Monday, December 10, 2012
Friday, October 19, 2012
Monday, October 8, 2012
Battle Mode
Daily Dose #19
2/21/12
Battle
Mode
I
often think of the movie Michael,
starring John Travolta, in the context of my own attitude re-adjustment. The soundtrack is one of my favorites, and
Bonnie Raitt’s version of the Randy Newman song, “Feels Like Home to Me” gets
to me every time I hear it. Travolta
plays the aging Archangel, Michael, with aplomb, and as he tenderly, but
slovenly, looks after Maureen Stapleton, William Hurt, Andie McDowell, et al,
he clearly looks back fondly to his glory days as God’s mighty champion who
took on Satan in single combat. For example,
when he comes upon a huge bull in a nearby pasture, he cries “battle!” and literally
charges head-first into the fray.
I
have resembled that remark far too many times, crying “battle!” for no other
reason than to prove I could. Proving I
was right seemed so important, and the idea of straightening someone out and
saving them from their wrong-headed thinking always seemed so noble and heroic,
but the minute we go into battle mode, we cease to attract peace, and thus,
joy, into our lives. The “law of
attraction” gives us just what we’ve asked for every time.
Today
I will seek peace, and try to be open to receive all the joy that Life, the
Universe, and Everything has to offer…’cause that feels like home to me!
Sunday, October 7, 2012
All You Need is Love
Daily Dose #15
2/8/12
All
You Need is Love
What
if it were just that simple? Have you
ever said that to yourself? I have. And then I usually think to myself: “It
probably is ‘just that,’ only there’s nothing ‘simple’ about it.” It’s kind of like the old saying: “If it were
easy, everybody would be doing it.”
Remember Uri Geller? He used to
come on TV shows and, supposedly bend eating utensils with his mind, like that
little kid in the movie The Matrix. If you Google “spoon bending” you’ll find
endless discussions on all sides of the issue.
Perhaps if I were truly “one” with Life, the Universe, and Everything, I
could bend spoons with my mind and love all people at all times. But I’m not, and I can’t.
Mental
paradoxes like those can make us feel confused, inept, and unworthy, especially
when we judge ourselves against what someone else suggests is our “true”
potential. After all, what kind of a
human being can I be if I’m only using 10% of my brain? The answer, I think, is that I’m a very
normal human being. Pretty much like
everyone else. Would I like to be more
loving? Yes, I would. Must I attain universal love (whatever that
is) and total equanimity in order to reach that goal? No, I don’t think so. That is like suggesting that those famous
penguins should cross Antarctica in half the time without growing longer legs
or using ice skates.
I’m
going to cut myself some slack. But just
in case love is the answer, I’m going to start by loving myself and the people
around me just a little bit more today.
Wednesday, October 3, 2012
In My Experience….
Daily Dose #13
2/6/12
In
My Experience….
If
my experience teaches me anything, it’s how often I’ve missed learning any
lesson of value. Experience is supposed
to be the greatest teacher, right? And
yet if I'm honest with myself, I missed the proverbial boat more times than I’d
care to admit. Why is this? Each experience I have is (1) real, (2) an
opportunity to learn and grow, and (3) a chance to have a positive effect on my
world, but I seem to have squandered many of those opportunities.
I
believe that the fly in my particular ointment has to do with my
preconceptions, my misperceptions, and my state of consciousness. I bring a lot of baggage to each new
experience; and because I often fail to truly live in the now, I have ideas
about what I might experience and how it might impact me before it ever
happens. Then I compound this snare by
applying past flawed thinking to new situations. Both of these mental projections tend to
close down my awareness and stifle my state of consciousness in the moment when
I most need to be open-minded. It’s a
little like sitting alone in the locker room, watching old game tapes of a team
that I’m not playing today, all while the real game has already begun outside
on the field.
Today
I will attempt to drop any old baggage that prevents me from being totally in
the moment. I will strive to experience
Life, the Universe, and Everything as it is, rather than as I thought it was
yesterday.
Sunday, September 30, 2012
The Joy Connection
Dailey Dose #8
1/27/12
The
Joy Connection
Joy
is supposed to be the norm. I believe
that. When I remain connected to my
Source, I feel an abiding sense of gratefulness and thanksgiving. My blessings and the overwhelming evidence of
grace pervades everything I think, see, feel, and do. Being “in the Spirit” is a phrase which
conjures up all manner of strange and bizarre images, but I believe that it is
simply a condition in which we are in touch with our spiritual Source, open to
seeing and being thankful for the grace in our lives.
When
I lose touch with Source, I become dis-Spirited. Spirit never leaves, but I lose my focus upon
it. Like the old adage about computers,
“garbage in, garbage out,” the data I permit into my brain has a profound
effect on how I feel. The media, and
even the people I pal around with, are either drawing my attention to the
positive drum beat of grace, or the banging cacophony of the dis-Spirited.
TV news, more and more, runs an endless cycle
of the same sad stories. Newspapers long
ago learned that “if it bleeds, it leads.” But there aren’t enough hours in the day, even
for dedicated all day news stations, to tell a fraction of the good news:
stories about neighbors helping neighbors, young people making good decisions,
teachers reaching kids and making them want to learn, and people being kind just
because they are kind.
Today
I will strive to maintain my connection to joy.
Wednesday, September 26, 2012
A Moment of Graciousness
Thoughout 2012 my Daily Doses have been my "thought-for-the-day" exercise, a moment of reflection about how my thinking has changed over 61 years, and a purposeful setting of my intention for the day ahead.
Daily Dose #10
2/2/12
A
Moment of Graciousness
Learning
to be gracious towards others is a tricky business. There are schools where one can be taught how
to appear
gracious, but that’s a very differently colored horse. Acting may prove useful at times, and may
often be at the very heart of diplomacy, but pretending has nothing to do with
being truly gracious. I suspect (or at
least I hope) that everyone everywhere has been exposed to someone who
is truly gracious. It is a remarkable
experience to interact with someone who not only gives you their full and
undivided attention, but actually appreciates who you are and what you are
trying to do or say…no matter how ineptly you might go about it and regardless
of how many other issues might be making legitimate demands upon their time.
My
father and my grandfather were both gracious men. They stopped, they listened, and they made me
feel that my existence on the planet had value.
They did that with everyone.
Through the years I have met others who seemed to brim with
graciousness. Sadly, I wasn’t always
aware of it at the time because I thought their behavior was a reflection of
how much I was bringing to the proverbial table. That was my ego. Looking back, I realize how often I brought
little or nothing. It’s fairly easy to be
gracious in the face of someone’s show of overwhelming generosity, but what
about everybody else? Can I learn to
appreciate them too?
Today
I will endeavor to exhibit at least one moment of true graciousness to someone
around me.
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