One’s life and health are irreplaceable. This is the only perspective we truly need to understand in order to make every day count, and to make damn sure we go about each and every day choosing to do good.
Category: self-reflection
Gift Exchange
Learning from our own failures is a gift. An even greater gift is being able to learn from the failures of others. This is especially true if someone’s failure directly impacts you. This gives you the opportunity to choose to avoid blaming the external party, and looking inward to fortify yourself.
F.E.A.R. vs T.R.I.P.
Upon reflection, I realized something about fear. Although fear is not an acronym, I have heard it said before that F.E.A.R. stands for: False Evidence Appearing Real. This does make sense and provides and accurate description of how fear grips our lives. I also noticed how in writing I was able to use fear repeatedly, but had difficulty replacing fear with an simple antonym as a substitute. I ended up using Tranquility, Reason, Intention and Purpose. I noticed that these words, when put together also form an acronym that created a more appropriate replacement for fear: T.R.I.P. (trip).
I used T.R.I.P. almost as a mantra yesterday and found it surprisingly effective.
To revisit yesterday’s post:
If you live in F.E.A.R., your mind lives in F.E.A.R. If your mind lives in F.E.A.R., your thoughts will be rooted in F.E.A.R. If your thoughts are rooted in F.E.A.R., every experience will be colored by F.E.A.R. Now replace F.E.A.R. with T.R.I.P.
If you live in T.R.I.P., your mind lives in T.R.I.P. If your mind lives in T.R.I.P., your thoughts will be rooted in T.R.I.P. If your thoughts are rooted in T.R.I.P., every experience will be colored by T.R.I.P.
It’s nothing mind-blowing, and it doesn’t roll off the tongue, but I found it helped simplify how I pondered some emotional complications.
Chain of Command
If you live in fear, your mind lives in fear. If your mind lives in fear, your thoughts will be rooted in fear. If your thoughts are rooted in fear, every experience will be colored by fear. That train of thought follows logic and sadly is a chain of command that is all too common. Now, replace fear with tranquility, intention, reason or purpose and the logic becomes sound.
If you live in tranquility your mind lives in tranquility. If your mind lives in tranquility, your thoughts will be rooted in tranquility. If your thoughts are rooted in tranquility, every experience will be rooted in tranquility.
If you live with reason your mind lives with reason. If your mind lives with reason, your thoughts will be rooted in reason. If your thoughts are rooted in reason, every experience will be rooted in reason.
If you live with intention your mind lives with intention. If your mind lives with intention, your thoughts will be rooted in intention. If your thoughts are rooted in intention, every experience will be rooted in intention.
If you live with purpose your mind lives with purpose. If your mind lives with purpose, your thoughts will be rooted in purpose. If your thoughts are rooted in purpose, every experience will be rooted in purpose.
Finally, if you live in tranquility your mind lives in tranquility. If your mind lives in tranquility, your thoughts will be rooted in reason. If your thoughts are rooted in reason, every experience will be rooted with intention. If every experience is rooted with intention, life has purpose. That’s the chain of command for a better existence. Tranquility, reason, intention and purpose are far superior commanding officers than fear.
Character in Chaos
If you seek inner peace, go the malls at the holidays or the World Cup final. Do not seek it in solitude. It’s easy to be peaceful in peaceful settings. Just as it’s easy to be in a good mood when things are going well. However, if you are able to be in control of your thoughts and emotions amid chaotic energy, and can do so regularly without giving in to the energy you’re surrounded by, you have achieved something special for yourself. Character is measured in how we handle chaos.
Equal & Opposite Reach
Goal: Spend more time focusing your attention on being able to reach as far inward to search your soul as you can outstretch your arms to take hold of anything external.
To Whom…
Multitasking seems to be something we boast as a talent. The more we can juggle or balance the greater our capacity for success. But, consider this: with every new “thing” we take on, are we doing so to more clearly define who we are or only what we do? When it comes to the core of our identity, what’s more impressive: a lengthy description or a succinct definition?
