We tend to think of success as happiness, but are they the same thing?
Most people think success is synonymous with material wealth and happiness. Certainly material success can lead to happiness especially if it satisfies our basic survival needs. However, material success beyond basic needs produces a happiness that is often short lived, and each success thereafter raises the bar for happiness.
For example, one of our first successes may be buying our first new car, but our next car tends to only bring happiness if it is nicer then the first car. We must also admit that a new car only brings true happiness for the first day, week or month after we buy it. The thrill or actual happiness of driving the new car fades quickly, and what happens to that happiness when someone scratches it or dents the door?
The same...
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Isolation Or Unity?
From unity to isolation
We have all felt a terribly sense of isolation or loneliness at some point in our lives, but what brings about loneliness? Why do we feel a sense of isolation? Isolation and unity are opposites on a spectrum. We don’t just wake up one morning and feel an overwhelming sense of isolation and loneliness, we get there through a process. The same can be said of feeling connected, unified and loved. Isolation is a natural consequence of becoming more egotistical just as unity is a product of becoming more spiritual.
“The most terrible poverty is loneliness, and the feeling of being unloved.” ~ Mother Teresa
While it is true that some are born into poverty and perhaps abandoned by their parents, most of us have the advantage of living in the most prosperous nation on earth. Here in the United St...
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Life Lessons From The Old
What life lessons can older people teach us?
The old and elderly are probably the most qualified authority on life lessons. They acquire this knowledge through the perspective of living a full life while looking back at its end. If you are familiar with my Abyss theory of life, you will see this is the clear perspective of having risen to new plateaus while being able to look back on life and the lessons learned at the lower levels. What most people don't realize is all these life lessons involve learning about ourselves, specifically they are lessons in choosing between the ego and spirit.
In reviewing many "Top Ten List" of life lessons learned from the elderly I have compiled a list of common advice. The common thread to all this advice is personal truths about our own growth in life. If you examine each more cl...
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Are you having happy thoughts ?
How can we start to think happy thoughts ?
First, let’s figure out what happy thoughts are. What if you found out your private thoughts and conversations are not private at all; you might be terrified. Suppose your every thought and every conversation through the day was posted on your social media account? Terrifying? Yes, for most people this would be more terrifying then death itself. As a matter of fact many would choose suicide over the consequence of exposing our true thoughts. Yet this example will help to highlight the nature of our thoughts. The truth is many people are thinking thoughts which do not lead to happiness. The truth of this is available for anyone willing to seek it and ponder this social media scenario. No, of course your thoughts will not be broadcast through the internet, but your thoughts an...
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Unconditional Love – or – Loving someone like a pet
Loving someone like a pet. To love a pet is a demonstration of unconditional love.
First let me clarify the statement of loving someone like a pet, this title can sound either condescending or downright disrespectful. Let me also clarify I am talking about a pet you love, not one that bears the brunt of ones anger and ignorance. Pets are wonderful for providing companionship but they mostly become the object of our affection. In other words, they become an object in which we can express our unconditional love.
I have to be very clear about defining the type of pet owner I am referring to. Unfortunately there are some pet owners that seem to have pets to express their frustrations, anger, intolerance and ignorance, or they wish to have control over another creature. Oh these pet owners will show their pets love when...
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Understanding Consciousness – Part 3 – Evolutionary Consciousness
Evolutionary Consciousness
We have looked at various ways of understanding consciousness in the first and second post in this series. Now we will try to understand consciousness from an evolutionary standpoint. Reviewing evolutionary consciousness will help us better understand how consciousness has developed over time.
Evolutionary Consciousness - Instinctual animal tendencies
It is easy to forget that man has evolved over many thousands of years. The higher levels of consciousness we experience is a recent advance in our species. We humans have evolved from a primitive beginning rising up from ape like creatures. During this evolution natural selection favored certain characteristics, such as aggression, selfishness, paranoia and fear. These traits were advantageous to survival and procreation. The instinct to...
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