Suffering is how we choose to look at things.
So is everything else.
Everything is how we choose to look at it.

The end of suffering
the Buddhists are so concerned about
is as easy as turning the light around
by changing how we see
what we look at.

Perspective, perception 
and attitude
are the Elder Wands
of personal adjustment
to circumstances.

And provide instant transformation
of the world,
changing all of it
with a wink
and a smile.

Life has never been so easy
as it becomes
when seen in the right way.

Leaving everyone who masters the art
wondering why we aren't taught
how to do it upon exiting the womb.

–0–

What drives this beaver through life
in a "This is fine! How I love it!
May it remain like this forever!"
kind of way?

Beaver's know Better and Worse from birth.
Everything does.
Nobody has to explain it to them.
Can and Can't have to be explained,
but not Better and Worse.
We all know that.
And, we don't worry about how.

We are born knowing 
the important stuff.
but Wanting/Fearing get in the way.
We want it all
and we are afraid of everything.

And cannot just settle down
with Good Enough
and let that be Just Fine forever,
because Wanting/Fearing interfere
with The Best Life Has To Offer.

The Most Important Thing
is to put Wanting/Fearing 
in their place.

We want more 
than we have any business having,
and we are afraid of losing everything
all of the time.

And we have to have a
Sit Down And Come To Truth Moment
on a regular basis:

"Look! This is what you are doing!
STOP DOING IT!"

"Stop wanting what you don't have room for!
Stop being afraid of losing what you have!
Trust yourself to deal with whatever comes your way!"

–0–

Here is a link to my "From Twitter To Here" site for today's posts. I'm recommending #2 for your consideration:

https://jimwdollar.wordpress.com/2024/02/06/february-06-2024/

How do you square up
with your life?

Make your peace
with how things are?

Decide what to do
and how to do it,
and what to leave undone?

Who do you consult in these matters?

How did you develop
your relationship
with your inner self?

How do you maintain it?
Care for it?
How long has it been
since you sat down with it
and listened?

How does it get your attention?
Demand an audience?

How do you keep things on track?
Know when they have gone off the rails?
Maintain your balance and harmony?

How do you know where
to draw the lines?

What keeps you
steady as she goes?

–0–

Growing up is bearing the pain
of being alive
and doing what needs to be done
in response to it
in ways appropriate to the occasion
in each situation as it arises,
all along the way.

How well we do that
over the full course of our life
"tells the tale."

We show ourselves to be who we are
by the ways we respond to what 
is happening day-to-day.

Being who we are is the essence,
foundation,
source, goal,
reason and purpose of living/being.

Why be somebody else?
Why not do it
the way we would do it
through all of the circumstances
of our life?

Leading the way
to the question at the bottom
of it all:
"Who are we? What are we about?"

The intensity and intentionally
with which we respond to/answer
these questions in all of the day-to-day's
exhibits, expresses, displays
the truth of our essential identity
by the way we live our life
from birth to death.

Who are you?
What are you about?

–0–

You can view the five sessions of The Power of Myth with Joseph Campbell and Bill Moyers for free on line at The Joseph Campbell Foundation. And you can purchase the companion volume, also called “The Power of Myth,” but with an inordinate amount of additional material, either as a hardback, paperback or eBook, either at the Foundation, or from Amazon. And, you can purchase a new, fresh from the author,

Myth and Meaning: Conversations on Mythology and Life eBook

Which will tie in nicely with the video/book/eBook of The Power of Myth, and will turn out to be one of the 3 best things you can do for yourself in the New Year. I’ll stake my reputation on it!

–0–

Where are we going with this?

What do we mean with the rest of our life?

How many questions can we ask in a day?

Here are two we can start with:

Who do we think we are?
What do we think we are doing?

Seriously.

Start with those two questions,
and see what questions they generate.

Do not seek answers!
Seek more questions!

Flowing from:
"Who do I think I am?"
"What do I think I'm doing?"

No answers!
Only questions!

See how many questions 
you can generate throughout the day
starting with these two.

–0–

Our worldview is 
how we think things are.
Changing our worldview
is the task of maturation:
Seeing how things actually are.

This is also called enlightenment.
Realization.
Waking up.
Seeing the light.
Coming to our senses.

Jesus put it this way:
"The old has passed away!
Behold! The new has come!"

We think it is one way,
and yet, it is another way entirely!
We think it is like this,
and it is like that!

The transition is more
than some people can take.
Making the transition
is what is asked of all of us.

The task of living.
The work of being alive.

–0–

We can call time out
as needed
to take inventory,
asses the situation,
note the status 
of our balance and harmony,
check our fatigue level,
remind ourselves of the importance
of living in accord
with our original nature
and our innate virtuosity,
align ourselves with the flow
of intensity and intentionality, 
attend what is called for
by the circumstances before us
and get back into the game.

It is what those who know
have been doing from the beginning.

–0–

We build a foundation
for facing whatever life brings us
by having no expectations or desires,
no opinions or preferences,
no fear or dreads,
knowing simply that we have all we need
to find what we need
to do what needs to be done
in each situation as it arises
throughout what remains
of the life left for living.

We can live with anything,
through anything,
in the strength of our original nature
and our innate virtuosity.

We have gifts waiting
for the right challenges
to call them forth 
and amaze ourselves.

It only takes trusting
it is so
to know that it is.

The old Taoists and Zen masters
knew the importance of
"turning the light around,"
and finding within
the blessings and grace it takes
to deal with what we face
in the external world
of the 10,000 things.

It only takes the right kind 
of emptiness,
stillness
and silence
to know that it is so.

We find what it takes
to meet the day
in meeting the day
and doing what needs to be done there,
where/when/how it needs to be done there,
day after day.

–0–

Where do the people 
who own this,
work here,
go for stability 
and confidence?

What grounds their life?
Beyond religion,
drugs
and alcohol?

How close to the edge
can we live
for how long?

Nikki Haley says
if she is elected President,
she will end Medicare and Social Security.
And Donald Trump poses a similar threat.
Those two federal programs
are Edge Buffers for millions of Americans,
me being one of them.

The two Republican presidential hopefuls
bring The Edge to life
for most of the people
who will vote for them.

What makes this so crazy
is that they will vote for them anyway.

We are an election away
from a way of life that is unlivable.

It seems to happen around the world
on a regular basis.

No one can make sense of it.

We can watch it happening,
see it coming,
with no way of stopping it
or avoiding it,
or getting out of the way.

"See? Told you."
Will provide no solace.

In a world where we all
are day to day,
we will be left with
trusting our luck,
and hoping for more than
religion,
drugs and alcohol
to keep us going.

We can start building 
that foundation now.

–0–

In that there is more 
that we don't know
than we do know,
I think I can get by 
with saying,
the universe is composed
of various forms of energy and matter,
all of which is psychic at the core.

The universe is a psychic state of affairs.

Nothing is in charge.
Nothing is in control.
Nothing has a plan...

But a constant psychic flow
has an exciting feel to it for me.

The old Taoists were right
in saying that it's all the result
of circumstances begetting circumstances,
with the Tao (For lack of a better term)
carrying us along psychic paths
all the way.

–0–