Life

Storms Are Great Teachers

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“A single storm at sea teaches a sailor more than a thousand calm days on land. Value the lessons of the storm, for they are the ones that truly save you.” 

Most of us prefer calm days to stormy ones, but it’s the storms that teach us the most. 

If we never experience storms in our life – we won’t be prepared for life. 

Life happens. Your car breaks down. You lose your wallet. A storm destroys your basement. You lose men on your ship when a storm hits. 

Life happens. 

The best way to be prepared is to experience storms early in your life. 

When you’re young it’s helpful to have a parent or captain lead you through your first storms, but you must learn how to handle the storms on your own.  

Storms will inevitably happen in your life – as they happen to everyone. 

Don’t fear the storm & don’t run away from it. 

Look at the storm & learn that it is here to help you become stronger. 

Jump Into Life

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“He who jumps into the void owes no explanation to those who stand and watch.”

— Jean-Luc Godard  

Are you a sideliner or a player? Perhaps both. 

Sometimes on the sidelines and sometimes the main character. 

When we lead in life, we must fully go into that time and space as a leader.  

Even when we are on the sidelines we can watch life fully – we can jump into it. 

And we owe no explanation to those who watch us.  

The majority of people are more watchers of life than livers of it. And that’s ok.  

The next time you are leading something, I encourage you to fully jump into your role, embrace it & enjoy it – & worry not about how others may perceive you. 

Trust yourself. 

Happiness > Dignified

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“I would always rather be happy than dignified.”

— Charlotte Bronte  

Is happiness something only for children?    

As people age, it appears that any true happiness leaves them. (Not everyone, but the majority).

Many people get more death-like as they age, and less life-like. 

The true joy they had a child leaves them as they learn about the “real world.”  

In the real world you discover some people who only find “happiness” at someone else’s pain….thats not happiness or joy; that is sickness. 

But if the majority of people are sick, and even world leaders promote this sickness – it’s difficult to find true happiness. 

So, it is great to be serious, but we can also be happy too (& not “happy” at someone’s pain).  

How can you discover a real happiness again? 

That’s a great question, and the answer will be different for most people. 

What did you enjoy when you were younger? 

Do you have any hobbies that you actually like? 

Turn the television off. Ignore cruel politicians & never befriend a person who laughs at someone else’s pain.

You’ll never be happy if you laugh at the pain of someone. 

Think about what you enjoy, and take time to do some of that. 

How To Calm Negative Energy

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“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. 

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. 

Systems that desire power, and not to help people

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“Why are psychedelics too dangerous for veterans but sending them to war isn’t?” 

The USA government, and other governments, are more interested in using people instead of appreciating people. 

They send people to war to kill innocent people. 

They ban drugs like psilocybin mushrooms that actually help people heal – and legalize alcohol & prescription drugs that keep people sick and dependent. 

It’s a cruel and evil government that does that. 

Governments, like politicians, breathe lies. They seek power and use people as tools to get power. The USA government does this at least.  

It’s only years later when people reflect on what the government is doing, that the people learn the truth. 

People seem to be blinded in the present moment. 

Marijuana is also much healthier for people than alcohol & cigarettes, but the government is concerned with keeping people dependent and sick, in the USA. 

It truly is a sick and cruel system. 

The good news is that the system is always changing, & learning, even if the majority of people are blinded with fear in the present.   

I am certain, without a doubt, that one day psychedelics will be legalized medicinally, globally. 

When there is a medicine that actually helps and heals people, and is backed by science, research & positive results, not even the evil politicians can keep it banned forever.  

“When the power of love overcomes the love of power, the world will know peace.”

— Jimi Hendrix 

Whose Expectations Are You Living For?

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“I’m not in this world to live up to your expectations and you’re not in this world to live up to mine.”

— Bruce Lee  

What does the world expect of you? Nothing much.   

What do your parents expect of you? It’s different for each household.  

What do your friends & peers expect of you? Probably to be like them.  

What are your expectations for yourself? Have you taken time to think about not what others expect of you, but what you expect of yourself? 

I am still figuring out what I expect from myself.  

I feel the pressure from the external world to be a certain way, but what way do I want to be?   

A professional. An artist. A leader. A philosopher. 

I’m still growing in each of these areas. 

There’s always more to read, more to learn, more to discover, more to imagine, more to share.  

Home Is Within, Everywhere

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“But do not ask me where I am going, as I travel in this limitless world, where every step I take is my home.”

— Dogen  

Wherever you go, there you are. 

If you are at peace within yourself – you will be at peace wherever you travel. 

Your physical home may be a comfortable place, but are you at home within yourself?  

Can you travel and still feel that you yourself are your true home? 

Your body and mind a temple in which you reside.