Contemplate Existence...

 

I remind you, as I often do, that these daily emails are intended to inspire deep thinking about the subject matter, and not to dictate answers intended to satisfy everyone's individual needs and perspectives.

The world is perfect.
It's a mess. It has always been a mess.
We are not going to change it.
Our job is to straighten out our own lives.
- Joseph Campbell

The world is perfect.
As you question your mind, this becomes more and more obvious.
Mind changes, and as a result, the world changes.
A clear mind heals everything that needs to be healed.
It can never be fooled into believing that there is one speck out of order.
- Byron Katie

Your life within God's arms,
Your dance within God's arms,
Is already Perfect!
- Hafiz

If you want something to be different than it is,
you might as well teach a cat to bark.
Wanting something to be different than it is, is hopeless.
- Byron Katie

It is not our place to know the mind of God.
Spirit knows what is best in the long run -
best for each of us individually,
and best for humanity as a whole.
This is often very difficult to accept
when we see war and disease in the world
and experience physical and emotional suffering
in ourselves, our family, and our friends.
I consider this belief in God's infinite power
and ultimate wisdom to be the true test of faith.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

What does it mean to say "the world is perfect" when clearly the world is full of suffering?
For someone who believes that God is both omnipotent (infinitely powerful) and omnibenevolent (infinitely good), the world MUST be perfect because an omnipotent omnibenevolent God would by definition create a perfect world -- and if we mortals do not see this world as perfect, it must be our own failure of perception (for example, accomplishing God's longer term goal for the world). See the Wikipedia article on the "Problem of Evil" for more on this.

For those who don't believe there is a God (or believe in multiple gods), the world is "perfect" simply because this is the way it is. We can change the world over time, but at this exact instant, the world is as it is, and the "perfect" way for it to be right now. This viewpoint eliminates the suffering associated with demanding that the world be different than it is. Read more at Byron Katie - No one can give you freedom but you.
     

Change Your Awareness

 

Unhappiness is generally a result of spending too much time
regretting and resenting the past or worrying about the future.
The key to happiness and success is focusing,
with awareness, on the present moment.

- Jonathan Lockwood Huie 

Facts do not cease to exist because they are ignored.
- Aldous Huxley

The ability to be in the present moment
is a major component of mental wellness.

- Abraham Maslow

Dwell in stillness.
Observe without reacting and without judging.
- Jon Kabat-Zinn

Life is simple.
Everything happens for you, not to you.
Everything happens at exactly the right moment, neither too soon nor too late.
You don't have to like it... it's just easier if you do.
- Byron Katie

 Be still and know who you are.
- Kirtana

Give yourself permission to allow this moment to be exactly as it is,
and allow yourself to be exactly as you are.
- Jon Kabat-Zinn

You're either attaching to your thoughts or you're inquiring. There is no other choice.
- Byron Katie

What is necessary to change a person is
to change his awareness of himself.
- Abraham Maslow

When we stop opposing reality, action becomes simple, fluid, kind, and fearless.
- Byron Katie

Have you ever arrived at work after your morning commute, and noticed that you didn't remember a single thing you saw during your drive?

Let today be a day of awareness. Consciously pay attention to what is going on around you as drive, walk, do your business, or relax. Consider the world from the perspective of those you pass - the small child, the elderly lady trying to cross the street, the homeless person, the truck driver, the policeman, the executive in the big limo.

First accept reality, only then choose how to react to it.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Further reading: Cherish This Moment

Question Your Questions

Byron Katie - No one can give you freedom but you

Truth isn't True. Reality isn't Real.

Cultivate Awareness

Consciousness

Live in the Present

Cease Striving

VISION - the fifth Point of Simply An Inspired Life

Breath by Breath 

      

Take Nothing Personally

 

The dream you are living is your creation.
It is your perception of reality that you can change at any time.

- don Miguel Ruiz

Whatever anyone else says or does, their words
and their actions are truly about themselves.
Don't take it personally when they rant,
even if they direct their unhappiness in your direction.
Their negativity is basically selfishness,
and their selfishness is about them, not about you.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

People are often unreasonable, illogical, and self-centered; ...
Forgive them anyway.
- Kent Keith
(often attributed to Mother Teresa, who kept a copy on the wall of her orphanage)

We are to take nothing personally,
least of all ourselves, for the moment we do,
our spiritual growth and journey come to a halt.
- Hopi Proverb

What you think of me is none of my business.
- Terry Cole-Whittaker

Don't Take Anything Personally.
Nothing others do is because of you.
What others say and do is a projection of their own reality.
- Miguel Angel Ruiz (don Miguel Ruiz)

If you want reality to be different than it is,
you might as well try to teach a cat to bark.
- Byron Katie

Chaos is the score upon which reality is written.
- Henry Miller

You can't get mad at weather because weather's not about you.
Apply that lesson to most other aspects of life.
- Doug Coupland

Further reading: Don't Take Rejection Personally

How to Not Care What People Think about You

How to be Positive Around Negative People

Don Miguel Ruiz' Four Agreements

Families and Social Expectations
      

Open Your Mind

 

Let today be a day to break with convention,
to try out new ideas and ways of living.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

I don't need other people to have an open mind.
The crucial question is "Is my mind open?"
- Byron Katie

Every really new idea looks crazy at first.
- Alfred North Whitehead

Minds are like parachutes.
They only function when they are open.
- James Dewar

The human mind, once stretched by a new idea,
never returns to its original dimensions.
- Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.

Every time you tear a leaf off a calendar,
you present a new place for new ideas and progress.
- Charles Kettering

Few new truths have ever won their way
against the resistance of established ideas
save by being overstated.
- Isaiah Berlin

Further reading: Cultivate Awareness

New Ideas

The Art of Seeing

You are the Window

Honor Your Roots
    

Your own thinking comes back at you

 

The world in which we live and work,
is a mirror of our attitudes and expectations.
- Earl Nightingale

Everyone is a mirror image of yourself -
your own thinking coming back at you.
- Byron Katie

A person experiences life as
something separated from the rest -
a kind of optical delusion of consciousness.
Our task must be to free ourselves
from this self-imposed prison,
and through compassion,
to find the reality of Oneness.
- Albert Einstein

Life is for each of us
a solitary cell
whose walls are mirrors.
- Eugene O'Neill (paraphrase)

Once we are destined to live out our lives
in the prison of our mind,
our duty is to furnish it well.
- Peter Ustinov

Further reading: Are You a Prisoner?

Life is a Mirror

s Being a Reflection

How We See Things
    

Choosing Your Experience

What I recognized is that you can't put it together.
It's already together, and what you have to do
is experience it being together.
- Werner Erhard

If you want reality to be different than it is,
you might as well try to teach a cat to bark.
- Byron Katie

Wealth is the ability to fully experience life.
- Henry David Thoreau

We don't live in the world of reality,
we live in the world of how we perceive reality.
- Bryan Singer

When you arise in the morning, think of what a precious
privilege it is to be alive -
to breathe,
to think, to enjoy, to love.
- Marcus Aurelius

Not what we experience,
but how we perceive what we experience,
determines our fate.
- Marie von Ebner-Eschenbach

Further reading: Seeking

Solitary Cell

Perspective

To deny the facts would be illogical

 

Some things you can change, others you need to work with.
But the worst choice is to pretend that things aren't the way they really are.
Begin with the facts, then make your choices.

Do not rail against life. [Do not complain about life.]
Make positive contributions where you can.
Practice gracious acceptance elsewhere.
And express daily gratitude for all of life.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

If you want reality to be different than it is,
you might as well try to teach a cat to bark.
- Byron Katie

He who avoids complaint invites happiness.
- Abu Bakr

How is it that one rails against that
which is nearly a certainty?
- Mary Anne Radmacher

To deny the facts would be illogical.
- the character Spock in the television series Star Trek

Further reading: Do What You Can; Trust God With The Rest

Don't Resist Life

I Will Fear No Evil

Serenity rather than Fear
      

The Nature and the Meaning of Life...

I remind you, as I often do, that these daily emails are intended to inspire deep thinking about the subject matter, and not to dictate answers intended to satisfy everyone's individual needs and perspectives.

The world is perfect.
It's a mess. It has always been a mess.
We are not going to change it.
Our job is to straighten out our own lives.
- Joseph Campbell

The world is perfect.
As you question your mind, this becomes more and more obvious.
Mind changes, and as a result, the world changes.
A clear mind heals everything that needs to be healed.
It can never be fooled into believing that there is one speck out of order.
- Byron Katie

Your life within God's arms,
Your dance within God's arms,
Is already Perfect!
- Hafiz

If you want something to be different than it is,
you might as well teach a cat to bark.
Wanting something to be different than it is, is hopeless.
- Byron Katie

It is not our place to know the mind of God.
Spirit knows what is best in the long run -
best for each of us individually,
and best for humanity as a whole.
This is often very difficult to accept
when we see war and disease in the world
and experience physical and emotional suffering
in ourselves, our family, and our friends.
I consider this belief in God's infinite power
and ultimate wisdom to be the true test of faith.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

What does it mean to say "the world is perfect" when clearly the world is full of suffering?
For someone who believes that God is both omnipotent (infinitely powerful) and omnibenevolent (infinitely good), the world MUST be perfect because an omnipotent omnibenevolent God would by definition create a perfect world -- and if we mortals do not see this world as perfect, it must be our own failure of perception (for example, accomplishing God's longer term goal for the world). See the Wikipedia article on the "Problem of Evil" for more on this.

For those who don't believe there is a God (or believe in multiple gods), the world is "perfect" simply because this is the way it is. We can change the world over time, but at this exact instant, the world is as it is, and the "perfect" way for it to be right now. This viewpoint eliminates the suffering associated with demanding that the world be different than it is. Read more at Byron Katie - No one can give you freedom but you.
     

Stop Opposing Reality

Unhappiness is generally a result of spending too much time
regretting and resenting the past or worrying about the future.
The key to happiness and success is focusing,
with awareness, on the present moment.

- Jonathan Lockwood Huie 

Facts do not cease to exist because they are ignored.
- Aldous Huxley

The ability to be in the present moment
is a major component of mental wellness.

- Abraham Maslow

Dwell in stillness.
Observe without reacting and without judging.
- Jon Kabat-Zinn

Life is simple.
Everything happens for you, not to you.
Everything happens at exactly the right moment, neither too soon nor too late.
You don't have to like it... it's just easier if you do.
- Byron Katie

 Be still and know who you are.
- Kirtana

Give yourself permission to allow this moment to be exactly as it is,
and allow yourself to be exactly as you are.
- Jon Kabat-Zinn

You're either attaching to your thoughts or you're inquiring. There is no other choice.
- Byron Katie

What is necessary to change a person is
to change his awareness of himself.
- Abraham Maslow

When we stop opposing reality, action becomes simple, fluid, kind, and fearless.
- Byron Katie

Have you ever arrived at work after your morning commute, and noticed that you didn't remember a single thing you saw during your drive?

Let today be a day of awareness. Consciously pay attention to what is going on around you as drive, walk, do your business, or relax. Consider the world from the perspective of those you pass - the small child, the elderly lady trying to cross the street, the homeless person, the truck driver, the policeman, the executive in the big limo.

First accept reality, only then choose how to react to it.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Further reading: Cherish This Moment

Question Your Questions

Byron Katie - No one can give you freedom but you

Truth isn't True. Reality isn't Real.

Cultivate Awareness

Consciousness

Live in the Present

Cease Striving

VISION - the fifth Point of Simply An Inspired Life

Breath by Breath 

      

Whatever Others Say or Do, it is About Them, Not You

The dream you are living is your creation.
It is your perception of reality that you can change at any time.

- don Miguel Ruiz

Whatever anyone else says or does, their words
and their actions are truly about themselves.
Don't take it personally when they rant,
even if they direct their unhappiness in your direction.
Their negativity is basically selfishness,
and their selfishness is about them, not about you.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

People are often unreasonable, illogical, and self-centered; ...
Forgive them anyway.
- Kent Keith
(often attributed to Mother Teresa, who kept a copy on the wall of her orphanage)

We are to take nothing personally,
least of all ourselves, for the moment we do,
our spiritual growth and journey come to a halt.
- Hopi Proverb

What you think of me is none of my business.
- Terry Cole-Whittaker

Don't Take Anything Personally.
Nothing others do is because of you.
What others say and do is a projection of their own reality.
- Miguel Angel Ruiz (don Miguel Ruiz)

If you want reality to be different than it is,
you might as well try to teach a cat to bark.
- Byron Katie

Chaos is the score upon which reality is written.
- Henry Miller

You can't get mad at weather because weather's not about you. Apply that lesson to most other aspects of life.
- Doug Coupland

Further reading: Don't Take Rejection Personally

How to Not Care What People Think about You

How to be Positive Around Negative People

Don Miguel Ruiz' Four Agreements

Families and Social Expectations
      

Keep an Open Mind

Let today be a day to break with convention,
to try out new ideas and ways of living.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

I don't need other people to have an open mind.
The crucial question is "Is my mind open?"
- Byron Katie

Every really new idea looks crazy at first.
- Alfred North Whitehead

Minds are like parachutes.
They only function when they are open.
- James Dewar

The human mind, once stretched by a new idea,
never returns to its original dimensions.
- Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.

Every time you tear a leaf off a calendar,
you present a new place for new ideas and progress.
- Charles Kettering

Few new truths have ever won their way
against the resistance of established ideas
save by being overstated.
- Isaiah Berlin

Further reading: Cultivate Awareness

New Ideas

The Art of Seeing

You are the Window

Honor Your Roots
    

Prisoner of Our Own Mind

The world in which we live and work,
is a mirror of our attitudes and expectations.
- Earl Nightingale

Everyone is a mirror image of yourself -
your own thinking coming back at you.
- Byron Katie

A person experiences life as
something separated from the rest -
a kind of optical delusion of consciousness.
Our task must be to free ourselves
from this self-imposed prison,
and through compassion,
to find the reality of Oneness.
- Albert Einstein

Life is for each of us
a solitary cell
whose walls are mirrors.
- Eugene O'Neill (paraphrase)

Once we are destined to live out our lives
in the prison of our mind,
our duty is to furnish it well.
- Peter Ustinov

Further reading: Are You a Prisoner?

Life is a Mirror

Being a Reflection

How We See Things
    

Don't Fight Reality

 

Some things you can change, others you need to work with.
But the worst choice is to pretend that things aren't the way they really are.
Begin with the facts, then make your choices.

Do not rail against life. [Do not complain about life.]
Make positive contributions where you can.
Practice gracious acceptance elsewhere.
And express daily gratitude for all of life.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

If you want reality to be different than it is,
you might as well try to teach a cat to bark.
- Byron Katie

He who avoids complaint invites happiness.
- Abu Bakr

How is it that one rails against that
which is nearly a certainty?
- Mary Anne Radmacher

To deny the facts would be illogical.
- the character Spock in the television series Star Trek

Further reading: Do What You Can; Trust God With The Rest

Don't Resist Life

I Will Fear No Evil

Serenity rather than Fear
      

What does it mean to say "The World is Perfect?"

 

I remind you, as I often do, that these daily emails are intended to inspire deep thinking about the subject matter, and not to dictate answers intended to satisfy everyone's individual needs and perspectives.

The world is perfect.
It's a mess. It has always been a mess.
We are not going to change it.
Our job is to straighten out our own lives.
- Joseph Campbell

The world is perfect.
As you question your mind, this becomes more and more obvious.
Mind changes, and as a result, the world changes.
A clear mind heals everything that needs to be healed.
It can never be fooled into believing that there is one speck out of order.
- Byron Katie

Your life within God's arms,
Your dance within God's arms,
Is already Perfect!
- Hafiz

If you want something to be different than it is,
you might as well teach a cat to bark.
Wanting something to be different than it is, is hopeless.
- Byron Katie

It is not our place to know the mind of God.
Spirit knows what is best in the long run -
best for each of us individually,
and best for humanity as a whole.
This is often very difficult to accept
when we see war and disease in the world
and experience physical and emotional suffering
in ourselves, our family, and our friends.
I consider this belief in God's infinite power
and ultimate wisdom to be the true test of faith.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

What does it mean to say "the world is perfect" when clearly the world is full of suffering?
For someone who believes that God is both omnipotent (infinitely powerful) and omnibenevolent (infinitely good), the world MUST be perfect because an omnipotent omnibenevolent God would by definition create a perfect world -- and if we mortals do not see this world as perfect, it must be our own failure of perception (for example, accomplishing God's longer term goal for the world). See the Wikipedia article on the "Problem of Evil" for more on this.

For those who don't believe there is a God (or believe in multiple gods), the world is "perfect" simply because this is the way it is. We can change the world over time, but at this exact instant, the world is as it is, and the "perfect" way for it to be right now. This viewpoint eliminates the suffering associated with demanding that the world be different than it is. Read more at Byron Katie - No one can give you freedom but you.
     

Observe Without Judging

 

Unhappiness is generally a result of spending too much time regretting and resenting the past or worrying about the future. The key to happiness and success is focusing, with awareness, on the present moment.

- Jonathan Lockwood Huie 

Facts do not cease to exist because they are ignored.
- Aldous Huxley

The ability to be in the present moment
is a major component of mental wellness.

- Abraham Maslow

Dwell in stillness.
Observe without reacting and without judging.
- Jon Kabat-Zinn

Life is simple.
Everything happens for you, not to you.
Everything happens at exactly the right moment, neither too soon nor too late.
You don't have to like it... it's just easier if you do.
- Byron Katie

 Be still and know who you are.
- Kirtana

Give yourself permission to allow this moment to be exactly as it is,
and allow yourself to be exactly as you are.
- Jon Kabat-Zinn

You're either attaching to your thoughts or you're inquiring. There is no other choice.
- Byron Katie

What is necessary to change a person is
to change his awareness of himself.
- Abraham Maslow

When we stop opposing reality, action becomes simple, fluid, kind, and fearless.
- Byron Katie

Have you ever arrived at work after your morning commute, and noticed that you didn't remember a single thing you saw during your drive?

Let today be a day of awareness. Consciously pay attention to what is going on around you as drive, walk, do your business, or relax. Consider the world from the perspective of those you pass - the small child, the elderly lady trying to cross the street, the homeless person, the truck driver, the policeman, the executive in the big limo.

First accept reality, only then choose how to react to it.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Further reading: Cherish This Moment

Question Your Questions

Byron Katie - No one can give you freedom but you

Truth isn't True. Reality isn't Real.

Cultivate Awareness

Consciousness

Live in the Present

Cease Striving

VISION - the fifth Point of Simply An Inspired Life

Breath by Breath 

      

Don't Take Criticism Personally

 

The dream you are living is your creation.
It is your perception of reality that you can change at any time.

- don Miguel Ruiz

Whatever anyone else says or does, their words
and their actions are truly about themselves.
Don't take it personally when they rant,
even if they direct their unhappiness in your direction.
Their negativity is basically selfishness,
and their selfishness is about them, not about you.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

People are often unreasonable, illogical, and self-centered; ...
Forgive them anyway.
- Kent Keith
(often attributed to Mother Teresa, who kept a copy on the wall of her orphanage)

We are to take nothing personally,
least of all ourselves, for the moment we do,
our spiritual growth and journey come to a halt.
- Hopi Proverb

What you think of me is none of my business.
- Terry Cole-Whittaker

Don't Take Anything Personally.
Nothing others do is because of you.
What others say and do is a projection of their own reality.
- Miguel Angel Ruiz (don Miguel Ruiz)

If you want reality to be different than it is,
you might as well try to teach a cat to bark.
- Byron Katie

Chaos is the score upon which reality is written.
- Henry Miller

You can't get mad at weather because weather's not about you.

Apply that lesson to most other aspects of life.
- Doug Coupland

Further reading: Don't Take Rejection Personally

How to Not Care What People Think about You

How to be Positive Around Negative People

Don Miguel Ruiz' Four Agreements

Families and Social Expectations
      

Open Your Mind

 

Let today be a day to break with convention,
to try out new ideas and ways of living.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

I don't need other people to have an open mind.
The crucial question is "Is my mind open?"
- Byron Katie

Every really new idea looks crazy at first.
- Alfred North Whitehead

Minds are like parachutes.
They only function when they are open.
- James Dewar

The human mind, once stretched by a new idea,
never returns to its original dimensions.
- Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.

Every time you tear a leaf off a calendar,
you present a new place for new ideas and progress.
- Charles Kettering

Few new truths have ever won their way
against the resistance of established ideas
save by being overstated.
- Isaiah Berlin

Further reading: Cultivate Awareness

New Ideas

The Art of Seeing

You are the Window

Honor Your Roots
    

Prison of Our Mind

 

The world in which we live and work,
is a mirror of our attitudes and expectations.
- Earl Nightingale

Everyone is a mirror image of yourself -
your own thinking coming back at you.
- Byron Katie

A person experiences life as
something separated from the rest -
a kind of optical delusion of consciousness.
Our task must be to free ourselves
from this self-imposed prison,
and through compassion,
to find the reality of Oneness.
- Albert Einstein

Life is for each man a solitary cell whose walls are mirrors.
- Eugene O'Neill

Once we are destined to live out our lives
in the prison of our mind,
our duty is to furnish it well.
- Peter Ustinov

Further reading: Are You a Prisoner?

Life is a Mirror

Being a Reflection

How We See Things
    

Don't Try To Deny Reality

 

Some things you can change, others you need to work with.
But the worst choice is to pretend that things aren't the way they really are.
Begin with the facts, then make your choices.

Do not rail against life. [Do not complain about life.]
Make positive contributions where you can.
Practice gracious acceptance elsewhere.
And express daily gratitude for all of life.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

If you want reality to be different than it is,
you might as well try to teach a cat to bark.
- Byron Katie

He who avoids complaint invites happiness.
- Abu Bakr

How is it that one rails against that
which is nearly a certainty?
- Mary Anne Radmacher

To deny the facts would be illogical.
- the character Spock in the television series Star Trek

Further reading: Do What You Can; Trust God With The Rest

Don't Resist Life

I Will Fear No Evil

Serenity rather than Fear
      

Dwell in Stillness

 

Unhappiness is generally a result of spending too much time regretting and resenting the past or worrying about the future. The key to happiness and success is focusing, with awareness, on the present moment.

- Jonathan Lockwood Huie 

Facts do not cease to exist because they are ignored.
- Aldous Huxley

The ability to be in the present moment
is a major component of mental wellness.

- Abraham Maslow

Dwell in stillness.
Observe without reacting and without judging.
- Jon Kabat-Zinn

Life is simple.
Everything happens for you, not to you.
Everything happens at exactly the right moment, neither too soon nor too late.
You don't have to like it... it's just easier if you do.
- Byron Katie

 Be still and know who you are.
- Kirtana

Give yourself permission to allow this moment to be exactly as it is,
and allow yourself to be exactly as you are.
- Jon Kabat-Zinn

You're either attaching to your thoughts or you're inquiring. There is no other choice.
- Byron Katie

What is necessary to change a person is
to change his awareness of himself.
- Abraham Maslow

When we stop opposing reality, action becomes simple, fluid, kind, and fearless.
- Byron Katie

Have you ever arrived at work after your morning commute, and noticed that you didn't remember a single thing you saw during your drive?

Let today be a day of awareness. Consciously pay attention to what is going on around you as drive, walk, do your business, or relax. Consider the world from the perspective of those you pass - the small child, the elderly lady trying to cross the street, the homeless person, the truck driver, the policeman, the executive in the big limo.

First accept reality, only then choose how to react to it.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Further reading: Cherish This Moment

Question Your Questions

Byron Katie - No one can give you freedom but you

Truth isn't True. Reality isn't Real.

Cultivate Awareness

Consciousness

Live in the Present

Cease Striving

VISION - the fifth Point of Simply An Inspired Life

Breath by Breath