we will move on based on that choice.
Truth is....how we choose to see it...
Truth is...I choose to choose...and not have my choices made for me...
Truth is...I choose to hope...and I choose to believe I will be blessed for this choice.
Sunday, June 24, 2007
Respect
Respect...is a term that is not nearly used enough in it's proper context and meaning in my humble opinion. For if one truly were to respect something or someone else...they must first respect themselves. So to me...the term respect starts...it begins...with self-respect...and respect for others flows from there. I've heard the same said about love...and I believe it's true.
To respect one's self is a responsibility...to one's self. It is a right. It is a duty. It is an established act of kindness to one's own development. It is part of our personal integrity. It means to be accountable...to one's self. Respect and accountability do after all...go hand in hand...as they should. They are pieces of each other and found in self-respect is accountability. In accountability...is found self-respect. When one has done something wrong...somehow harmed someone else...regardless of intention...what a person might have meant or wanted...by taking accountability...especially to those that one loves and cares the most for...is showing one's respect for self. Your own personal truth...must have accountability in it...for if you are not accountable to yourself...then how can you possibly be accountable to others?
If one respects themselves...they work at bettering themselves. If one respects the life one has been given....and the multitude of opportunities...the host of chances that come one's way...then taking every day to be and do your best in who you are...and how you live...is making the most...of those chances and opportunities.
Establishing a forward movement in one's life that includes caring for self but also shares caring for others leads to respecting self...because by caring for others we gain our self worth. If all we do is attempt to care for self and our self interests then we are not respecting the contribution that we are capable of making nor are we embracing the opportunities we are given to contribute to the well being of another. In being so selfish and ego driven...we are in a sense jailing ourselves in our own makeshift prison.
We sometimes do not recognize our situation as such...because our perception is awkwardly askew...which may happen for a wide variety of reasons...but the bottom line is...we create our own world. It is "our" world...and in "our" world the way we see things is king. But by a simple shift in perspective...looking at something from a different angle...we can create an "AHA!" moment. A moment that is truly inspirational and pivotal...in our growth. When one takes a look at problem solving...the shift in perspective usually comes when a person can reorganize a problem...and see it from a different place.
Many times...we as imperfect human beings...do not see what is "really" going on because of the place that we stand...our placement for our perspective...and if we do not move...shake it up a bit if you will...then we will only see things in one way...which by definition makes us short sighted...and limits our view.
This also is disrespectful to others...because we are inherently imperfect...we many times do not see things as others might...because of our limited set of experiences that we draw from. We can negate the opportunity to learn something important from someone by dismissing them too quickly...without hearing them out and seeing if what they are saying might have some truth in it. Something we can learn from. Even those with a wide and varied set of experiences in life are capable of short-sightedness and therefore can, if they aren't careful, disrespect themselves and others by being closed to new possibilities. That closed mindedness and lack of vision disrespects ourselves because we limit our opportunities to learn. This also limits God's voice in our hearts because we will stubbornly not listen to a truth being told to us...and many times...it is told to us repeatedly.
As I said in another post...when the truth is told to a person it rings in them like a bell. Sometimes...if it is a particularly strongly held truth...one might even physically feel a reaction as their spirit, energy, mind, or soul...however you might choose to categorize it...recognizes the truth...and the reaction creates an involuntary response because of this recognition.
Truth is...how we see it. But the truth is...what is true...is true...no matter how much we might protest. A simple truth...disrespecting one's self...is all too common...and all too avoidable...which to my way of seeing things...my perspective...makes this element in an individuals life a tragedy...for if one thought enough of one's self to respect one's self...well...oh what a world it could be...what a joy one could bring to others...and thereby themselves. What a blessing we could be to each other...if we only respected ourselves...and by doing so...respected each other.
Maybe...if we respected ourselves...and thereby each other...we wouldn't have to hear so much about things like this other post...and our world and society would be a better place to live in...this is from my other blog which can be found in my links section...about a recent experience of ours...
911what-is-your-emergency
May God be with this man and his family...and with us.
And...may we teach...and learn...to respect ourselves...and each other...so that this sort of thing can become simply stories which are told of how things used to be...
To respect one's self is a responsibility...to one's self. It is a right. It is a duty. It is an established act of kindness to one's own development. It is part of our personal integrity. It means to be accountable...to one's self. Respect and accountability do after all...go hand in hand...as they should. They are pieces of each other and found in self-respect is accountability. In accountability...is found self-respect. When one has done something wrong...somehow harmed someone else...regardless of intention...what a person might have meant or wanted...by taking accountability...especially to those that one loves and cares the most for...is showing one's respect for self. Your own personal truth...must have accountability in it...for if you are not accountable to yourself...then how can you possibly be accountable to others?
If one respects themselves...they work at bettering themselves. If one respects the life one has been given....and the multitude of opportunities...the host of chances that come one's way...then taking every day to be and do your best in who you are...and how you live...is making the most...of those chances and opportunities.
Establishing a forward movement in one's life that includes caring for self but also shares caring for others leads to respecting self...because by caring for others we gain our self worth. If all we do is attempt to care for self and our self interests then we are not respecting the contribution that we are capable of making nor are we embracing the opportunities we are given to contribute to the well being of another. In being so selfish and ego driven...we are in a sense jailing ourselves in our own makeshift prison.
We sometimes do not recognize our situation as such...because our perception is awkwardly askew...which may happen for a wide variety of reasons...but the bottom line is...we create our own world. It is "our" world...and in "our" world the way we see things is king. But by a simple shift in perspective...looking at something from a different angle...we can create an "AHA!" moment. A moment that is truly inspirational and pivotal...in our growth. When one takes a look at problem solving...the shift in perspective usually comes when a person can reorganize a problem...and see it from a different place.
Many times...we as imperfect human beings...do not see what is "really" going on because of the place that we stand...our placement for our perspective...and if we do not move...shake it up a bit if you will...then we will only see things in one way...which by definition makes us short sighted...and limits our view.
This also is disrespectful to others...because we are inherently imperfect...we many times do not see things as others might...because of our limited set of experiences that we draw from. We can negate the opportunity to learn something important from someone by dismissing them too quickly...without hearing them out and seeing if what they are saying might have some truth in it. Something we can learn from. Even those with a wide and varied set of experiences in life are capable of short-sightedness and therefore can, if they aren't careful, disrespect themselves and others by being closed to new possibilities. That closed mindedness and lack of vision disrespects ourselves because we limit our opportunities to learn. This also limits God's voice in our hearts because we will stubbornly not listen to a truth being told to us...and many times...it is told to us repeatedly.
As I said in another post...when the truth is told to a person it rings in them like a bell. Sometimes...if it is a particularly strongly held truth...one might even physically feel a reaction as their spirit, energy, mind, or soul...however you might choose to categorize it...recognizes the truth...and the reaction creates an involuntary response because of this recognition.
Truth is...how we see it. But the truth is...what is true...is true...no matter how much we might protest. A simple truth...disrespecting one's self...is all too common...and all too avoidable...which to my way of seeing things...my perspective...makes this element in an individuals life a tragedy...for if one thought enough of one's self to respect one's self...well...oh what a world it could be...what a joy one could bring to others...and thereby themselves. What a blessing we could be to each other...if we only respected ourselves...and by doing so...respected each other.
Maybe...if we respected ourselves...and thereby each other...we wouldn't have to hear so much about things like this other post...and our world and society would be a better place to live in...this is from my other blog which can be found in my links section...about a recent experience of ours...
911what-is-your-emergency
May God be with this man and his family...and with us.
And...may we teach...and learn...to respect ourselves...and each other...so that this sort of thing can become simply stories which are told of how things used to be...
Monday, June 11, 2007
Moments...Truth...and Being in the Now
We live our lives in the most fleeting slivers of time. Moments...that if taken for granted can be missed. Opportunities and chances for growth...shared trickles of movement that lead us to another level...or another thought...and another space...where another moment can take place.
In any given moment a miracle can happen. A message of truth given to you by the heavens..by God...by another's spirit...by the truth that lives within each of us that is untapped yet exists as clearly and focused as the rush we get up our spines when someone speaks a truth to us...
When someone speaks a truth to you...it rings in you like a bell. Things that you recognize...as truth. There are times when you might not be ready to accept that truth...so you find a "reason"...a justification really...to ignore or otherwise disregard it...but it still rings that bell.
Truths like;
Common sense is not common.
Love conquers all.
Communication is the key.
One lives their life in a series of moments...and the moments pass.
Time is a healer.
and...
The value is in the journey...not the destination.
Hearing the bell inside you and responding to the sound of a truth is as natural as breathing however there are those of us and times I think...for all of us...that we get in our own way. In those moments where a justification is more important for one than hearing an actual truth...hearing the real...then we know we are not in the now. We can not be fully present if we are not in the moment. If you are there but not really there then it doesn't really matter to those around you...if you are not fully engaged.
Being in the now...is hard....making no mistake about it...keeping in each moment is actually virtually impossible because even watching the moments pass takes one out of the moment...however...the lesson is in staying in the moment to the best of one's ability...which to me...means...not numbing out...or engaging in or seeking behaviors that cause you to get out of the moment...stay numb...not being present...and even though there are times when we all seek those moments...because we get overwhelmed...life....is just...too...damned...short...to keep getting caught up in that repetitively...it is a trap...
As hard as it is...staying in the now...being here...right where you are right now...staying in your truth....and staying in your moment...is the real...is where God can do His work...and is where you can find yourself...is where one can find their own personal truth...and find their serenity...
As the wind blows....
In any given moment a miracle can happen. A message of truth given to you by the heavens..by God...by another's spirit...by the truth that lives within each of us that is untapped yet exists as clearly and focused as the rush we get up our spines when someone speaks a truth to us...
When someone speaks a truth to you...it rings in you like a bell. Things that you recognize...as truth. There are times when you might not be ready to accept that truth...so you find a "reason"...a justification really...to ignore or otherwise disregard it...but it still rings that bell.
Truths like;
Common sense is not common.
Love conquers all.
Communication is the key.
One lives their life in a series of moments...and the moments pass.
Time is a healer.
and...
The value is in the journey...not the destination.
Hearing the bell inside you and responding to the sound of a truth is as natural as breathing however there are those of us and times I think...for all of us...that we get in our own way. In those moments where a justification is more important for one than hearing an actual truth...hearing the real...then we know we are not in the now. We can not be fully present if we are not in the moment. If you are there but not really there then it doesn't really matter to those around you...if you are not fully engaged.
Being in the now...is hard....making no mistake about it...keeping in each moment is actually virtually impossible because even watching the moments pass takes one out of the moment...however...the lesson is in staying in the moment to the best of one's ability...which to me...means...not numbing out...or engaging in or seeking behaviors that cause you to get out of the moment...stay numb...not being present...and even though there are times when we all seek those moments...because we get overwhelmed...life....is just...too...damned...short...to keep getting caught up in that repetitively...it is a trap...
As hard as it is...staying in the now...being here...right where you are right now...staying in your truth....and staying in your moment...is the real...is where God can do His work...and is where you can find yourself...is where one can find their own personal truth...and find their serenity...
As the wind blows....
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