Cynicism is the conversational tone of today's world. We think ourselves clever or hip if we can come up with a quick negative response to the world around us. We weren't born with this point of view. Children tend naturally to greet the world with openness and positivity, even if they've suffered. One of the resons we enjoy being around children is their fresh, upbeat, indfatigable approach to life. I will "look on the bright side" today, eschewing the snappy but cynical comments I often find so easy to make.
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We like to think of ourselves as being basically good people, people with high values, people who do the right thing. And most of the time, we probably are. But if we lie because wer'e afraid to take responsibility for something we've done, if we remain silent when we hear sexist, racist, or other types of hurtful comments, if we fail to act when we see injustice, how virtuous are we really? It takes courage to live our virtues and make them real. Dont put your values aside simply because it makes life easier.
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The problems of our world, or even the local community-can seem overwhelming. How can we make a difference? Alone, it's difficult to make significant change; but when we work with others, even on a small scale, the chances that we can make a difference increases dramatically. A collaboration between parents and teacher can do much more to improve a school that any single parent acting alone. A block association can do much more to improve a neighborhood than any single resident acting alone. I don't have to feel that I need to tackle every problem in the world by myself. There are many others who care about the same things I do.
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So too the Holy Spirit comes to our aid and bears us up in our weakness; for we do not know what prayer to offer nor how to offer it worthily as we ought, but the Spirit Himself goes to meet our supplication and pleads in our behalf with unspeakable yearnings and groanings too deep for utterance. ~ ROMANS 8:26~
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The world isn't especially concerned with making us happy, as much as we would like it to be. Most of us are well aware of this fact. So when we complain that things aren't going the way we would like them to, we only annoy those arround us, while further darkening our own mood. The more we whine and criticize, the smaller and more unpleasent we become. Today, instead of complaining about negative things, I will praise positive things.
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We can't get into college or find a new job if we don't try. Those that we think of as being lucky are often simply those who have been willing to take a chance, to put themselves on the line. We often talk ourselves out of exploring opportunities, becuase we're convinced that there is little chance we could succeed. But if we aren't willing to put our hook in the pool, it's guaranteed that we will never catch the fish.
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How often do we ask ourselves, as if waking from a dream, "Where has the time gone? What happened to yesterday? last week? last month? last year?"
Our lives are all that we have on earth, and yet how many days do we let slip by without living them as fully as we might? Living everyday doesn't have to mean trying to achieve something significant every moment that we're conscious. No one could sustain a life like that. It just means doing something each day that adds value to our lives and the lives of others.
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"Zen does not confuse spirituality with thinking about God while one is peeling potatoes. Zen spirituality is just to peel the potatoes"
~ALAN W. WATTS~
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"Adversity draws men together and produces beauty and harmony in life's relationships, just as the cold of winter produces ice-flowers on the windowpanes, which vanish with the warmth"
~SOREN KIERKEGAARD~
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Talk about faith and morality is, in the end, just talk. It's what we do that matters. Virtually every religion has some verison of the Golden Rule: Behave towards others as you'd like to have them behave towards you. Given this fact, it's suprising how seldom we see the Golden rule in action.
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Remotejazz / Blog
AVOIDING CYNICISM
Cynicism is the conversational tone of today's world. We think ourselves clever or hip if we can come up with a quick negative response to the world around us. We weren't born with this point of view. Children tend naturally to greet the world with openness and positivity, even if they've suffered. One of the resons we enjoy being around children is their fresh, upbeat, indfatigable approach to life. I will "look on the bright side" today, eschewing the snappy but cynical comments I often find so easy to make.
Reply
VIRTUES
We like to think of ourselves as being basically good people, people with high values, people who do the right thing. And most of the time, we probably are. But if we lie because wer'e afraid to take responsibility for something we've done, if we remain silent when we hear sexist, racist, or other types of hurtful comments, if we fail to act when we see injustice, how virtuous are we really? It takes courage to live our virtues and make them real. Dont put your values aside simply because it makes life easier.
Reply
GROUP ACTION
The problems of our world, or even the local community-can seem overwhelming. How can we make a difference? Alone, it's difficult to make significant change; but when we work with others, even on a small scale, the chances that we can make a difference increases dramatically. A collaboration between parents and teacher can do much more to improve a school that any single parent acting alone. A block association can do much more to improve a neighborhood than any single resident acting alone. I don't have to feel that I need to tackle every problem in the world by myself. There are many others who care about the same things I do.
Reply
DECIDE TO BELIEVE
So too the Holy Spirit comes to our aid and bears us up in our weakness; for we do not know what prayer to offer nor how to offer it worthily as we ought, but the Spirit Himself goes to meet our supplication and pleads in our behalf with unspeakable yearnings and groanings too deep for utterance. ~ ROMANS 8:26~
Reply
CHARACTER
The world isn't especially concerned with making us happy, as much as we would like it to be. Most of us are well aware of this fact. So when we complain that things aren't going the way we would like them to, we only annoy those arround us, while further darkening our own mood. The more we whine and criticize, the smaller and more unpleasent we become. Today, instead of complaining about negative things, I will praise positive things.
Reply
TAKING CHANCES
We can't get into college or find a new job if we don't try. Those that we think of as being lucky are often simply those who have been willing to take a chance, to put themselves on the line. We often talk ourselves out of exploring opportunities, becuase we're convinced that there is little chance we could succeed. But if we aren't willing to put our hook in the pool, it's guaranteed that we will never catch the fish.
Reply
LIVING EVERY DAY TO THE FULLEST
How often do we ask ourselves, as if waking from a dream, "Where has the time gone? What happened to yesterday? last week? last month? last year?" Our lives are all that we have on earth, and yet how many days do we let slip by without living them as fully as we might? Living everyday doesn't have to mean trying to achieve something significant every moment that we're conscious. No one could sustain a life like that. It just means doing something each day that adds value to our lives and the lives of others.
Reply
Thinking and Spirituality
"Zen does not confuse spirituality with thinking about God while one is peeling potatoes. Zen spirituality is just to peel the potatoes" ~ALAN W. WATTS~
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STRENGTH IN ADVERSITY
"Adversity draws men together and produces beauty and harmony in life's relationships, just as the cold of winter produces ice-flowers on the windowpanes, which vanish with the warmth" ~SOREN KIERKEGAARD~
Reply
THE GOLDEN RULE
Talk about faith and morality is, in the end, just talk. It's what we do that matters. Virtually every religion has some verison of the Golden Rule: Behave towards others as you'd like to have them behave towards you. Given this fact, it's suprising how seldom we see the Golden rule in action.
Reply