Be Not Afraid of Failure... Welcome It!

'Nuff said

Get Cultured... Take A Magical Adventure

I've blogged a bit on the importance of education and my views on the matter: we need to create an unbiased curriculum for the people in "Third World" or "low-income" countries to learn how to use the supplies that "First World" countries send to them, how to become sustainable, conflict resolution, and allow these people to form their own, unbiased, opinions on how they want to help the world grow! Can you imagine the benefit that we would see - environmentally, economically, and spiritually? Can you imagine a world with little to no need for weapons, a world where smog and air quality was not a concern? 

The Western World can learn much from the rest of the world, too. The Western ideology is that we make the technology, we make the money, we distribute goods, we can only learn from ourselves.... well, no. The Western World needs to take off the "know-it-all hat" and put on the "open-minded" glasses. How can we advance if we are no longer willing to learn? How can we become tolerant and balanced if we are not willing to see past our own issues, our own wrong views?

Take an adventure! Get out there- talk to people! If you're feeling down because of someone, if you're feeling like someone has wronged you- talk to that person! Guaranteed you'll feel better, the other person will feel better (because, although we can't read minds, we can read signals... sometimes its pretty obvious), and you will be closer to reaching a sense of inner peace.

Isn't that what we all strive for - peace? Peace comes from an open mind, a soul that is open to new experiences (travelling, trying something new, etc.), and a heart with the utmost compassion and good intentions, intent on ending suffering.

Be not afraid to be who you really are

This does not happen overnight - it is a work in progress! But I have faith that it will be worth it and I strive to change for the better. 

Join me!

Let's Talk About... Being Mindful

Last night, on Twitter, I sent out a tweet about "mindful eating"; that is, eating to enjoy and appreciate the food, instead of shoving it willy-nilly into your face like we all are guilty of at one time.

Being mindful isn't just about eating, of course, but everything! Everything should be done by being mindful and present in that moment.

This is an easy mantra to remember: "Be Mindful" or "Be Present". Saying this in your head, or even out loud, can make you stop, slow down, and think about being present and mindful in that exact moment. This is also helpful when making a tough decision like "Should I take the job overseas?" or something trivial like "Should I post this Facebook photo?" - stop, be mindful and present and think about it! Why do you want to do that? How will it affect you, and how will it affect the environment around you? Will it affect other people negatively or positively? How will this decision aid in bringing peace to your life and environment? Those are only a few questions to ask yourself. 

In a way, it is similar to meditation - you are truly meditating for a few moments on this question by being present and mindful!!!

If there is ever doubt or a question you ask yourself that you cannot answer, then you know where you have to focus some of your energy on. If you are doubtful whether your relationship is truly making you happy, if it is what is the best for you in your life to bring peace and happiness, and if it is affecting your Self and/or others negatively, then you may need to meditate on a larger question: "What is my decision?"

Remember that this is not by any means a question to be answered immediately, but one to sit on and mull over - keeping your intentions and thoughts mindful, present and positive.

You will find your Path and your Self will rejoice upon it.

 

“The present moment is filled with joy and happiness. If you are attentive, you will see it. (21)”
― Thích Nhất Hạnh, Peace Is Every Step: The Path of Mindfulness in Everyday Life

A Wee Bit Of Wisdom

There will always, always, always be people and situations who are there to challenge you, cause drama and controversy, and upset you throughout all aspects and times in your life. The solution isn't to expect them to change or to immediately sway to how you would like things to be, but to promote positivity and bright energy in how YOU handle that person or situation. You must be the driving force in conflict resolution and creating a sense of balance to create peaceful happiness for all. Be open to change, be open to other's opinions, be peaceful. Practice mantras... they even are working for me (formerly known as The Most Impatient Being) slowly but surely.

 

YOU can do it!

 

Namaste

 

Shine Through!

Challenging times can be... well, challenging... and can drive even the most strong - hearted to give up. But, even in these dark times, make sure that you have one goal; shine through the darkness!

Think of it like the light shining through the dark clouds. Dark clouds carry stormy, tough times but the sun always seems to shine through; this sunlight that carries such hope and bright "alive-ness". Yet, the light seems to have no "substance" to it; we can feel it hot on our faces but we cannot touch it or taste it - it's just... there. Think of that as you; even if you feel like you have no substance or place... or like you're just "there"... you can still shine through!

Just like the sunlight shining through, breaking up the darkness to reach Earth, you can break through the darkness surrounding you and brighten your life!

Namaste.

Something To Think About Today

Happy Monday!

Something To Think About This Wednesday...

When facing a situation with a difficult person, we must remember that people's behaviour is, more often that not, about them... and not about ourselves. We have to learn not to take it personally; when we do take it personally, we involve ourselves in their behaviour and that is when conflict arises.

I am learning very slowly to not take others' negative attitudes or behavours personally... especially working in a customer-oriented position, I am learning to not take things like this to heart, especially when I know that I have done my job to the best of my ability and always maintained that I want to put them first. 

Such as an incident that happened today: we had to call a gentleman and cancel an appointment due to an incident that had taken place on a job site. The timing and the incident, of course, is out of our control; when I worked in catering, we called such things an "Forces of God" that the owner needs to attend to to ensure that his or her employees and clientele are safe.

Anyways, this gentleman saw this as an inconvenience to him. He had left work early on a Friday to meet for this cancellation. Now, I get it; people are busy! People have work and, when they take time off, they lose money and that is certainly upsetting. This gentleman also stated that it would be better for him if I had called at 1pm, instead of calling immediately after the incident was reported at 2:45pm. He then proceeded to tell me that he was "busy like anybody else" and his "time was too valuable to waste" and hung up on me. All the while, I did my job; maintaining that I wanted to find a solution for him, apologetic, but also assuming an air of compassion in hopes that he would return the same to me during an unfortunate, surprise incident.

People put so much value on their time, how stressed they are, and (especially, but of course not limited to) their jobs without realizing that I am also making a livelihood- I am also working and my main source of income and happiness comes from providing the absolute best service that I can give to my clients. The last thing that I would like to happen is to be unhappy in my position; and that can (may also stem from other things - I love my job, by the way! :) ) happen when the company's clients are unhappy. I am the first point of contact, and I do my best to ensure the proper service is met and that I achieve my goal of making whomever I am speaking with satisfied.

Granted, not all customer service individuals are in this attitude... but I would be surprised if not one worker at a company was not committed to providing the best client experience that they can and doing their job right.

We must learn to focus on the positive, and not the negative. If you have not worked as that exact position, then do not assume an arrogant position; you should know that jobs are not easy! Whether you be a stay at home mom or dad, a high-ranking oil executive, a cashier, or even a doctor, you know that having a job is not easy and that you are doing your job to your best ability. Do not place so much value on your time or your day as to think yourself higher than anyone else - if you are not enjoying yourself, do say so, but do not insult the integrity of the worker you are speaking with. It is a finite balance, like everything else in this life, that we live, speak and breathe compassion, understanding and patience. This takes practice! But it must always take precedence.

This is how we breed conflict resolution; a good thing. I am taking this into my life and practicing to do it to the best of my ability. Once you have successful conflict resolution, you become less afraid of conflict- you don't give it value.

My suggestion for this gentleman, if I had been so bold, would be the same logic I try to apply to a traffic jam: you're in a comfortable place with things to do. Yes, it may be a stressful situation, but in the time that you worry, swear, and brew over it, you could have caused your blood pressure to lower; dancing to music, singing to music, talking to yourself (figuring out what the entire list of numbers in the pi equation is, for example). It is all what you make of it, so let's commit ourselves to giving more value to compassion and genuine enjoyment instead of stress and time.

“Beware the barrenness of a busy life.” - Socrates

Namaste.

 

What An Amazing World We Live In

So often we hear people complain about how "stupid" or "soft" children these days are. This kid is a shining beacon of light and he has wisdom way beyond his years!

What an amazing human being!

A Beautiful Quote For Your Friday

“Learning to let go should be learned before learning to get. Life should be touched, not strangled. You’ve got to relax, let it happen at times, and at others move forward with it."

- Ray Bradbury

 

Daily Dose of... Dhammapada

"As many kinds of wreaths can be made from a heap of flowers, so many good things may be achieved by a mortal when once he is born."

- From The Dhammapada

Namaste. 

Daily Dose of... Buddha

"He who always greets and constantly reveres the aged, four things will increase to him: life, beauty, happiness, power."

- The Buddha

Namaste 

Respect your elders

Daily Dose of... Buddha

"To be idle is a short road to death and to be diligent is a way of life; foolish people are idle, wise people are diligent."

-The Buddha

Namaste 

Your Daily Dose of... Buddha

"For hatred does not cease by hatred at any time: hatred ceases by love - this is an old rule."

- The Buddha

From the Dhammapada

 

Namaste.

A Constant Heart...

"When the mind stops striving, the world's not a problem. A constant heart won't waver from the truth."

- Hsieh Ling-yun

Namaste.

Let's Talk About... Being Proactive!

"I never see what has been done; I only see what remains to be done."

- The Buddha

 

Daily Dose of... Zen

 "If you want to cut directly through... just always let go and make your heart empty and open."

- Ta-hui

 

Namaste.

Time for a Dose of "Vitamin Me"!

When I was a bit younger, I thought mantras were silly. I thought that chanting the same thing over and over was never going to work; that it was a waste of time to try to alter your way of thinking by repeating a word or phrase. I know now that it didn't work for me because I was so hesitant to let it work for me. Once I gave it a chance, it (surprise, surprise!) started to work for me, and now I use mantras almost every day.

All humans have bad days - where they hate the world, or they feel that the world hates them. We're allowed to have these, but it becomes different when it affects someone physically or even begins to take over their life... much like what I struggled with earlier in my life.

Mantras should be something like steps; start out small and work up! By this, I mean starting with an easy mantra like, "It will be okay today."

Then, "I will be okay today."

Or, "Today will be a good day."

Remember that you should start trying to improve your perception of your situation. Don't overreact. Don't take things personally. Perceive that things are being done either innocently or to your benefit and see what happens. Keep in mind that this will not be an instant or overnight epiphany. It is a process, much like anything else. You will find that improving your perception thus improves your mood and your outlook.

Give it a try, and good luck!

Namaste.

Let's Talk About... Fear

Many people have different theories about fear, but I find that the kind of universal "umbrella" theory about fear is that we are afraid of the unknown. I believe that this is true, as it applies to people who are scared of something like the spirit world - we can't really know until we die and, possibly, become part of the afterlife... thus, people are afraid because they don't know.

Or, like me, people are afraid of having no control. This is something that I work on continuously through my meditation and reflection - not being afraid that I will lose control of... well, anything! 

I now see it like this: We allow fear to have it's way with us. We allow fear to become debilitating, and we allow ourselves to become terrified. While some situations are admittedly terrifying, we can learn to take control and reel ourselves in. I'm not saying to say anything like, "Ghosts don't exist, ghost don't exist," but reciting a mantra of sorts to help us through: "I am in control of this situation. I am in control of my fear. I am scared, but I will not let it overtake my focus."

 Fear manifests from a deeper issue, kind of like my fear that zombies are actually real and are going to attack me. Totally silly, right? Totally! But, even though that I know this, I sometimes still have a difficult time getting to sleep since I feel the need to keep one eye open in case something decides to start snacking on my ankle. However, upon reflection, I realized that I know that zombies aren't real... but my underlying fear is that the world will end and that I will not be able to live and achieve what I want to achieve; live what I so want to live! I don't have control whether or not the world ends, but here I am, losing sleep over it. So, my solution is to live each day to the best of my ability, so that when I go to bed at night, I'm satisfied about my day and I can say that (even in the one in a trillion chance that the dead do rise) I am satisfied. Thus, I have ended my desire and this has ended my suffering. I have not mastered this and I don't expect that I will completely maybe for the rest of my life... but I am learning constantly to let go, end my desire and suffering, and not allow fear to overtake me. Don't take this as me saying, "You must have no fear!" Okay, people, this isn't Jedi training camp where I'm going to tell you that you must not have any emotions; sometimes it's fun to have fear and scare yourself! I'm saying that we should make a real effort to not let fear define us.

"Do not dwell in the past, do not dream of the future, concentrate the mind on the present moment."

- The Buddha

Namaste. 

There's Always Time If You Make Time For... Music

"After silence, that which comes nearest to expressing the inexpressible is music."

- Aldous Huxley

I love the quote above, and I also love who said it! Aldous Huxley wrote Brave New World and, if you haven't read it, I highly recommend it. 

 

Music is such a huge part of our lives - we hear it when we're shopping, traveling, working out, everywhere! Some of us may even imagine it in our heads as our "life soundtrack".

 Funny story; the reason Tom agree to get set up on a date with me is that his best friend told him that I love the Beatles (when I was doing some gentle Facebook stalking before we met, I saw a Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band shirt on him and I knew that he would get me).

I know how diverse and how impossible it is to even begin to describe music, but I think that we can all agree with what Huxley has said; music can move people, it can inspire and invigorate, and it always conveys a message... whether or not it has lyrics.

We should be grateful for music, and we should celebrate it! 

So, challenge yourself today! Don't be afraid to belt it out in the car, or rock out with your earphones in while you're waiting for the bus. 

How did you celebrate music today?

Daily Dose of... Buddha

“Hatred does not cease through hatred at any time. Hatred ceases through love. This is an unalterable law.”

- The Buddha

Namaste.