Rights - July 25th

 "Ethics is knowing the difference between what you have a right to do and what is right to do."

Potter Stewart

Thoughts: We need more of this kind of thinking in this world today!

Align hope

 “But human beings are not machines, and however powerful the pressure to conform, they sometimes are so moved by what they see as injustice that they dare to declare their independence. In that historical possibility lies hope.”

Howard Zinn, You Can't Be Neutral on a Moving Train: A Personal History of Our Times

Words of hope from Howard Zinn

 

Practicing

 

Project

 "All of us are working on the same project. Some consciously,with understanding; some without knowing it. Some of us work in one way, and some in others. And those who complain and try to obstruct and thwart things... the world needs them too." 

Marcus Aurelius

"The world needs these types for many reasons... a diversity of opinion is, in the aggregate, better than homogeneity. 

Also, the obnoxious and the shameless and the evil do more for us than we think. They remind us what virtue is and give us something to struggle against. They prevent us from getting complacent and illustrate the terrible costs of being like them.

We can fight against them and denounce what they represent, but it's a fantasy to think they can be made to disappear. They serve a purpose and make us stronger through their adversity."

Ryan Holiday; the Daily Stoic Meditations 2022

Two giraffes were walking down the road

 One giraffe said to the other giraffe "... "

Do!

 “The world is changed by your example, not by your opinion"

Paulo Coelho

Thoughts: It's never too late to stop talking and do ...  and interesting how opinions can grow

Unreasonable reason

 “When you ask, “Why do we do it this way?” and the only answer is “Because that’s how it’s always been done,” that rule deserves another look.”

Will Guidara, Unreasonable Hospitality: The Remarkable Power of Giving People More Than They Expect

Thoughts: this is an 'I want to read book'. I've not got it yet but I will!

Competition to strive for

 "The healthiest competition occurs when average people win by putting above average effort."

Colin Powell

"A successful competition for me is always going out there and putting 100 percent into whatever I'm doing. It's not always winning. People, I think, mistake that it's just winning. Sometimes it could be, but for me, it's hitting the best sets I can, gaining confidence, and having a good time and having fun."
Simone Biles

(Simone Arianne Biles Owens is an American artistic gymnast. With a total of 37 Olympic and World Championship medals, she is the most decorated gymnast in history, and she is widely considered one of the greatest gymnasts of all time. Wikipedia.)

Thoughts: If life is a competition and there always have to be winners and losers how do we take control of our happiness? (Assuming that being defined as a 'loser' is bad and no one wants to be this.)

The way I see it the only sustainable way to be content in our skin is to win our own self respect.

And I'm really not sure if there are ways of winning self respect other than putting above average effort and 100 percent into whatever we are choosing to do; whether anyone see it or not, whether it gets us more money or friends or awards or victories or wins any competition outside of making us become a better version of ourselves. If we do this, I expect, our choices will become more reflective of what we value and we will have purpose.

I think we are all happier with purpose.

Integrity - what don't we need

 "If you are ever tempted to look for outside approval, realize that you have compromised your integrity. If you need a witness, be your own."

Epictetus  

We can look to nature for examples of integrity

Heaven

 

Nothing goes far

 "To speak ill of others is a dishonest way of praising ourselves. Nothing is often a good thing to say, and always a clever thing to say."

Will Durant



Thoughts: We waste a lot of words and energy talking about what politicians, religions, other groups and individuals, and even people in our circles do wrong.

Would it not be more productive to think/talk about what people are doing right and start there?

Would it not be more honest to forget comparing and just try to always do our best as we understand it?

Would it not make our lives more useful if we accepted that it is not helpful to speak ill of others?

Speaking ill of others, regardless of how acceptable it is or how much we feel someone deserves it serves no purpose other than for us to sound and feel superior, widen the gaps of understanding and obscure our chances of listening or understanding.

While I may not agree with all the opinions in Will Durant's book "Fallen Leaves - Last words on; Life, Love, War, and God" I appreciate the entertaining discussions of alternate views and thoughts he shares while coming to his conclusions and I understand why he arrives at them. 

Cheers
Jeanne

Happy

 "Happiness cannot be traveled to, owned, earned, worn or consumed. Happiness is the spiritual experience of living every minute with love, grace, and gratitude."

Denis Waitley

"When you rise in the morning, give thanks for the light, for your life, for your strength. Give thanks for your food and for the joy of living. If you see no reason to give thanks, the fault lies in yourself."
Tecumseh

"Often people ask how I manage to be happy despite having no arms and no legs. The quick answer is that I have a choice. I can be angry about not having limbs, or I can be thankful that I have a purpose. I chose gratitude."
Nick Vujicic

Thoughts: As I think about gratitude and appreciate the gifts surrounding me all the time whether I am conscious of them or not, I wonder why I ever let myself think of "wanting more", and then when I really think about that  I am grateful as much for the things I can't do as they give me opportunities I wouldn't have dreamed of if I could do whatever I wanted when I wanted it.

What's love got to do with anything??

 "A man is only as good as what he loves."

Saul Bellow

My thoughts: 

It seems like we don't spend much time determining what we love and putting that first. 

I listen, read and wonder at the hatred that seems to be a force field feeding itself with anger like oxygen to a fire, consuming kindness, empathy and compassion and fanning fear, blame and hate into a flame that threatens to take the decency and love out of our society and combust our world into an Armageddon of war and global environmental catastrophe until there is nothing left but ashes.

My ask after this little rant is that we step back for a bit to think about what we really love. 

Take a day off from making blanket statements to express our dissatisfaction with something or someone. 

Take a day off from feeding the fire of hatred to think about what love and kindness mean. 

Think about what being grateful for our family, or a friend, or a smile, or a sunny day, or being alive really means; they don't cost anything, but make our lives brighter. 

Before we think, act and vote with blame and hate let's take the time to think about the consequences with a broader and kinder framework.

Cheers

Jeanne

Smile

 "It was only a sunny smile,

and little it cost in the giving,

But like morning light 

It scattered the night

and made the day worth living."

F. Scott Fitzgerald

Cheers

Jeanne

Language

 “I remember the words of Bill Tall Bull, a Cheyenne elder. As a young person, I spoke to him with a heavy heart, lamenting that I had no native language with which to speak to the plants and the places that I love. “They love to hear the old language,” he said, “it’s true.” “But,” he said, with fingers on his lips, “You don’t have to speak it here.” “If you speak it here,” he said, patting his chest, “They will hear you.”

Robin Wall Kimmerer, Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge and the Teachings of Plants

Thoughts: 

There is a language our hearts know

that is heard in a world we can only know when we let go of what we think we know

Letting go - April 18th

“Success does not lie in sticking to things. It lies in picking the right thing to stick to and quitting the rest.”

Annie Duke, Quit: The Power of Knowing When to Walk Away

Thoughts:

The decision is the difficult part. It seems that the more I focus on what I am giving up the more I want to keep it. If I have to make a decision about giving up something I love, or think is something I should do, or something that will take me in the direction of my dreams, because to keep going is no longer is wise, it feels like I'm giving up on a part of me and that not having or doing whatever it was will leave an empty, unfillable space inside. But the more decisions I make to moderate or eliminate things that I'm clinging to because of the fear of what letting go will mean to my life the more focus I can give to where I'm going and how to be who I want to be.

“In large part, we are what we do, and our identity is closely connected with whatever we’re focused on, including our careers, relationships, projects, and hobbies. When we quit any of those things, we have to deal with the prospect of quitting part of our identity. And that is painful.”

Annie Duke, Quit: The Power of Knowing When to Walk Away 

The Creative Act - April 4th & 11th 2024

 

April 4th quote

"Discipline and freedom seem like opposites. In reality they are partners. 

Discipline is not a lack of freedom, it is a harmonious relationship with time."

From: The Creative Act by Rick Rubin 

April 11th quote

"Listening opens possibilities. It allows you to see a bigger world. Many of our beliefs were learned before we had a choice in what we were taught. Some of them might go back generations and may no longer apply. Some many never have applied.

Listening, then, is not just awareness. It is freedom from accepted limitations."

Rick Rubin from The Creative Act: A Way of Being

Shy

 

Warrior March 14th

  "A warrior is not a person that carries a gun. The biggest war you ever go through is right between your own ears. It's in your mind. We're all going through a war in our mind, and we have to callous our mind to fight that war and to win that war."

David Goggins
Author of: "Can't Hurt Me" and "Never Finished"