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Be still…

BeStill-384

Be still, and know that I am God
– Psalm 46:10

How does God* speak to you?  I don’t know about you, but for me God speaks to me in a small still voice.  If my life is loud and dramatic (mentally, emotionally, physically) I can’t hear Him*.  I need to still my mind and its very loud inner critic.  I need to still my emotions – what can I do to soften my heart and be more loving.  I need to still my body – I need to be comfortable in my body and to just be.

Being is a state that is not familiar with many of us.  Be gentle with yourself.  Have the courage to be.  To be in this moment.  Accept reality for what it is, because when I try to refute reality I will always lose.  Accept the moment for what it is.  Invite the God of your understanding into the present moment with you.  The more you invite Him in, the closer and more loving your relationship with Him will be.

God – God as you understand Him.  God comes in many forms: Jesus, Mohammed, Buddha, Universal Love, Universal Truth, Nature in all its Glory.  Don’t get hung up on the word or the concept.  Just admit and accept that there is a power greater than you.

Him – I refer to my higher power as He because that is the language of the faith tradition I was raised in.  I’m not trying to impose that language onto you.  The words that I choose are mine, if you don’t like them, change them into words that are acceptable to you.

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Letting go of toxic words

ToxicWords

Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me. – Nursery rhyme

I’ll have to disagree with this.  Words may not hurt us in the same way as sticks and stones, but they can hurt you.  Words have amazing power.  They have the power to create, or to destroy.  What words or phrases bring you down? Or cause you to doubt yourself? Or put your brain onto the mental gerbil wheel?

Become aware of your reaction and relationship to words.  Sense on a deeper level which words or phrases are toxic to you.  Choose to let go of those words whatever they are.  I’ve had to let go of the words good and bad as they brought up in me a fear of judgment and condemnation.  I take the Buddhist suggestions of skillful or unskillful as they are far more neutral to me.  They leave a space so I can be more accepting of the moment.

skillful – Those thoughts, intentions, and actions that work toward reducing suffering in self and others.

unskillful – Those thought, intentions, and actions that work toward increasing suffering in self and others.

suffering – Different from pain as pain is part of the human experience.  Suffering is the emotional and mental anguish that we put ourselves through because we are not accepting things as they are.

Change your vocabulary.  Drop the toxic words and phrases.  Use words that are inspirational and skillful.

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Don’t know how to pray? Here are 3 simple types of prayer

3FormsOfPrayerYou’ll be in my thoughts and prayers. – Words of comfort spoken to a loved one

OK, thanks.  But what does that mean exactly?  What form do prayers take?  Do I need to memorize long prayers that adhere to a particular faith tradition?  Where do I pray?  When do I pray?

Be gentle with yourself.  Take a deep breath and just be.  Prayer is merely having a conversation with the God of your understanding.  Prayer is communication, and communication is key to maintaining a relationship.  If you want a deeper relationship, and one that is more loving, then communicate frequently.

What forms then do prayers take?  There are 3 simple forms of prayer.

  • Help – Asking for assistance is a humbling experience and as I know myself I need to be more humble.
  • Thanks – Expressing gratitude for what is in your life taps into feeling blessed and changes you into a mentality of abundance vs. a lack mentality.
  • Wow – Expressing wonder and awe about what is in your life and your universe.  This also sometimes called praise.

Oh, one more thing.  Something that you may want to add to the end of your prayer is the phrase “Thy will, not mine, be done”.  We all have wants and desires, but we must practice acceptance for what comes.

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Let go of expectations

Expectations are premeditated resentments. – Anonymous

Expectations in and of themselves are not bad, it is our attachment to them that causes suffering. The human experience includes expectations. Accept and embrace this fact of life. The divine mission in front of us is to let go.  Accept the reality of the outcome regardless of what it is. It is futile to argue with reality. You will lose every time. 

If you have expectations of others in your life speak them so that they are known and in the open. Don’t be upset when people fall short of your expectations. They are human and that is what humans do. 

Step up to this divine challenge. It is worth the effort. Regardless of the outcome. 

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Why are there multiple versions of sacred wise texts?

Why is it that there are multiple editions or versions of sacred texts?  The answer is rather simple: they were written a long time ago, and/or the original language was not English.  When the language is brought up to date or translated from another language there are different ways of interpreting and expressing the concepts in today’s vernacular.

I’ve heard that the Christian Bible is comprised of a mix of Hebrew and Greek texts, and the number of distinct words in the original text is 5,000 – 7,000 words.  A single translation of the Bible will have significantly more than 7,000 words.  A smartphone app YouVersion Bible https://www.youversion.com shows that it has 46 different English translations.

What’s the benefit?  

The positive thing is that if a passage perplexes you – the wording is not natural to you – or it doesn’t make sense – you can look up the same passage in another translation.

Let’s say you want to read from Luke 6:31, which is often referred to as “The Golden Rule”.

In the KJV (King James Version) the text is as follows:

And as ye would that men should do to you, do ye also to them likewise.
– Luke 6:31 KJV

I don’t  know about you but that is definitely not the way I talk.  Let’s look at another version:

Do to others as you would have them do to you.
– Luke 6:31 NIV (New International Version)

That is much closer to modern English.  I think it’s still a little clunky, but no where near as clunky as the KJV text.

Other sacred and wise texts

By sacred and wise I mean

  • There are Truths contained within the text that are eternal and true
  • That many people have read and Applied its wisdom into their lives
  • That it has withstood the test of time and has Longevity on its side

Tao Te Ching, by Lao Tzu on Amazon shows more than 10 translations.  The Tao Te Ching is a great short text of 81 separate verses.  Each verse is 2 – 20 paragraphs long.  From the first verse:

The Tao that can be named is not the eternal Tao.

The Art of War, by Sun Tzu on Amazon shows more than 10 translations.  The best fight is to not fight at all.  My metaphor for life is not that life is warfare.  This book takes a complex topic like warfare and breaks it down into smaller understandable concepts.

Call to action

What are the sacred and wise texts in your life?  If it was written a long time ago and in another language I challenge you to read a different translation (not the one you are familiar with) and see what new thoughts it will create.  Go out and read those sacred texts.

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Real life is not scripted…

Keep calm

Life is all about being in the NOW and participating fully. If you want to hone these skills I would highly recommend that you attend an Improv Comedy class.
I attended some classes at my local improv group MopCo http://www.mopco.org/ and it has really effected how I interact with people. Take a class so that you participate in that improv called life!

Life is not scripted. We have to live in the moment and respond to life as it is and not as we would have it.

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Fire your inner critic

inner-critic

Can you control your inner critic? Or does that inner critic control you?  How much of a critic are you?  Are you of the highest order critic, like I was, able to find fault with perfection? Criticism like:

  • Buddha’s fat;
  • Ghandhi walks around half-naked;
  • Jesus needs a haircut.

It’s a lonely place. Fire your inner critic, your “lower self” and put yourself “Under New Management”. It doesn’t matter what your conception of this Higher Power is. What matters is that you have part of that Higher Power inside you. Right NOW at this present moment. Put yourself under the new management of your higher self.

This is your call to action. Take it up as your mission – to be a better more loving, less critical version of yourself. You are capable of this change as you have a piece of your higher power within you.  Embrace your own divinity and live in that light.

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7 Types of Good Failure – Lessons from Yes, And

I’m in the midst of reading a great book titled

Yes, And: How Improvisation Reverses No, But Thinking and Improves Creativity and Collaboration–Lessons from The Second City by Kelly Leonard

Everyone makes mistakes.  Accept the reality of that statement.  Have compassion with yourself and others regarding their faults.

To err is human; to forgive, divine – Alexander Pope

Are you embracing your failures?  Or do you instead deny, rationalize, or otherwise cover up your faults?  Are you sure that you are right even when you are wrong?

Often in error; never in doubt.- my friend Jack

The goal is not to fail, but rather to fail with purpose.  Don’t keep making the same mistakes again and again.  Make new mistakes, fail in a better way.

Here are 7 types of failure that you want to embrace.

  • Fail in order to cultivate creativity – In order to create small or great things you must be willing to try and to fail.
  • Fail in public – Acknowledge the failure to yourself and to others.  It’s often the cover up that gets us in more trouble than the original offense.
  • Fail together – Have the team take on the failure or success of a particular course of action.
  • Fail fast – If you or your team has made an error then just fess up, and move on.  Don’t keep a failing project alive if there is no way to correct the failure.
  • Fail free of judgement – Have compassion for yourself and others as we all make mistakes.
  • Fail with confidence – Failure is part of the human experience.  When trapeze artists miss their partner and fall into the net, they come out of the net and bow.  Embrace their failures they indicate that you tried.
  • Fail incrementally – Continuously try to improve yourself.  Make new and different mistakes, but keep trying to improve.

For more information on failure and how you can use it for positive change I encourage you to read Yes, And.
Yes, And

Yes, And on Barnes & Noble

Yes, And on Amazon

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4 Categories of Stinking Thinking That Steal Your Peace And Serenity

What exactly is stinking thinking?  Well they are those types of thought patterns that are unhelpful.  In the circles of psychology and self-help these are sometimes called cognitive distortions.  I’ve seen some lists that contain 67 of these cognitive distortions.  That’s a large number and perhaps too large to memorize.

There is a simpler way at looking at our thoughts.  We need to categorize our stinking thinking and these garbage thoughts fall into 4 categories. Think of the acronym EGADS.

  • Ego
  • Greed
  • Aversion
  • Delusion

Four categories – that’s a small number and it is easy to memorize a list containing 4 things.

EGO

Where am I thinking of the 3 most important people? Me, myself, and I.  OK they actually are not the most important people, but rather what we think of most often.  We are all part of an inexplicably connected greater collection of human beings.  Each of us have a divine spark within us.  Focus and try to find the divine in others, and take the focus away from yourself.

GREED

Are you caught in the disease of more?  Do you wish pleasant experiences to never end?  This too is a form of greed.  Do you covet things that are not yours?  Are you never satisfied?  Be content with what you have in this very moment.  This moment of lack will not last forever.  Focus on the contentment of the present moment.

AVERSION

Is your first reaction “oh I really don’t like this”?  Do you get stuck in thinking things should be a certain way, different from what they are right now?  Is your deepest most primal thought “leave me the F* alone”?  Have compassion for yourself and for the others around you.  Accept the present moment and your current circumstances as the reality of the moment.  You don’t have to like where you are, but you do need to accept that what is IS.

DELUSION

Are you able to see things as they truly are?  Do you exaggerate the situation of the present moment?  Have you really done things a million times?  I don’t think so.  Does your nemesis always act in a certain way?  Perhaps you need to be more careful with your words and thoughts.  How about saying something like “I often fail and succumb to the desire for a doughnut”?  Even better would be “I often choose to ignore my long term health and seek the short term pleasure of eating a doughnut”.  Words have power.  You have the power of choice over how you respond to the facts of life.  Choose wisely.

IIWII – It Is What It Is

The only way you are going to find contentment, peace, and serenity in the present moment.  The place of refuge is the present moment.  Experience it fully, experience it as it truly is.  Experience it with acceptance, love, and compassion.  Experience it by looking for the divine in the people around you.

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Are you in spiritual summer school?

Are you stuck in a place you’ve been to far too many times? If you didn’t learn your lessons in elementary school you may have had to attend summer school.  Once you mastered the material, you could then be promoted to the next grade.

The same holds true for our spiritual path.  When we keep coming back to the life situation, chances are that there is a spiritual lesson that you have not learned.  It sucks, but it is true.  Have the courage to ask “what lesson have I not learned”?  Have the humility and courage to be vulnerable and ask others for their input and wisdom.  Your trusted friends may notice things that you are blind to.

The only way to graduate to the next level is to learn a new way of living.  You are worth the work.