Storm of Thoughts

The monsters are in your own head.
- Paula Cole

Life does not consist mainly,
or even largely, of facts or happenings.
It consist mainly of the storm of thoughts
that is forever flowing through one's head.
- Mark Twain

If you want peace, stop fighting.
If you want peace of mind,
stop fighting with your thoughts.
- Peter McWilliams

Beware the Rattlesnake of the Mind
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

"Rattlesnake of the Mind" is a metaphor inspired by the Zen term, "Monkey Mind," which refers to the mind's tendency to invent an unending sequence of creative stories about everything we see and hear.

You are not your mind. You, a Spiritual BEing,
are neither your mind nor your body.
Mind and body are your tools - to use as you choose.
Sometimes your body appears to have a will of its own,
as when it twitches or pains.
Likewise, your mind often appears to have its own will.
That incessant chattering of regret, disappointment, guilt,
shame, foreboding, worry, and fear
is your Rattlesnake Mind striking off on its own.
Know that your mind can be a vicious rattlesnake, and be cautious.
The mind can be tamed, but only with conscious effort and patience.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Further reading: Stilling Your Mind

Ten Little Tips to Feel Happier Right Now
Overflowing Cup of Tea - Zen Koan
      

Dance with the Rain

Life is not about waiting for the storm to pass...
It's about learning how to dance in the rain.
- Vivian Greene

If you spend your whole life waiting for the storm,
you'll never enjoy the sunshine.
- Morris West

When the tempest rages, when the thunders roar,
and the lightnings blaze around us,
it is then that the truly brave man stands firm at his post.
- Luther Martin

Be thou the rainbow in the storms of life.
The evening beam that smiles the clouds away,
and tints tomorrow with prophetic ray.
- Lord Byron

Is today a day to gather strength from the storm -
a day to to learn life lessons for the next battle?
Or is today a day to sit by the fire and watch the storm rage outside?
Either way, the storm is just life.
Give thanks for all of Life.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Further reading: Celebrating Rainbows and Butterflies - the Small Miracles of Our Life

How to Move On and Let Go

Zero-Based Gratitude
      

Reject Stereotypes

Is freedom anything else than the right
to live as we wish? Nothing else.
- Epictetus

Never allow a person to tell you NO
who doesn't have the power to say YES.
- Eleanor Roosevelt 

To know what you prefer
instead of humbly saying Amen
to what the world tells you you ought to prefer,
is to have kept your soul alive.
- Robert Louis Stevenson

Today's affirmation:
I have no need to conform to the stereotypes others have defined for me.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Each of us has a choice in all matters. There is nothing that any of us ever HAVE to do. Each of us, man or woman, chooses the roles we play, and what we make of our lives at each instant. Expectation and Tradition are burdens we take upon ourselves, or choose to throw off.

Does this mean becoming selfish? Not at all, it means becoming selective. It always means doing what we believe is right, regardless of the expectations of others.

As an example, imagine that our aging parent needs our help. There are three courses we can steer: #1. Care for them, but grumble and complain about how unfair and burdensome life is, how we are expected to provide assistance, and how unhappy it makes us to care for our mom. #2. Choose to make other arrangements for mom's care. #3. Be of service to mom because we CHOOSE to make a free-will gift of our time, energy and love.

I propose that #2 is preferable to #1. Visualizing myself as an aging parent (which doesn't take a lot of imagining), I wouldn't want an unhappy person around me who thought I was a burden. Naturally, I believe that #3 is the best option. But the way to get to #3 is to understand that #2 is also a choice. Unless we truly believe that #2 is an option, we can't reach #3, and we get stuck with #1, feeling resentful and victimized.

Life isn't fair. We can't choose our circumstances. But we can choose happiness, or not.

Conscious choices are NOT easy. It is much easier to believe that we are tossed about helplessly on the ocean of circumstances.

Expectations (Demands) suck the juice out of life. Don't believe that you are bound by the demands of others. You do not have to conform to the stereotypes others have defined for you.

Further reading: Intention versus Expectation (Demand)

Chose Adventure

Why I Choose to Believe that Others are Never the Cause of My Unhappiness

Trust Your Own Wisdom
     

Choose Love, Not Hate

Hatred paralyzes life; love releases it.
Hatred confuses life; love harmonizes it.
Hatred darkens life; love illumines it.
- Martin Luther King Jr.

Hatred does not cease by hatred,
but only by love;
this is the eternal rule.
- The Buddha

Return love for hate.
- Anonymous

Hate destroys, Love builds.
Hate tears down, Love renews and creates.
Hatred holds no hope for the future.
Love creates Today as its own better future.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Further reading: Categorizing People

Life is a Reflection

Go and Do Likewise

Fear and Love

On the Unworkability of Vengeance
      

Pause

Just stop it. Seriously.
Whatever it is. Just stop it.
If only for an hour, a day, a week.
Stop doing it long enough to get a glimpse
of what the change would actually look like.
- Mary Anne Radmacher

Remember the two benefits of failure.
First, if you do fail, you learn what doesn't work;
and second,
the failure gives you the opportunity to try a new approach.
- Roger von Oech

You can become blind by seeing each day as a similar one.
Each day is a different one, each day brings a miracle of its own.
It's just a matter of paying attention to this miracle.
- Paulo Coelho

Stop holding on to the past.
Release your regrets about whatever you may have done
or failed to do that turned out poorly.
Forgive others for whatever they may have done
or failed to do that cause you harm.
Declare today to be a new beginning.
Let go of the past and move on with creating
a joyful new future for yourself.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Further reading: How to Move On and Let Go

Create Completion

Pragmatism