Enough Already

Knowledge vs. Wisdom.

As Alan says right before this passage, the values of our society are a little wonky. “Students in our society are rewarded lavishly for knowing trivial facts, but not for knowing how to live.”

Knowledge of our world is obviously important. But it’s time to invest some more energy in getting our Internal Navigation System rockin’. :)

Love that.

“Either do something with a whole heart or don’t do it. If you agree to do something, then really do it. If you don’t agree to do it, then really don’t do it. Be total.”

Reminds me of the Buddha, Seneca and Osho.

Buddha tells us: “If anything is worth doing, do it with all your heart.”

While Seneca advises us: “There is nothing the wise man does reluctantly.”

And Walter Russell puts it brilliantly: “There should be no distasteful tasks in one’s life. If you just hate to do a thing, that hatred for it develops body-destructive toxins, and you become fatigued very soon. You must love anything you must do. Do it not only cheerfully, but also lovingly and the very best way you know how. That love of the work which you must do anyhow will vitalize your body and keep you from fatigue.”

He adds: “A menial task which must be mine, that shall I glorify and make an art of it.”/em>xtagstartz

Love that.

Our world is all about external markers of success. But we KNOW philosophically and scientifically that chasing signs of success (like fame, wealth and hotness) isn’t where it’s at.

In fact, comparing yourself to people is one of the quickest ways to drop into Ickland.

Here’s how the research scientist, Sonja Lyubomirsky puts it in her great book The Hows of Happiness (see Notes): “We found that the happiest people take pleasure in other people’s successes and show concern in the face of others’ failures. A completely different portrait, however, has emerged of a typical unhappy person—namely, as someone who is deflated rather than delighted about his peers’ accomplishments and triumphs and who is relieved rather than sympathetic in the face of his peers’ failures and undoings.”

She continues: “You can’t be envious and happy at the same time. People who pay too much attention to social comparisons find themselves chronically vulnerable, threatened, and insecure.”

And concludes with: “The happier the person, the less attention she pays to how others around her are doing.”

How are you doing with that? Time for a little (or a lot!) less comparison? :)

P.S. Leo Buscaglia comes to mind. He tells us: “You are the best you. You will always be the second best anyone else.”

Ultimately, as Alan tells us: “All you need to know is how to be you.”

Are you a hardaholic?

Me, too. Way too often.

Let’s take a quick look at how it’s showing up and what we can do about it, shall we?

What’s your #1 challenge in your life right now?

Are you making it harder than you need to?

As Alan encourages, ask yourself: “If I were willing to let this be easy, how would I be approaching this differently?”

Well, how would you be approaching it differently? :)

Seriously. How can it be easy?

P.S. Here’s another cool idea on that theme: “When an airplane encounters turbulence, the pilot seeks another altitude. If the aircraft tries to buck through the resistance, it will be racked with chop. So the pilot rises to a higher altitude or drops to a lower one where the skies are clear and navigable. Eventually the plane will pass the turbulent zone and be able to reclaim its normal cruising altitude.”

Back to us… Here’s to changing our altitude and attitude! :)

Amen to that!!

Made any mistakes lately?

(Laughing.)

Me, too. :)

Something magical happens when we embrace the fact of life that, as Alan tells us, we ALL make mistakes. And the good news is that the lessons we learn from those mistakes FAR outshine any temporary losses.

Do you have any mistakes you’ve made several years ago that you can now see as a huge stepping stone to a new way of being? Feel into the gifts that mistake has given you.

Now, feel into any current mistakes you might have some regrets about and KNOW that in a matter of time you’ll be able to see all the amazing growth you experienced from the setback.

Adds a little more spring to your step and trust in your soul, eh?

P.S. I love how Walter Russell puts it in The Man Who Tapped the Secrets of the Universe (see Notes): “I have had my share of what one calls defeat, in plenty. I have made and lost fortunes and seen great plans of mine topple through my own errors of judgment or through other causes… But I do not recognize these as defeats. They are but interesting experiences of life. They are valuable stepping stones to success. Defeat is a condition which one must accept in order to give it reality. I refuse to give it reality by accepting it. In my philosophy I have written these words: Defeat I shall not know. It shall not touch me. I will meet it with true thinking. Resisting it will be my strengthening. But if, perchance, the day will give to me the bitter cup, it will sweeten in the drinking.”

So much goodness in there.

First: “It is wise to reach for perfection, but unwise to beat yourself up if you don’t attain it. Striving for perfection creates excellence, but addiction to it creates frustration and depression.”

Going for perfection is awesome provided we *know* that we’re never actually going to hit it. As Tal Ben-Shahar tells us, we need to treat our ideals more like guiding stars than distant shores.

And: “There is perfection in the journey that is not obvious until the end of the journey.”

Reminds me of Joseph Campbell’s wisdom (see Notes on Pathways to Bliss): “In a wonderful essay called ‘On an Apparent Intention in the Fate of the Individual,’ Schopenhauer points out that, once you have reached an advanced age, as I have, as you look back over your life, it can seem to have had a plot, as though composed by a novelist. Events that seemed entirely accidental or incidental turn out to have been central to the composition…

Another astonishing way to look back is to pick up some diary entries or notes that you kept a long time ago. You’ll be astonished. Things you were convinced you had realized more recently will all be pinned down there. These are the driving themes of your life.”

This is great: “Enjoy the process and let your flaws become your friends.”

Reminds me of some more Campbell wisdom: “I think it was Nietzsche who said, ‘Be careful lest in casting out the devils you cast out the best thing that’s in you.’”

The specific Nietzsche thought Campbell’s referencing there is worth sharing: “The great epochs of our life come when we gain the courage to rechristen our evil as what is best in us.”

Think about that. What within you have you tried to get rid of that you just need to embrace?

And, finally: “When you embrace the human, you liberate the divine.”

Here’s to embracing the human and liberating the divine!! :)

Amen to that! :)

That’s the best, most succinct description of desire vis-a-vis attachment I’ve discovered.

Remember: Having desires is not the problem.

Being ATTACHED to getting everything you want when you want it is when we suffer.

(Fun.)

All the great teachers echo this wisdom.

Buddha tells us: “One who conquers himself is greater than another who conquers a thousand times a thousand men on the battlefield.”

While Jesus points out: “He who rules his spirit has won a greater victory than the taking of a city.”

And Rumi offers: “The lion who breaks the enemy’s ranks is a minor hero compared to the lion who overcomes himself.”

While Socrates tells us: “I desire only to know the truth, and to live as well as I can… And, to the utmost of my power, I exhort all other men to do the same… I exhort you also to take part in the great combat, which is the combat of life, and greater than every other earthly conflict.”

The fact is that the war on terror begins in our own minds.

Let’s win the battle and be the change.