Hopeful Thinking

It’s all about feeling good, really. Joy. Undiluted, full-strength, lo-and-behold, rapture. That’s what we are meant to know and experience. It is a sacred right to be happy. But what do we do about that right? We first have to accept it as a right. Allow me to repeat it, then: You have a sacred right to be happy. So often we are taught by society to place our own desires and happiness in second place as compared to the needs of our loved ones, of the community, and of, well, the whole world, frankly. Everyone else comes first. How’s that going for you? Before we get into how to be happier, let’s address why. Enhanced happiness not only improves the quality of your life, it improves the quality of the lives of all those around you. At the very least, it does no additional damage. Happiness is contagious and few are immune to it. Plus, happiness is physically healthier. A preponderance of scientific evidence has clearly illustrated the beneficial effects of serotonin and ...

What does it take to be honest? I mean genuine, 100 percent, truth-telling honesty as a daily life practice. Do we recognize how often we are even slightly dishonest? One study found that 60 percent of people lied at least once during a 10-minute conversation and told an average of two to three lies. Women were more likely to lie in order to make someone else feel good, while men lied to make themselves look good. That gender disparity aside, for there is far too much to unpack here in that alone, let’s consider what it would take to be completely honest for that 10-minute conversation. The short answer is: practice. Primarily, self-awareness is the key. We need lots of practice to be self-aware about what we say and why we say it. In scripture it is said that it’s not what goes into someone’s mouth which defiles them, it’s what comes out of it. How often do we think we are doing the “right thing” by fibbing or bending the truth, even in the interest of sparing someone’s fee...

It occurred to me, while watching a documentary about advanced mathematics recently, that there is a difference between something that has been created and something which has been revealed. Mathematicians think of mathematics as something which has always existed and is “discovered” over time rather than something which humanity has invented from scratch on its own. By what is that discovery encouraged? Some world scripture is defined as having been “revealed”—by God, ostensibly—rather than written. This takes the authorship of the text out of human hands, which are considered transcribers rather than authors. In other words, a person may be putting pen to paper, but they claim the words are not theirs. In modern spiritual terminology this would be referred to as channeling. Although some may take exception to the term, channeling is, by definition, what’s occurring when a person is claiming that they are transcribing ideas which do not come from them, but from something othe...

Navigating life is a pain in the butt, frankly. It’s an unending series of rights and lefts. Constantly trying to figure out where to place your foot next so that you don’t step in anything revolting, then track it in the house and ruin the carpet. We often mean well but make mistakes anyway. We often hurt people to whom we are attempting to show our love. And worst of all we sometimes break things our intention was to repair. Of course practicing forgiveness is the first good idea. Both for ourselves and others. It’s important to model forgiving behavior for those from whom we will likely be asking for it one day. Don’t just pay it forward, pay it in advance.  In the meantime, it’s best to practice finesse. The definition of the word finesse is a bit opaque. One definition I found states that it’s an “intricate and refined delicacy.” Not so clear. The word origins also add the word purity, however. And that’s a pretty good place to start. Purity is a word that revolves...

When I switch back and forth on my television from cable to another media device I have to press a button on the remote control which says “source.“ It switches the view of what I’m watching on the screen from the signal coming from the cable box, for instance, to a signal from the DVD player. But if the DVD player isn’t turned on when I switch it, the screen will display nothing but the words, “No Signal.“ Meaning, I’m in the right place, but there’s nothing to see here.  Sometimes my brain is so busy that I can hardly get a word in edgewise. Things I’m worried about, things I’m happy about, things I know I have to get to, and things I’m glad I’m finished. It’s like watching a news cycle on six different media outlets all at the same time.  Nearly every time I see the words “No Signal“ on the television screen I take a deep breath and say, “Thank you.” Sometimes I can then go several seconds without letting anything enter my mind. Eventually, it all creeps back, o...