Happiness is not what happens to you when the stars align in your favor, happiness is not an accident. Happiness happens when you are focused, mindful, and practice the things that bring you joy — and you practice daily.
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“Soften your knees. Trust the slope. Give in to gravity.”
—Heather Hansman
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Sometimes, like today, I am at a loss for words. Even in those moments when we feel ourselves adrift and unmoored, we need to keep looking for the shoreline and searching for a place to put in.
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Stressful times cause people to become shortsighted, this can easily cause the loss of ability to look at the big picture.
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Sometimes humor can be used as a substitute for thoughtfulness. With that in mind, I offer the following: if my cat could talk (he probably can, he just chooses not to) he would tell you that I love him, but I only like you… That is largely my fault for indulging him too much. Any conclusions you take away about yourself are on you…
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Look, then look again… then look again.
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One path to peace, personal peace, is creativity. It also has the benefit of personal growth, but most of all, peace.
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Even the biggest things can be broken down into small, simple steps. Even the most overwhelming subjects can be understood when taken in small pieces.
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Be patient with yourself. Allow yourself to look at things, to look at your life. To look through different eyes. Imagine yourself soaring over yourself like an eagle. That is how Anaximander stumbled onto the concept of a map.
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Allow yourself to break the rules so you can learn by direct experience.
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Learning from failed attempts at something allows us to continue advancing our knowledge and skills.
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“There are a thousand hacking at the branches of evil to one who is striking at the root.”
—Thoreau
I try and do good, but that does not mean I am excused from striking at the root of my own depravity.
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Certainly (in my mind) the most mystical instrument is the flute. More than any other it creates a transcendent mood. The flute goes back to 33,000 years B.C. The first flute was made from vulture bone. Music is in our DNA.
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Anything done well takes work. The reward that comes upon completion more than compensates for the effort.
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All it takes to be healthy is yoga, meditation, a healthy diet, practicing mindfulness, and showing gratitude and compassion to others. Simple, right?
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Too many people go through life without questioning what path they are on. You may not ever get an answer to that question, but it is enough to keep asking.
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We are positively biased in our favor. That is, we tend to remember the positive things about ourselves and forget those things that speak less favorably about us. The trick is to keep a healthy balance between the two.
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You can not simultaneously be both the smartest person in the room and the dumbest person in the room In other words, you shouldn’t go around extolling how wonderful you are while blaming others for your personal failures.
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In my Journal Entry titled “The Letter” on November 13th, I provided a translation of the thoughts of a young man I ran into. He graciously gave me a letter he had proudly composed. It was a confusing composition because the man is developmentally disabled. Despite that handicap, he wrote a stirring piece that was obviously intended to relieve his own burden while at the same time changing the minds of those fortunate enough to read his words.
The translation was provided by Grammarly’s AI copy-editing feature. The AI engine did a good job of taking a difficult-to-read piece of writing and turning it into a coherent work. While this demonstrates the power of AI, it does not reflect my own interpretation, which I humbly present below:
There are many people in the world who have been mistreated, even hated. One could not blame them if after having repeatedly endured this abuse, they begin to feel hatred toward their abusers. This pattern has to be broken for the world to become a safer place for all of us to live. When others feel pain because of our actions, we are moving in the wrong direction. Turning the table, and sharing pain back is not the answer, even if it is understandable on a primal level. We should be, we are, more evolved than that. The answer has to be, to find a way to show empathy and compassion to those who are suffering in some way. Even those whom we may find ourselves disagreeing with deserve this effort from us. With practice and patience, we can get better at sowing compassion, as individuals, and as a society. It begins with compassion, that is the bridge that fords the river of hate and allows us to reach the other side, the side where we allow ourselves to show love. Love freely given permits those who see themselves as victims to begin to look differently at themselves, and at everyone around them. This will make all of us better humans.
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“This life is more than flesh and bone.”
—Buddy Guy
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Remember Armando Galarraga! One out away from a perfect game, the batter hit a slow roller back to the mound, Armando fielded it and threw the batter out at first to complete the perfect game — except the umpire called the batter safe. Perfect game down the tube. After the game, the umpire admitted his error, and acknowledged what it had cost Armando. When asked the next day if he was angry, Armando replied: “I am too happy to be angry.”
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The secret to life is to live long and ski. Cycling is not too bad either.
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Thoughts are just thoughts until you put them down on paper. Once you see them, they become real. Perhaps that is why I admire writers.
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Writing in my journal is like going to church. It fills me with promise. I’m glad I do it seven days a week. I’m like the old maiden who goes to church every morning and then proceeds to go about her business for the rest of the day.
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What is Thanksgiving all about? Shouldn’t every day be a day of giving thanks? That proposition seems to require a “yes” answer.
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