June 23rd, 2017

June 23rd, 2017


Affirmation:  Doing my best is success.

I am honest to other people and myself.


Word of the Day: aegis (n):

1. protection; support: under the imperial aegis.

2. sponsorship; auspices: a debate under the aegis of the League of Women Voters.

prelapsarian (adj):

1. characteristic of or pertaining to any innocent or carefree period: a prelapsarian youth.

2. Theology. occurring before the Fall: the prelapsarian innocence of Eden.

3. supralapsarian.

Cuisine and Sex

You risk your life to feed desires,

yet you give your soul only short grazing spans,

and those grudgingly.

You borrow ten and repay fourteen.

Most of your decisions can be traced back

to cuisine and sex.

The fuel basket goes from one stokehole

to the next. Six friends hoist

your handsomeness and carry it

to the cemetery.

Food changes going from table to latrine.

You live between deaths

thinking this is right enough.

Close these eyes to open the other.

Let the center brighten your sight.

The King Inside

There are people with their eyes open

whose hearts are shut.  What do they see?  Matter.

But someone whose love is alert,

even if the eyes go to sleep,

he or she will be waking up thousands of others.

If you are not one of those light-filled lovers,

restrain your desire-body's intensity.

Put limits on how much you eat

and how long you lie down.

But if you are awake here in the chest,

sleep long and soundly.

Your spirit will be out roaming and working,

even on the seventh level.

Muhammed says, I close my eyes and rest in sleep,

but my love never needs to rest.

The guard at the gate drowses.

The king stays awke.  You have a king inside

who listens for what delights the soul.

That king's wakefulness

cannot be describe in poem.

Singing

When the soul first put on the body's shirt,

the ocean lifted up all its gifts.

When love first tasted the lips

of being human, it started singing.

_____

Generosity And Selfishness

As a society and as individuals, I believe that we are grappling with an epidemic of emptiness and lack. We may try to fill this void with relationships, sex, food, drugs, work,or any number of other ephemeral substitutes for those things that truly fill us up.

I will write about what these lasting things are in a subsequent post, but for this post, I want to write about one of the things that results from our feeling repleted and whole...

Generosity is one result of feeling full. Selfishness is one result of feeling empty.

I often hear entrepreneurs and individuals who are trying to take risks and follow their passion wonder, "How can I be generous and bighearted and still pay the bills?"

One answer: generosity.

Generosity is choosing to give. It is not simply saying "yes" when people ask for something. "Yes" is insufficient.

Do you find yourself saying "yes" to things but are unsure or conflicted about whether you truly mean it? You might be expressing agreement in your words, but not actually making the choice in your heart and in your body.

So why do people say "yes" without actually making the choice? In my experience, it's frequently stems from the fear of what might happen if I were to say "no" instead. Imagined loss of relationships, money, influence, success. And oftentimes it's a lack of presence. I say "yes" without making the choice because I don't stop to check with my inner Self to ensure it agrees (or even realizes what's happening). These situations arise from a place of mindlessness as opposed to mindfulness.

The next time you say "yes" notice whether it leaves you feeling empty, or panicked about "not enough." These instances of "generosity" may actually lead to selfishness (and/or broken relationships, business models, etc.).

Try to replace your automatic yeses with the discipline of proactively giving what you want to give, when you want to give it, and to whom you want to give it. Make your generosity a choice that comes from within you, rather than a reaction to the desires of others or your Ego's insecurities. The way in which you give becomes your duty, your dharma, your karma, and your destiny. Not your obligation.

Choosing to interact with the world in this way means that you will still give sometimes because someone asks, but you are truly choosing to give, as opposed to simply saying "yes." This interaction is much more likely to come from a place of fullness. You are far more apt to deliver on your "yes" without resentment and feel even more full afterwards. In this way, generosity may become a virtuous cycle.

- Think of a time when you said “yes” to something when you actually meant “no.” Were you aware that you were doing this at the time you said “yes”? Why did you choose to say “yes” - what was driving the “yes”?

- Think of a time when you said “no” to something when you actually meant “yes.” Were you aware that you were doing this at the time you said “no”? Why did you choose to say “no” - what was driving the “no”?

- Bring to mind someone you consider to be very generous. How would you characterize him or her?