Understand Your Fears and Hopes

 

All men should strive to learn before they die,
what they are running from, and to, and why.
- James Thurber

The most difficult phase of life is not when no one understands you,
it is when you don't understand yourself.
- Anonymous

We tell lies when we are afraid...
afraid of what we don't know,
afraid of what others will think,
afraid of what will be found out about us.
But every time we tell a lie,
the thing that we fear grows stronger.
- Williams Tad

A good question is never answered.
It is not a bolt to be tightened into place
but a seed to be planted and to bear more seed
toward the hope of greening the landscape of idea.
- John Ciardi

Further reading: A Truly Successful Life

Where Are You Going?

Eyes on the Heavens

To Serve
      

Strive to Ask More Insightful Questions

 

A prudent question is one-half of wisdom.
- Francis Bacon

There are no right answers to wrong questions.
- Ursula K. Le Guin

To raise new questions, new possibilities,
to regard old problems from a new angle,
requires creative imagination.
- Albert Einstein

The True Insight is in the Choice of Questions.
When you keep getting the wrong answers,
try asking better questions.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie
[For example, instead of asking "how can I win this battle," consider asking "how can I avoid this battle."]

A good question is never answered.
It is not a bolt to be tightened into place
but a seed to be planted and to bear more seed
toward the hope of greening the landscape of idea.
- John Ciardi

When we have arrived at the question,
the answer is already near.
- Ralph Waldo Emerson

Well, you ask a silly question, and you get a silly answer.
- Tom Lehrer

We thought that we had the answers,
it was the questions we had wrong.
- Bono

Today's affirmation: I question my questions.

Further reading:  Profound Questions

Many Answers

A Better Plan

What You See

Learn to Listen

Seek the Truth
      

Beware of the Illusion of Knowledge

Beware of false knowledge;
it is more dangerous than ignorance.
- George Bernard Shaw

The greatest obstacle to discovery is not ignorance -
it is the illusion of knowledge.
- Daniel J. Boorstin

When you have a very strong FEELING that something is true, often it isn't.
WANTING something to be true doesn't make it true.
Likewise, being AFRAID that something is true doesn't make it true either.

Truth is not defined by
how many people believe something.
Ask. Question. Think.
Decide - for yourself.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

We want the facts to fit the preconceptions.
When they don't, it is easier to ignore the facts
than to change the preconceptions.
- Jessamyn West

Further reading: Perspective on Tradition: An Open Mind

The Danger of Assumptions

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

 

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.
     

Beware the Illusion of Knowledge

 

To know yet to think that one does not know is best;
Not to know yet to think that one knows
will lead to difficulty.
- Lao Tzu

The greatest obstacle to discovery is not ignorance -
it is the illusion of knowledge.
- Daniel J. Boorstin

Beware of false knowledge;
it is more dangerous than ignorance.
- George Bernard Shaw

We want the facts to fit the preconceptions.
When they don't, it is easier to ignore the facts
than to change the preconceptions.
- Jessamyn West

Truth is not defined by
how many people believe something.
Ask. Question. Think.
Decide - for yourself.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

When you have a very strong FEELING that something is true, often it isn't.
WANTING something to be true doesn't make it true.
Likewise, being AFRAID that something is true doesn't make it true either.

Further reading: Truth isn't True. Reality isn't Real.

The Danger of Assumptions

Perspective on Tradition: An Open Mind
    

Where there's a will, there's a way

 

Be resolute in your goals,
but flexible in your tactics.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Every problem has in it the seeds of its own solution.
If you don't have any problems, you don't get any seeds.
- Norman Vincent Peale

Courage and perseverance have a magical talisman,
before which difficulties disappear and obstacles vanish into air.
- John Quincy Adams

You must do the things you think you cannot do.
- Eleanor Roosevelt

Where there's a will, there's a way.
- old English proverb

Sometimes the way to the pot of gold on the other side of the mountain is to keep fighting up the steep slippery slope, but often it is better to walk around the mountain. Also consider refocusing your attention on another pot of gold that is even larger, shinier, and virtually at hand.

How often we keep banging our head into the same wall, or to use the phrase derived from Cervantes Don Quixote, "tilting at windmills." When a problem seems unsolvable, or a question appears unanswerable, consider that you may not be asking the best question.

In their own way, problems can be blessings.
They can be the prod to get us out of our complacency and into action.

Problems create an opportunity for us to exercise our ingenuity,
to plan, to persevere, to interact with our social network,
and to feel a sense of accomplishment when we finally overcome the unexpected roadblock.

In the midst of crisis, boldly seize opportunity.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Further reading: Problem-Solving Abilities

Be Flexible

Another Door Opens

Rising Again
    

The Light of Reason

 

The only sovereign you can allow to rule you is reason.
- Terry Goodkind

The ultimate authority must always rest
with the individual's own reason and critical analysis.
- Tenzin Gyatso, the 14th Dalai Lama

If we would guide by the light of reason
we must let our minds be bold.
- Louis D. Brandeis

True virtue is life under the direction of reason.
- Baruch Spinoza

Authority has every reason to fear the skeptic,
for authority can rarely survive in the face of doubt.
- Robert Lindner

Rarely do we find men who willingly engage in hard, solid thinking.
There is an almost universal quest
for easy answers and half-baked solutions.
Nothing pains some people more than having to think.
- Martin Luther King, Jr.

No statement should be believed [solely] because it is made by an authority.
- Robert A. Heinlein

Reason and judgment are the qualities of a leader.
- Publius Cornelius Tacitus

Further reading: Practice Conscious Awareness

Re-Examine All You Think You Know

Trust Your Own Advice
     

Life Happens TO Us

 

The less I take the difficulties of my life as personal affront,
and the more I use them as an opportunity to learn and grow...
the easier I sleep at night.
- Mary Anne Radmacher

Neither Religion Nor Science Suggests that Life is "Supposed to be Fair"
...
Life is NOT "Supposed to be Fair."
Know that there is no single way that life is "supposed" to be.
Demanding that life meet our expectations
is a sure fire recipe for a miserable existence.
Life is a game with no rules.
Life just happens to us regardless of our best intentions.
Our only path to happiness lies in being open
to receiving whatever life throws at us -
with Gratitude. Have NO Expectations of life.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

"Why?" is the most useless question in the universe.
The only question with any meaning is "What?"
Asking "Why is this happening?" can only disempower you.
Asking "What do I want to make of this?" does exactly the opposite.
- Neale Donald Walsch

Nature is relentless and unchangeable,
and it is indifferent as to whether its hidden reasons
and actions are understandable to man or not.
- Galileo Galilei

Further reading: My thoughts on "Life is not supposed to be fair."

You Are Not A Victim

Choose What You Emphasize

Complaining Only Makes You Miserable

Break Your Cycle of Self-Inflicted Suffering 
        

Mystery, Wonder, and Understanding

 

As soon as man does not take his existence for granted,
but beholds it as something
unfathomably mysterious, thought begins.
- Albert Schweitzer

Be thankful that life is a mystery.
There is so much we can never know.
Breathe deeply and relax into the not-knowing.
There is much that we do not have to know in order to live joyfully.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Uncertainty that comes from knowledge
(knowing what you don't know)
is different from uncertainty coming from ignorance.
- Isaac Asimov

Mystery creates wonder,
and wonder is the basis of man's desire to understand.
- Neil Armstrong

Further reading: Nothing is Certain

Cherish Mystery

Childlike Wonder

Magnificent Mystery
        

What are Your Fears and Hopes?

All men should strive to learn before they die,
what they are running from, and to, and why.
- James Thurber

The most difficult phase of life is not when no one understands you,
it is when you don't understand yourself.
- Anonymous

We tell lies when we are afraid...
afraid of what we don't know,
afraid of what others will think,
afraid of what will be found out about us.
But every time we tell a lie,
the thing that we fear grows stronger.
- Williams Tad

A good question is never answered.
It is not a bolt to be tightened into place
but a seed to be planted and to bear more seed
toward the hope of greening the landscape of idea.
- John Ciardi

Further reading: A Truly Successful Life

Where Are You Going?

Eyes on the Heavens

To Serve
      

Ask More Questions, Ask Deeper Questions

A prudent question is one-half of wisdom.
- Francis Bacon

There are no right answers to wrong questions.
- Ursula K. Le Guin

To raise new questions, new possibilities,
to regard old problems from a new angle,
requires creative imagination.
- Albert Einstein

The True Insight is in the Choice of Questions.
When you keep getting the wrong answers,
try asking better questions.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie
[For example, instead of asking "how can I win this battle," consider asking "how can I avoid this battle."]

A good question is never answered.
It is not a bolt to be tightened into place
but a seed to be planted and to bear more seed
toward the hope of greening the landscape of idea.
- John Ciardi

When we have arrived at the question,
the answer is already near.
- Ralph Waldo Emerson

Well, you ask a silly question, and you get a silly answer.
- Tom Lehrer

We thought that we had the answers,
it was the questions we had wrong.
- Bono

Today's affirmation: I question my questions.

Further reading:  Profound Questions

Many Answers

A Better Plan

What You See

Learn to Listen

Seek the Truth
      

Never Succumb to the Illusion of Knowledge

Beware of false knowledge;
it is more dangerous than ignorance.
- George Bernard Shaw

The greatest obstacle to discovery is not ignorance -
it is the illusion of knowledge.
- Daniel J. Boorstin

When you have a very strong FEELING that something is true, often it isn't.
WANTING something to be true doesn't make it true.
Likewise, being AFRAID that something is true doesn't make it true either.

Truth is not defined by
how many people believe something.
Ask. Question. Think.
Decide - for yourself.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

We want the facts to fit the preconceptions.
When they don't, it is easier to ignore the facts
than to change the preconceptions.
- Jessamyn West

Further reading: Perspective on Tradition: An Open Mind

The Danger of Assumptions

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

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.
     

Beware of False Knowledge

To know yet to think that one does not know is best;
Not to know yet to think that one knows
will lead to difficulty.
- Lao Tzu

The greatest obstacle to discovery is not ignorance -
it is the illusion of knowledge.
- Daniel J. Boorstin

Beware of false knowledge;
it is more dangerous than ignorance.
- George Bernard Shaw

We want the facts to fit the preconceptions.
When they don't, it is easier to ignore the facts
than to change the preconceptions.
- Jessamyn West

Truth is not defined by
how many people believe something.
Ask. Question. Think.
Decide - for yourself.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

When you have a very strong FEELING that something is true, often it isn't.
WANTING something to be true doesn't make it true.
Likewise, being AFRAID that something is true doesn't make it true either.

Further reading: Truth isn't True. Reality isn't Real.

The Danger of Assumptions

Perspective on Tradition: An Open Mind
    

Boldly Seize Opportunity

Be resolute in your goals,
but flexible in your tactics.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Every problem has in it the seeds of its own solution.
If you don't have any problems, you don't get any seeds.
- Norman Vincent Peale

Courage and perseverance have a magical talisman,
before which difficulties disappear and obstacles vanish into air.
- John Quincy Adams

You must do the things you think you cannot do.
- Eleanor Roosevelt

Where there's a will, there's a way.
- old English proverb

Sometimes the way to the pot of gold on the other side of the mountain is to keep fighting up the steep slippery slope, but often it is better to walk around the mountain. Also consider refocusing your attention on another pot of gold that is even larger, shinier, and virtually at hand.

How often we keep banging our head into the same wall, or to use the phrase derived from Cervantes Don Quixote, "tilting at windmills." When a problem seems unsolvable, or a question appears unanswerable, consider that you may not be asking the best question.

In their own way, problems can be blessings.
They can be the prod to get us out of our complacency and into action.

Problems create an opportunity for us to exercise our ingenuity,
to plan, to persevere, to interact with our social network,
and to feel a sense of accomplishment when we finally overcome the unexpected roadblock.

In the midst of crisis, boldly seize opportunity.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Further reading: Problem-Solving Abilities

Be Flexible

Another Door Opens

Rising Again
    

Trust Reason and Critical Analysis

The only sovereign you can allow to rule you is reason.
- Terry Goodkind

The ultimate authority must always rest
with the individual's own reason and critical analysis.
- Tenzin Gyatso, the 14th Dalai Lama

If we would guide by the light of reason
we must let our minds be bold.
- Louis D. Brandeis

True virtue is life under the direction of reason.
- Baruch Spinoza

Authority has every reason to fear the skeptic,
for authority can rarely survive in the face of doubt.
- Robert Lindner

Rarely do we find men who willingly engage in hard, solid thinking.
There is an almost universal quest
for easy answers and half-baked solutions.
Nothing pains some people more than having to think.
- Martin Luther King, Jr.

No statement should be believed [solely] because it is made by an authority.
- Robert A. Heinlein

Reason and judgment are the qualities of a leader.
- Publius Cornelius Tacitus

Further reading: Practice Conscious Awareness

Re-Examine All You Think You Know

Trust Your Own Advice
     

Neither Religion Nor Science Suggests that Life is "Supposed to be Fair"

The less I take the difficulties of my life as personal affront,
and the more I use them as an opportunity to learn and grow...
the easier I sleep at night.
- Mary Anne Radmacher

Neither Religion Nor Science Suggests that Life is "Supposed to be Fair"
...
Life is NOT "Supposed to be Fair."
Know that there is no single way that life is "supposed" to be.
Demanding that life meet our expectations
is a sure fire recipe for a miserable existence.
Life is a game with no rules.
Life just happens to us regardless of our best intentions.
Our only path to happiness lies in being open
to receiving whatever life throws at us -
with Gratitude. Have NO Expectations of life.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

"Why?" is the most useless question in the universe.
The only question with any meaning is "What?"
Asking "Why is this happening?" can only disempower you.
Asking "What do I want to make of this?" does exactly the opposite.
- Neale Donald Walsch

Nature is relentless and unchangeable,
and it is indifferent as to whether its hidden reasons
and actions are understandable to man or not.
- Galileo Galilei

Further reading: My thoughts on "Life is not supposed to be fair."

You Are Not A Victim

Choose What You Emphasize

Complaining Only Makes You Miserable

Break Your Cycle of Self-Inflicted Suffering 
        

Mystery Creates Wonder

 

As soon as man does not take his existence for granted,
but beholds it as something
unfathomably mysterious, thought begins.
- Albert Schweitzer

Be thankful that life is a mystery.
There is so much we can never know.
Breathe deeply and relax into the not-knowing.
There is much that we do not have to know in order to live joyfully.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Uncertainty that comes from knowledge
(knowing what you don't know)
is different from uncertainty coming from ignorance.
- Isaac Asimov

Mystery creates wonder,
and wonder is the basis of man's desire to understand.
- Neil Armstrong

Further reading: Nothing is Certain

Cherish Mystery

Childlike Wonder

Magnificent Mystery
        

Seek to Better Understand Your Fears and Your Hopes

 

All men should strive to learn before they die,
what they are running from, and to, and why.
- James Thurber

The most difficult phase of life is not when no one understands you,
it is when you don't understand yourself.
- Anonymous

We tell lies when we are afraid...
afraid of what we don't know,
afraid of what others will think,
afraid of what will be found out about us.
But every time we tell a lie,
the thing that we fear grows stronger.
- Williams Tad

A good question is never answered.
It is not a bolt to be tightened into place
but a seed to be planted and to bear more seed
toward the hope of greening the landscape of idea.
- John Ciardi

Further reading: A Truly Successful Life

Where Are You Going?

Eyes on the Heavens

To Serve
      

Ask Deeper Questions

 

A prudent question is one-half of wisdom.
- Francis Bacon

There are no right answers to wrong questions.
- Ursula K. Le Guin

To raise new questions, new possibilities,
to regard old problems from a new angle,
requires creative imagination.
- Albert Einstein

The True Insight is in the Choice of Questions.
When you keep getting the wrong answers,
try asking better questions.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie
[For example, instead of asking "how can I win this battle," consider asking "how can I avoid this battle."]

A good question is never answered.
It is not a bolt to be tightened into place
but a seed to be planted and to bear more seed
toward the hope of greening the landscape of idea.
- John Ciardi

When we have arrived at the question,
the answer is already near.
- Ralph Waldo Emerson

Well, you ask a silly question, and you get a silly answer.
- Tom Lehrer

We thought that we had the answers,
it was the questions we had wrong.
- Bono

Today's affirmation: I question my questions.

Further reading:  Profound Questions

Many Answers

A Better Plan

What You See

Learn to Listen

Seek the Truth