Eastern Wisdom

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Imagine
by guest
22 May 2012 at 9:44am
Editor’s note: This is a guest post from Chris Guillebeau of ChrisGuillebeau.com. Imagine a life where all your time is spent on the things you want to do. Imagine giving your greatest attention to a project you create yourself, instead of working as a cog in a machine that exists to make other people rich. [...]
The Little Guide to Contentedness
by Leo
18 May 2012 at 1:31pm
‘He who is contented is rich.’ ~Lao Tzu Post written by Leo Babauta. There has been little in my life that has made as much an impact as learning to be content — with my life, where I am, what I’m doing, what I have, who I’m with, who I am. This little trick changes [...]
The 9-5 Guide to Staying Active
by guest
15 May 2012 at 9:00am
Editor’s note: This is a guest post from Matt Madeiro of Make Every Day Count. Let?s see if this rings any bells. When the clock hits 8, I sit. I plop back in my rolling chair, crack open the laptop on my desk, and spend the next nine hours with my butt glued firmly to [...]
Three Little Habits to Find Focus
by Leo
10 May 2012 at 11:42am
‘Distraction is the only thing that consoles us for miseries and yet it is itself the greatest of our miseries.’ ~Blaise Pascal Post written by Leo Babauta. I’ll be the first to admit that I fall victim to the trap of the Internet — a wonderful empowering tool that can fill your day with distractions, [...]
How to Live Well
by Leo
7 May 2012 at 1:59pm
‘Begin at once to live, and count each separate day as a separate life.’ ~Seneca Post written by Leo Babauta. I’m not a rich man, nor do I fly around the world and drink champagne with famous people in exotic locales, nor do I own a sports car or SUV or a yacht. And yet, [...]
What I?ve Learned About Learning
by Leo
3 May 2012 at 9:07am
‘We learn more by looking for the answer to a question and not finding it than we do from learning the answer itself.’ ~Lloyd Alexander Post written by Leo Babauta. I am a teacher and an avid learner, and I’m passionate about both. I’m a teacher because I help Eva homeschool our kids — OK, [...]
The 39th Lesson
by Leo
30 Apr 2012 at 9:05am
Post written by Leo Babauta. Today (April 30) is my 39th Un-un-birthday, and as usual, the day is a good day to pause and reflect. Last year I wrote 38 Life Lessons I?ve Learned in 38 Years, and people seemed to find some use in it. This year, I thought I’d share an additional lesson [...]
How to Fail at Habits
by Leo
24 Apr 2012 at 11:28am
Post written by Leo Babauta. Before I learned how to change habits, I was stuck. I kept trying to change various habits — running, eating healthier, waking earlier, getting out of debt, ending procrastination — and I kept failing. I got very good at failing, in fact. Looking back on those days, given the power [...]
Webinar: How I Used the Power of Bad Habits to Change My Life
by Leo
23 Apr 2012 at 8:00am
Post written by Leo Babauta. Yesterday I conducted a free webinar, “How I Used the Power of Bad Habits to Change My Life“, and the video is below. The webinar was held Mon. April 23), and in it I talked about my struggle with bad habits, why bad habits are so powerful, and how I [...]
Crazy Talk: The Do-What-You-Love Guide
by Leo
19 Apr 2012 at 11:36am
‘Everything you can imagine is real.’ ~Pablo Picasso Post written by Leo Babauta. When I wrote the first words of this blog, more than five years ago, I had no idea those few keystrokes would change my life. I thought I was doing nothing more than reflecting on the changes that had been happening in [...]

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Reasons Why Personal Distress

Here is your Thursday STORY on: ADAPTING TO CHANGE: QUOTE: 'Empathize with one who is angry and watch the anger melt away into acceptance.' (Eva Gregory) Starting with a quote on this occasion has helped set the mood. A major part of wisdom is control, not dominance but allowance. The greater control comes from letting go. Rather than seeing control as 'hands on' we ought to view it from a different perspective as 'hands off'. As in the quote above empathy is not control it is an understanding. To understand allows a greater force to work. If we could adapt that to our own life rather than the quote's suggestion as seeing others, we could temper many a storm. As with adapting to change, could we not allow the change to happen and adapt rather than fight its effect? The greater energy flow would arise by letting go, rather than mustering up the strength to fight. Our emotion state of mind is at its strongest during a period of calm and settled existence. Stir that up and our decisions become more erratic and dysfunctional. So the power arises from the calm rather than the futile lashing out from the anger. Today's story illustrates how we can disarm the anger; the anger of doing wrong. The route is through letting go rather than dominance. DISARMING THE ENEMY According to an Associated Press account, in September 1994 Cindy Hartman of Conway, Arkansas, walked into her house to answer the phone and was confronted by a burglar. He ripped the phone cord out of the wall and ordered her into a closet. Hartman dropped to her knees and asked the burglar if she could pray for him. "I want you to know that God loves you and I forgive you, '' she said. The burglar apologized for what he had done. Then he yelled out the door to a woman in a pickup truck: "We've got to unload all of this. This is a Christian home and a Christian family. We can't do this to them." As Hartman remained on her knees, the burglar returned furniture he had taken from her home. Then he took the bullets out of his gun, handed the gun to Hartman, and walked out the door. Praying for our enemies is incredibly disarming. (Unknown Author) QUOTE: 'Whenever evil befalls us, we ought to ask ourselves, after the first suffering, how can we turn it into good. So shall we take occasion, from one bitter root, to raise perhaps many flowers.' (Leigh Hunt) [[ct]]: Reasons Why Personal Distress

4/10 Answering Bart Ehrman: Why We Suffer?

24 Aug 2009 at 3:42am

2/10 Answering Bart Ehrman: Why We Suffer?

23 Aug 2009 at 2:35pm

5/10 Answering Bart Ehrman: Why We Suffer?

23 Aug 2009 at 5:40pm

Next page: Self Actualization Psychology

Reasons Why Personal Distress News

EDITORIAL; Curious Contents of the Digital Library

13 Oct 2011 at 12:00am Perhaps you haven't read Mrs. Molesworth's ''Uncanny Tales'' or C. Schweigger's ''Schweigger on Squint.'' Perhaps you missed ''How to Be Happy Though Married'' or the Farmers' Bulletin devoted to ''House Rats and Mice.'' No worries. They are available in 24 digital formats, including versions to suit just about any e-book reader you own. These...

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ESSAY; The Rap on Happiness

31 Jan 2010 at 12:00am

Smart people often talk trash about happiness, and worse than trash about books on happiness, and they have been doing so for centuries -- just as long as other people have been pursuing happiness and writing books about it. The fashion is to bemoan happiness studies and positive psychology as being the work not of the Devil (the Devil is kind of...

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THE WEEK AHEAD | JAN. 3- JAN.9

3 Jan 2010 at 12:00am Television Mike Hale With a new decade beginning, PBS gets introspective, offering a pair of three-part series that delve into human nature. ''THIS EMOTIONAL LIFE,'' Monday through Wednesday at 9 p.m. on most stations, is hosted by Daniel Gilbert, the author of ''Stumbling on Happiness'' and a psychologist at Harvard, where he is known as Professor...

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CHILDREN'S BOOKS; Happy to Be Me . . . . . . or Me!

10 May 2009 at 12:00am

LITTLE OINK By Amy Krouse Rosenthal. Illustrated by Jen Corace Unpaged. Chronicle Books. $14.99. (Ages 3 and up) SPOON By Amy Krouse Rosenthal. Illustrated by Scott Magoon Unpaged. Disney Hyperion Books. $15.99. (Ages 2 to 6) YES DAY! By Amy Krouse Rosenthal. Illustrated by Tom Lichtenheld Unpaged. HarperCollins Publishers. $14.99. (Ages 4 to 8)...

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