From now on, I want things to look up. No excuses. I'm not going to miss out on anything.
'Take a look around, see what you like'...Because isn't that what life is all about (those words are becoming slightly over used with moi), we pick and choose what we like and what we are willing to try. It's all a process in which we must absorb. A lot of the time we read books and philosophies which tell us ways to be yet these methods deep down we already know. I think most of us have good perspective which can basically differentiate between wrong and right for self. Sometimes it involves a little self training too though to get grips on embracing those preferences too. How much can we fight against our instincts to go forwards when fear is the only part to hold us back? Fear is becoming all the more tedious and I want to kick it in the face.
'And if you ever get lonely, just go to the record store and see your friends'...Lonely, or being alone. None of which is weakness. For me I love to share, I love to seek and find and explore. My life is all about adventure and I only want to reach out to others and build it up with them too. People in our life act like foundations for self to grow and develop even more; without anything and everything I interact with today I wouldn't be me. We should be proud of who we are and unafraid to just be ourselves. No holding back these days eh?! For me it's not about lonely, I only want to learn more. Self time is great but to learn with others as well-it's something I wish it be unstoppable forever.
'Mindfulness training – which teaches you to stay in the moment and pay attention to all your mental and physical sensations without attempting to judge or fix them – is what saved me. And there's an increasing amount of scientific evidence that it's an effective way to treat both depression and anxiety, whether urban or rural...I recently sat alone in pitch darkness on the beach and realised I was perfectly OK with the immenseness of it all, the small dot of me in this enormous world. I wasn't in control, not at all, but so what? I was there, and that was enough.'I want to say more about this but am finding it hard to put my thoughts into words. Mine lie with thoughts of, if anxiety doesn't get sorted out you may end up killing yourself-slowly or literally.
My challenge to a therapist is this: "Tell me something I don't know. Surprise me." When I am led to see things that startle me, of which I had no inkling, that is priceless self-knowledge. And that can happen.
One thing you probably don't know about yourself is just how deeply you have been wounded. You cannot know this yet; in fact you have wisely prevented yourself from knowing this yet. It is as though, in a dream, we look down and see that we have been disemboweled; it is a moment of absolute terror; but we see that we have been disemboweled and yet we are fine! How can this be? How can we be so grievously wounded and yet smile peacefully and continue with our knitting or our guitar playing or whatever we are doing in our strange dream? We can do that because armed with the exquisite knowledge of the dream world we know that nothing can truly harm us, that we are spirit matter, that our consciousness is not affected by the disemboweling, and that it is only our severe waking attachment that causes us so much paralyzing fear.
Believing the wound is too deep to be seen, you have clouded your own sight from it. But you don't need to. There is someone who can guide you to the cliff edge from which that wound can be viewed at a safe distance, and you can see that it is just a wound to your spirit self, not your actual belly, and you can relax.
"I think it's brain chemistry, I'm a positive, cheerful person and I think it is absolutely the luck of the draw. I think the life I have had has come largely from the chemicals in my head. I see my life as good and I think a lot of times if you see your life as good then that's how it turns out."
'In light of the reality of our postmodern predicament, engagement with spiritual inquiry becomes very potent and inherently meaningful, because what you are doing is not just philosophical and intellectual entertainment. You are actually trying to make sense of life in the biggest context for the biggest reasons. It's not a game. You are literally trying to create new grooves in consciousness -- new structures, deeper perspectives and higher potentials...
The intersubjective field, which is the self, can and does develop according to the level of participation of those individuals who are actually passionately concerned with its development.'
'...the problem is that when we begin to accumulate knowledge, our ego tends to get attached to the idea that it knows something. We often begin to feel that we are important simply because we know something. Knowledge makes the ego feel powerful, and more often than not creates a wall that protects and empowers that part of the self. And when we are attached to the idea of being someone who already knows, it's very difficult to learn or develop at the level of the soul. Especially when the context is enlightenment, development always involves venturing into unknown territory...Intersubjective evolution is always a matter of conscious, intentional, volitional, willing cooperation.'
'Not already knowing, at the deepest level, aligns us with the ground of all being, that primordial emptiness, inherently free and already liberated, that is the Self as unmanifest consciousness. Wanting to know, passionately, energetically wanting to understand, aligns us simultaneously with the Authentic Self, which is the evolutionary impulse or deepest manifest expression of consciousness.'Some very poignant and accurate words to bear in mind. I find myself constantly seeking words to remind self of things I say, I already know and am aware about, yet for me I am need of reminders in the basic conscious learning. I need to learn it is ok to feel what I feel and to not battle against it in order to protect self from sadness. It all just needs to flow.
'It's best that we remind ourselves that there is less shame in failure and defeat than in never trying at all, that many great hearts and minds have risen from the ashes of multiple failures and defeat to reap the rewards of great success and prosperity.
Bottom line: we must be vigilant over our thoughts, stop the negativity and be positive and enthusiastic regardless of adversity and seemingly overwhelming odds against us, and push forward with one true thought always in the forefront of our consciousness. Win, lose or draw, it's much better to play the game than watch from the sidelines.'
'In less than a year, my daughters have experienced a lifetime of fears and anxieties and griefs. But they also witnessed a stunning outpouring of kindness and compassion, and have experienced so many moments of pure, radiant grace. Because of everything that's gone down, in profound new ways, we all love each other more deeply. We hold each other more tightly. And though my daughters know now, in a way I wish they didn't have to, that the world can be scary sometimes and that moms and dads cry too, I hope they've learned also that tears themselves are nothing to be afraid of. They just mean we're feeling our feelings.'
