Quote of the day

"Whatever inspiration is, it's born from a continuous 'I don't know.' "
- Wistawa Szymborska -

Curiosity didn't kill the cat, just made it aware of other unknown dangers. But also about new rewards. Curiosity can change your life. Can turn a bland job in one continuous challenging and amazing experience. Can raise your awareness, making blind eyes to see, and deaf ears to hear. Can read a story in a heartbeat, or a life in a handshake. A love in a hug, a day in a lifetime. Just ask yourself often, with better and better questions. And see what will happen.

Quote of the day

"If the doors of perception were cleansed, everything would appear to man as it is, infinite. "
- William Blake -

Our eyes often look but they cannot see. Why? Because we are often living in our mind instead of the outside world. We are looking inside when we should be aware of the outside world, but we are also looking outside when we  should be inside.  Our duality will make us to be on the wrong foot quite often, unless we are willing it voluntarily, in order to achieve greatness. Be one with your eyes, your ears or your nose. Feel the wind on your skin, but remember that, while you feel your skin, you are not your skin. While you can feel your body, you are not your body. You can feel your feelings, but you are not your feelings. You can watch your thoughts, but you are not your thought. What are you? You are the silent witness behind everything, but thinking back, you are your predominant thoughts, you are your most used feelings, your body is the mirror of your soul. You are everything and you are nothing. Unite the contraries and you are a step closer. Refine your senses and new worlds will open to explore. Be bold!

Fast or slow?

"Everything that slows us down and forces patience, everything that sets us back into the slow circles of nature, is a help. Gardening is an instrument of grace."
- May Sarton -

We are living in a century proclaiming speed as a modern god. Fast food, fast cars, fast choice, but speeding through life will not make us to lose some of its quality? I remember when Bruce lee was training with a friend, and seems to be ten times faster then him, and he told him, what you need is not to be faster than me, but slower. Slow your rhythm until you are comfortable with it and you will improve. We need to cultivate the contrary, to have the right attitude, to act like we have all the time in the world. And to do this while we are aware that we are not immortals, we have only one life and we can leave this place in any moment. What a contradiction to solve! Good luck with that.


"The good man is the friend of all living things."
 -Gandhi-

Being kind have numerous benefits, and changing your time perception is one on them. When you are kind, when you think about others instead of only yourself, then all that rush will disappear, and the silence will prevail. Under the waves of the dangerous sea of thoughts, there is a place where is quiet enough, but you need to reach that place. Try it! At least once. (Any mindfulness technique aim to take you there.).

Quote of the day

"I now see how owning our story and loving ourselves through that process is the bravest thing that we will ever do."
- Brene Brown -

You are not perfect. Yes, i repeat. You are not perfect. But you can always try to be the best version of the imperfect you, or you can give up. You can choose to grow, to improve yourself (and here the 1% rule is the best - improve yourself with at least 1% daily), or you can slack through life, finding excuses. We live in a culture that is quick to blame others, but you need to know that the root of every problem and every blessing is you. Only you. As one of my favourite writers used to say: "You cannot even die if you do not agree with that.". Find who you are, relate to yourself, with your own qualities or lack of them. Come in terms with your limitations, but never accept them as a given result. Good luck!

Quote of the day

"At the deepest level, the creative process and the healing process arise from a single source. When you are an artist, you are a healer; a wordless trust of the same mystery is the foundation of your work and its integrity."
- Rachel Naomi Remen -

In order to learn how to heal ourselves, we need first to learn why we become sick. When we step aside from our natural state, in any way, we open the door to unseen troubles. Being out of sync is the real problem, because everything around us has a deep layer, where a mechanical heart is beating, behind every cell and atom. We need to subscribe to the same wavelength, and to become one with the Universe. Or we can try the easy way. Honesty. And we need to be honest with only one being, our Self. The inside or the outside journey will bring you in the same place, in the end. But it is important for you to choose your individual way. To enjoy the journey is even more important than to reach the end of it.

Bees, meaning and acceptance of life

"The bee is more honored than other animals, not because she labors, but because she labors for others."
- Saint John Chrysostom -

Nature is wonder. It is an urban legend, or maybe more than this, saying that in the moment we kill all the bees, the whole earth will die. We are all but links in an universal chain of life, slipping though the holes of the intricate weave of reality. Nothing else to say.


 
"The meaning of life is to give life meaning."
- Viktor Frankl -

Do i need to repeat it? "The meaning of life is to give life meaning." We are alive, but not really living, for the biggest part of the day. When were you really excited about the next thing that you are supposed to do? Can you tell me? Was it today? Last week? Last month? Last year? It is a question popping by often for me. Do i really live, or i am just surviving, barely keeping myself alive? What give us meaning? Is the meaning happiness? Riches beyond measure? Love? Think about it and you will see how the answer is changing, given enough time.


"Acceptance of one's life has nothing to do with resignation; it does not mean running away from the struggle. On the contrary it means accepting it as it comes...To accept is to say yes to life in its entirety."
- Paul Tournier -

Yes, it is a common misconception. Acceptance is not fatality, it is just doing your best, and in knowing there, being oblivious of the result. Even if you fail, you will not stress about it, because you did your best at that specific time. You will improve and get better, until achieve the necessary level to complete that challenge. In acceptance is the secret of a life without stress, without infertile thoughts.

Love is all around

"Love is the guardian deity of everything."
- Morihei Ueshiba -

This is another level. You cannot grasp the meaning, as we are very often confined in the limited individual love. But he was saying that we learn to love each person, one by one, until we will love everyone in the entire world. Can you do it?


"Poetry surrounds us everywhere, but putting it on paper is, alas, not so easy as looking at it."
- Vincent Van Gogh -

And to continue, love has its own rhythm, but not many can see it. And even if you see it, you can perceive it, but you cannot explain it. We need to value our poet, as they are trying to put it in the words, even if this is inconceivable. Some of them even got the rare gift, and they will do that. Read more poetry too, as this will make you to see that love is all around.

That's all for today. Love more. Love often.
G.

Wounds, fear and gratitude

"The wound is the place where the Light enters you."
- Rumi -

We are talking about lessons and learning. And somehow it is interesting how a lesson will come for me, again and again, until i learn. If i refuse, it will morph in something similar, trying to trick me, and make me wise. I fight against it sometimes, but i want to improve every day. In order to do that, i will accept the good and the not-so-good in my life. Sadly, we see the benefits only looking back, after everything happen.


"True peace can rarely be imposed from the outside; it must be born within and between communities through meetings and dialogue and then carried outward."
- Jean Vanier -

This reminded me about the US initiative in the 60's to show how jail is to almost every youngster with a problem. To scare them away. But fear rarely works, and half a century later, their research proved that the all hailed method is inefficient, working only on short term, with catastrophic results on the long term. The alternative, as Jean Vanier said, is to communicate, to connect. It will take time, but it is always worked. Now the question is, what can you do to bring a bit of peace in our world?


"When a person doesn't have gratitude, something is missing in his or her humanity. A person can almost be defined by his or her attitude toward gratitude."
- Elie Wiesel -

Why gratitude? Because it is the opposite of being selfish. As the late make us to contract and limit ourselves, the first will help us to expand and be open. It will help by making us able to live through new experiences, to rewire our brain and see the big picture, instead of one individual view.

Morning feeling

"When you are blessing, you have no time to judge, someone told me today. Blessing are powerful, as some ask for blessings, and people pray for them, and few bless everyone, and they become the blessing. (Yes, i was told that too.) We got a score of angels, guiding us to grow even further, and some of them are hidden in ordinary real persons like you and me. It is the old saying that in order to see the angels, you need to become one. 

What am I talking about? Hey, stop a moment? Am I dreaming? No! I am talking about perspective. Whatever you choose to focus on, you become. So, be wise, and focus on happiness, riches of the soul and a higher quality of life. Because you are the one allowing to suffer all the misery present in your life. You are responsible for everything that is happening to you. Or, as Richard Bach brilliantly say it: "You cannot even die without your own consent."

Leave all the petty things and quarrels, and choose to be happy. Now. Right now. Become the person you always wanted to be. 

Enjoy this beautiful day also.

G.

Quote of the day

Wilderness is not a luxury but a necessity of the human spirit.

- Edward Abbey -

Why? Because change is good, helping our stress level, immunity and even our brain. We need different kind of noises that the ones we usually hear, but more than that we need silence. We need recovery, and the nature is uniquely prepared to help us with these problems. Go out, far away from any city, go into the woods, go into the dessert. Of course, you need to be prepared, but remember: the boats are made to sail the seas, not to wait in the port. Same with our souls. They need to expand, always and often.

Question of the day?

If your child will be a prodigy, and one university will accept him at 11, will you let him go or will you just let him to do all the classes as any normal child?

My answer is: I will not agree with this, maybe with up to 2 hours weekly under my supervision, but i will still want him/her to enjoy childhood, it will have the rest of life to study more if needed.

You?