achieving inner peace
ANOTHER IPS (Inner Peace Symptom): An understanding that Life is an opportunity to play. [What you play (and how and why and when you move) often makes for a lot of difference in the results you get.] Playing and helping other people play is my greatest “happy.” I still think that one of the best things I ever did was to choose to look at all of the different aspects of Life-Its-Own-Self as play. The possibilities inherent in that one…
Another IPS (Inner Peace Symptom): an understanding that setting goals and self-discipline are important but you need to leave doors and windows open to the unexpected. [Serendipity and dancing in the Mystery takes you to wonders that all your plans and willful intent would have you ignore….]
Yeah, I know. It’s what I tell myself all of the time, echoing the I Ching and assorted other wise guys and smarty-pants, ancient and new: The goal is getting to clarity. Right. The problem with that one, of course, is that I’m such a little thing and the Universe is really, REALLY huge. What are the odds that I’m ever really going to be able to know enough to make sense out of it all?
Another IPS (Inner Peace Symptom): a growing appreciation of process. [Creativity and change move through every situation you encounter. Enjoy the ride ’cause there ain’t no going back!] Change is everywhere. Everything keeps changing, little by little. Like a tree growing, it just keeps on. The thing is you don’t really notice how big that tree is getting until you find an old picture and are amazed at the difference in that tree your father planted in the yard all…
Another IPS (Inner Peace Symptom): a growing awareness that the only thing that abides is the way you walk. [How are you walking and how is your walk talking?] Assorted studies have shown that the way you walk down the street increases your chances of being a victim, a target for challenge, or a welcome addition to a group. The way you walk, they say, has a language of its own and the people around you are likely to make…
Another IPS (Inner Peace Symptom): a disinclination to encourage catastrophic thinking and worrying. [Worst-case scenarios rarely happen. Allowing yourself to get caught up in mind-loops about them just makes you dizzy and paralyzes you.]
Another IPS (Inner Peace Symptom): an understanding that “creativity” is not a talent; it is a way of operating. [The coolest thing is anybody can do it.] I guess it’s a cliché now. One way to enhance your creativity, they tell us, is to keep a journal. Snuggle up with your thoughts and illuminate your feelings, write down your dreams and hunches, collect quotes from the famous and the notorious. Spend time in your own head. Be your own psychotherapist. …
Another IPS (Inner Peace Symptom): an understanding that energy, vitality and passion cannot be given; they can only be found. [Your liveliness comes from inside you. No amount of urging by outside forces can make you vital, can make you care. You have to find it in yourself, for yourself.] Here’s the thing: If you don’t really care whether some idea or conceptualization becomes a reality, if the process of getting to the finish line only induces a body-shuddering yawn,…
Japanese farmer-philosopher Masanobu Fukuoda once said, “The ultimate goal of farming is not the growing of crops, but the cultivation of human beings.“
Another IPS (Inner Peace Symptom): a disinclination to endlessly discuss your plans and dreams. [Every time you talk about a dream, a little bit of the energy powering that dream leaks out. It’s kind of like letting the air out of a filled balloon to make farting noises. After a while all the gas is gone and the balloon won’t rise.] ‘Kay. There you are with this HUGE idea…the Biggest of the Big. It is definitely, absolutely, without a doubt, going…