Welcome

Art of contentment

Contentment in life comes from living in the present moment -
creating your own meaning from what is and not deriving meaning from what was or what may be.

Love can be like rain

Clouds form slowly - puffy and full of potential. Sometimes they just dissipate and just blow away but other times they build up energy. They move with each other mixing and churning The clouds swell then suddenly burst with wonderous rain. The rain pours all over everything, sometimes it seems like it will never stop.

If you choose you can let yourself feel all the beautiful energy of the current. Letting the water cover your whole body, you feel safe, warm and satisfied. But sometimes suddenly lightening strikes you - you feel first hand the fury of natures wrath.

But just in the moment when you think you are going to die, the universe returns you to the blissful current. Rejuvenated, you float along looking at the stars wondering what the world is about. Life's rain storm that never ends.

Rob

Quotes on life & spirituality

John Lennon


"Love is the flower you've got to let grow."

"Surrealism had a great effect on me because then I realised that the imagery in my mind wasn't insanity. Surrealism to me is reality. "

"I believe in God, but not as one thing, not as an old man in the sky. I believe that what people call God is something in all of us. I believe that what Jesus and Mohammed and Buddha and all the rest said was right. It's just that the translations have gone wrong. "

Joseph Campbell


"Follow your bliss and doors will open where there were no doors before. "

"I don't believe people are looking for the meaning of life as much as they are looking for the experience of being alive."

"When you make the sacrifice in marriage, you're sacrificing not to each other but to unity in a relationship."

"When people get married because they think it's a long-time love affair, they'll be divorced very soon, because all love affairs end in disappointment. But marriage is a recognition of a spiritual identity."

"Life is without meaning. You bring the meaning to it. The meaning of life is whatever you ascribe it to be. Being alive is the meaning."

Carl Sagan

"For me, it is far better to grasp the Universe as it really is than to persist in delusion, however satisfying and reassuring."

"If we long to believe that the stars rise and set for us, that we are the reason there is a Universe, does science do us a disservice in deflating our conceits?"

"Widespread intellectual and moral docility may be convenient for leaders in the short term, but it is suicidal for nations in the long term. One of the criteria for national leadership should therefore be a talent for understanding, encouraging, and making constructive use of vigorous criticism."

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe


"Beware of dissipating your powers; strive constantly to concentrate them. Genius thinks it can do whatever it sees others doing, but is sure to repent of every ill-judged outlay."

"We are never deceived; we deceive ourselves. "

"As soon as you trust yourself, you will know how to live."

Carl Gustov Jung


"It is highly sensible......to make clear the primacy of the psyche, for that is the one thing which life does not make clear to us. We are so hemmed in by things which jostle and oppress that we never get a chance, in the midst of all these `given' things, to wonder by whom they are `given'.....we (need to) learn that the giver of all things dwells within us. This is a truth which in the face of all evidence, in the greatest things as in the smallest, is never known, although it is often so very necessary, indeed vital, for us to know it."

"Love `bears all things' and `endures all things' (1 Cor. 13:7). These words say all there is to said: nothing can be added to them.....Being part man cannot grasp the whole. He is at its mercy. He may assent to it , or rebel against it; but he is always caught up by it and enclosed within it. He is dependent upon it and is sustained by it. Love is his light and his darkness, whose end he cannot see. `Love ceases not' -whether he speaks with the `tongues of angels' or with scientific exactitude traces the life of a cell down to its uttermost source. Man can try to name love, showering upon it all the names at his command, and still he will involve himself in endless self deceptions. If he possesses a grain of wisdom he will lay down his arms and name the unknown by the more unknown - ignotum per ignotius - that is by the name of God. That is a confession of his subjection, his imperfection, and his dependency; but at the same time a testimony to his freedom to choose between truth and error."

Albert Einstein

"A person starts to live when he can live outside himself."

"We can't solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them."

"A human being is a part of a whole, called by us _universe_, a part limited in time and space. He experiences himself, his thoughts and feelings as something separated from the rest... a kind of optical delusion of his consciousness. This delusion is a kind of prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires and to affection for a few persons nearest to us. Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty."

Laurie Paige

"Woman need to feel loved to make love, men need to make love to feel loved."

Favorite things to do....

Snowboard in deep powder through snow covered trees:

Cook something new and interesting with lots of herbs and spices
Read a book I can't put down by a pool on a hot day
Dive in the South Pacific Islands

Go to parties
Watch the sunset
Meditate
Promote self awareness
Help people

Benjamin Franklin's Goals of Virtue

Temperance : Eat not to dullness; drink not to elevation.
Silence : Speak not but what may benefit others or yourself; avoid trifling conversation.
Order : Let all your things have their places; let each part of your business have its time.
Resolution : Resolve to perform what you ought; perform without fail what you resolve.
Frugality : Make no expense but to do good to others or yourself; that is, waste nothing.
Industry : Lose no time; be always employed in something useful; cut off all unnecessary actions.
Sincerity : Use no hurtful deceit; think innocently and justly; speak accordingly.
Justice : Wrong none by doing injuries; or omitting the benefits that are your duty.
Moderation : Avoid extremes; forebear resenting injuries so much as you think deserve.
Cleanliness : Tolerate no uncleanliness in body, clothes, or habitation.
Tranquility : Be not disturbed at trifles or at accidents common or unavoidable.
Chastity : Rarely use venery but for health or offspring, never to dullness, weakness, or the injury of your own or another's peace or reputation.
Humility : Imitate Jesus and Socrates.

Favorite Movies

Altered States
Blade Runner
Logan's Run
Dead Poet's Society
Sleeper

Leif....

Interesting Reading...

Lover's and Gamblers
Cosmos (Sagan)
Lord of the Rings
The Mind of God
The Power of Myth
Gulliver's Travels
Tipping Point
Clan of the Cave Bear
Valhala Rising
Men are from Mars Woman From Venus
Germs, Guns & Steel
A Brief History of Time

Audio Books:
Benjamin Franklin: An American Life
Power of Now
Difficult Conversations
Patton on Leadership

The Top 10 Business Maxims of Benjamin Franklin

1. Your first ambition should be the acquisition of knowledge, pertaining to your business.

2. During business attend to nothing but business, but be prompt in responding to all communications, and never suffer a letter to remain without an answer.

3. Never fail to met a business engagement, however irksome it may be at that moment.

4. Never run down a neighbor's property or goods and praise up your own. It is a mark of low breeding and will gain you nothing.

5. Never misrepresent, falsify, or deceive; have one rule of moral life, never swerve from it, whatever may be the acts or opinions of others.

6. Be affable, polite and obliging to everybody. Avoid discussions, anger, and pettishness, interfere with no disputes the creation of others.

7. Endeavor to be perfect in the calling in which you are engaged.

8. Make no investments without a full acquaintance with their nature and condition; and select such investments as have intrinsic value.

9. Never form the habit of talking about your neighbors, or repeating things that you hear others say. You will avoid much unpleasantness, and sometimes serious difficulties.

10. Be economical; a gain usually requires expense; what is saved is clear.

My kinda music...

I tend to like enchanting music with lots of feeling:
Jeff Buckley
Sarah McLachlan
Cafe Del Mar
Pearl Jam
Massive Attack
The Chemical Brothers
Powderfinger
Cold Play
Frank Sinatra
James Brown
Bob Marley
New Order
Kate Bush
Judas Priest

Piano or Classical Guitar for background music

Favorite Actors

Emotional Intelligence 4 Kids

Beginnings of an illustrated children's book on EI that I would like to create:
[feedback appreciated]

Definitions:What are Feelings?
You can't touch feelings, they touch you. They feel like they come from everywhere inside. Sometimes feelings can be hard to deal with, they are mostly made hard when we don't understand them.When we know which one we are feeling and let ourselves feel it things get better. Our mind is happy because we understand ourselves. Sometimes people try to run away from their feelings, this is not a good thing because the feelings need to come out. Letting feelings out is like breathing out, eventually you have to do it.

Why do we have feelings?
Feelings are there to help us understand things. The messages they sendare not always easy to understand. Sometimes it takes a bit of time to workout what they are trying to say, but when you understand what they are sayingthey often turn into emotions.
Here are some Emotions:Anger is when you feel like a tiger in a fight.Fear is when you are afraid, like walking alone in a forest at night.Sadness is when you feel down- sometimes it can feel like a stomach ache.Happiness is when you feel joy, most people smile a lot and have bright eyes.

Compassion is when your feelings tell you to help someone else.Love is when you feel happiness and compassion at the same time.

Jealousy is when you want something that someone else seems to be getting.Guilt is when you feel bad about something you have done or said.

What is the difference between Feelings and Emotions?
Feelings are what make emotionsWhat is the difference between Brain and Mind?Your Mind is what your Brain does when it is turned onCan what we eat can make us feel differently?Our brains are mysterious machines, they are like a muscle but instead of beingable to move things they make thoughts. Things we eat sometimes changethe chemicals in our brain and make us feel and think different.

Feelings are not good or bad, they are just another way our mind talks to us
Here are some emotions that feel good
Happiness
Love
Compassion

Here are some that can be hard to experience
Sadness
Anger
Guilt
Jealousy

Should I try to not to feel ones that hurt?
No the more you try to cover them up the more they try to come out. You are better off making friendswith the hurtful ones, allow yourself ot feel them for a while then they will go away.

What does Attachment mean?
When you really like something or someone and you are upset when it goes away. It could be a toy, a personor just about anything. If you get too attached to something and it goes away the hard feelingsmay come. But when when they come let yourself feel them, then they will go away sooner.When you really miss someone sometimes you have to suffer. It is your minds way of telling youhow important someone is to you.

Emotions and colours
Jealousy GreenLove BlueAnger RedCompassion purple
4 parts of ourselvesphysicalspirtual guidechildbrain self
Each part has a different voice.

Teaching a man to fish
Empathy means you feel what someone else is feeling
[person in hole]
Compasion means you feel someone elses feeling to the pointthat you soul reaches out to help them.[person in a hole with a rope provided]

Live not what is, but what is possible

Acting out of Fear vs. Acting out of Love
Active Listening Listen Repeat what they said back to them Ask did I get it Ask is there more
The act of listening is often more important than sovling someones problem
Religions Symbols

Birth/DeathShow picture of entry hole, baby to man progression, exit hole - white light.
If you run away from your feelings they can get stuck in parts of your body.This is why even if they are painful you should allow yourself to touch them.

Evolution:Cell - > Fish -> Lizard - > Shrew - > Monkey - > Man - > ?

Don't pay too much attention to the Voice inside your head-sometimes it makes upstories that are not true

Living in the Now:
Each moment is preciousSome people chose to spend a lot of time worrying about tomorrowothers people spend a lot of their time thinking about yesterday.But the happiest people live in the present moment. They delight in the good things happening now.They make the most out of their lives by chosing to live in the now.
BE DO HAVE?Most people believe if they "have" a thing (more time, money, love -- whatever), then they can finally "do" a thing (write a book, take up a hobby, go on vacation, buy a home, undertake a relationship), which will allow them to "be" a thing (happy, peaceful, content, or in love). In actuality, they are reversing the Be-Do-Have paradigm. In the universe it is really is "beingness" that produces"havingness"
First you "be" the thing you want to be.

Example be "happy" (or "knowing," or "wise," or "compassionate," or whatever), then you start "doing" things from this place of beingness -- and soon you discover that what you are doing winds up bringing you the things you've always wanted to "have."
The way to set this creative process (and that's what this is...the process of creation) into motion is to look at what it is you want to "have," ask yourself what you think you would "be" if you "had" that, then go right straight to being!

Ghia - the living planetPlanets blood is water and lava. Everything is moving and changinga mountain today can be a valley tomorrow. What is KarmaPeople need each other - we are all part of a system

ExtraterrestrialStars in the sky are really sun's just like the one that is in the sky during the day.The universe is probably filled with all sorts of other creatures- maybe even other people.The sun's(stars) we see are only the ones close to us there are many more that are too far way for us too see. With telescopes we can see many many more suns(stars). There are more stars in the universethan grains of sands on all the beaches on earth.http://astronomy.swin.edu.au/staff/gmackie/billions.html

Attachment -Give
Forgiveness

The Third Way...

What is Pessimism?
http://www.barnett.sk/software/sos/osho/osho-talks/positiv2.htm

Enneagram Types

Know thy self
Enneagram Test (I am Type 7 - Enthuisiast) http://www.enneagraminstitute.com/dis_sample_36.asp