There are only 4 directions in which a favor can be assessed:

The favor receiver DOES appreciate the sacrifice - the favor doer DOES consider it a sacrifice = NO CONFLICT

The favor receiver DOES NOT appreciate the sacrifice - the favor doer DOES NOT consider it a sacrifice = NO CONFLICT

The Favor receiver DOES appreciate the sacrifice - the favor doer DOES NOT consider it a sacrifice = NO CONFLICT (what happened between my son and I)

The Favor receiver DOES NOT appreciate the sacrifice - the favor doer does DOES consider it a sacrifice = CONFLICT

The inherent challenge with long-term goals stems from the fact that they are long-term. They take a long time. During the years spent working towards a long-term goal, doubt and impatience can creep into our minds. Time spent waiting to complete a goal can be painful, especially without a strategy to cope with the pain. Here’s one way to plan your quest.

Taking advantage of our mind’s slower brain waves upon waking, and before falling asleep.

We do not exist to be miserable. Your life is not meant to “suck.”

Why would all of this be created for millions of years just so we can suffer?

It would have been so much easier for us to never exist, rather than finally perishing after eighty-odd years of torment.

The purpose of this piece is not to say that changing locations is always good and that it always results in positive changes. What I am saying is that changing locations can disrupt all of your routines and that we should take care to make sure that the disruption ends up making your life better, not worse.

Over time and on its own, your mind will increase its ownership of certain thoughts. If you heed my words and are selective in your attention, you will have more and more thoughts that help you. But, if you are not actively choosing what you are investing in, what increases in your mind will not be in your control. The results will be based on whatever you take in from your environment: people, media, and what you see around you. So, be sure to actively plant what you value.

There are a handful (more than that but not that many really) of famous names in ancient history and if your name wasn’t Caesar or Confusious or Abraham, you were gone, in a puff.

But now, thanks to digital life, things will be different, forever. All of our online personas are time capsules for people of the future. They will remember you. You will not know them, but they will know you.

The question that asks if it was all planned by a higher being or if it was just an incredible amount of luck is irrelevant. Either way, we can see that we are part of something much bigger than ourselves.

You can begrudgingly enjoy a massage. Massage provides physical sensation. Nerves are pushed and pulled in ways that feel good. That’s physical pleasure. Most everything else is a matter of taste. You need to prefer something in order to enjoy it. You have to chose to like it.

This topic isn’t for wildlife alone. Fast experiences aren’t reserved for fast animals, like hummingbirds. Many of life’s greatest moments are quick: your child’s first words, your child’s first steps, a great catch in a baseball game, the way a loved one looks in that perfect second of sunlight, getting a glimpse of Bigfoot - all of these events can last mere seconds. My story is also your story.

Since being mindful can happen at every second of our lives, every moment offers us a chance to practice managing and nurturing our minds and emotions. Because of the inherent drama involved, following sports can offer us many uniquely beneficial moments to apply our mindfulness practice. With a little guidance and a new perspective, the next time your team blows it, instead of shouting “Boo!,” maybe you will chant “Om.”

Before observing your thoughts, you felt like you WERE the one CREATING those thoughts. When you step back to observe your thoughts, you can see that they did not come from “you.” They came from your mind. Your sinuses produce mucus. The stomach produces digestive acids. The brain produces thoughts. That’s what they do.

Counting down from 20 to 0 is a neutral thought. It’s neither good nor bad. It simply is. We are all comfortable with the eternal, core nature of numbers. We trust numbers. We trust that numbers are pure and accurate. Counting numbers is like breathing air or the sun setting - it’s just how life is. Because of the fundamental nature of numbers, they can be a great anchor for the mind.

There is a science to goal-setting and goal achievement. Research has been done on the topic. As with anything else, if your results aren’t where you want them to be, it’s best to learn about how others have achieved better results. In this case, the S.M.A.R.T system of goal-setting could be a remedy to your problems and a catalyst for your future success.

Death is the biggest mystery because, aside from near-death experiences (which many people can’t digest), nobody can tell us about it. Death doesn’t have reviews on Amazon. You can’t find out if death would work for someone with wide feet or if it comes with the attachments shown in the picture. We simply don’t know and can’t know.

If a challenging person is someone whom you must interact with, this might be a good opportunity to examine WHY you MUST interact with them. If you can comfortably avoid irritating people it will make you calmer and happier. With the Great Resignation of the Covid Era, I see that many of you have done this already. That’s good. Keep doing it. It’s wise to constantly examine the media, technology, food, and, yes, people we consume mentally and spiritually. Only after irritating aspects of our lives are deemed to be unavoidable should we look for strategies for coping. Otherwise, there’s no reason to subject ourselves to toxic thoughts. We should be as careful about the company we keep as we are about the food we eat.

This piece is about the people who can’t be avoided but who also have a tendency to disturb the calmness your mindfulness practice helped create.

Let’s start with a question.

Why doesn’t YOUR challenging person irritate ME?

If you’re reading between the lines, you’re starting to see my point.

Although monks are the masters of all things zen, I can argue that your footing on that same quest isn’t too bad either. Finding bliss as a monk has its advantages. But, finding bliss from where you are sitting, has its advantages too.

I’m talking about the feeling that makes you believe that you could and should be doing much better. I’m talking about that feeling that nags you all day long because you are not the ideal weight or don’t have the ideal amount of money in the bank or you don’t go on ideal vacations. This (sometimes constant) feeling of not being good enough is not good for the soul and it’s also unnecessary.