Have your feelings. Act responsibly in spite of them.
Emotions arrive unbidden. Infants / children experience them without the filters later applied to them. Soon, the tribal ‘take’ on each emotional state is force fed to the child. “Big boys don’t cry.” “Sugar and spice and everything nice…” “What have you to be angry about?” or “I’ll give you something to be angry about.” “If you keep pouting your face will freeze that way.”
Now, you may think that this is unimportant, but I can guarantee that you have a whole list of internal and not-thought-through ‘rules’ about emotions.
Three Powerful Words: ‘I Don’t Know’
that I would give it a try, and am still doing it, eleven years later.
So, what, exactly do I not know?
I do not know ‘why’ things happen. I do not know ‘why’ I react to some things and not others. I do not know anything about anyone other than me, and I only grasp the edges and corners of me.
I suppose you could say that ‘[tag]enlightenment[/tag]‘ has everything to do with exploring the inner workings of our mind, in a gentle and focused way. In other words, to look at our looking, to see our seeing, all without attaching meaning to it.
Focused, present relating takes practice.
Because our minds are looking for complexity (as opposed to [tag]Simple Presence[/tag],) we resist the idea that the “many, many” issues we think we have are usually the same issue, in different guises.
My favourite way of saying this is, “Baskin Robbins has 32 flavours, and they are all Ice Cream.”
The Top 5 Ways to Get Your Act Together
It is possible to have a full, rich and meaning-filled life. It is just not easy. Here is a list of 5 ideas that just might get you further along the path to “Getting a Life.”
The key to love is respect and patience
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Romantic love is impossible to maintain over time.
The romantic side of the equation depends almost completely on the emotions. Romance is typically huge - the ups and downs are [...]
Love: doing all in your power to encourage another to accept their wholeness.
Love: doing all in your power to encourage another to accept their wholeness.
Love is actually an action word—one acts lovingly. I cannot ‘think’ love, I can only be loving. Now, as we noted two sections ago, love is not a manipulative tool—”if you love me you’ll obey me.” Nor is it a bargaining [...]
Zen Based, Present Living
