The Lunatic Inside Your Head
There is a lunatic living inside your head. This lunatic is feeding your mind with fear based thoughts that are distorting your clearest, highest and most accurate perception of the world.
In Zen they call this Monkey Mind. In A Course in Miracles and psychology they call this Ego. The author Steven Pressfield calls this Resistance.
Ego is not your friend.
But you need not be victimized by the fearful, negative, angry thoughts of this lunatic. You can get clear. You can center yourself. You can ease your mind and transcend the lunatic.
The calm you seek is inside of you and as close as your next breath. Meditation can take you there, Music can take you there, Nature can take you there, your Beloved can take you there.
Go there. And go back there as often as you possibly can.
The choice of Love over Fear is yours and it’s the most important choice you will make every day of your life.
Leave Them Better Than You Found Them
I came across a quote today…
“Leave them better than you found them.”
How wonderful is that?
Leave them better than you found them.
What if all of us left people better than when we initially met with them?
In every encounter, doing something to uplift others, inspire others, make others feel better. Without regard for ourselves, but with absolute regard for the other people in our lives.
How much better would all of our lives be?
I strongly believe that the benefits to the provider of such kindness would equal or exceed those of the receiver.
Why not try it?
Direct experience is so much better than theory.
Find out for yourself.
Leave them better than you found them.
And get back to me with your results.
Let It Shine
You don’t fully appreciate what you have until it’s gone.
Our power was out for nearly 23 hours.
Yeah, I know… “First World Problems.”
We were wondering if this would go on for several days.
But the moment when the lights came back on tonight, there was a feeling of hallelujah, liberation and rapture.
Something as simple as the lights coming back in your home becomes a joyous celebration.
If only I could remember to feel such gratitude every time I am privileged to turn on a light.
Let it shine.
Grievance or Miracle?
“You can have a grievance or a miracle.
You cannot have both.”
This is my favorite line from A Course in Miracles.
A lifetime of experience reveals the wisdom of these twelve words.
They speak to the power of focus, the power of gratitude and the corresponding power of dwelling on the negative.
Miracles rarely occur when we are mired in grievances.
Yet when we appreciate our blessings, they somehow multiply.
There’s the old adage, “What you focus on increases.”
This is a transformative idea.
Do you want to focus on grievances or miracles?
Miracles are everywhere.
All around you.
Your next breath is a miracle.
Start there.
Miracles snowball.
And so do grievances.
The choice is yours.
It’s a big, life altering choice.
You are empowered to choose every moment of your life.
Choose wisely.
Choose miracles.
Beyond The Rain
I wrote this short poem today on a gloomy, rainy afternoon in San Antonio, after I listened to the song “Rain” by The Beatles, and was struck by the lyrics
“When it rains and shines
it’s just a state of mind,”
and
“Rain, I don’t mind.
Shine.
The weather’s fine”
The lyrics reminded me that the rain is an illusion, the clouds are an illusion, the gloom is an illusion, and we alone determine whether we choose to see the magic of this very moment, and all of its miracles and possibilities.
To every darkness, there is an corresponding equal or greater light.
It is my experience that light is more powerful than darkness.
The choice is yours to turn your attention to the light.