An Opening for Values-Based Awareness

“Chaung Tzu insisted that judgments like right and wrong, good and evil, fair and unfair were just mental habits, ideas that had gained currency through repeated used rather than through inherent truth.”

J. Geary, Geary’s Guide to the World’s Great Aphorists, p. 227

Let’s try on the coat for a moment and imagine this to be true. If “good/bad”, “right/wrong”, “fair/unfair” are simply cultural habits – what’s the alternative?

On what basis do we assert “good/bad”, “right/wrong”, “fair/unfair”? What barometer do we use to measure this?

If we had a more powerful, more life-serving way of expressing, what would it be?

Sending playful smiles,
Gail

Impossible? Too hard? Etc?

“Argue for your limitations and sure enough they will be yours.”

– Richard Bach

Gratitude and Celebration

“The world is a rose; smell it and pass it to your friends.”
- Persian Proverb

“Wisdom begins in wonder.”
- Socrates

“The universe is full of magical things patiently waiting for our wits to grow sharper.”
- Eden Phillpotts

On Thriving and Transformation

“You and I possess within ourselves, at every moment of our lives, under all circumstances, the power to transform the quality of our lives.”

– Werner Erhard

Campbell’s Bliss, aka Gross, Subtle, Causal Alignment

“Follow your bliss. There’s something inside you that knows when you’re in the center, that knows when you’re on the beam or off the beam. And if you get off the beam to earn money, you’ve lost your life. And if you stay in the center and don’t get any money, you still have your bliss.”

– Joseph Campbell, The Power of Myth

Decisions Decisions Decisions

“High achievers spot rich opportunities swiftly, make big decisions quickly and move into action immediately. Follow these principles and you can make your dreams come true.”

- Robert H. Schuller

I love this quote; to me it translates to “successful people make decisions quickly”. Let’s not make the mistake though of confusing wide-reaching, systemic decisions with low-risk, low-impact decisions that affect only a small circle in the system.

When I’m making general, day-to-day, low-impact decisions, I try to remember that I want to thrive, and life is short. So my practice is to notice when I’m hedging or dragging my feet, and just pick a choice. Just pick one. I realize I can always correct the handlebars on the bike if I find I’m going too far out of the way of my intended direction. But if I sit on the bike mulling over which direction to set the handle bars, I’m never getting anywhere.

More systemic-impacting decisions I’ll take more time to do due diligence, but still, the idea is to inform myself to the best of my abilities in a reasonable amount of time and then choose, knowing I may always adjust the direction later if new information comes in.

A multi-millionaire I once worked with said, “Successful people make decisions quickly and change their minds slowly. Unsuccessful people take forever to make up their minds and then change their mind continually.”

Hrm…should I or shouldn’t I take this advice…hrm…let me think…

*wink*

How might I / you / we apply this to a more powerful, effective, thriving life for us, our families, our work places, and our planet?

Cheers to living alive!
Warmly,
Gail

Aristotle Quote – On Thriving

“Excellence is an art won by training and habituation. We do not act rightly because we have virtue or excellence, but rather we have those because we have acted rightly. We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act but a habit. “

- Aristotle

Beginners’ Mind

I hope this inspires you to live out loud as much it does me. Enjoy! Gail

NATASHA BEDINGFIELD – “Unwritten”, lyrics

I am unwritten, can’t read my mind, I’m undefined
I’m just beginning, the pen’s in my hand, ending unplanned

Staring at the blank page before you
Open up the dirty window
Let the sun illuminate the words that you could not find

Reaching for something in the distance
So close you can almost taste it
Release your inhibitions
Feel the rain on your skin
No one else can feel it for you
Only you can let it in
No one else, no one else
Can speak the words on your lips
Drench yourself in words unspoken
Live your life with arms wide open
Today is where your book begins
The rest is still unwritten

Oh, oh, oh

I break tradition, sometimes my tries, are outside the lines
We’ve been conditioned to not make mistakes, but I can’t live that way

Staring at the blank page before you
Open up the dirty window
Let the sun illuminate the words that you could not find

Reaching for something in the distance
So close you can almost taste it
Release your inhibitions
Feel the rain on your skin
No one else can feel it for you
Only you can let it in
No one else, no one else
Can speak the words on your lips
Drench yourself in words unspoken
Live your life with arms wide open
Today is where your book begins

Feel the rain on your skin
No one else can feel it for you
Only you can let it in
No one else, no one else
Can speak the words on your lips
Drench yourself in words unspoken
Live your life with arms wide open
Today is where your book begins
The rest is still unwritten

Staring at the blank page before you
Open up the dirty window
Let the sun illuminate the words that you could not find

Reaching for something in the distance
So close you can almost taste it
Release your inhibitions
Feel the rain on your skin
No one else can feel it for you
Only you can let it in
No one else, no one else
Can speak the words on your lips
Drench yourself in words unspoken
Live your life with arms wide open
Today is where your book begins

Feel the rain on your skin
No one else can feel it for you
Only you can let it in
No one else, no one else
Can speak the words on your lips
Drench yourself in words unspoken
Live your life with arms wide open
Today is where your book begins
The rest is still unwritten
The rest is still unwritten
The rest is still unwritten

Oh, yeah, yeah

Schuller Quote

“What would you do if you knew you could not fail?”
- Robert H. Schuller

I have this as a mantra on my calendar. How might you include this question each day toward opening more of your life?

Spiritual Teachers?

Often someone, somewhere, will ask me, “Who are your favorite spiritual teachers?” I then show my depth of intelligence, saavy and experience by staring blindly at the question-asker, mouth agape.

Finally I have an answer! Have you met Chuck Lorre?

Here’s my favorite CL teaching of the day.

Enjoy!
Gail

CHUCK LORRE PRODUCTIONS, # 57

One of the great blessings of getting older is realizing, without shame and remorse, what an idiot you’ve been at earlier stages of your life. I can think of nothing that breeds humility better than this on-going epiphany. The knowledge that with a few exceptions, I was the human version of the “don’t pass” bet on a craps table, is oddly comforting. Let’s take a look. In 1977 I tried to talk a friend out of investing all his money in stores that only sold running shoes. A few years later, I told anyone who would listen that the female singer of “Lucky Star” was a one-hit wonder, while the singer of “Girls Just Wanna Have Fun” was here to stay. I saw no future in bottled water or fancy coffee shops. Cellular phones? What for? I already have a phone. And let’s not forget that in 1988 I read William Gibson’s “Neuromancer,” logged onto the Internet, and STILL didn’t see it coming. Shall I go on? Shall I share with you some of the moronic things I’ve done, thought and said in my personal life? Of course I won’t. I’m not stupid. I’m just humble.