Category: Musings

Obviously, the person I have to spend the most time with in my life is myself. So it would make sense to be fair to myself, to guide myself toward positivity and a life worth living, not just in retrospect, but also moment to moment, by being as present as I can. To let self-hate…

The urge to prove my worth (or sneer at someone else’s) has caused me to miss out on much of my life. In my mind, worth is a given, which is why I suspect Buddha didn’t justify his worth in Mara’s third challenge–if he tried to justify it, he would have implicitly acknowledged that his…

When I realized my happiness wasn’t necessarily dependent on circumstance (by being miserable in “good” conditions and happy in “bad” ones), I began thinking of it as my responsibility. Then I thought of it as my right. Then I thought of it as my choice. Then I realized I didn’t need to think about it,…

For me, the optimal state of growth entails a steady, positive focus on what’s in front of me. There’s no self-flagellation, jealousy of those with status and/or success, or sneering at any with less fortune. Just an easy and open regard of how I can perform as best I can. If I win or lose,…

I don’t believe discipline is a masochistic ritual where I constantly force myself to do what I hate (which I have spent decades doing), it’s consistently focusing on being in touch with my feelings and dreams, staying oriented around what makes me happy in the long run, following up on leads and hunches that might…

We have to endure a certain amount of compromise, a certain amount of suffering, but is that why we’re here? Are we born so we can flaunt our grit and determination and our ability to bear increasingly bigger crosses? If you enjoy that, then by all means do it. But I think enjoyment is key;…

The currents guide and influence my path, but I can row and steer in any direction. And if I choose, I can perceive life as an ocean instead of a river. But at that point, words fail to describe what I’m talking about. Even “transcendence” is a verbal abstraction, barely touching on what it implies.

The difference may be small, but I’d rather focus on letting in solutions than letting go of the problem. In my experience, I can always find a problem to let go of, or I can give a solution room to crystallize in my perspective.

For a while I lived a checklist life. And it was fulfilling at first–I had fun learning the basics and applying them to my everyday routine. But then it became increasingly mechanical. Eventually, I stopped worrying so much about checking the boxes. Instead I try and direct my focus onto an easy enjoyment of life…

Fighting negativity only seems to make more negative. I used to fight it until exhaustion and apathy took over, leaving me too tired to fight. And in that free-floating apathy, I naturally drifted up into positivity. These days, if I’m feeling negative, I remind myself that I don’t need to fight it–I don’t need to…