How could I possibly be offended?

If I refuse to take offense. I must admit that I have little sympathy for the perpetually aggrieved. I have learned, in the most agonizing way that being angry, resentful, filled with hate and plagued with a vindictive heart, is tantamount to drinking poison and hoping the person I’m offended by dies.

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You see, from my experience, if I want to be truly free, I must allow others to be free. I have to be careful that I am actually thinking for myself and not swallowing and believing the words of hate-filled vindictive souls dead set on retribution that will never really come. The cycle of anger is a never-ending loop

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I’m angry, I want to get even, I do something to get even, It doesn’t work, I’m even angrier

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There is no such thing as justice, if there were, I’d be dead, but I’m not and what I’m left with is being in a state of awe and filled with gratitude feel a duty to help my fellow creatures here while I still am.

As messed up as it all seems and as terrible as you may think the source of your pain is, that pain was already there before that individual arrived in your consciousness, address that first then find someone you can help.

“Don’t look at me…

look at you. Until you find the divine within you will never see it in others. The divine is in us all.” But wait, I understand your skepticism. I too, have doubted and even mocked those who believe as I do now.

This story is a part of my pilgrimage of self discovery. The requisite despair that leads to surrender must be encountered and survived. I never could have without Papa’s hand on my shoulder and even at times He was carrying me like a baby in His arms.

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The tale is as old as story telling, you see there was this girl…need I say more? Oh? I will say a bit more she told me she loved me and as the story goes, I found it to be untrue

so what to do? some may like to drown in sorrow, I made a decision though and chose to seek within. I recommend not going alone, a journey into the unknown is scary, however, rewarding!

Sunrise

What I found there was His love for me, which gave me an example, the courage and belief to love myself. Having found that inside, I see it everywhere and in everything. In fact I understand that to allow others to mistake my kindness for weakness is really only harmful to them so that will be arrested as soon as it’s discovered.

So I can forgive the atrocious acts of troubled, lonely, power-hungry souls who’ve lost their way. They merely think they’re winning in this realm of time and miss the opportunity to experience truth and love in the eternal

 

Do not Dwell therefore!

Upon what you perceive as injustice, it was not inflicted on you. Nor suffer from projecting what will be, depending on how your are situated, it is overly fantastic or excruciatingly painful.

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Now you have the choice to gather from where your inspiration is derived. Cast aside and forgive, make a clean break. For what you do Now will create an entirely more perfect or disastrous future. You decide, no one else does unless you allow it

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Go! do! be!

Let’s get Ugly

You see I find it too easy to appreciate the obvious reasons to enjoy your company. You’re beautiful in appearance. You’re complimentary to my ego. All very soothing and delightful to experience. What I’m most interested in and perhaps morbidly attracted to are the less appealing aspects of your personality.

This may all sound rather confusing and “what are you talking about?” Well, let’s just say as hard as you try to conceal these traits from me, I discover them. I’ll tell you how. I am interested, therefore I am paying attention. “Love is the quality of attention we pay to things.” J.D. McClatchy on the Contrast and Complementarity of Desire and Love I find it

I recognize myself in those “ugly” characteristics. If I feel like a piece of shit because I treat people I care for poorly, one would think, I could just stop doing that. Woah, not so fast, taking and getting feel really good and I don’t know how to stop. I am however left feeling hungry and worse than I did when I was contorting myself to appeal to your liking, or what I perceived that to be. Always looking for and finding those that admire my acrobatics for a time until they find I’m shvindl, a fraud a fake. And they would be correct. I am empathetic to these acts of self-hatred. I love that about you.

So what are we to do? I seemingly have no control over what I am enamored with for the time being. The only course now is how may we help each other. Surely trying to do this by myself will be a disaster. G_d will help and ultimately is the only source of Love that can remove these cravings and show me the way to divine generosity, by His example. No matter how much I pray for it, He will not just do it. I have to show some initiative. Start giving, helping without my saying to myself hey look at me I’m good. I must do it in praise and gratitude for His Love and Forgiveness of me.

May your day be as it should

Vapor_Sage

I Know a Secret

It is, however, not a secret. I don’t think it is widely known or cared for. The idea is from what I have read in various scripture and mystical writing is that it is as ancient as humanity itself. That idea is that we, all of us, are whole and perfect as we are at this moment.

I know what you must be thinking, no human is anywhere near perfect. We all have imperfections. I ask where is the standard? What was viewed as ideal 10, 20, 50, 100 or a thousand years, is far from what is considered ideal today.

Not to mention the inherent self-doubt and critique of our natural frailties. In addition, there may be those, who like me, I have engaged in a host of abhorrent behavior and the psychological dumpster fire that ensues. I’m sure some would be fine with how they are if not for advertising and marketing campaigns depicting the ideal lifestyle and endless list of things that no self-respecting earth dweller can live without, of course, dependent upon locality these change dramatically.

It is though, that very behavior and aftermath that led me to such despair that surrendering to and abiding by certain spiritual principles that have helped me to arrive at and discover the secret. The key for me was if I can’t be stimulated in some way and my seeming incessant craving for acknowledgment and approval, and the consequent nearly unbearable disappointment, that there must certainly be another way. And in fact, there is.

I am created perfectly by a creator that doesn’t make mistakes, though I’m sure many would argue that about many things until Yellowstone explodes again. My experience has been one that, I was led to embrace solitude and silence. I grew into an appreciation of the queues provided by nature.

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0 fucks given

I am at one with all and all are in me. The perception of our flaws are just that, perceived. I am just the way I am supposed to be to assume the role I am destined to fill. Please take a moment and consider the possibility that this is true if you know it not already. May God bless you.

We’re not meant to do this Alone

We need to share our struggles and triumphs with others and participate in theirs. Contact with fellow sufferers in this realm is imperative, without human contact we wither and fade away.  I’m not suggesting that everyone needs the same amount by any means. It must be reciprocal though. I need to allow people to really know me, especially the worst of what I find in my observation of my self and my thinking. There is a great liberation in admitting to another your faults and listening to their feedback. When I admit the worst I can be I am free to act differently. That which we deny or fight is given power in our psyches. The result is any number of destructive behaviors.

My greatest enemy is myself alone with my fears. Which is, what I have come to learn, my resistance to what is and my consistent regret of the past and my stewing about the future. Now is where it’s at. There is no problem now, only opportunity. I can discern with assistance of others the appropriate responses to the needs at hand. The best option nearly always is getting out of my “Shit Stew” and find someone less fortunate than I that I can share what I have with. Helping others is the answer. I am provided for by the collective consciousness/God if you please. If I am generous with my attention life/the universe will manifest exactly what I need.

I have found that what I was afraid to tell others about myself led to admiration and connection not ridicule and avoidance. These people opened up their lives to me and we share in this glorious life here together.

May it be as it should

I love!

What’s going on in there?

Inside your head, thinking, beliefs and behaviors. This is a perpetual exercise for me so I continue growing. If you’re standing still everything else is passing you by, consequently losing ground. Do you want to be better, have more to contribute? Can you be honest about that? I say YES! Well, then a rigorous self-examination is in order.

What is found there will be of use or is worthy of elimination through admission to one’s self, God and another. If you’ve made it this far, congratulations and thank you! I don’t suggest what anyone should do, I merely tell you what I do. Please continue.

Kierkegaard Painting – Soren Kierkegaard – Watercolor Portrait by Fabrizio Cassetta

“Repentance must not only have its time but also its time of preparation. And herein lies the need of confession, the holy act that ought to be preceded by preparation. Just as a person changes his/her clothes for a celebration, so a person preparing for confession is inwardly changed. But if in the hour of one has not truly made up his/her mind (decision) he/she is still only distracted. He/she only see his/her faults with half an eye. When he/she talks it’s just talk-not a true confession. The all-knowing One does not get to know something about those who confess, rather those who confess find out something about themselves.” Soren Kierkegaard Provocations.

So this sort of thing seems to be a universal truth, few, however, are fortunate to have experienced enough pain to consider, trying something new/old as it were.

Ineptitude

Today I was prompted by a new author I follow by his post A lonely thing- Quotes of the King

The take away for me was that I have manifested “ghosts and monsters” in my own persona from my resistance to serious consideration of my own ineptitude in relation to my creator Yahweh. To say it is uncomfortable to consider one’s flawed perfection severely understates the human condition.

Today we celebrate!

 

Death could not contain Him so we color eggs and discount what the real meaning is. This is, in my opinion, another example of avoidance of our true nature, inescapably human. I am relieved of my affliction through the admission of my sin (imperfection) and turning to Him as an example, through his teachings. From there the truly miraculous occurs. I begin to live a life free from regret, I can forgive, be generous without consideration of “what’s in it for me?” and gain tremendous gratitude for what I have, which is provided, I can proceed anxiety free believing that my needs will be provided for.

 

Beauty

Pelican

Just as the Flowers are beautifully arrayed and the birds don’t stockpile for another day, neither should I. Matthew 6:25-34 & Luke 12:22-32

God Bless you and thank you!

Great, so now what?

I have acknowledged my error in perception, forgiven the “perpetrator”, asked forgiveness and expressed an interest in making up for the infraction. My question is now what?

Well for starters, I can return to what is. That which is available right now always has been and always will be. I have to admit though it is not as easy as it might sound. My mind (Ego) keeps thinking and restlessness ensues. Constantly searching for the next big thing, a thrill, some form of satisfaction from out there, all the while, “it’s an Inside Job”

Bringing my attention back to my body and where and when I am. It’s like a broken or scratched record. To break the habit of dwelling in my thoughts and the particular appetites that I want to feed, in lieu of residing in my being.

1. Recognize and acknowledge what I am grateful for.
2. Let those who matter, know that I appreciate them, no matter what I think they think.
3. Be quiet and still for my own benefit. “put the oxygen mask on first, before helping others with theirs”
4. Praise and thank God for all the blessings, strength and forgiveness He has given.
5. Go in Peace

This is another repeat track but is so relevant, from the album title and song to the music Thank you, I will always love you

I am so Sorry

To who am I speaking? Myself I guess, or to the one to whom I assigned the impossible task to relieve my insatiable appetite. This is an extension to or an update to When Enough isn’t

I  have just recently arrived at the notion that, what I really am after is not what is consuming my thinking mind’s desire. I know from experience that, as soon as my objective is achieved the result will disappoint or the feeling I hoped would be captured does not occur. What I really want is the relief, from the craving, inner peas…lol  I do make an error in what I think will quell the desire.

My ego insists that I must have what can never ultimately be possessed. Is it ironic that ego (self) and wanting to possess (covet) are features of human nature we are told to turn away from?

The anticipation is what I am addicted to. The projected outcome, which never happens, is that which consumes me.

It is truly corrosive to my peas. So, please accept my apology. I cannot say that it will never happen again, because I am, after all, Human

2 musical selections today