Author: Ken Thompson

How To Calm Negative Energy

Posted on by in Lifestyle, Philosophy, Self-Help and tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , .

“There are many ways to calm a negative energy without suppressing or fighting it. You recognize it, you smile to it, and you invite something nicer to come up and replace it; you read some inspiring words, you listen to a piece of beautiful music, you go somewhere in nature, or you do some walking meditation.”

— Thich Nhat Hahn 

Negativity is a part of human society. 

Positivity is too, but negativity seems to be “winning” so far. 

It’s easy to watch the news and get emotional and angry. 

70% of USA politicians intentions are to provoke negative emotions in people.

It’s easy to take the negative bait of a politician – but then you’re caught like a fish. 

It’s easy to be negative. It’s easy to be angry. 

It’s easy to hate.  

And the majority of people conform to “easy” because what is great is difficult. 

It takes time to be positive. 

It takes being intentional about your mental health. 

It takes ignoring cruel politicians and focusing on good leaders and being a good leader.  

But yea, Thich Nhat Hahn has some good ideas about how to calm negative energy: 

— Invite something nicer to replace the negative

— Read some inspiring words

— Listen to beautiful music 

— Go somewhere in nature 

— Do walking meditation 

Add Fun To The Game & Arts

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“When an archer shoots for enjoyment, he has all his skill; when he shoots for a brass buckle, he gets nervous; when he shoots for a prize of gold, he begins to see two targets.”

— Zhuangzi    

In this life there is work & play, and some people get to play for work; athletes & artists mainly. 

The best artists and athletes really love what they do.  

To most of them though, it is still work & requires extreme effort. 

The fun gets taken out of the game & the art as we age, but it doesn’t have to.   

Just because others have lost the joy of the game or art doesn’t mean you need to. Don’t conform. 

If you love the game, play. You’ll become great. 

If you love the art, do it. You’ll also become great. 

Don’t Waste Time Explaining To Those Who Won’t Understand

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“You can’t discuss the ocean with a well frog, he’s limited by the space he lives in. You can’t discuss ice with a summer insect, he’s bound to a single season.”

— Zhuangzi   

There are a range of people on this planet – with a range of experiences and beliefs about life. 

You have your own unique experiences in life, and sometimes, if you have extraordinary experiences and try explaining them to others – they don’t understand what you’re talking about. 

So, sometimes, when you have an extraordinary experience, the best thing you can do is keep it to yourself.  

For me that experience would be when I ate magic mushrooms for the first time. It’s an experience that literally can’t be explained to people – even to people who’ve taken mushrooms.  

I did try explaining in actually though, 10 years after that trip, here.  

But I really keep that experience within myself – not needing or wanting to explain it to anyone. 

Focus on The Process

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“Outcomes are a distraction. Focusing on the process of which you have to do to get the outcome is the most important thing that you need to do.”

We all want the outcome. The final draft. The championship ring. The big pay day. The supportive partner. The house.  

But are you willing to go through the process to receive these things? 

Are you willing to put in the effort and work every day until you get there? 

And when you put in years of effort and create something amazing – & it’s stolen from you by invasive greedy thieves, are you willing to keep going? 

The Effect of Others

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“Other people’s views and troubles can be contagious. Don’t sabotage yourself by unwittingly adopting negative, unproductive attitudes through your associations with others.”

— Epictetus  

Persuasion is a big part of human manipulation. 

The news is one of the best examples of this. 

The news, whether from television or social media  – is owned by a small number of people who have agendas of their own – whom use their platforms to share a range of information. The information they share is sometimes true and sometimes false.  

Malcolm X said: “If you’re not careful, the newspapers will have you hating the people who are being oppressed, and loving the people who are doing the oppressing.” 

And this is what often happens. 

What people do not see are the owners and producers of the news stations who break laws to keep the people thinking whatever they want them to think – and to keep people not thinking for themselves. 

Anyway, believe what you will. And I will focus on having my own beliefs as well. 

I don’t force my beliefs or opinions onto others, and I don’t listen to any angry ignorant people who try forcing their beliefs and ideas onto me. 

Refuse To Kneel

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“They teach submission as survival, and then despise those of us who refuse to kneel.”

— Elizabeth Hardwick 

Your government wants your submission. They want you passive. They want to control you. They want your blind obedience. And they use fear tactics to steal your individual power. 

The government has gone so far to control people that they have taken away peoples’ individual minds – & what’s more terrifying than that, is that the majority of people have freely surrendered their own mind. 

Don’t give up your mind. Don’t become a parasite. Even if everyone is doing it. 

Dare to be despised by those who don’t have their own mind. 

Dare to be hated. 

Dare to lead. 

And love it. 

Love a freedom that comes from within yourself – & not a “freedom” from a government that puts you in mental chains and calls it freedom. 

Antisocial Intelligence

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“Anti-social behavior is a trait of intelligence in a world full of conformists.”

— Nikola Tesla  

Why would anyone socialize with people they don’t even like?  

Also, cultures like that in the USA are enemies of meditation. 

They are an enemy of the individual being with themselves and enjoying their own company. 

The USA culture wants people constantly moving, constantly consuming, constantly being busy, constantly distracted. 

The “powers that be” are great at creating predictable people who obey their systems without question. 

What the “powers that be” cannot stand is an empowered individual who thinks for themself. 

The “powers that be” will literally break laws to break down the empowered individual, and all the mindless masses will just think that the individual was wrong for being an individual… 

It’s a crazy system…if you think about it, but most people don’t think about it – they just try fitting in so they lose their individual self in hopes for acceptance, yet then they are almost never really satisfied.  

Don’t lose yourself and gain the world…  but most people lose themselves and the world, as they conform to what the system wants, and lose their individual self.  

How can you begin taking back your individuality? 

Go somewhere and be silent. No technology. No media. No music. Just you with yourself. In nature is the best place to do this.

Here is a short meditation guide to help.

This is the beginning of meditation. 

This is the beginning of taking back your individual power. 

Focus Means Saying “No” Often

Posted on by in Philosophy and tagged , , , , , , , , , .

“There are measures of focus and one of them is how often you say no.”

— Steve Jobs  

Almost everything cries out for your attention.  

They say:

Look at me!  

Think of me! 

Listen to me! 

Your parents want your attention. 

Your teachers want your attention.

Your children want your attention.

Your government wants your attention. 

Your friends want your attention. 

Celebrities want your attention.

Mr Potato Head wants your attention. 

And so there’s a certain balance needed in giving our attention to others. 

It’s healthy to give your attention to people you trust, people who are helping, and people you help. 

But we don’t need to give our attention to everyone. 

And most importantly, we must attend to ourselves as much as possible. 

Listen to yourself. 

What do you think? What do you actually think? (Don’t just repeat something you’ve heard) 

What do you want? 

It’s healthy to not give our attention to everything. It’s healthy to say no.  

It’s healthy to focus on your life path & to not be distracted by all the noise and people outside of ourselves.  

So, go your way. 

Trust your path. 

And say no to any strangers who go out of their way to get your attention. (Even if they’re in the government …governments should be here to protect and serve – & not to scare people…) 

Too Much Fear Is Slavery

Posted on by in Philosophy, Self-Help and tagged , , , , , , , , .

“The slavery of fear has made men afraid to think.”

— Thomas Paine  

Fear is not always bad, but too much fear is unhealthy for your brain and body.  

It’s okay to be afraid of lions and tigers and bears. Oh my.  

But you should not ever be afraid to use your brain – to think. 

Governments go out of their way to make their own people afraid to think – and most people quietly surrender their minds – and since almost everybody does it, it’s easy to conform. 

But that is irrational & impractical to give up your mind to “fit in.”

The military also uses fear to destroy the minds of the people who just joined the military. Boot camp, etc. They scream and shout. They wake people up at different times throughout the night. 

They break your mind and spirit until you are so disconnected from yourself that you literally cannot think anymore. Your brain is in fear mode. Now those fearful soldiers are only obedient to their superiors and do as they say, without question.  

Fear fear fear. 

The antidote to fear is education. 

The more you learn, the less you have to be afraid of. 

But also the more you learn – the more of a threat you may appear to be to any tyrants and cruel governments. 

Intelligence should not be a threat – but it is to governments who only desire power & control.  

Dare to think. 

Build The New

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“The secret of change is to focus all your energy not on fighting the old, but on building the new.”

— Socrates 

Great quote from Socrates, and it’s true, yet it’s difficult since the old ways & people are almost always fighting anything new. 

The old whom are cemented in their beliefs and ways of living – cannot comprehend other ways of life. They hold on and they fight the new. 

So we can’t change that, but we can focus on creating something new. 

And when enough people believe in the new more than the old, then the new manifests itself. Or when there is enough research and scientific study supporting the new. 

But again, it’s not easy to lead new ways of living and thinking – since so many people are stuck in old ways and fight the new. 

Even if something new is healthy and beneficial for a range of people, for example, psilocybin mushrooms are medicine, is scientifically proven to be beneficial for people, and it is becoming decriminalized and legalized medicinally – but we live in societies in the USA that grew up in education systems that didn’t teach any factual drug education – they just repeated “all drugs are bad,” while I’m sure all those teachers were taking prescription pills… 

blind leading the blind … people repeating what they’re told and not thinking for themselves … that’s not new. That’s old. 

But a new way is here and it is called actually educating people with facts & science and research and not just repeating something you heard from a teacher who knows nothing about drugs. 

Anyway, this is just one of the many new ways of living and new ways of medicine that is trying to become part of life in a healthy way – yet the old drunk and angry political men are so cemented in their hate and anger and ignorance that they won’t even take 1 minute to see actual scientific proof that mushrooms are healthy for people. 

So, yes, we the new, will continue working toward new ways and new medicines. 

Science, research & positive results support us – even if any old angry ignorant fools fight the Truth. 

One day intelligence will overcome ignorance, but for now we must keep creating and cultivating the new ways of life.