.
Today is the one day out of a whole year that is perfect for leaving the things behind we no longer wish to carry along. What that is, is different for each of us. For some they may be burdens of an emotional nature; while others may feel burdened by physical or material ‘stuff’.
New Years Eve is a great moment to reflect on what we want to carry forth into the new year, and what we would like to leave behind in the old year, in ‘old time’; allowing it to become history.
As we pick and choose what to take with us and what to leave behind, we need to be aware that even as we leave things, emotions, attitudes behind ~ they will always be part of us.
The difference is that in consciously leaving them behind we give ourselves the opportunity to unburden ourselves. In essence what we do is leaving the heaviness, the darkness behind which brings a spring back in our steps and creates a space for newness to come into our lives. What we will always take with us are the lessons we have learned from the experiences we have encountered in our lives.
In short, as we leave behind the burdens of that which we no longer want to take with us, whatever situations, experiences, or things they were ~ they will become a part of our personal history. Somehow those experiences have permitted us to grow and to arrive at the point of our path that we are today.
And that is a good thing!
It is also a good thing that as these experiences have served their purpose, to decide that we no longer need them to burden our lives. To release them. To, ultimately, leave them behind.
In doing so we bring a greater sense of freedom into our lives ~ perhaps even a greater sense of peace. Whether it is an old cabinet or an old situation wrought with dark and dank emotions ~ as we leave it behind we are creating a new space, perhaps even a corridor into a new and brighter future.
So, if you have some time in between the preparations for New Year’s Eve ~ perhaps it will serve you to ponder these perspectives… And to decide on three things that you would like to leave behind as the New Year rolls in with a New Moon.
Allowing yourself three spaces into which new seeds can be sown, where these seeds can germinate and over the next year can grow into strong and productive plants that will serve you well!
Happy New Year!
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Tuesday, December 31, 2013
Friday, December 27, 2013
Circumstances
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It is funny how the circumstances we may find ourselves in can either give us a jumpstart, or stop us in our tracks. We tend to look at a change in our circumstances as a negative. Something that is throwing off our routine; that takes away the structure in our lives ~ in other words, something that makes our lives harder than it needs to be as it takes away the organization we have imposed on our lives. It stops the plans we have made in their tracks, and suddenly we need to adapt to a place ~ and energy ~ that we are not that familiar with.
This seems quite obvious with the ‘biggies’ ~ like relationship (whether they start or end; the do change the circumstances), moving house (for whatever the reason), losing or finding a job… All of those things change our circumstances to such extend that we are forced to adapt.
Yet there are much smaller things we can find on our path, that change our circumstances in such a way that they become ‘life altering events’.
I remember one time long ago when my 100-year old house was being insulated ~ double glazed windows, insulated floor instead of the bare floor boards… It was a sense of luxury that I hadn’t know before. And pretty soon I felt compelled to change my environment from a space furnished with secondhand, cheap furniture into a space that was truly my own. In hindsight something I should have done long before that time; yet living in my own little world, following my own little plans had made it easy to put it off.
Other examples were when I got my first car; when I quit my job. And also when I decided my really long hair; and the time when I painted the walls of my living room yellow.
A change in circumstances can be innocuous ~ like painting de walls of a room in a different color ~ and still have an enormous effect. As the energy changes, whether that is anticipated or not, it can set a line of events in motion that change our perspectives, our experiences. And before we know it, the plans we had made don’t seem to fit anymore. As we change our plans we may not even be fully aware that the dominos have started falling…
After all is said and done, life looks differently.
We have changed.
The curious thing to me is how a tiny change in circumstances can push us to adapt and change ~ and pushes us to take a giant leap on our personal paths…
.
.
It is funny how the circumstances we may find ourselves in can either give us a jumpstart, or stop us in our tracks. We tend to look at a change in our circumstances as a negative. Something that is throwing off our routine; that takes away the structure in our lives ~ in other words, something that makes our lives harder than it needs to be as it takes away the organization we have imposed on our lives. It stops the plans we have made in their tracks, and suddenly we need to adapt to a place ~ and energy ~ that we are not that familiar with.
This seems quite obvious with the ‘biggies’ ~ like relationship (whether they start or end; the do change the circumstances), moving house (for whatever the reason), losing or finding a job… All of those things change our circumstances to such extend that we are forced to adapt.
Yet there are much smaller things we can find on our path, that change our circumstances in such a way that they become ‘life altering events’.
I remember one time long ago when my 100-year old house was being insulated ~ double glazed windows, insulated floor instead of the bare floor boards… It was a sense of luxury that I hadn’t know before. And pretty soon I felt compelled to change my environment from a space furnished with secondhand, cheap furniture into a space that was truly my own. In hindsight something I should have done long before that time; yet living in my own little world, following my own little plans had made it easy to put it off.
Other examples were when I got my first car; when I quit my job. And also when I decided my really long hair; and the time when I painted the walls of my living room yellow.
A change in circumstances can be innocuous ~ like painting de walls of a room in a different color ~ and still have an enormous effect. As the energy changes, whether that is anticipated or not, it can set a line of events in motion that change our perspectives, our experiences. And before we know it, the plans we had made don’t seem to fit anymore. As we change our plans we may not even be fully aware that the dominos have started falling…
After all is said and done, life looks differently.
We have changed.
The curious thing to me is how a tiny change in circumstances can push us to adapt and change ~ and pushes us to take a giant leap on our personal paths…
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Tuesday, December 24, 2013
Laugh, and the world laughs with you…
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When we are happy, it seems everybody around us is happy also. When we smile, people around us have a tendency to start smiling. In other words, laugh and the world laughs with you!
When we are happy, humming, or even singing and dancing along, chances are that we are in tune with the Universe. On top of being happy, because we are in tune, everything we do seems to fit. There is exactly enough time to do our shopping, and when we are ready to check out, we will find ourselves to be the first in line at the register. When we make a phone call for information, we get the right person on the line right away ~ and this person answers all of our questions to our satisfaction. When we are driving some place we have to get to, all of the traffic lights turn green as we approach…
As those things happen, they can make us even more happy!
In a sense when we get ‘in the groove’ in this manner, it is not only the world who laughs with us; it is the Universe itself that is laughing with us, encouraging us to keep going and to unfold our greatest potentials and our wildes dreams.
The second part of the saying is more gloomy. ‘Cry, and you will cry alone’.
The moments when nothing seems to fit, and the whole world seems to conspire against us ~ it is often a clear sign that we are out of tune. Out of touch with ourselves and (therefore) with the Universe.
When that happens it affects our timing, as well as the amount of energy it takes to get things done. It is something that is all the more frustrating when we look around us and see the rest of the world smoothly moving along, without any problems ~ which in turn can give us a sense of being utterly alone.
Whether we are laughing or crying is ~ up to a point ~ a choice we have. We may not always in control of the situations we find ourselves in; we are always in control of how we react to them. And the more balanced our reactions, the more smoothly our lives tend to move along.
Also it is important to act on the factual aspects of the situations we find ourselves in, rather than there emotional counterparts. Dealing with the facts as we see them at that moment will help us to make decisions in such a way that our balance is enhanced.
All these things together determine whether the Universe is smiling upon us. Whether we are laughing with the world around us…
.
.
When we are happy, it seems everybody around us is happy also. When we smile, people around us have a tendency to start smiling. In other words, laugh and the world laughs with you!
When we are happy, humming, or even singing and dancing along, chances are that we are in tune with the Universe. On top of being happy, because we are in tune, everything we do seems to fit. There is exactly enough time to do our shopping, and when we are ready to check out, we will find ourselves to be the first in line at the register. When we make a phone call for information, we get the right person on the line right away ~ and this person answers all of our questions to our satisfaction. When we are driving some place we have to get to, all of the traffic lights turn green as we approach…
As those things happen, they can make us even more happy!
In a sense when we get ‘in the groove’ in this manner, it is not only the world who laughs with us; it is the Universe itself that is laughing with us, encouraging us to keep going and to unfold our greatest potentials and our wildes dreams.
The second part of the saying is more gloomy. ‘Cry, and you will cry alone’.
The moments when nothing seems to fit, and the whole world seems to conspire against us ~ it is often a clear sign that we are out of tune. Out of touch with ourselves and (therefore) with the Universe.
When that happens it affects our timing, as well as the amount of energy it takes to get things done. It is something that is all the more frustrating when we look around us and see the rest of the world smoothly moving along, without any problems ~ which in turn can give us a sense of being utterly alone.
Whether we are laughing or crying is ~ up to a point ~ a choice we have. We may not always in control of the situations we find ourselves in; we are always in control of how we react to them. And the more balanced our reactions, the more smoothly our lives tend to move along.
Also it is important to act on the factual aspects of the situations we find ourselves in, rather than there emotional counterparts. Dealing with the facts as we see them at that moment will help us to make decisions in such a way that our balance is enhanced.
All these things together determine whether the Universe is smiling upon us. Whether we are laughing with the world around us…
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Friday, December 20, 2013
I love it when a plan comes together!
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A saying I most remember from the 80s TV series The A-Team. Every time another unlikely adventure had come to a good end it is what their leader, Hannibal, would say ~ cigar, big grin and all…
In life there are always plans we dream up, and make happen. Some plans work out great, while others may not work out quite the way we had in mind. And of those plans that work out differently, can roughly be divided into two groups: those that don’t work out at all, and those that in the end work out better than we could have ever thought!
The times when a plan we put into motion seems to get skewed, move sideways to the point where we almost give up on it, only to find that in the end the results are way better than what we set out to achieve ~ that is when the saying is still so true; ‘I love it when a plan comes together!’
The unexpected things that cross our paths and push the outcome in an ever more beneficial direction, can be things like finding yourself being at the right time at the right place. It can be a chance meeting, or perhaps a meeting that never happens because the person is indisposed.
And yet, miraculously it all works out in the end…
For me the most amazing times when a plan comes together, are the times when things ‘click’ on my personal path. Often without really planning for something, suddenly I find information coming my way from different sources that seems to dove-tail perfectly, and guides (or sometimes pushes) me into a direction I would not have gone without this happening to me.
It does’t necessarily bring new adventures onto my path, yet it always makes the adventures more beneficial, more fun!
When things like that happen it most definitely makes the journey more adventurous.
It does require a certain awareness, a way of staying in touch with the progress we are making while making our plans happen. First and foremost this is important to keep track, to know when we have reached our goals. Yet it is only through that awareness can we pick up on the subtle messages, the shifts in energy, that guide us to the most beneficial outcome ~ the very best way it can all come together.
Whether that is on our personal journey, or in a more mundane setting.
When that happens, be sure to tell yourself and the world with a big grin on your face: ‘I love it when a plan comes together!’
.
.
A saying I most remember from the 80s TV series The A-Team. Every time another unlikely adventure had come to a good end it is what their leader, Hannibal, would say ~ cigar, big grin and all…
In life there are always plans we dream up, and make happen. Some plans work out great, while others may not work out quite the way we had in mind. And of those plans that work out differently, can roughly be divided into two groups: those that don’t work out at all, and those that in the end work out better than we could have ever thought!
The times when a plan we put into motion seems to get skewed, move sideways to the point where we almost give up on it, only to find that in the end the results are way better than what we set out to achieve ~ that is when the saying is still so true; ‘I love it when a plan comes together!’
The unexpected things that cross our paths and push the outcome in an ever more beneficial direction, can be things like finding yourself being at the right time at the right place. It can be a chance meeting, or perhaps a meeting that never happens because the person is indisposed.
And yet, miraculously it all works out in the end…
For me the most amazing times when a plan comes together, are the times when things ‘click’ on my personal path. Often without really planning for something, suddenly I find information coming my way from different sources that seems to dove-tail perfectly, and guides (or sometimes pushes) me into a direction I would not have gone without this happening to me.
It does’t necessarily bring new adventures onto my path, yet it always makes the adventures more beneficial, more fun!
When things like that happen it most definitely makes the journey more adventurous.
It does require a certain awareness, a way of staying in touch with the progress we are making while making our plans happen. First and foremost this is important to keep track, to know when we have reached our goals. Yet it is only through that awareness can we pick up on the subtle messages, the shifts in energy, that guide us to the most beneficial outcome ~ the very best way it can all come together.
Whether that is on our personal journey, or in a more mundane setting.
When that happens, be sure to tell yourself and the world with a big grin on your face: ‘I love it when a plan comes together!’
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Tuesday, December 17, 2013
Preparations
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As the end of the year is approaching, there are all kinds of preparations going on…
Preparations for the Holidays; getting the decorations all in place, stocking up on candles; for the big dinner with family and friends… And then there is the New Year’s celebration that needs preparing for. And if you would wish to do so you can even prepare a list of resolutions for that magical date: January 1st.
With all the things that need to get done this year ~ things like finishing up work related items, getting the books in order etc. ~ and the preparations for the year end celebrations, it is easy to find yourself so busy that this other ‘turning point’ goes by almost unnoticed: the return of the light; the Winter solstice.
As far as preparations go, this may be the most important moment within the last ten days of the year. The ‘return of the light’ starts a period of turning inward, of examining what we have accomplished over the past year as well as looking at which things we would like to achieve in the year to come ~ and how we want to go about actually achieving those goals.
Those last ten days of the year, starting with the Winter solstice and going up to New Years Day when we state our New Years resolutions, are without question the best ten days for preparation ~ preparing ourselves for the year ahead.
The things to keep in mind when we prepare ourselves for what lies ahead are:
Choose as your goals the things you really desire, yet keep your goals realistic. In other words, set goals that as you work towards them, you will achieve.
Create a structure through which achieving your goals becomes easier. For instance, if your goal is to finally lose those ten pounds, find friends who will support you in doing so ~ or perhaps even friends who also want to lose some weight so you can reach your goals together.
Come up with a clear ‘milestone’ at which you recognize that you have reached the goals you set out to achieve.
Just like the Christmas dinner shopping list can get bigger and bigger as it is laying on the counter ~ so too can the list of our goals for the next year grow longer and longer. As this happens it is important we don’t set ourselves up for a continuous ‘overwhelm situation’ that lasts a year and makes reaching our goals harder than it needs to be ~ we are often better off choosing three goals: a personal or ‘inner’ goal, a work related goal, and a goal that either has to do with education, or with the way we experience and express our spirituality.
We know that preparing for the Holidays makes them even better!
And it is the same way with preparing ourselves for our next year…
.
.
As the end of the year is approaching, there are all kinds of preparations going on…
Preparations for the Holidays; getting the decorations all in place, stocking up on candles; for the big dinner with family and friends… And then there is the New Year’s celebration that needs preparing for. And if you would wish to do so you can even prepare a list of resolutions for that magical date: January 1st.
With all the things that need to get done this year ~ things like finishing up work related items, getting the books in order etc. ~ and the preparations for the year end celebrations, it is easy to find yourself so busy that this other ‘turning point’ goes by almost unnoticed: the return of the light; the Winter solstice.
As far as preparations go, this may be the most important moment within the last ten days of the year. The ‘return of the light’ starts a period of turning inward, of examining what we have accomplished over the past year as well as looking at which things we would like to achieve in the year to come ~ and how we want to go about actually achieving those goals.
Those last ten days of the year, starting with the Winter solstice and going up to New Years Day when we state our New Years resolutions, are without question the best ten days for preparation ~ preparing ourselves for the year ahead.
The things to keep in mind when we prepare ourselves for what lies ahead are:
Choose as your goals the things you really desire, yet keep your goals realistic. In other words, set goals that as you work towards them, you will achieve.
Create a structure through which achieving your goals becomes easier. For instance, if your goal is to finally lose those ten pounds, find friends who will support you in doing so ~ or perhaps even friends who also want to lose some weight so you can reach your goals together.
Come up with a clear ‘milestone’ at which you recognize that you have reached the goals you set out to achieve.
Just like the Christmas dinner shopping list can get bigger and bigger as it is laying on the counter ~ so too can the list of our goals for the next year grow longer and longer. As this happens it is important we don’t set ourselves up for a continuous ‘overwhelm situation’ that lasts a year and makes reaching our goals harder than it needs to be ~ we are often better off choosing three goals: a personal or ‘inner’ goal, a work related goal, and a goal that either has to do with education, or with the way we experience and express our spirituality.
We know that preparing for the Holidays makes them even better!
And it is the same way with preparing ourselves for our next year…
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Friday, December 13, 2013
Pinpoints
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In the grand scheme of things it is often just a pinpoint that can be the catalyst for changes to start rolling into our lives. It can be a pinpoint of time, the moment when we suddenly know with absolute clarity that from here on out, nothing will be the same ever again. It can be a pinpoint in a situation; the point in the process at which we know with great certainty what the outcome will be, and how we can get there. That pinpoint of time, of energy, of experience that signifies a boundary between ‘before’ and ‘after’.
Sometimes those pinpoints in our lives are things that ~ according to a sensible, logical perspective ~ we wouldn’t have wished in our lives; or in anyone’s life for that matter. They can be accidents, illnesses, or even the experience of a great loss.
But they can also be enlightening experiences. It can be that moment when we finally take a step back, have a good look at ourselves and the situation we are finding ourselves in, only to start laughing ~ kind of like ‘How did a nice girl like me get in a place like this?’ And as the laughter breaks the tension of the situation, we may find that the world is a light and wide open space that is waiting at our feet…
These pinpoints all seem to mark a point in our lives where we change our attitudes, our outlooks; our perspectives on the world around us, and consequently how we view ourselves and our personal lives.
From now on everything will be different.
Yet while we expect changes to take effect overnight, this is not always the case.
In truth, how quickly we can start seeing the actual changes in our lives does depend on what is happening in our lives at that moment, the choices we feel we have and the decisions we make.
After having had an epiphany, we may choose to turn around and walk away from everything we have known and valued up to that (pin)point in life ~ making sure the changes to our lives are pretty much instantaneous.
Or we may go after changing our inner selves rather than the (outer) circumstances ~ in which case chances are the changes will take longer to take effect. After all, even though we know we have changed; we may not quite know exactly how we have changed; how our attitudes, our perspectives are now different ~ and therefore it may take time before we know precisely what we wish to change in our lives.
As time passes and we can look back on that period in our lives, one curious thing remains: we can always pinpoint with enormous accuracy at which moment we changed from ‘before’ to ‘after’.
.
.
In the grand scheme of things it is often just a pinpoint that can be the catalyst for changes to start rolling into our lives. It can be a pinpoint of time, the moment when we suddenly know with absolute clarity that from here on out, nothing will be the same ever again. It can be a pinpoint in a situation; the point in the process at which we know with great certainty what the outcome will be, and how we can get there. That pinpoint of time, of energy, of experience that signifies a boundary between ‘before’ and ‘after’.
Sometimes those pinpoints in our lives are things that ~ according to a sensible, logical perspective ~ we wouldn’t have wished in our lives; or in anyone’s life for that matter. They can be accidents, illnesses, or even the experience of a great loss.
But they can also be enlightening experiences. It can be that moment when we finally take a step back, have a good look at ourselves and the situation we are finding ourselves in, only to start laughing ~ kind of like ‘How did a nice girl like me get in a place like this?’ And as the laughter breaks the tension of the situation, we may find that the world is a light and wide open space that is waiting at our feet…
These pinpoints all seem to mark a point in our lives where we change our attitudes, our outlooks; our perspectives on the world around us, and consequently how we view ourselves and our personal lives.
From now on everything will be different.
Yet while we expect changes to take effect overnight, this is not always the case.
In truth, how quickly we can start seeing the actual changes in our lives does depend on what is happening in our lives at that moment, the choices we feel we have and the decisions we make.
After having had an epiphany, we may choose to turn around and walk away from everything we have known and valued up to that (pin)point in life ~ making sure the changes to our lives are pretty much instantaneous.
Or we may go after changing our inner selves rather than the (outer) circumstances ~ in which case chances are the changes will take longer to take effect. After all, even though we know we have changed; we may not quite know exactly how we have changed; how our attitudes, our perspectives are now different ~ and therefore it may take time before we know precisely what we wish to change in our lives.
As time passes and we can look back on that period in our lives, one curious thing remains: we can always pinpoint with enormous accuracy at which moment we changed from ‘before’ to ‘after’.
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Tuesday, December 10, 2013
Waste
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There is an ever growing awareness on waste. How much we are wasting; what we are wasting ~ and its effect on our environment and the earth.
Pretty much the first thing that happened as we became aware of the negative effects our wasteful culture has, were a great number of recycling programs. Literally taking that which we throw away and making new products out of it. When you look around ~ at least where I live ~ you can recycle plastics, glass, metal, anything ‘green’ as in the little bits of vegetables we don’t want, up to the clippings from our gardens after having pruned the plants. And then there is any wood ~ trees or even wood from a remodel of our houses; bricks and other rest materials can be recycled. Even the corks from wine bottles can be recycled…
And this is a good thing!
However, the question remains why we have so much waste that we need these programs to recycle it?
Or perhaps an even bigger question; why are we okay with an attitude that says that if we no longer like what we have, we just throw it away?
It seems that the need to be ‘fashionable’ has never been greater. Having the right clothes, the right phones, the right furniture, the right car even are all more and more important. And when the fashion changes, our need to keep fitting in dictates us to throw out the old ~ even though the old is still very useable ~ and to bring in the new.
As this then becomes a pattern, we refuse to pay for quality items as we know that as soon as the fashion changes we will change with it ~ and hence the cycle of creating waste has started…
Ultimately, it is not the waste itself that may harm us in the long run; but rather the attitude that lies behind it. After all, if we are careful we can recycle and reuse a lot of the products we no longer want for whatever the reason.
Yet when we adopt an attitude that says that fitting in, becoming more like other people ~ for instance through wearing the same fashionable clothes etcetera ~ is more important than appreciating our own individuality; we may find ourselves on a slippery slope that can lead us to waste our uniqueness. And with that our distinct potentials may be left untapped ~ simply because they would set us apart from others rather than allowing us to fit in.
Now, that would definitely be a waste…
.
.
There is an ever growing awareness on waste. How much we are wasting; what we are wasting ~ and its effect on our environment and the earth.
Pretty much the first thing that happened as we became aware of the negative effects our wasteful culture has, were a great number of recycling programs. Literally taking that which we throw away and making new products out of it. When you look around ~ at least where I live ~ you can recycle plastics, glass, metal, anything ‘green’ as in the little bits of vegetables we don’t want, up to the clippings from our gardens after having pruned the plants. And then there is any wood ~ trees or even wood from a remodel of our houses; bricks and other rest materials can be recycled. Even the corks from wine bottles can be recycled…
And this is a good thing!
However, the question remains why we have so much waste that we need these programs to recycle it?
Or perhaps an even bigger question; why are we okay with an attitude that says that if we no longer like what we have, we just throw it away?
It seems that the need to be ‘fashionable’ has never been greater. Having the right clothes, the right phones, the right furniture, the right car even are all more and more important. And when the fashion changes, our need to keep fitting in dictates us to throw out the old ~ even though the old is still very useable ~ and to bring in the new.
As this then becomes a pattern, we refuse to pay for quality items as we know that as soon as the fashion changes we will change with it ~ and hence the cycle of creating waste has started…
Ultimately, it is not the waste itself that may harm us in the long run; but rather the attitude that lies behind it. After all, if we are careful we can recycle and reuse a lot of the products we no longer want for whatever the reason.
Yet when we adopt an attitude that says that fitting in, becoming more like other people ~ for instance through wearing the same fashionable clothes etcetera ~ is more important than appreciating our own individuality; we may find ourselves on a slippery slope that can lead us to waste our uniqueness. And with that our distinct potentials may be left untapped ~ simply because they would set us apart from others rather than allowing us to fit in.
Now, that would definitely be a waste…
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.
Friday, December 6, 2013
Tolerance
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Those who visit the country where I live may say that it has a very tolerant culture. Having grown up here, and lived here pretty much all of my life ~ I’m not entirely sure about it…
According to the dictionary ‘tolerance’ means: showing willingness to allow the existence of opinions or behavior that one does not necessarily agree with. It comes with a certain open-mindedness, an unbiased, patient attitude; and a sense that being forgiving ‘makes you the better man’.
The danger in being tolerant comes from being too permissive. To let it change into a mentality of ‘anything goes’. Even being so tolerant as to tolerate intolerance ~ something that does happen; all in the name of tolerance…
In order to create a an open, unprejudiced society ~ we have a tendency to regulate tolerance. We start putting up rules and regulations as to what we can and cannot say ~ at least in public. We vote for laws that take away all measure of inequality; in a sense doing away with the age-old adage that says: “May the best man win”. And pretty soon it is not the person that is best for the job that gets it, but rather the person that gives the company an appearance of equality.
This also has an effect on how we view history.
Rather than learning from the mistakes we have made as a culture ~ often at least a couple of hundreds of years ago ~ we set out to re-write history; or at least bring down all things that refer to events that happened long time ago.
Now granted, there are things that probably shouldn’t have happened; yet this attitude is a sign of intolerance. An intolerance to our past; and if there is an intolerance of our past, there is likely to be an intolerance of ourselves in the present…
In all reality we as a culture are a very tolerant culture; having crossed into extreme permissiveness. And when we feel that we might be too lenient in certain situations ~ we seem to be more apt to feel guilty about it, than we are likely to be patient, open-minded, or forgiving about it.
Another way to put that is that it looks like we are far more tolerant towards others than we are towards ourselves ~ while at the same time having the idea that ‘anything goes’. That to say anything, do anything; to do exactly what we want to do, when we want it is okay ~ without giving any thought as to how that would affect others.
Yet that is no tolerance, open-mindedness, or patience; that is just plain selfishness.
.
.
Those who visit the country where I live may say that it has a very tolerant culture. Having grown up here, and lived here pretty much all of my life ~ I’m not entirely sure about it…
According to the dictionary ‘tolerance’ means: showing willingness to allow the existence of opinions or behavior that one does not necessarily agree with. It comes with a certain open-mindedness, an unbiased, patient attitude; and a sense that being forgiving ‘makes you the better man’.
The danger in being tolerant comes from being too permissive. To let it change into a mentality of ‘anything goes’. Even being so tolerant as to tolerate intolerance ~ something that does happen; all in the name of tolerance…
In order to create a an open, unprejudiced society ~ we have a tendency to regulate tolerance. We start putting up rules and regulations as to what we can and cannot say ~ at least in public. We vote for laws that take away all measure of inequality; in a sense doing away with the age-old adage that says: “May the best man win”. And pretty soon it is not the person that is best for the job that gets it, but rather the person that gives the company an appearance of equality.
This also has an effect on how we view history.
Rather than learning from the mistakes we have made as a culture ~ often at least a couple of hundreds of years ago ~ we set out to re-write history; or at least bring down all things that refer to events that happened long time ago.
Now granted, there are things that probably shouldn’t have happened; yet this attitude is a sign of intolerance. An intolerance to our past; and if there is an intolerance of our past, there is likely to be an intolerance of ourselves in the present…
In all reality we as a culture are a very tolerant culture; having crossed into extreme permissiveness. And when we feel that we might be too lenient in certain situations ~ we seem to be more apt to feel guilty about it, than we are likely to be patient, open-minded, or forgiving about it.
Another way to put that is that it looks like we are far more tolerant towards others than we are towards ourselves ~ while at the same time having the idea that ‘anything goes’. That to say anything, do anything; to do exactly what we want to do, when we want it is okay ~ without giving any thought as to how that would affect others.
Yet that is no tolerance, open-mindedness, or patience; that is just plain selfishness.
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Tuesday, December 3, 2013
Time flies
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Today when I woke up, I suddenly realized that we had already passed the threshold into December ~ just like that; quietly like a shadow sneaking up on you when the sun sets on a Summer evening. And with that came the thought of how I had lost track of time.
It seemed like only last week that Spring came by… And wasn’t it just like a couple of days ago that Summer started with its ever lengthening evenings. And Fall; Fall had only just started, right?
Wrong.
The whole year has flown by ~ day by day, week by week ~ leaving no trace as they left.
Looking back more closely now, I know that I have been quite busy. Done all sorts of things at all kinds of hours. And yet, at the same time it seems that the things I had set out to do this year are still patiently waiting for me to finally get to do them.
It seems that with each day a lot of things do get done; except for the things I had promised myself I’d do today.
When a discrepancy in the experience of time happens like that, it hardly ever last as long as an entire year… On the other hand it does happen more often than one might think. Every time a day goes by much more quickly than we had anticipated, it can be because we were distracted, scattered ~ or so focused on something, that we literally lost track of time. By the same token, days we would want to go by a bit more quickly can seem to last forever.
Either way it means we are slightly out of touch with time in that moment.
And as we are out of touch with time, we are also out of touch with energy. It is as if we are operating on a slightly different frequency than everything around us is.
Time and energy are funny that way; they do have that particular correlation. And as long as we ourselves are functioning in exactly the same frequency of the energy around us; we can easily do everything we set out to do that day ~ often with time to spare to have some fun. Yet as soon as we find ourselves in that slightly different frequency, our sense of timing ~ and with that our experience of time ~ is off.
We can be running ahead of ourselves, being so focused on all the things that need attention right now; all the things that need to be done today ~ that time flies by; leaving us with hardly enough time to get it all done. Or we can resist to get going on something ~ procrastinating ~ and finding that time stretches almost into infinity that day.
Either way there is merit in taking a moment in order to realign ourselves with the energies around us before moving ahead with the task at hand.
.
.
Today when I woke up, I suddenly realized that we had already passed the threshold into December ~ just like that; quietly like a shadow sneaking up on you when the sun sets on a Summer evening. And with that came the thought of how I had lost track of time.
It seemed like only last week that Spring came by… And wasn’t it just like a couple of days ago that Summer started with its ever lengthening evenings. And Fall; Fall had only just started, right?
Wrong.
The whole year has flown by ~ day by day, week by week ~ leaving no trace as they left.
Looking back more closely now, I know that I have been quite busy. Done all sorts of things at all kinds of hours. And yet, at the same time it seems that the things I had set out to do this year are still patiently waiting for me to finally get to do them.
It seems that with each day a lot of things do get done; except for the things I had promised myself I’d do today.
When a discrepancy in the experience of time happens like that, it hardly ever last as long as an entire year… On the other hand it does happen more often than one might think. Every time a day goes by much more quickly than we had anticipated, it can be because we were distracted, scattered ~ or so focused on something, that we literally lost track of time. By the same token, days we would want to go by a bit more quickly can seem to last forever.
Either way it means we are slightly out of touch with time in that moment.
And as we are out of touch with time, we are also out of touch with energy. It is as if we are operating on a slightly different frequency than everything around us is.
Time and energy are funny that way; they do have that particular correlation. And as long as we ourselves are functioning in exactly the same frequency of the energy around us; we can easily do everything we set out to do that day ~ often with time to spare to have some fun. Yet as soon as we find ourselves in that slightly different frequency, our sense of timing ~ and with that our experience of time ~ is off.
We can be running ahead of ourselves, being so focused on all the things that need attention right now; all the things that need to be done today ~ that time flies by; leaving us with hardly enough time to get it all done. Or we can resist to get going on something ~ procrastinating ~ and finding that time stretches almost into infinity that day.
Either way there is merit in taking a moment in order to realign ourselves with the energies around us before moving ahead with the task at hand.
.
.
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