#580 "All Manner of Things SHALL be Well" ??

Old echoes may ache,
Doubts inherited can pummel,
Reflexive unskilled tendencies can simmer,
AND YET - "all manner of things ARE well" - NOW

For deep within & all about ...
Profound wisdom,
The vigilance of the most loving grandparent,

Immediately, effortlessly ever-present ...
Spacious clear AWARENESS -
Silent, still, timeless, loving, peaceful, joyful,
Embracing EVERYTHING.

     See also: http://www.johnlovas.com/2014/11/waking-up.html

Valerios Theofanidis, National Geographic   http://photography.nationalgeographic.com

#524 Life - As Is

     There's a deep (desperate?) drive in all of us towards perfection - having perfect stuff, experiences, relationships, and even wanting ourselves to be perfect. Haven't we all imagined or at least dreamed of being able to fly? Or having other "super-powers"? "And how's that working for you?"

     Real life sure is a big fat humility pill compared to our daydreams! Mindfulness practice helps us embrace real life, exactly as it is, so much easier.

     See also: http://healthyhealers.blogspot.ca/2012/05/dealing-with-trauma-adversity.html

Lerky - Devin & Natalie's guest of honour

#409 Quick Simple Categories versus Reality

     Many of us are more comfortable making quick either-or-judgments than exploring subtle shades of gray ie we tend to see things as either black or white. We quickly conclude that we like or dislike something, can or can't do a task, etc. Dichotomous thinking is our default autopilot mode. We may even identify with such ambiguity intolerance - "that's me, that's who I am, always was and always will be."
     Gradually we learn that virtually nothing is black-or-white. Extremes are perhaps only concepts, with infinite real shades of gray in between. Even two apparently polar opposites can be present and true at the same time eg we each have a number of subpersonalities, one of which may resemble a vulnerable child, and another a wise grandparent. Clearly, concepts and models of reality are but very rough sketches. Our growing psychological flexibility allows us to break free from the corner we may have boxed ourselves into, and to increasingly embrace reality as it is. We begin to realize that ambiguity intolerance is an adaptive over-simplification of an enormously complex, constantly changing world. And we ourselves are infinitely more complex than a pattern of likes and dislikes. 

#333 Paradoxes & Head-scratchers during Mindfulness - Cognitive Dissonance

     "cognitive dissonance is the discomfort experienced when simultaneously holding two or more conflicting cognitions: ideas, beliefs, values or emotional reactions. In a state of dissonance, people may sometimes feel 'disequilibrium': frustration, hunger, dread, guilt, anger, embarrassment, anxiety, etc. 
     ... people have a bias to seek consonance between their expectations and reality. ... people engage in ... 'dissonance reduction' ... achieved in one of 3 ways: lowering the importance of one of the discordant factors, adding consonant elements, or changing one of the dissonant factors. This bias sheds light on otherwise puzzling, irrational, and even destructive behavior."     http://en.wikipedia.org

     As we become increasingly mindful ie more & more aware of what's actually happening all around us and within, we realize that we've been doing an awful lot of 'dissonance reduction' in order to distort reality to fit our naive ideas of safety, comfort, convenience, happiness etc.
     The puzzling statements about mindfulness that we initially discounted - "no, they can't mean that" - we increasingly realize accurately depict reality, but at the time, we literally could not - were not ready - to see it. Learning is iterative & experiential.
     As our practice matures, we become increasingly "more real". Reality is far less harsh than we feared, and the quality of our lives becomes better than we had hoped for.

     See also: http://healthyhealers.blogspot.ca/2013/06/intellectual-glass-ceiling-it-most.html

Dale Chihuly   http://www.chihulygardenandglass.com/

#329 Judgmental : Grateful Ratio - Impacts your Quality of Life

     It's good to learn to be aware of when we're being judgmental - harshly critical of ourselves, first & foremost. Why? Because when we're hard on ourselves, we're almost certainly hard on others as well. And we may not be aware at all of our self-criticism, and it may be "business as usual" when it comes to criticizing others. How often are YOU harshly judgmental of others?
     It's also a good idea to become aware of when our hearts are open, and aware of the fact that we owe a massive debt of gratitude to so many people for being alive, for all that we have, etc. None of us can cause ourselves to be born, to grow up, to survive. This is a thoroughly interconnected incredibly complex web of life - we depend on each other far more than we can possibly realize. Gratitude should be common, normal, dominant emotion for all of us. How often are YOU overwhelmed by loving gratitude?
     What's the ratio of times when you're judgmental vs when you're grateful? Which is more realistic ie more appropriate to or in tune with reality? Which of the two is going to make you deeply satisfied, filled with joy? Think deeply about this. You have far more control over your quality of life than you realize!

Fredrik Lonnkvist   http://travel.nationalgeographic.com