Hopeful Thinking

What emphasis do you give pleasure in your life? Do you feel guilty about pleasure? A distrust of pleasure is deeply ingrained in our human culture, thanks in large part to the exercise of religion. You’ll note, I am not pointing a finger at the religion itself but the exercise of it. What I’m commenting on here are the actions a religious person takes as a result of their interpretation of what their religion insists of them in thought or deed. It’s not the faith, it’s the follower. Be extremely cautious of those who cannot, or will not, practice what they preach when it comes to their faith. They make unfortunate ambassadors. Though many people are not a part of any religion at all, it doesn’t matter. The distrust of pleasure is so entangled with our wider secular human culture it affects us all. We are all subject to the societal meme that pleasure is somehow evil, or intrinsically sinful, or at best, a distraction from “real life.” The same could be said for junk food. ...

What do you really think about who you are? Do you think there is more “who” to you than what you see in the mirror? Do you believe you have a soul? Do you believe you have an electromagnetic field around you? Do you believe in auras? Think about these for a moment. Take an inventory of what you believe about the full nature of your reality. Go ahead. I’ll wait. So what do you believe? There is no wrong answer. Mostly because it’s not possible to know the answer—at least with any real assurance. But your answer does have implications. Some believe that we have a soul but that it is limited in volume to the shape and size of our physical bodies. Meaning that there is no more of us than what is contained in this little vessel until the time of our passing at which point, it leaves. Some believe that we are infinite, and that if we were to measure it in linear terms, only a small portion of the totality of ourselves is “contained” in our physical body. There is more to us than...

Let it go. You’re holding on too tightly. Life is a riddle for which the answer is so obvious it seems like bad advice. The hardest principle of all spiritual practice is non-resistance. It’s the one which seems the most counterintuitive. We maintain a belief that if we stop resisting, all the bad stuff will happen. If we stop holding back these waters, they will destroy us. Try turning your umbrella the right side up. You’re trapping too much water with it the other way around. The irony is, the only successfully provable societal model we’ve ever had is nonresistance. That’s the only model for which we have any evidence in favor of the argument. When we let go, things work out better. Always. Of course there are examples toward which people can point and say, “See? If people hadn’t fought back against tyranny (or whatever) that good thing wouldn’t have happened. The bad would have won.“ But it makes me wonder if resistance was really the component which brought about the ...

I work pretty hard to live within the boundaries of my principles. It’s a thing for me. I’m not always good at it, of course. But I definitely do my best. I see the overall benefits of that effort all the time. But I don’t see them every time. In fact, if I kept a record of it, I’m sure I only see the benefits less than half the time. Or perhaps that’s just a skewed impression of reality. Sometimes it feels as if living within my principles kicks me in the butt more than it hugs me. But it’s not about the physical math. There is no scoreboard for this. Because failure and success, honesty and deceit, fulfillment and dissatisfaction are not opposite sides of a coin, they are different fruits from different trees. You’ll note: Both provide nourishment. Or can rot if left unharvested on the branch. Living by the Golden Rule is not a promise that you will be treated as you treat others. There are no guarantees built into that tidy spiritual maxim. There is no quid pro quo . The...

Modern culture loves the word flawless. You look flawless, dahling. I feel flawless, dahling. Well, good for both of them. I don’t buy it.   Flawless isn’t a goal or an accomplishment. It is a state of being too far above our pay grade to comprehend. Seeking flawlessness is like a dog chasing its tail. It’s already there. No need to work so hard to obtain it. Part of the problem is the way we think about the word flaw. We don’t really know which of our characteristics are truly flawed and which ones are more properly categorized as features. Where is the line in the sand? We would love to know, but is that search worth it? Stop chasing your tail. So now that we have dispensed with the need to seek flawlessness, let’s grapple with the alternative: acceptance of things about ourselves which may each walk like a flaw and talk like a flaw but might be more appropriately thought of as doorways. It’s difficult to acknowledge being wrong. You’re probably flinching right now...

What will you wish you had done with your life while on your deathbed? Of course, that sounds like a morbid thought, but consider it for a moment. While lying there, after hopefully a long life, what will you look back on with fondness? With regret? With longing? And here’s a most important question: What will you look back on which seemed like a huge deal at the time, but was really not very much at all? To what do you give too much importance now that will mean virtually nothing in the final moments of your life? Think about the dramas around you. Some of which you may even be perpetuating yourself. Think of the grudges you hold. Think of your enemies. On your deathbed, will you wish you had reconciled? Will the slights and injuries you sustained be worth it in the end? We have so little time on this earth. So little time to make amends. So little time to do the things we always dreamed of doing. So little time to rebuild the bridges we have burned. Make the most of what ...

It isn’t what you think it isn’t. It’s probably closer to what you think it is than you realize, but not necessarily in the ways you’d expect. Finally, for the record, I don’t claim to know what I’m talking about. I will do my best anyway. The words racism, bigotry, and hatred have lately introduced in us a brand new level of fatigue. We have become exhausted of our despair. We are uncomfortable in conversations with loved ones. For many, to have been so mistaken about the deep fears and negative biases still present in our country has been eye-opening and tragic. None of us knows what to do next. It is terrifying to see the violence escalating all around us. Hold tight. In the end, I truly and most sincerely believe, all shall be well. There is only one true human trajectory and the overall trend is always upward. It has always been upward. So, fear not in that regard. The concern is what to do in the meantime to hoist that natural trend even more in favor of all humanity. Es...