Week 10 – A Wandering Mind

We have a lot of reading, and it’s meaningless unless we interact in our mind and spirit with what we take in.  “Guard your heart, for out of it are the issues of life,” says the proverb.  Likewise guard the mind.  Let nothing in without evaluation and approval.

(Wow, you say. Where’s he going with that?)

Have you ever read through a paragraph or a chapter and then wondered, “What did that say?” “What did I just read?”  I have.  I have been looking at the page “reading” the words and the mind was wandering thousands of miles or decades away away from present reality.

Scroll III: “I will persist until I succeed.”  One time reading this, the thought arrived unbidden that one of the quotes from a couple of weeks ago was applicable here:

“We all want progress, but if you’re on the wrong road, progress means doing an about-turn and walking back to the right road; in that case, the man who turns back soonest is the most progressive.”  –  C.S. Lewis

Persistence on the wrong path or in the wrong direction is not a virtue.  That’s one of the values of a well crafted DMP (Definite Major Purpose): to help define the path and the direction in which to persist.

That’s undoubtedly self-evident to most, but those thoughts wander in anyway. 

On another note related to MKMMA, programming the subby and such, I came across an interesting item.  Here’s the headline and link:

Researchers Finally Show How Mindfulness and Your Thoughts Can Induce Specific Molecular Changes To Your Genes

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Week 9 – Love and ??

“You are what you have decided to be, and when the pain is greater than the payback, then creative change takes place.”     — Anon.

“Men ought to know that from nothing else but the brain come our joys, delights, laughter and sports, grief, despondency and lamentations.” — Hippocrates

No wonder we’re re-programming the brain – or wherever else the subconscious resides.

up/down;  left/right;  east/west;  hot/cold;  good/bad;  wet/dry;  right/wrong;  love/??

If you ask what these pairs of words have in common, you might get the answer that they are opposites of each other.  And were you so etymologically inclined, you may be interested to know some words are their own opposites, curiously enough.

This is the last week for reading Scroll II: “I greet this day with love in my heart.”  Excellent thoughts, of course, but sometimes thought – provoking as well.  To wit:

It seems fairly common to accept that the opposite of love is hate.  Maybe… but I would argue otherwise.  I think the opposite of love is apathy, or any number of its synonyms.  To totally disregard and ignore the other; that is un-love.

^“Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud or rude. It does not demand its own way. It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged.  It does not rejoice about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out.  Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance.”  (I Cor. 13:4-7, NLT)

Interesting correlation that much of the Master Keys this week relates to truth, as well.

“Our best friends and our worst enemies are our thoughts.  A thought can do more good than a doctor or banker or a faithful friend.  It can also do us more harm than a brick.” – Dr. Frank Crane

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Week 9 – Happy THANKSgiving

Wishing all my friends a thankful Thanksgiving.

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Week 8 – Hmmm….

We all want progress, but if you’re on the wrong road, progress means doing an about-turn and walking back to the right road; in that case, the man who turns back soonest is the most progressive.  —  C.S. Lewis

Reason is the natural organ of truth; but imagination is the organ of meaning.  —  C.S. Lewis

There are far, far better things ahead than any we leave behind.  —  C.S. Lewis

To love at all is to be vulnerable. Love anything and your heart will be wrung and possibly broken. If you want to make sure of keeping it intact you must give it to no one, not even an animal. Wrap it carefully round with hobbies and little luxuries; avoid all entanglements. Lock it up safe in the casket or coffin of your selfishness. But in that casket, safe, dark, motionless, airless, it will change. It will not be broken; it will become unbreakable, impenetrable, irredeemable. To love is to be vulnerable.  —  C.S. Lewis

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This is the week for quotes from the writings of C.S. Lewis, as Friday of this week (Nov. 22) marks the 50th anniversary of his death.  Lewis was quite famous as, among other things, a writer, professor of English literature at Cambridge and Oxford, and a broadcaster of encouraging messages during Britain’s darkest days of World War II.  Although he was well-known, news of his death was overshadowed by the assassination of John F. Kennedy on the same day.

In many ways Lewis was ahead of his time, as evidenced by some of the things he had to say… or perhaps the truths he observed and expressed are simply timeless.

In any case I selected a few above which seemed relevant to MKMMA.

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In Scroll II Og Mandino writes of love.  Good words, mostly.

There’s one part I choke on every time I pass over it, however.  “I will love the beautiful for their eyes of sadness; I will love the ugly for their souls of peace.”

First, who is to make any determination of beauty or ugliness?  “Beauty is in the eye of the beholder”  That’s a subjective determination, an opinion, if you will, which we (hopefully) learned to eschew, and (hopefully) for more than a week.

And is Og talking about outward, physical, appearance?  “Man looks on the outward appearance, but God looks on the heart.”

I now have extreme difficulty thinking of anyone as ugly.  As one example, I think of many, mostly women, in places such as Pakistan or India, who have been victims of acid attacks. (I will post no pictures, but you can search acid attack victims.)  I can only think of the feelings they’ve experienced.  Ugly is the tortured, black soul who could perpetrate such an act.

Years, even decades ago I had a boss who referred to an employee as ugly.  To my shame I allowed the comment in and did not challenge it.  The memory is still there, and the regret.

So, with apologies I’ll explain that I’m not criticizing Mr. Mandino.  His literary devices are admirable.  But that’s one I simply have to skip over or modify as I go by.

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Week 7 – Starting a Diet

“Unless there is within us that which is above us, we shall soon yield to that which is about us.” — P.T. Forsyth

“Never say anything about yourself you do not want to come true.”   —  Brian Tracy

“Remember, the thoughts that you think and the statements you make regarding yourself determine your mental attitude. If you have a worthwhile objective, find the one reason why you can achieve it rather than hundreds of reasons why you can’t.”  — Napoleon Hill

Colorado Sunset

Oh give me a home where the buffalo roam
Where the deer and the antelope play,
WHERE NEVER IS HEARD A DISCOURAGING WORD
And the skies are not cloudy all day.

For those considerably younger than I, or perhaps from another area of the world, the verse above, “Home on the Range” is the first part of what was known as a “western” song.  Western USA, that is.   Maybe more like a cowboy ballad from the earlier part of the last century.

The words came to mind in connection with recent assignments.  Last week it was to have no opinions.  This week to begin a 7-day mental diet: no negative thoughts.

I discovered a lot of my thoughts are sub-conscious.  Not in the sense of the subby, the subconscious of which we aren’t even aware,and which we’re re-programming, but in the sense that they’re there and we can be aware of them if we slow down and THINK.  But, for me they’re a little below that level of constant forefront awareness.

So part of the work of this involves becoming aware of the thought and then determining, “was that a negative thought?”  Scroll II from Og Mandino is helpful in that regard.  So is MK 7-22: Create ideals only.

This could indeed become a diet for life.

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Week 6 Reprise

Our resident poet and friend replied to the prior Week 6 post by email rather than direct comment.  He did give permission to post his reply if I so choose, which I do:

COMPASS AND TIME

When the clock alone sets one’s course
His only hope is the use of time
And his chances of success soon declines
For time is not respective of just one course

To run one’s race straight and true
To lessen one’s chance to fail
To set the list and set the sail
Use compass headings straight and true

Autumn Reflections

Then when people and events
Become an unexpected force
That juggles and shifts our course
Compass and time adjustments become the next event

Each one of us has these two tools
By the use of each one
Things get done
Wisely adjust these two tools

Compass and Time
Leads the way
Directs the day
Engage – Compass and Time

by tl jarbeaux

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Week 6 – Compass or Clock?

“The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The second best time is now.”   –Chinese

Reminder to myself

Proverb

doitnowdoitnowdoitnowdoitnow

Perhaps for me this week, one of the best reminders is the choice we all face:  Live by the clock; or… Live by the compass.

That’s profound.

The clock is a tyrant – or can be.  The compass is a gentle guide – or can be.  In a time of personal transition I’m noticing a lot of opposition and barriers.  Not surprising,  The subby, at least this one, is pretty resistant to change.

This coming Monday, 11/11 is Armistice Day.  Well, it was nearly 100 years ago; now it’s Veterans day.  Here’s a little clip to honor them.  Originally designed for July 4th, it’s still appropriate:

 

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Week 5 – Amazing!

One of the recent assignments in MKMMA was to become detached and become an observer.  That would apply not only to interactions around us, but to our own participation as well.

Slowing down to observe and consider what all constitutes the “human experience” and to truly appreciate its complexity and depth is indeed a source of amazement.

Colorado Sunset

In fact, any life is quite remarkable. Animals, generally by instinct, do whatever they do to survive, procreate, interact.  Men and women operate on a different level.  Sure, as in
animals, the autonomic nervous system controls and regulates bodily functions such as breathing, heart and digestive functions, etc.  These are automatic, self regulated.  But humans have a mind – still not fully understood.

Interestingly, the book of Genesis records that God created every living creature, but only of man (mankind) did He say “Let us make man in our image and likeness,” and while there were all kinds of living creatures, only into man (mankind) did He “breathe the breath of life and he became a living being.”  Obviously, that life was not physical life; it was something much more – spirit life… mind.

So what was amazing this week, being detached and observing, was the interactions between people.  A normal conversation… but words, gestures, eyes looking into each other (not AT one another), minds interacting, neurons firing by the billions!

 

Autumn, San Juan Mountains, Colo.

Even the eyes are an amazing miracle.  Called the window into the soul, when we look deeply into the eyes of another, we do not see colors or eyelashes or iris or retina; we indeed are looking into the heart of another.  And we might see (or sense) life and vitality, acceptance and joy.  Or there might be hostility or emptiness… the “vacant stare.”

There’s another level, expressive of the amazing function of mind and spirit.  Anyone, person or animal, can take in the same scene, gather the same photons and rays of light, but only the attuned mind can “see” and appreciate the beauty of a sunset, the grandeur of a mountain vista.  Even the words we use to describe the scene (“beautiful,” “grandeur,” “lovely,” etc.) are an expression of not what we’re taking in, but how we interact with it, how we perceive it, how we are affected by it.  Such words are a reflection of our unique humanity, the mind within.

Is that an opinion?  (We are also assigned to practice being devoid of opinions this week.)  I think not (now, THAT’S an opinion!!!).  Rather, it becomes an expression of what or who we are and what we are becoming, even in the smallest way.  For we are affected by all that touches us.  And the amazing thing about it is that we can choose.  To some extent we can choose what we allow in to touch us.  To a much larger extent we can choose how it affects us – how we react and what we become as a result.

“So many of our dreams at first seem impossible, then they seem improbable, and then, when we summon the will, they soon become inevitable.”     —   Christopher Reeve

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Week 4 — Fear > Procrastination > Giving

Oh my!  What a plethora of thoughts and feelings have come along this week, especially in considering what might be appropriate to share in this venue.

One of the first was the subject of fear.  What is that?  Seems we’re programmed from an early age… fear of this or that, fear of failure, fear of success, fear of looking foolish, being embarrassed.  There’s a veritable library of phobias out there.  And of course Mark has something to say, quite profound, about that. (Thanks for the reminder, Robin.)

F   False
E   Evidence
A   Appearing
R   Real

That’s the old acronym. (Mark has no use for it.)  But I do like what Mark said this week:  We need to eliminate fear, not overcome it.  Big difference.

In the Master Keys 3.14: “… the one arch enemy which must be absolutely destroyed before there is any possibility of letting any light shine is fear.”

3.15: “When fear is effectually and completely destroyed, your light will shine, the clouds will disperse and you will have found the source of power, energy and life.”

Indeed. In the New Testament, 1 John 4:18 tells us, ^“ There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear.

Likewise, one of Dr. Gerald Jampolski’s best known books is Love is Letting Go of Fear.  (I haven’t figured out how to insert video yet.)  You’ll enjoy the little one minute video clip here where Jerry talks about giving – directly related to things Mark & Davene were talking about at the end of the webcast Sunday (#4).

In his Week 3 blog, Bob addressed procrastination.  Is there a connection between that and fear?

Some think so.  In an article entitled, How a Chronic Procrastinator Gets Things Done, John Perry, PhD, writes: “Procrastination arises from a complex mix of fear, anxiety, boredom and rebellion. Even the most accomplished and efficient people procrastinate sometimes. That’s because ignoring a dreaded task brings an immediate sense of relief…and even positive feelings, because you have good intentions of doing it tomorrow. Or you rationalize how much better you can work if you just surf the Internet or fiddle with your smartphone first. But these types of mental games eventually leave you feeling like a failure and sap your motivation, which only perpetuates the desire to delay.”  (emphasis mine.)

I can see the the “rebellion” aspect at work.  The subby (subconscious) rebels and is resisting change and getting reprogrammed.

Last week I mentioned Piet Hein’s “grooks.”  Another one seems appropriate here:

PROBLEMS

Problems worthy
of attack
prove their worth
by hitting back.

So we press on with a task worthy of our greatest effort to complete it.

Week 3 – T. T. T.

Put up in a place
where it’s easy to see,
the cryptic admonishment
T.  T.  T.

When you feel how
depressingly slowly you climb,
it’s well to remember that
Things Take Time

I’ve always remembered that “Grook” by Piet Hein since I was first exposed to them in the mid 1960s.  Grooks are short aphoristic poems; Piet Hein was something of a Renaissance man in Denmark.  I have some of his books somewhere, though they are apparently now out of print.  Just found a link you might enjoy with more of them; they’re like old friends to me.

The point, however, is that in an era of rapidly advancing and accelerating technology, our society seems to want everything NOW – if not yesterday already!  Who was it spoke of the man standing in front of the microwave drumming his fingers and muttering, “come on, come on” while waiting the moment for his coffee to reheat.

Bad habits are not easily broken.  It takes time. It takes determined effort.  It takes replacing them with good habits, as Scroll I emphasizes.  Bad habits can be a harsh taskmaster.  It’s worth the effort.

However, as I need to remind myself, because things do take time, because we don’t get instant results is not a reason to procrastinate.  All the more reason to push forward.