Good Morning Friends!
I was chatting with a group of friends this week at our usual 2:00 P.M. gathering and the subject got around to the meaning of words and how they are often misconstrued. We all thought about for a bit and decided we would tackle some words that we all seem to misunderstand. I was given the words joy and happy and there in lies the rub. So here we go.
JOY vs HAPPY
On the face of it, what could possibly be the difference (other than the slightest of meanings) in these two familiar words. Well it may be best understood in the word opposites that show the true meaning of joy and happy.
First, we need a real world understanding of joy and happy. As I understand it, happy and its polar opposite sad are feelings to be sure, but temporary or fleeting feelings at that. We hear good news we are happy, we hear bad news we are sad. These are the every day emotions we are experience in dealing with our daily lives. Nothing out of the realm of the unusual, certainly these are feelings we all share and can relate to. But like I said, they are temporary and come and go like the Sun rises and sets.
Joy on the other hand ( I love this expression), and its nemesis Sorrow are more of a permanent part of Human. You might say part it our DNA. It exists in the marrow of our soul and as such are it comes the central core of our being. Joy is the state of positivity or "the glass half filled" state of being. Where as Sorrow is a state of negativity or "the glass half empty" state of consciencious. Taken together they form our human character and color the way we look at the world and how we deal with life's curve balls if you will. A person who is joyful is a pleasure to be around, as a person who is sorrowful is if nothing else a task just to be in their presence and it takes all our energy to get thru the time we are required to spend with this character. Of course we really don't have sit there and be exposed to their negativity, we could just remove ourselves from the situaton or just remove them from our lives.
So there you have it, Happiness and Sadness are a temporary, yet usual part of our everyday life, and Joy and Sorrow are a more permanent state of beingness or paradigm of everyday life.
Now the real question is can we change what we are at the core of beingness. Yes I say, not an easy task, but doable just the same. I suspect the answers will always reside inside your soul. Is it withered and dying or is it just in a state of suspended unknowingness waiting for the opportunity to banish the negative influences in their lives and ready the chance to begin life anew. Like I said not easy, but what worth doing is, so the choice is yours.
Do I live a life of promise and fullfillment, do I make the choices, or do I just live the pathetic life of a being who hasn't the ability to shuffle of the coil of regret and put onthe mantle of positivity that shines so bright that it permeates the soul. The choice is yours, live joy and prosper.
Have a great and joyful week,
Robb
Saturday, January 8, 2011
Wednesday, December 29, 2010
HOLIDAY 2010
Hi Friends and family,
Well it is that time of year to see where we have been and to figure out where we are going. When I say we, of course I mean me! This year has been a challenging one as 2009 was, but with a few new twists. So how challenging was 2010, in my minds eye, quite challenging. If it wasn't enough that doing business is tough, doing it with a sense of optimism was a rough road to hoe.
So here we are, sitting in our cozy, warm homes trying to figure out what worked and what didn't. I love the Dr. Phil expression,"how's that working for you". It really gives one a pause to sit back and think about this past year. So here is what I came up with.
1. It still pays to out your best face forward, in tough times, especially tough times no one wants to see a sour puss. So do your best to feel it and in so doing, if you feel positive, your face will reflect it and just may turn a not so good day into a better one. What I am saying here is that by improving your mindset, you will also improve your prospects.
2. The old saying of turning lemons into lemonade holds true. Sometimes you really get dealt a terrible hand and there no way way of escaping your fate. So either you get back into bed, pull the covers over and just give in. Or, you do what my friend Ila did and take the tough news and decide to call the shots over her situation. The decision is yours, do you let someone else write the final chapter or chapters to your story, or are you the author. I can tell you with a high degree of certainty that you are in a better position to control your life than some well meaning friend or stranger. And it means nothing if you screw up, we all screw up, but I would rather own my mistakes than someone elses.
3. If you don't like where you are, you either change your "where "or change your perspective. Your paradigm or view of your life speaks volumes of who you are and where you are going. Life is not always fair and it certainly is not always good news. There stumbling blocks we all need to navigate or avoid entirely. Once you have been burned, I am sure you won't revisit that place again. But in case you do, it is important to learn the lessons these pit stops of negativity have for you. It is a universal law that you will embrace that which you need the least until you learn to no to step into that "stuff" again and again. So one thing you need to do is decide right now, what is my life to be, how do I see myself. Forget about this moment, it is time to get past any negativity and that includes toxic people and move forward, certain in your path that for however long I am here I will do what is positive and life affirming and be an example of who I am and what my life stands for, plain and simple.
So to all of you, those I know and love, and those I hope to come to know and love, I wish good health, joy and abundance in 2011. The new year is going to be better that 2010 and in so doing
allow us to pursue that which enriches not only our lives, but those of whom we love and cherish.
Now I am sure you are waiting for the other points of this post, and they will be forth coming, but for now, please those of you I hold close and dear, learn the lessons the give and embrace these tidbits of wisdom for whatever they say to you. For in the last analysis, it is you who steers your ship of life, so do it with deliberative concern for not only your place here but for those of us who may not be as fortunate to even have a ship.
Happy New Year,
Robb
Well it is that time of year to see where we have been and to figure out where we are going. When I say we, of course I mean me! This year has been a challenging one as 2009 was, but with a few new twists. So how challenging was 2010, in my minds eye, quite challenging. If it wasn't enough that doing business is tough, doing it with a sense of optimism was a rough road to hoe.
So here we are, sitting in our cozy, warm homes trying to figure out what worked and what didn't. I love the Dr. Phil expression,"how's that working for you". It really gives one a pause to sit back and think about this past year. So here is what I came up with.
1. It still pays to out your best face forward, in tough times, especially tough times no one wants to see a sour puss. So do your best to feel it and in so doing, if you feel positive, your face will reflect it and just may turn a not so good day into a better one. What I am saying here is that by improving your mindset, you will also improve your prospects.
2. The old saying of turning lemons into lemonade holds true. Sometimes you really get dealt a terrible hand and there no way way of escaping your fate. So either you get back into bed, pull the covers over and just give in. Or, you do what my friend Ila did and take the tough news and decide to call the shots over her situation. The decision is yours, do you let someone else write the final chapter or chapters to your story, or are you the author. I can tell you with a high degree of certainty that you are in a better position to control your life than some well meaning friend or stranger. And it means nothing if you screw up, we all screw up, but I would rather own my mistakes than someone elses.
3. If you don't like where you are, you either change your "where "or change your perspective. Your paradigm or view of your life speaks volumes of who you are and where you are going. Life is not always fair and it certainly is not always good news. There stumbling blocks we all need to navigate or avoid entirely. Once you have been burned, I am sure you won't revisit that place again. But in case you do, it is important to learn the lessons these pit stops of negativity have for you. It is a universal law that you will embrace that which you need the least until you learn to no to step into that "stuff" again and again. So one thing you need to do is decide right now, what is my life to be, how do I see myself. Forget about this moment, it is time to get past any negativity and that includes toxic people and move forward, certain in your path that for however long I am here I will do what is positive and life affirming and be an example of who I am and what my life stands for, plain and simple.
So to all of you, those I know and love, and those I hope to come to know and love, I wish good health, joy and abundance in 2011. The new year is going to be better that 2010 and in so doing
allow us to pursue that which enriches not only our lives, but those of whom we love and cherish.
Now I am sure you are waiting for the other points of this post, and they will be forth coming, but for now, please those of you I hold close and dear, learn the lessons the give and embrace these tidbits of wisdom for whatever they say to you. For in the last analysis, it is you who steers your ship of life, so do it with deliberative concern for not only your place here but for those of us who may not be as fortunate to even have a ship.
Happy New Year,
Robb
Monday, November 22, 2010
THANKSGIVING 2010 BEING PRESENT IN YOUR LIFE
Hi Friends and Family,
I am so fortunate to be able to chat with you from time to time, I would like to be here more often, but as my daughter explains it, "life is complicated". Well maybe it is and maybe it isn't. I would like to believe that life really is what you choose it to be. Maybe a better way of putting would be life is a series of events that we choose the outcome. Better? Well let's just see.
I have a dear friend Ila, now we don't see much of each other even though we have been a part of each others life for the better part of 50+ years. But when we do see each other, it is as if life and time has stood still. Maybe that is what we want to see or maybe we see in each other the people we hoped to be. There is a great comfort factor in a shared past and a clarity that is just not there in any other relationship.
Now Ila is facing some difficult challenges, and as you would expect she is handing it with her
usual grace and wit. She is a wonderful and class lady and I hope and pray that all the wonderful prayers for her will be answered. And that once again she will be returned to good health. I think Ila knows that she is loved and that her support system will come through.
All this leads me to the crux of my post. That being it is not enough to just go thru the motions of your life, you really, really have to take life by the straps and hold on for dear life for the ride of a
that may take you down some scary paths into unknown territory, but one that is so worth the angst it places upon you. Either you are an observer or your are a player, the choice is yours. You are either in the game or in the stands. Which is it? The choice is yours, do you have the inner strength to live a full life, or will you wither under its demands.
This leads us "to being present in your life", I love this term, it is one I am once so comfortable with and at the same instant I feel the knots in my stomach. Life is not a straight line, and well travelled road. No life is full of twists, turns and detour signs and pot holes. We life an easy trip, don't we? Unfortunately life, all life is not made so, it is filled with unanswered questions, spiritual scarcity and the uneasiness of a faith that asks questions in human time, but gives us answers in spiritual time. This is the one that is so difficult to reconcile.
There is an answer, and it has been there for us our entire lives. In fact we are told this even before we leave our womby home, unfortunately for us, we forget it in the rush to get out and into the "real" world that beckons us. What we forget is to live the life we have, to enjoy the love and community we are presented with. We literally throw way so much happiness and joy that it boggles the imagination and confuses us that we forget the purpose of our Earthly stay. What do we do and how do we do it. Well, that is a tough one, it is different for each of one us. But in general terms it is called, "Being Present In Your Life".
What this means is, live the life you have, enjoy who you are, love where you are or at least learn to appreciate you are where you are because of the choices you have made and finally if where you are is not what you thought your life was meant to be, then conscientiously work to change it. Not easy your probably saying, well yes and no. It may not be easy to change your life's circumstances all at once, but what you can do is appreciate and enjoy those moments that do bring you joy and peace. Look for the good in your life, seek the contentment of true friendship, befriend someone who like you is a little farblungit, lost!
So for today, be present in your life, and really try to understand you are much more than you think, you so much more than just for material wealth and that as you love others, the love you seek will seek you. There is a real attraction that occurs as your paradigm or view of life changes.
Try it and see what happens, let me know what you think, send me a comment, even if you think I am full of it, not a problem for me, any response is a good one. And finally include a prayer of good health and recovery for my dear friend Ila. She is too proud to ask you herself, so let me be her surrogate and get out the word. This is what friends so, and she has so many friends that I know that this chain of love is strong and that it will do what we all want it to do, send a perfect healing to our Ila,
Best wishes for a happy and loving Thanksgiving,
Robb
I am so fortunate to be able to chat with you from time to time, I would like to be here more often, but as my daughter explains it, "life is complicated". Well maybe it is and maybe it isn't. I would like to believe that life really is what you choose it to be. Maybe a better way of putting would be life is a series of events that we choose the outcome. Better? Well let's just see.
I have a dear friend Ila, now we don't see much of each other even though we have been a part of each others life for the better part of 50+ years. But when we do see each other, it is as if life and time has stood still. Maybe that is what we want to see or maybe we see in each other the people we hoped to be. There is a great comfort factor in a shared past and a clarity that is just not there in any other relationship.
Now Ila is facing some difficult challenges, and as you would expect she is handing it with her
usual grace and wit. She is a wonderful and class lady and I hope and pray that all the wonderful prayers for her will be answered. And that once again she will be returned to good health. I think Ila knows that she is loved and that her support system will come through.
All this leads me to the crux of my post. That being it is not enough to just go thru the motions of your life, you really, really have to take life by the straps and hold on for dear life for the ride of a
that may take you down some scary paths into unknown territory, but one that is so worth the angst it places upon you. Either you are an observer or your are a player, the choice is yours. You are either in the game or in the stands. Which is it? The choice is yours, do you have the inner strength to live a full life, or will you wither under its demands.
This leads us "to being present in your life", I love this term, it is one I am once so comfortable with and at the same instant I feel the knots in my stomach. Life is not a straight line, and well travelled road. No life is full of twists, turns and detour signs and pot holes. We life an easy trip, don't we? Unfortunately life, all life is not made so, it is filled with unanswered questions, spiritual scarcity and the uneasiness of a faith that asks questions in human time, but gives us answers in spiritual time. This is the one that is so difficult to reconcile.
There is an answer, and it has been there for us our entire lives. In fact we are told this even before we leave our womby home, unfortunately for us, we forget it in the rush to get out and into the "real" world that beckons us. What we forget is to live the life we have, to enjoy the love and community we are presented with. We literally throw way so much happiness and joy that it boggles the imagination and confuses us that we forget the purpose of our Earthly stay. What do we do and how do we do it. Well, that is a tough one, it is different for each of one us. But in general terms it is called, "Being Present In Your Life".
What this means is, live the life you have, enjoy who you are, love where you are or at least learn to appreciate you are where you are because of the choices you have made and finally if where you are is not what you thought your life was meant to be, then conscientiously work to change it. Not easy your probably saying, well yes and no. It may not be easy to change your life's circumstances all at once, but what you can do is appreciate and enjoy those moments that do bring you joy and peace. Look for the good in your life, seek the contentment of true friendship, befriend someone who like you is a little farblungit, lost!
So for today, be present in your life, and really try to understand you are much more than you think, you so much more than just for material wealth and that as you love others, the love you seek will seek you. There is a real attraction that occurs as your paradigm or view of life changes.
Try it and see what happens, let me know what you think, send me a comment, even if you think I am full of it, not a problem for me, any response is a good one. And finally include a prayer of good health and recovery for my dear friend Ila. She is too proud to ask you herself, so let me be her surrogate and get out the word. This is what friends so, and she has so many friends that I know that this chain of love is strong and that it will do what we all want it to do, send a perfect healing to our Ila,
Best wishes for a happy and loving Thanksgiving,
Robb
Sunday, September 19, 2010
FAITH vs RELIGION
Good Evening!
In Christopher Hitchens controversial book, God Is Not Great, he writes an indictment a case against God as the biggest perpetrator of hatred and murder in the civilized world. And although he makes a salient point that the death of so many innocents has been name of God, he looses the main argument( i believe) that it is not God that is to blame, but that it is man and his institutions that misunderstands the whole point of religion and therefore has made a mockery of it.
So the case I am about to layout is quite clear and straight forward. Faith is a belief system in which its participants recognize it ideas and precepts and conclude that is is a good way to lead a life affirming existence on Earth. They have complete free will in how they live by these ideas and are totally responsible for their actions. Religion on the other hand is a political system set up with a rigid set of rules and laws within a structured framework with a hierarchy to carry them out.
Within the faith system, you are on your own, you decide (based on your upbringing) the most basic of rules. What is right or wrong, good and bad, not black or white, but understanding the nuances that help you distinguish and navigate the differences. Religion on the other hand also helps you understand that there is good and evil in the world, the difference being they (through their peer pressure) dictate all the rules of engagement and therefore usurp you if the joy and responsibility of knowing the real differences and therefore blind you to some very important facts. Even within the structured religion of Judaism, it is a stated fact that all righteous people will have a share in the "world to come". There is no requisite for converting to their faith to earn the right to this after-life, in fact of all the worlds major religions, they discourage proselytizing, the finding of converts. All of the other major religions encourage, even demand fealty to their faith as the price for access to this special place!
Religion defines what is good and bad and therefore when it comes to killing of another human being (the word is murder as distinguished from kill). Who is considered OK to kill. We certainly do not want to kill the good people. The good (white) vs the bad (black, brown, yellow) you get the picture. Or there are the good blacks and the bad yellows, or any other group or individual they deem worthy of living. Religions like governments dictate who is good and who is evil. Faith has no such dictates. They only demand honestly, integrity and a high ethical center to participate and even on these bedrock values they have some wiggle room. There are religions out there who have no compunction about telling you who should be killed, and rail against persons or even other religions to drive home the point.
Do you get where I am going here. Is it starting to sink in. I am not indicting any specific religion (although I think you know who you are), rather I am making the distinction between faith based living and religion based living and showing you the inconsistencies and the danger of the latter. If you think of the histories of the world, their culture, mores and religions it is becoming painfully clear that there is huge elephant in the living room of the world. It can no longer be ignored on the pain of wholesale flight of peoples away from organized religions and this is a problem.
First, religion is not necessarily all that bad, it isn't all that good either. Religion, especially when we are young can be a character building experience, it can give us the values and ideas to be better people and therefore better citizens and stewards of this fragile place called Earth. The problem as I see it lays in the organization of religion and the humans who run it. We have leaders that have strayed far from the ethical path down a road of their own making, filled with all the all to common frailties we have come to identify with all the ills we encounter on a daily basis. All too often the rules are twisted or worse corrupted to make them all but unrecognizable and that makes them all the more deadly. Any religion that preaches superiority over another, or encourages its adherents to commit killings in the name of their God not only diminishes their Deity but also turns the dictates of their religion into meaningless dribble unintelligible to only the least of them who would follow any fools world into hell!
Second, even if your give religion its due as a framework of ethical living, you have to take the crap with carnations. And in so doing you have negated any good that could have become from teaching our youth the difference between right and wrong, good and bad. They only learn a warped version of life which could never serve them in good steed. So now we understand that man inspired religion is a corruption of man's search for meaning, stifling all human achievement and that faith, opens the doors of our minds to endless possibilities and to a better, endless and joyful future.
So what we have is a Mexican stand off so to speak. Well not really, what we have is a clear choice, either take religion full strength as is with all its foibles, warts and all. Or we have our faith, based on the true, good tenants of our religion. Stripped of all its mendacity's, double talk, hypocrisy, faith gives us all we need to be the people we were meant to grow up to be within the context of a world, not of out making, allowing for a Creator or not, but acknowledging the possibility that something bigger than us does exist, that makes all we see, feel, do and create seem a little inspired (in spirit) and therefore beyond the human mind to comprehend.
Have a great week,
Robb
In Christopher Hitchens controversial book, God Is Not Great, he writes an indictment a case against God as the biggest perpetrator of hatred and murder in the civilized world. And although he makes a salient point that the death of so many innocents has been name of God, he looses the main argument( i believe) that it is not God that is to blame, but that it is man and his institutions that misunderstands the whole point of religion and therefore has made a mockery of it.
So the case I am about to layout is quite clear and straight forward. Faith is a belief system in which its participants recognize it ideas and precepts and conclude that is is a good way to lead a life affirming existence on Earth. They have complete free will in how they live by these ideas and are totally responsible for their actions. Religion on the other hand is a political system set up with a rigid set of rules and laws within a structured framework with a hierarchy to carry them out.
Within the faith system, you are on your own, you decide (based on your upbringing) the most basic of rules. What is right or wrong, good and bad, not black or white, but understanding the nuances that help you distinguish and navigate the differences. Religion on the other hand also helps you understand that there is good and evil in the world, the difference being they (through their peer pressure) dictate all the rules of engagement and therefore usurp you if the joy and responsibility of knowing the real differences and therefore blind you to some very important facts. Even within the structured religion of Judaism, it is a stated fact that all righteous people will have a share in the "world to come". There is no requisite for converting to their faith to earn the right to this after-life, in fact of all the worlds major religions, they discourage proselytizing, the finding of converts. All of the other major religions encourage, even demand fealty to their faith as the price for access to this special place!
Religion defines what is good and bad and therefore when it comes to killing of another human being (the word is murder as distinguished from kill). Who is considered OK to kill. We certainly do not want to kill the good people. The good (white) vs the bad (black, brown, yellow) you get the picture. Or there are the good blacks and the bad yellows, or any other group or individual they deem worthy of living. Religions like governments dictate who is good and who is evil. Faith has no such dictates. They only demand honestly, integrity and a high ethical center to participate and even on these bedrock values they have some wiggle room. There are religions out there who have no compunction about telling you who should be killed, and rail against persons or even other religions to drive home the point.
Do you get where I am going here. Is it starting to sink in. I am not indicting any specific religion (although I think you know who you are), rather I am making the distinction between faith based living and religion based living and showing you the inconsistencies and the danger of the latter. If you think of the histories of the world, their culture, mores and religions it is becoming painfully clear that there is huge elephant in the living room of the world. It can no longer be ignored on the pain of wholesale flight of peoples away from organized religions and this is a problem.
First, religion is not necessarily all that bad, it isn't all that good either. Religion, especially when we are young can be a character building experience, it can give us the values and ideas to be better people and therefore better citizens and stewards of this fragile place called Earth. The problem as I see it lays in the organization of religion and the humans who run it. We have leaders that have strayed far from the ethical path down a road of their own making, filled with all the all to common frailties we have come to identify with all the ills we encounter on a daily basis. All too often the rules are twisted or worse corrupted to make them all but unrecognizable and that makes them all the more deadly. Any religion that preaches superiority over another, or encourages its adherents to commit killings in the name of their God not only diminishes their Deity but also turns the dictates of their religion into meaningless dribble unintelligible to only the least of them who would follow any fools world into hell!
Second, even if your give religion its due as a framework of ethical living, you have to take the crap with carnations. And in so doing you have negated any good that could have become from teaching our youth the difference between right and wrong, good and bad. They only learn a warped version of life which could never serve them in good steed. So now we understand that man inspired religion is a corruption of man's search for meaning, stifling all human achievement and that faith, opens the doors of our minds to endless possibilities and to a better, endless and joyful future.
So what we have is a Mexican stand off so to speak. Well not really, what we have is a clear choice, either take religion full strength as is with all its foibles, warts and all. Or we have our faith, based on the true, good tenants of our religion. Stripped of all its mendacity's, double talk, hypocrisy, faith gives us all we need to be the people we were meant to grow up to be within the context of a world, not of out making, allowing for a Creator or not, but acknowledging the possibility that something bigger than us does exist, that makes all we see, feel, do and create seem a little inspired (in spirit) and therefore beyond the human mind to comprehend.
Have a great week,
Robb
Thursday, September 2, 2010
SEPTEMBER , 2010
ON THE IMPORTANCE OF LIVING IN THE PRESENT
Good Morning,
I hope all of my followers are enjoying the last days of Summer, as we get ready to enter the Fall season, this is a great time to hang out with ourselves and take stock of where we have been this year and to look forward to the coming days that lay ahead keeping in mind that to look too far into the future robs us of our most valued commodity, that being the present.
I am reminded of a quote I recently read from the great philosopher Lin Yutang. Although not known as a philosopher in the traditional sense, a philosopher none the less. "revere inaction as much as action, involve humor to maintain a healthy attitude and never forget that there will always be plenty of fools around who are willing __ indeed eager __ to be busy, to make themselves useful, and to exercise power while you bask in the simple joys of existence".
Quite a quote you may be thinking, and I would concur, I believe Yu was on to something as I read further his writings on the importance of living . I myself have been busy of late in creating my own philosophy so to speak (though I would hasten to add that I am also not a philosopher in the traditional sense). But by not being a true philosophy also frees me from the constraints of academic handcuffs and in so doing allows me to posit are more common sense view of life on planet Earth.
Having explained where I am not headed, let me layout the map of my journey. I was at a friends house for a BBQ and during what can only be explained as a most joyful evening, we were talking and complaining about our lives. All of us being in our late 50's and early 60's, we all felt we had a pretty good slant on life and where we all fit in. As usual as you can imagine, the conversation came around to my blogging on life's challenges and how we all contribute ( whether we think we do or not), to our place and our life's circumstance.
I started out with a quote that for better or worse has become associated with my writings. "If you are what you do, then if you don't you are not". One of the guests quipped, "I never thought of my life as such, but I really am what I do, and if I didn't do my work, where would I be". He looked at me in with that wanting look, as if to say, "you hit my life on the head, you really understand where I am, and where I am is not at all where I want to be. I am so much more than my work, but also I am so much about my work". I could see the searching in his voice and eyes. Then I said, " that is the whole point of what I write about", we are all so much more than what we do, or what we have.
I knew this was going to be an interesting evening, though even I did not fathom how much it would be. I started out by explaining that you couldn't possibly be the sum total of your work or things for that very reason, for without our profession or things, out lives wouldn't couldn't possibly even exist. That for each and everyone of us, there is one overreaching idea that puts us exactly where we are and the whole point of this will forever and always "why" we even here! In the amazingly funny and poignant movie, The City Slickers, the scene where Billy Crystal's character Mitch and Jack Palance's character Curly are having the famous bonding moment when Curly brilliantly posits lives eternal truth, that there is just one thing that makes us who we are and that plants us firmly in the ground, but places out minds and souls in the Heavens. What is this point, what is the secret to our existence her on Earth, what is our raison d' etre, out reason for being?
Curly points his crooked index finger and drolly says, that is it, this is the one thing that makes our lives complete, well what is it Mitch exalts Curly to reveal. Curly says, " that is for you to figure out, that is your quest, that is your holy grail". Well at the party I was at it finally hit me like a ton of bricks, I finally figured out what the "Secret" really is. I can tell you it is not found a book by that name, in fact it is found in many books, in many faiths and in many philosophies. I am sure you are very curious by now, and I won't hold you in suspense any longer.
What I figured out that Sunday evening in the company of friends, what had alluded me for most of my adult life, what I has thought about, what I saw on the fringes of my existence was, Joy.
Yes, plain and not so simple the answer is joy. How to live a life of joy and fulfillment and equally important, how help others live their lives and find their joy. Mind blowing huh, well for me, this was it, this was the whole point of the story. This was my Moses on the mountain top story, my Stanley finding Livingston epic, my digging in the sands of time and coming up with the parchment to my story. What was coming out of my mouth was the thing I had been searching for, but for whatever reason, it never reached the inner recesses of my spirit, my soul like this did.
Well this moment absolutely just blew me away, it shouldn't have, but it did. I had been writing about this very ideas for the better part of a year, yet in this moment, at this place, it all came together like a lighting bolt hitting a tree and alighting it. To say it was a "light bulb" moment would be an understatement, yet at the same time, it was so simple, so right there in front of me, so I get it, I really get.
Do you get it, do you get your time and purpose here. Do you think for a second that this is just chance, all happenstance. That the forces of nature and history just places you here randomly. Not for second friend do you get to just take for granted your being here at this time and place. Now it is your turn to travel to that place where you life comes together, where you ponder and think about all that you are about. What are you going to do, where are you going, and better yet, where are you!
I guess this may be a tad much for some, but I think not. In any case you no longer have an excuse for your life, do with what you will, but I hope I have made you think about. It may be a bit uncomfortable, but who said life was easy, who said it couldn't get messy and I can't remember my parents ever saying that life wassn't messy.
Enjoy your time and may the new year bring you, happiness, joy and of course peace.
L' Shana Tova,
Robb
Good Morning,
I hope all of my followers are enjoying the last days of Summer, as we get ready to enter the Fall season, this is a great time to hang out with ourselves and take stock of where we have been this year and to look forward to the coming days that lay ahead keeping in mind that to look too far into the future robs us of our most valued commodity, that being the present.
I am reminded of a quote I recently read from the great philosopher Lin Yutang. Although not known as a philosopher in the traditional sense, a philosopher none the less. "revere inaction as much as action, involve humor to maintain a healthy attitude and never forget that there will always be plenty of fools around who are willing __ indeed eager __ to be busy, to make themselves useful, and to exercise power while you bask in the simple joys of existence".
Quite a quote you may be thinking, and I would concur, I believe Yu was on to something as I read further his writings on the importance of living . I myself have been busy of late in creating my own philosophy so to speak (though I would hasten to add that I am also not a philosopher in the traditional sense). But by not being a true philosophy also frees me from the constraints of academic handcuffs and in so doing allows me to posit are more common sense view of life on planet Earth.
Having explained where I am not headed, let me layout the map of my journey. I was at a friends house for a BBQ and during what can only be explained as a most joyful evening, we were talking and complaining about our lives. All of us being in our late 50's and early 60's, we all felt we had a pretty good slant on life and where we all fit in. As usual as you can imagine, the conversation came around to my blogging on life's challenges and how we all contribute ( whether we think we do or not), to our place and our life's circumstance.
I started out with a quote that for better or worse has become associated with my writings. "If you are what you do, then if you don't you are not". One of the guests quipped, "I never thought of my life as such, but I really am what I do, and if I didn't do my work, where would I be". He looked at me in with that wanting look, as if to say, "you hit my life on the head, you really understand where I am, and where I am is not at all where I want to be. I am so much more than my work, but also I am so much about my work". I could see the searching in his voice and eyes. Then I said, " that is the whole point of what I write about", we are all so much more than what we do, or what we have.
I knew this was going to be an interesting evening, though even I did not fathom how much it would be. I started out by explaining that you couldn't possibly be the sum total of your work or things for that very reason, for without our profession or things, out lives wouldn't couldn't possibly even exist. That for each and everyone of us, there is one overreaching idea that puts us exactly where we are and the whole point of this will forever and always "why" we even here! In the amazingly funny and poignant movie, The City Slickers, the scene where Billy Crystal's character Mitch and Jack Palance's character Curly are having the famous bonding moment when Curly brilliantly posits lives eternal truth, that there is just one thing that makes us who we are and that plants us firmly in the ground, but places out minds and souls in the Heavens. What is this point, what is the secret to our existence her on Earth, what is our raison d' etre, out reason for being?
Curly points his crooked index finger and drolly says, that is it, this is the one thing that makes our lives complete, well what is it Mitch exalts Curly to reveal. Curly says, " that is for you to figure out, that is your quest, that is your holy grail". Well at the party I was at it finally hit me like a ton of bricks, I finally figured out what the "Secret" really is. I can tell you it is not found a book by that name, in fact it is found in many books, in many faiths and in many philosophies. I am sure you are very curious by now, and I won't hold you in suspense any longer.
What I figured out that Sunday evening in the company of friends, what had alluded me for most of my adult life, what I has thought about, what I saw on the fringes of my existence was, Joy.
Yes, plain and not so simple the answer is joy. How to live a life of joy and fulfillment and equally important, how help others live their lives and find their joy. Mind blowing huh, well for me, this was it, this was the whole point of the story. This was my Moses on the mountain top story, my Stanley finding Livingston epic, my digging in the sands of time and coming up with the parchment to my story. What was coming out of my mouth was the thing I had been searching for, but for whatever reason, it never reached the inner recesses of my spirit, my soul like this did.
Well this moment absolutely just blew me away, it shouldn't have, but it did. I had been writing about this very ideas for the better part of a year, yet in this moment, at this place, it all came together like a lighting bolt hitting a tree and alighting it. To say it was a "light bulb" moment would be an understatement, yet at the same time, it was so simple, so right there in front of me, so I get it, I really get.
Do you get it, do you get your time and purpose here. Do you think for a second that this is just chance, all happenstance. That the forces of nature and history just places you here randomly. Not for second friend do you get to just take for granted your being here at this time and place. Now it is your turn to travel to that place where you life comes together, where you ponder and think about all that you are about. What are you going to do, where are you going, and better yet, where are you!
I guess this may be a tad much for some, but I think not. In any case you no longer have an excuse for your life, do with what you will, but I hope I have made you think about. It may be a bit uncomfortable, but who said life was easy, who said it couldn't get messy and I can't remember my parents ever saying that life wassn't messy.
Enjoy your time and may the new year bring you, happiness, joy and of course peace.
L' Shana Tova,
Robb
Monday, August 23, 2010
MONDAY - AUGUST 23, 2010
So life isn't easy! Is it supposed to be easy and carefree. Is someone else's life so much better than yours. So much so that you would be willing to leave your so called miserable life for some unknown but presumably better one?
What a great question to start the week off! We often see our lives as a collection of unrelated events, chapters in a book without a common thread. Is this you, are you the only one out there in life who is untethered to a memory, or is missing the link or connection to someone or something. Not likely, although you may think you are. Wandering around through time and space without a clue as to your purpose or worse, without any idea of who you really are or where you come from.
Sounds a bit scary huh? Well it need not be, in fact your so-called purposeless life is so much more than you can even imagine, of course it is or you wouldn't feel so abandoned. Is that the right word, abandoned. I though so. We often feel so alone, so alone that is is actually so smothering that we can't even breathe. So alone that the where there was even a glimmer of light,, is now virtual blackness. Though it sounds bleak, there is hope, so much hope if you will only turn the page of your story book, walk that extra few feet, seek out that one best friend you have avoided most of your life, a life filled with so much promise, only so see it dashed on the rocks of desperation and lost opportunity.
Some of us never miss an opportunity to miss an opportunity. ( not my words, actually Abba Eban). In any case, it is time to awaken from your stupor, time to shake off the sands of depression and wake up to the life you were meant to have. A life full of joy, love and unimaginable happiness. A life to full, that there is just no room for that old, suffocating and unrelenting life of fear you have lived your whole life. A life so colorful and bright that it would take a canvas the size of our planet Earth to hold all the joy you now possess.
So now that you know ( you always knew), what you need to see, do and accomplish, go and do it. Shake off the old obsessions that have shackled you your whole life. I don't care what your excused were or are, it is over. You no longer have an excuse for living under a rock of desperation, fear and self-loathing. Here is your passport to that life which you have always seen for yourself. That life that has no room for sadness, fear and loneliness. You will moments of being alone, but you don't have to be lonely. You may have had your heart broken, but it doesn't mean you are a broken and shattered soul. Come on, what do you really want? You know it is up to you, it always has been. I don't care who or what you have been listening to. Actually it has always been up to you en though you may not have thought you had the power to break those negative bonds).
So for today and the days ahead, make a conscience decision to listen to your better voice. You have this choice, listen to that loud, nasty and negative darkness, or listen to the soft, whispering lightness that is barely a breath. A voice to light, and yet it pierces your soul to open you to that goodness and joy you want, but deny yourself. So in the last analysis, you decide what and where you will be. So what it is? Where will you be 24 hours from now?
Choose joy, choose joy over sorrow, happiness over sadness and abundance over lack. It is all up to you, it is your responsibility, respond with ability.
What a great question to start the week off! We often see our lives as a collection of unrelated events, chapters in a book without a common thread. Is this you, are you the only one out there in life who is untethered to a memory, or is missing the link or connection to someone or something. Not likely, although you may think you are. Wandering around through time and space without a clue as to your purpose or worse, without any idea of who you really are or where you come from.
Sounds a bit scary huh? Well it need not be, in fact your so-called purposeless life is so much more than you can even imagine, of course it is or you wouldn't feel so abandoned. Is that the right word, abandoned. I though so. We often feel so alone, so alone that is is actually so smothering that we can't even breathe. So alone that the where there was even a glimmer of light,, is now virtual blackness. Though it sounds bleak, there is hope, so much hope if you will only turn the page of your story book, walk that extra few feet, seek out that one best friend you have avoided most of your life, a life filled with so much promise, only so see it dashed on the rocks of desperation and lost opportunity.
Some of us never miss an opportunity to miss an opportunity. ( not my words, actually Abba Eban). In any case, it is time to awaken from your stupor, time to shake off the sands of depression and wake up to the life you were meant to have. A life full of joy, love and unimaginable happiness. A life to full, that there is just no room for that old, suffocating and unrelenting life of fear you have lived your whole life. A life so colorful and bright that it would take a canvas the size of our planet Earth to hold all the joy you now possess.
So now that you know ( you always knew), what you need to see, do and accomplish, go and do it. Shake off the old obsessions that have shackled you your whole life. I don't care what your excused were or are, it is over. You no longer have an excuse for living under a rock of desperation, fear and self-loathing. Here is your passport to that life which you have always seen for yourself. That life that has no room for sadness, fear and loneliness. You will moments of being alone, but you don't have to be lonely. You may have had your heart broken, but it doesn't mean you are a broken and shattered soul. Come on, what do you really want? You know it is up to you, it always has been. I don't care who or what you have been listening to. Actually it has always been up to you en though you may not have thought you had the power to break those negative bonds).
So for today and the days ahead, make a conscience decision to listen to your better voice. You have this choice, listen to that loud, nasty and negative darkness, or listen to the soft, whispering lightness that is barely a breath. A voice to light, and yet it pierces your soul to open you to that goodness and joy you want, but deny yourself. So in the last analysis, you decide what and where you will be. So what it is? Where will you be 24 hours from now?
Choose joy, choose joy over sorrow, happiness over sadness and abundance over lack. It is all up to you, it is your responsibility, respond with ability.
Sunday, August 1, 2010
AUGUST 1, 2010 - CHASING RAINBOWS BY GINGER ESLER
Good Morning,
This week's post comes to us from a wonderful woman who recently passed away. My wife was reading the paper and came across this article and thought it would be of interest to my readers. As usual she was so correct, I guess that is my we have lasted these past 25 years.
CHASING RAINBOWS
I believe it takes a long time to become the person you want to be, so don't be in such a hurry, it will come to you,, I promise.
I believe you can keep going long after you think you can't. You are all you believe, if you think you can you can, if you think you can't, well you get the picture.
I believe that either you control your attitude or it will control you. You may not always have a say in where you are on your life's journey, but you sure as heck control how you will deal with it.
I believe that our heroes are the people who do what has to be done when it needs to be done regardless of circumstances. Heroism is not a convenience of conscience, it is not an absence of fear, rather a decision to act regardless of the consequences and in the face of the very fear that would in other times would immobilize you.
I believe that money and materialism is a lousy way to keep score. If you are what you have, then if you don't you are not. Makes no sense!
I believe that sometimes the vary people you expect to slap you when you are down, will be the ones to lend you a hand to get you back up.
I believe that no matter how badly broken your heart is, the world does not stop to help you in your grief. What the universe does do is help you heal and in so doing reminds you that though your heart may be broken, doesn't mean you are broke.
I believe that the background and circumstances may have influenced who you are, but do not have to define you and in so doing allow you to become responsible for who you are and what you become.
I believe that even when you think you have no more to give, when a friend cries out, you find the strength to help.
I believe that credentials on a wall do not make you a decent human being. It is the credentials on your soul that define what you are as a human being.
Thank you Ginger Esler, and may you find peace and joy.
Be well, and have a joyful week,
Robb
This week's post comes to us from a wonderful woman who recently passed away. My wife was reading the paper and came across this article and thought it would be of interest to my readers. As usual she was so correct, I guess that is my we have lasted these past 25 years.
CHASING RAINBOWS
I believe it takes a long time to become the person you want to be, so don't be in such a hurry, it will come to you,, I promise.
I believe you can keep going long after you think you can't. You are all you believe, if you think you can you can, if you think you can't, well you get the picture.
I believe that either you control your attitude or it will control you. You may not always have a say in where you are on your life's journey, but you sure as heck control how you will deal with it.
I believe that our heroes are the people who do what has to be done when it needs to be done regardless of circumstances. Heroism is not a convenience of conscience, it is not an absence of fear, rather a decision to act regardless of the consequences and in the face of the very fear that would in other times would immobilize you.
I believe that money and materialism is a lousy way to keep score. If you are what you have, then if you don't you are not. Makes no sense!
I believe that sometimes the vary people you expect to slap you when you are down, will be the ones to lend you a hand to get you back up.
I believe that no matter how badly broken your heart is, the world does not stop to help you in your grief. What the universe does do is help you heal and in so doing reminds you that though your heart may be broken, doesn't mean you are broke.
I believe that the background and circumstances may have influenced who you are, but do not have to define you and in so doing allow you to become responsible for who you are and what you become.
I believe that even when you think you have no more to give, when a friend cries out, you find the strength to help.
I believe that credentials on a wall do not make you a decent human being. It is the credentials on your soul that define what you are as a human being.
Thank you Ginger Esler, and may you find peace and joy.
Be well, and have a joyful week,
Robb
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)
