Just Live. You Have No True Control of Anything

This is an amazingly empowering realization. Life is unexpected and uncertain. No two days are alike. Similar, maybe, but not the same. Change is the only constant in the Universe. That’s because the Universe and everything in it is impermanent. Buddhism takes a deep look into the nature of impermanence. But outside the Buddhist way, it’s often disregarded, ignored outright, or denied. You strive to create things permanent and enduring, as does everyone. The reality is that nothing is permanent.

Why Is Reason the True Opposite of Fear?

Fear is frequently weaponized to be unreasonable. All opposites, like positivity and negativity, black and white, good and evil, are extremes. They’re not, as most would suggest, opposite sides of a coin. That’s because the space between them isn’t so thin as the edge of a coin, but far broader, making it more akin to a cylinder. To clarify. Let’s take black and white. On one side of the cylinder, there’s black. The other side of the cylinder is white.

How Does “Be Here Now” Connect You to Mindfulness?

The only time that’s real, where you have any control at all, is now. Right now, this moment, is the only place in time that’s actually, factually, real. The past has come and gone. The future is yet to unfold. Only the now is real. Only this moment can be lived and experienced consciously. Lots of people try to go back to the past. They want to return to a time that they remember. Of course, their memory of that

What If Normal is the Illusion?

Maybe normal and normalcy are what’s truly weird in the world. People are always bombarded by the idea of being “normal”. Like this concept is what makes the world go ‘round. I tried, in my 20s and 30s, to be normal. I took jobs from 9-5 in various industries that were considered normal and necessary. Each of which tended to crush my soul. Corporate America and I did not see eye to eye. My attempts to work a normal job

You Choose to Buy Into the Fear or Not

When you recognize this, you gain more control and empower yourself. Fear is the ultimate drug. It’s more pervasive than anything illicit or prescription you can acquire. It’s everywhere you turn, and often so innocuous that it’s right in front of you but hidden in plain sight. Sometimes it’s made cutesy with phraseology like FOMO (Fear of Missing Out). It’s often used to sell you anything and everything from beer to cars to services. Buy this, that, or the other

You’re Only Competing With Yourself

You can always win this competition. Everywhere you look, there’s competition. Every election, sport, game, and contest focuses on competing. Win the election, finish first, make the most impressive meal, and outperform the others so you can be the best, most recognized, ultimate winner. There are plenty of contests out there where it’s all about competing. Yet, aside from such intentional competitions, you’re not in competition with anyone else for anything. Let me repeat that for those in the cheap

Am I In An Open Cell But Unable to Leave It?

This is all about trauma, change, and the reality of what comfort zones are. Life is crazy. So much is happening out there, is it any wonder we’re all losing our minds? Here’s my personal dilemma. My therapist and I have seen numerous ways that I’ve improved my life. Overall, I’m in a really good place. Yet, for some reason, I feel stuck. The reason? Because somewhere in the back of my brain, I feel like I’m missing something. What

It’s Bad, But How Bad Is It?

It certainly feels bad, but all is not as it seems. It’s impossible not to recognize that things are bad in many ways for many people. On a big-picture level, there’s the awfulness of the current state of the Israel/Palestine dispute, the ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine, a United States Supreme Court that cares more about the religious beliefs of a few over science, not to mention a candidate for President who should be in prison for a lot of

“They” Don’t Care About You and Me

Mindfulness empowers you and me to care and make real change in the world. Big business. Government. Religion. Each of these entities, separately and combined, are the “they” of the world around you and me. Each uses money, fear, faux-power, influence, and the bully pulpit to sway you and me to their ideals, buy their products, elect their officials, accept their morality, and the like. This is both subtle and blatant. Big business tends to be blatant, utilizing advertising to

The Gratitude Of and From Giving

Tangible or intangible, giving powers positivity. About every 6 months or so, my wife and I purge our space. I come from a long line of pack rats. Not hoarders, nobody lives in piles of utterly useless junk. Pack rats. Both sides of my immediate family – my mom and stepdad and my dad and stepmom – have a lot of stuff. Some, of course, is useful stuff. Other stuff, however, is either sentimental, valuable but not useful, or a

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