125.  Past




Principles

Learning

Two statements

Right and wrong
 
When younger you try to make things right.
When older you search to know what went wrong.




Another statement

When younger if you like learning you do so because it is enjoyable and comes easily.
When older you do so to find out.

124.  Past




Principles




Health




Talk with Freddie          

Where I live I speak occasionally to Freddie, a landscaper originally from Puerto Rico.  His wife was some of kind nurse, German and she seemed to rule the roost. She also had chronic allergies as I do. After two days of difficulty recently, I ran into Freddie and asked about his wife. He said her allergies are chronic.  I said I take care of myself but it’s still there.  He said it’s the same for her.

Then he added he’s not afflicted. The reason, he thought, was that he was brought up playing in the dirt with pigs and chickens.  He pointed to the mold on the trees and the sidewalk and said it’s all around us.  I said I grew up in the city, surrounded by concrete.  There was no exposure to dirt.

Freddie could be right. By not being around dirt and mold your system doesn’t develop proper defenses.  I always have been attracted to gardening but haven’t been able to pursue it.  Perhaps that’s a missing component here, interacting with dirt and microorganisms and plants.  The body would absorb a small portion of it and maybe not overreact as much.  Interesting thinking. 

123.  Past




Leading

(In the section Leading 11 reasons are given that might lead one to question if there is a 'beyond and above.')  This is number 7.

7. Pain as a motivator

It is not popular to think this way, but I find it close to the truth. I trust the pain I have more than anything else. It is the obstacle holding me back from where I’m supposed to be. It is what keeps me from feeling well. Mind you, I am not for dwelling on it or drowning in sorrow, but one’s constant dilemmas and traumas are what constitute your makeup and from where you emerge. As the pressure of the sea makes the pearl what it is, your deepest pains produce you. They are larger than you, and your symptoms are an indication of this. These pains make you seek relief and answers. As these answers fall short one keeps on seeking. Avoiding the pain is a great motivator.

There is a place for feeling good, for escaping pain, for running from it or “faking it until you make it.” All is part of life. Staying busy and active and alive has a place, but it does not replace the pain of this existence. Busyness will only work for a time. Yes, it is the game of life. One might 'have game' and posture when single to find a mate, but then when successful does one reveal who one really is? One might 'up' talk and use positive thinking to overcome negativity. This is a valid tool. However, all these actions should have as a backdrop humility. Otherwise they cover the real pain of life, providing solace for a time, but they are not long lasting. They allow us to absorb in digestible doses the distress we experience. Getting through the day, playing the game, having distractions are not running but absorbing our distress in doses we are able to take. At some point though we have to slow down and not run and face the pain and dig for deeper answers.

122.




Principles




Friends




Half full or half empty?

I was on the phone with E, a man in his mid forties lifting himself up from a hole. We met about 5 years ago at a Starbucks in S. Florida. Actually, I spoke with his father first who thought E should meet me as I might be helpful. We didn't talk often but there was a connection between us and when we did talk we started right where we had left off, even if months separate.

On the last call E was having trouble finding work even though giving it a sterling effort. He was weary though. Still he said that he was 'a cup half full' kind of guy.

I answered it is not always good to hype yourself up. It is better to be okay whether the cup was half full or half empty. I asked him to ask me how I would describe the cup. He did and I answered 'it's in the middle.'

He said that is so 'right on' and 'love you man' and continued on.

121.  Past

Principles

Law of contradiction


Cellphone at the pool    

This situation brings to mind the “three point triangle theory,” where there is a  beneficial force at one point, a detrimental force at another point, and a third reconciliatory force at another point.  When trying to relax one day at the community pool a man was talking very loudly on his cell phone, despite a rule not to do so.  When the rule was made cellphones had not reached the general public.

One lady from Sarasota enthusiastically enforced all the rules at the pool, risking "life" and "limb" in her words to do so.  She had enlisted me also to do so.  She would speak in a forceful way about the rudeness of people and how she wasn't brought up with such disregard for standards, and how it was her duty to correct people.  Later, her arthritis semi-crippled this once pretty, athletic woman and her policing came to a standstill.

Now many people speak on their cellphones, and intimate details of their lives are shared with all, and peace and quiet had gone elsewhere.  So I wasn't sure if I should correct these people, keep the rules and respect the quiet, or let it go, just go along with the lack of manners and not place myself in a tense situation.  I would have to balance the need to do right and my own tolerance for creating a possible conflict.

120.  Past


Leading
(This writing is part of 11 reasons I offer why one might be led to consider the possibility that there is a 'maker, an above.'  Why one is led in that direction is a fair question.)


(True) Meditation        

5)  Meditation can be useful. The theory is to become detached from your thinking and emotions.  By not reacting to them you create a void.  Most meditations miss this and are more similar to a psychic massage that smooths and pacifies the person.  The trouble here is that you still are perfecting yourself, making yourself better in a sense.  You are “willing” yourself to relax, to be calm, to be balanced.  You can end up a transcendent being, a perfected being, but this is still limited because your intent is limited.

A truer intent is a humble approach, one where you come to recognize the helplessness of your condition, a condition arrived at through actions and beliefs whose sum total leads to nowhere.  You can only sit still because you are not sure what to do and you wait for something, anything to make sense.  You become detached in a true way, a way that doesn’t fully trust any thought, action, deed, or meaning that you encounter.  It all might be programming, subtle and self-initiated.  So all you can do is stay still and wait, for what exactly, you are not sure.  Whatever it is, it has to stand apart from previous experiences.  By doing so, you are not initiating something to happen.  You are just being nothing and in a state of helplessness.

Eventually something might click.  A light might sparkle in the darkness of your mind.  It might be a point, and then a pattern.  An inner vibration might radiate from within you.  Your hands might tingle as this vibration seeks exit, and your body might rock back and forth.  This is not from your doing.  This is from a force beyond you that’s within you.  It is a real experience.  You are touched by something more, most probably for the first time in your life.

Later, after holding onto this, you realize this was a link to the above.  It wasn’t done with words or knowledge.  It was a true awakening.  And so from here on in you seek out the author of this experience.  You want to know more and eventually are led to more.

118.  Past


Theology





Spiritual living




The wrong and right choice

As time goes on, right and wrong and what is ‘sin’ become less apparent in day to day living.  I’m not referring to an obvious situation that is black and white, but to most situations that are grey.  The reality is our portion and vitality are limited, and one has less energy to do wrong and get involved in things that cost time, energy, and money.
The common sense choice also becomes the right choice.

117.  past

Principles

Life

Salt of the earth  

My intent is not to sound negative.  It is just to chip away at arrogance and self-conceit. What is left should be more authentic. There was a time I looked for salt of the earth people.  Most who I thought were turned out not to be.  A few did seem like the real thing.  Even so, something was still missing.   I recall looking at Dutch paintings of families or farms with cows and chickens, and grandpas and running children.  They seemed so wholesome.  But even this wholesomeness seemed limited.  Previously, I would admire these scenes and envy those portrayed in them.  But now, this wholesomeness lacks something.  The self-contentment showed limitations.  Without a bigger picture, a wider awareness, a need to expand, look up, wonder, this contentment, this salt of the earth character was no more entire and complete than any other character trait of this life that I observed.

116.  Past

Principles

Nature

Animals   

In the animal kingdom animals also expand to fill voids.  You can see bulls expanding to   include as many females in their domains as possible.  They strut and prance and mark their turf and then defend it.  They will sire as many females as they can.  There is no end to their ascent until they are defeated by another bull.  Before they are dethroned, it is as if they feel powerful and omnipotent.  It is only defeat that puts a dent in their self-importance.

This is why large animals as pets cause a problem.  When little, their world is their oyster, and they play and fool around.  They submit out of fear, but one day they will test their boundaries with the potential to cause serious damage.  Tigers and chimpanzee stories testify to this.  If they were loved, taken care of, the universe seems a terrific place until they test the mouths that feed them and ….....!

One hippopotamus, dethroned by a competitor, went off as if to sulk alone.  He had a lot think about. The universe used to be his.  What happened?