Desires

Desires

When it's cold, we seek heat

When it's hot, we seek cool

When it's quiet, we seek liveliness

When it's loud, we seek solitude

When in a relationship, we seek to be single

When single, we seek a relationship

When one desires a different circumstance,

one loses the gratitude of the present moment.

If one lives for tomorrow, one can never find peace.

Source: photo credit: <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/pagedooley/3729323130/">kevin dooley</a> via <a href="http://photopin.com">photopin</a> <a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/">cc</a>

True Self

At this time, I feel as though we are withholding our own happiness unless one has the objects or status they wish to have to feel their own happiness.

Too many times do I hear of people feeling unacceptable of themselves until they own a fancy car, having a big house, and a spouse who loves them dearly. To wish for these things are not wrong to feel, but when one associates their own well being towards the contrast of their happiness till one owns a certain status to the public's eyes, is to imprison ones self towards the judgement of others.

Observing this phenomenon, one starts to realize that these kind of acts re-frame ones true identity and the genius that is the self. Only when one finds the courage of acting upon their true nature, one can reveal the true orchestra of wondrous sonnets that one was born to play.

Source: photo credit: <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/zanini/4416943669/">Zanini H.</a> via <a href="http://photopin.com">photopin</a> <a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/">cc</a>

Life is but a Dream

Life is but a Dream

Let us suppose that you are dreaming right now.

Within this dream, it has created a certain sets of rules and values of itself to maintain the order and balance in such a way, it feels exactly as if one lives on planet Earth. One must eat, sleep, know the existence of gravity and so forth.

Knowing that this is just a dream, and you will wake up back to reality once you pass away in this dream, how would you like to enjoy this experience?

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Strange Question by a Fourth Grader

Today, I experienced a peculiar state of thought when a 4^th grade girl asked me in an annoyed tone "Why are you smiling all the time?"

I once watched a lecture on the different types of generations that are being brought up by the world with the events and circumstances we experience. If a country were to be focused on war, the younger generations grew older to become more orderly and more attentive, but be very restricted from thoughts and creativity. If another country were to focus on freedom, the younger generations learned more of themselves from free will and to express their true nature, but be very sporadic in terms of personality types, which can be seen as chaotic to some.

But near the end of the lecture, the professor pointed out that if we wish to see what our future generation looks like, go and talk to an elementary teacher, for they will be the first people to know how a generation will turn out to be.

So when this little girl had asked me this question, I was puzzled in a sense that when I was a child, I was always happy and someone had to make me unhappy to not be happy. So I asked in return "Because I'm happy. Aren't you happy?". As she looked away and down at the floor, she met with my eyes once more to respond in a doubtful voice "Yeah, but I don't normally see adults smiling"

By sharing this experience with you, I am not saying we all ought to be more happy and be smiling more, but take away the fact that our actions will impact our future generations for they will learn from what we do, not what we say; since it's very easy for parents to tell their children to be more kind and be humble, and moments later, we catch them doing the exact opposite of their own teachings and in that consequence, actions speak louder than words.

If one thanks the mailman for delivering a package rain or shine out of sincerity, the mailman will feel good. In turn, he may then decides to compliment the following neighbor for his nice blue shirt. The man feeling good about the shirt, he then donates some of his other blue shirts to the poor. As the poor family receives them, a child watched a complete stranger give him and his family clothes to wear. In turn, the child later grows up to run a highly successful charity program to provide for the need around the world.

(I once read a book that said if we wish to see if we were good parents as mothers or fathers, watch how your grandchildren grows up.)

Know that what we project out to the world, will determine our own future whether it'd be good or bad; It's up to you on how you would like it to be.

"You must be the change you wish to see in the world"

-Mahatma Gandhi

What changes can you make starting today for the change we wish to see in the world?

How to live a Happy and Peaceful Life

There comes a time when we stop to look at our lives, and start to wonder why our lives became so complicated.

As dark as it sounds, the only things we really need to survive as humans is simply to eat, sleep, have sex and die just as animals do. But somewhere along the lines of humanity, we developed an egoic mind of wanting to stimulate itself by becoming selfish of our own desires, and have dominion over others by gaining control over sex, money, and power.

Easily, a person could purchase goods whether that'd be purses, cars, coffee, if those goods will provide value to our lives; with no problems at all. But if we add a hyped brand named good into the equation, we instantly choose the brand name because it creates a sense of worth and sense of superiority over others, since not everyone can afford it.

The Buddha said within the four noble truth, that suffering was caused by desire.

If one approaches to live with no desires, he later learns to realize that if we desire to not desire, we're desiring not to desire; just as Siddhartha Gautama (Buddha) paradoxically left the open statement.

There is no right and wrong in wishing to gain something; except, what is your reasoning behind it?

Are you trying to become a doctor so you can gain a high income status and to have prestige of earning the right to being called Dr. Soandso? Or is it because you have a burning desire to learn about biology and to help the sick since you've experienced a family member pass away?

If you're suffering from inner turmoil, we must first learn to let go of our attachments. If one see's unfit of themselves until he/she becomes rich and famous with driving a fancy car and owning a mansion, who would you be if we were to strip all those away?

"Kingdom of God(Heaven) is within you"

-Luke 17:21

If we learned how to live a simple life knowing happiness comes from within ourselves, we reach a point of contentment of not needing to do anything, but live. So then comes to the concluding question "why do we do anything?" "what is the point of anything?"

If you were to ask me "then why do you write?" I would ask in return "why do birds sing?"

The birds aren't required to sing when it doesn't have to, but it does what it does out of joy. Therefore, I write for the same reason as birds sing; I dig it.

No one can give nor show you happiness and peacefulness, just as you leading a horse to water, doesn't mean the horse will drink it. You must find it within yourself.

So now, I'll leave you with the question,

If we desire happiness and peace, we've missed the whole target by agreeing our lives isn't sufficient; which is not happiness and peace. Isn't it so?

Source:

photo credit a href=httpswww.flickr.comphotoschungholeung8728085721Chung Ho Leunga via a href=httpphotopin.comphotopina a href=httpcreativecommons.orglicensesby-nd2.0cca

Are You Living Your Own Life? Or Someone Else's?

If I were to ask you to prove that you're living for your own life, you can simply state that you are going to perform an action within 3 seconds, and proceed to do them to prove it. But in some cases, you may not even realize that you might not be living for your own life. Here's why.

• An average American watches 5 hours of TV per day. Children aged 2-11 watch over 24 hours of TV per week, while adults aged 35-49 watch more than 33 hours, and keeps increasing as we get older.

• Statistics of YouTube shows that over 6 billion hours of video are watched each month on YouTube. That's almost an hour for every person on Earth.

In this case, we can easily add video games, movies, books, and they are all just a reproduction of life that we are not living in!

I am not claiming that it is wrong that we participate, but if we are excessively using our free time and will, to gorge on our false pretense life, are you watching the television? Or is the television watching you?

Here's an example that might resonate with you.

For those who yearns to travel, watching a pixelated replication of people traveling, we feel satisfied watching it as if we were generically there. Now that we're feeling satisfied as we watch more, it actually makes the idea of us wanting to travel to that specific place less and less inviting because it felt like we've been there already! We then slowly start to realize that its a hassle to save up money, to pack our essentials, and plan a flight, since it is much easier to click a button to view what we want to see.

So let me ask you this.

If I asked you about love, you can tell me all the romantic films you've watched, or you could easily quote me on the studies of William Shakespeare's sonnets, but tell me, what did her hair smell like? What did it feel like when she had her hand on your bare back after a long night? How did you feel when your heart was pulsating at a rapid tempo, as you embraced and kissed her soft lips for the first time? You never actually fully experienced it because it was just a reproduction of life you were watching.

Therefore, I'd like to invite you to live your own life. Stop continuously looking at screens and pictures of others living. Rather, go out there and feel the soft sand beneath your toes, feel the gentle caress of the wind, and go experience life entirely with your own 5 senses, to embrace your own personal piece of life!

“Life is a succession of lessons which must be lived to be understood.”

-Ralph Waldo Emerson

So now, if you are observing others live their lives,

who's life are you really living?

Source:
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Why Quitting Your Job Can Save Your Life

How many of us have sold our time and soul for the pure intent of monetary paper to survive, which cannot afford with any amount for the beautiful encapsulated moments, of the remarkable life that we are privileged to partake in? I am one of the guiltiest member there is...

"He who sacrifices freedom for security deserves neither"

-Ben Franklin

I got myself into an insurance company, which at the time, I was succumbed on performing whatever it took to becoming rich, and live a luxurious lifestyle which would bring admiration to my friends and family of what a success I'd become.

With my innate ability of interpersonal skills, it was inevitable that I had become very good after a long time. I watched as my cash rolled in, wallet got larger, and experienced having generated a month worth of paycheck from my last job within a short 3 days.

As I had felt I was at the pinnacle of my success in life, I asked myself "What's next?" "Is this it?" "Am I enjoying the fruits of my labor?". Then I had realized, I'd blown my entire life around this career, which therefore, miss my own mother and sister's birthday, my grandmothers 80^th celebration, hanging out with my best friend, and every holiday within all just a short year.

I was so blinded, that I had forgotten that money is just a tool. It is supposed to make our lives easier, not harder; because what good is money, if you can't purchase being next to the ones you love?

Grateful am I, to have gained this prolific knowledge and be liberated within a short period of time, as to some are still imprisoned by their own greed to not realize, it is of no value, compared to the value of human life experience.

Maybe you yourself are experiencing this as we speak.

Are you working in a job you don't like? Are you working in a job solely for security purposes? Does your human spirit weigh more beneficial to stay at that job, or better leaving?

I understand. You have needs to feed yourself, pay the bills, dependents to take care of and so forth.

But realize what we are doing is, we're doing things we don't like doing, in order to go on living, that is to go on doing things we don't like doing. Then sooner or later, we'll be bringing up children to live the same sort of manner we're living in, and have them pursue the same depressing route, which is a foolish decision.

"Happiness is not in the mere possession of money; it lies in the joy of achievement, in the thrill of creative effort"

-Franklin D. Roosevelt

So instead of taking part in a cycle of senseless choice, I'd like to ask you,

What personal value would you like to contribute, for the benefit of your own self existence and to others?

Source:

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