Hi.
First, a few random thoughts and observations:
I am thinking of closing down my email life. The junk to necessary ratio is off the charts, I’d guess like 200:1. I’m tired of being a sitting email duck for all the crappy souls out there preying on peoples’ confusion. I remember when I decided to stop using checks, which went hand-in-hand with not using cash. That was fine, actually great, though it doesn’t bode well for the homeless people I encounter. We’re gonna have to come up with a new system of on-the-spot donations for our friends in need.
By the way, how can iCloud storage ever be full? Isn’t it, by definition, an infinite space? That feels like the biggest scam, or at least one of them, going. I know, I know that there are a hundred million blogs out there that people started and then abandoned, ditto wedding websites. The web universe is literally a giant trash heap of crap created and forgotten, there is no freaking way that the 1200 photos on my iPhone are tipping my iCloud storage to capacity.
A lot of people like to talk about kindness as if kindness in and of itself is the goal or the pinnacle, but kindness is just a sugary coating if it doesn’t walk hand-in-hand with empathy and respect, two much meatier human qualities, imho. Please don’t talk to me about wanting your kids to be kind to each other if you’re not going to teach them how to cultivate empathy. And respect, in my book, hovers above all else when it comes to knowing how to treat other people.
There are some days when I have to keep tugging the pants I’m wearing up and the shirt I’m wearing down and I do not understand the physics of this at all.
Lastly, if the cars of the future are all going to be self-driving, if this is where we’re headed in the transportation realm, I’d like to suggest to auto industry designers that they build cars we can dance in. Thank you.
Second, a brief debrief in regards to the thing I’m talking about this year: my research project on myself in the power of the mind.
I am literally using my own life to test out the concept of the power of positive thinking and let me tell you it’s a trip down Satisfaction Lane! It’s not easy, it requires devotion and attention, you can’t be a quitter and expect results. But it works, it’s real.
The other day I was dreading capital D something I had to do that day. I was dreading the people I had to interact with, dreading doing one of the things that I usually love doing because of the circumstances that had prevailed.
I woke up feeling a little sick and thought, awesome I can get out of it! I can play up this little sniffle and call in sick. Which, hello loser. Old habits, baby, old habits. I knew this was the path of least resistance, a road that is now closed.
I knew I had to turn this around, I knew I had to face this head-on, so I sat at the table at breakfast, looked out the window at the gorgeous sunshiny day and thanked the universe for the opportunity to practice the new thing, POM, we’ll call it so I don’t have to keep typing the whole thing out.
I welcomed this situation into my life, knowing it was going to be a bona fide challenge for me.
I got myself together, left the house, went to the place. The person I was most dreading seeing and working with was … not there, out of commission. The person I knew I needed to talk with about the situation projected toward me a thousand tiny icicles upon arrival. I did not avoid, I did not pretend it wasn’t happening, I did not dismiss. I went straight into the moment and we proceeded to discuss. I apologized, she apologized, we talked around, through and out of the mess. By the time I left later that afternoon, said person and I had reached a whole new level of understanding and empathy. The event, the day, was more beautiful than I could have ever imagined.
Practicing POM doesn’t just mean staying positive and choosing joy. It’s also about creating new habits. Recognizing the bad old ones and choosing to discard them. Choosing to remain open to the teachings present in the situation, choosing a humble stance: perhaps I am wrong about this, I will enter this moment with an open mind.
I want so much to be a better person. I want to arrive at the end of my life knowing I have tried everything possible to become something more. Sure, life is about learning things and traveling and love and a nice house, maybe a self-driving car tall enough to dance in, but more than any 4-star dinner, more than one hundred beach vacations, life is about becoming a better human being by discarding old and useless habits and choosing a positive mindset every day. Through the pain, through the pains in the neck we encounter all the time. You will never, ever evolve as a person if you don the same damn habits every day and default to the path of least resistance every chance you get. Yes, there are many, many nice things about living in a material world and I’m wearing one of them right now: a cozy soft cashmere sweater, but this is not the goal in life. The goal is to arrive at the finish line the very best version of you that you can possibly get yourself to become. Full on, you’ve given it your all. Why else would we be here?
xomo
I think this your best post, ever.
My better self is letting go. I have been downsizing my apartment of all things I do not need. I have enjoyed my collections, but do not need them where I will go to eternity. I am letting other residents enjoy them now. Simplifying has a calming affect on me. My apartment is now not cluttered. We do have people in need here now where I live. Let them enjoy a few new treasures. Let go and Let God.