Why are you trying so hard to fit in
when you were born to stand out?various
quote
a fog clearing clarity of attention
Sometimes we can use words to say nothing at all, and silence to explain everything.
adapted from Raine Cooper
The fog of words, a cloak of noise, distracting, attention seeking, truth masking. Sometimes said for our benefit, not the listener’s. Sometimes said to distort, excuse, replay well-worn stories.
The purity of silence, a state of being, wordless knowing, inviting connection and togetherness, honest communication, total attention, a deeper knowing.
the bounty of opposites
If you want to become whole, let yourself be partial…
If you want to become full, let yourself be empty…
If you want to be given everything, give everything up.Lao Tzu
the space to be
The next time you have a thought… let it go
Ron White
We can become slave to our heads.
We ping pong between the past and the future. What has happened and what might happen. What we need to do. What we did or didn’t do. Experiences we have had. Opportunities to come. Lists of things to do. Things we did, or should have done.
Our thoughts begin to run us.
I must do this…
If only I hadn’t…
What if…?
Don’t forget…
What did I say…?
Should I…?
Why…?
When can I…?
Find instead a place where the mind is quiet. The body is present.
The space to be.
do you choose awesome?
I saw a diary on someone’s desk today.
I know, a paper diary … no doubt some of you will be shocked and some of the younger readers confused at this somewhat outdated concept. But I looked past this tokenism of a bygone paper age, because what was displayed on the front cover caught my attention.
It simply said…
Wake up
Be awesome
Repeat x 365
Lovely philosophy.
the truth in the river
One must step back. One must climb onto the banks and look at the river until you understand the course, recognise its potential and see what must be done.
Bert Hellinger
See what is.
Respect the whole system.
discovery brings abundance
“Until you are aware in the moment of the controls to your thoughts, emotions, words and behaviour, you will have difficulty making changes in the direction of your life.”
the wisdom of perspective
The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes, but in having new eyes
Marcel Proust
when the solution we seek stops us seeing
Freedom from the desire for an answer is essential to the understanding of a problem.
Jiddu Krishnamurti
This seems relevant in the context of recent world events. Our desire, and that of our leaders, to fix the current situation seems to blind us to the true nature of the problem. We must take action. Seek a solution. Find an answer.
What if we sought understanding? What if we employed curiosity? What if we questioned to heighten awareness, rather than to judge?
It seems this is a reflection of our society. The pace of change. The need to know, and to know now.
Contemplation. Reflection. Awareness. Stillness. Compassion. Humanity. These might be everyone’s ally.
#prayforParis
the direction of love and hate
I was reminded yesterday of a this quote…
The true soldier fights not because he hates what is in front of him, but because he loves what is behind him
GK Chesterton
It was offered in the context of the recent Paris attacks, but it reminded me of the truth in this for us all, not just for the soldier, the man on the battlefield, the terrorist. We all have a bond, a love of what shaped us, what gives us belonging, those ‘like us’ who give us a place. We feel strong ties to our formative experiences; strong connections to our family of birth; a place where we learned the unspoken rules of belonging. Where we experienced love. We all have strong attachment to familiarity, to the system we operate in, to its customs and culture and to the way of working we have become aligned to. It too gives us a sense of place, a sense of belonging.
Perhaps this in part explains why change can be hard? We have to let go of connections, friends, customs, behaviours, ways of being which have given us a security.
Maybe we don’t hate the change we face, but rather we resist it from a place of love for what has gone before? What is, or will be, behind us?
#prayforParis
illuminated dandelion 