On trusting the process..............

 

 . . . I’m about to run into trouble, because I don’t have everything I need (the right arguments, good enough material, whatever) for the bit that’s coming next. This bothers me less than it used to, though, because again and again, the missing insight, anecdote, or angle arrives just in time. I’ll open a book at random, or hear something on a podcast, or a friend will make a comment, or I’ll notice something on a walk, and it’ll be exactly what I need for everything to fall into place. It never seems to arrive until the moment it’s required, though, so that’s more way it’s being constantly hammered home to me that trusting yourself/reality/the process is the whole game here. 

-Oliver Burkeman, from this edition

fun............................

 He had these enthusiasms for his projects and his future—his present.  It was not as if you had to deny yourself in the present for the future.  The focus was on how interesting things are today, how much fun to see them built.  It was so much fun being in the moment.  That's what he always communicated.

-Janet Lowe, Damn Right! Behind the Scenes With Berkshire Hathaway Billionaire Charlie Munger

pursuit.....................

. . . by embracing the pursuit of happiness, we rob ourselves of happiness in the here and now.  We fail to appreciate who we are and what we've done to this point.

-Dan Sullivan/Benjamin Hardy, The Gap and The Gain 

grounded...................

Regardless of what the marketers, click-bait headlines, and pseudoscience evangelists say, there are no magic lotions, potions, or pills when it comes to deep happiness, lasting well-being, and enduring performance.

. . . happiness, fulfillment, well-being, and sustainable performance arise when you concentrate on being present in the process of living instead of obsessing over outcomes, and above all when you're firmly grounded wherever you are.

-Brad Stulberg, The Practice of Groundedness

Awareness.......

Through detached noticing, awareness allows an observed flower to reveal more of itself without our intervention.  This is true of all things.

     Awareness is not a state you force.  There is little effort involved, though persistence is key.  It's something you actively allow to happen.  It is a presence with, and acceptance of, what is happening in the eternal now. 

-Rick Rubin, The Creative Act: A Way of Being

Now........................

 

People don't realize that the future is just now, but later.

-Russell Brand

Present........................

 There is no past and no future; no one has ever entered those two imaginary kingdoms.  There is only the present.  Do not worry about the future, because there is no future.  Live in the present and for the present, and if your present is good, then it is good forever.

-LeoTolstoy

About the future......................

"Remember, there's no greatness in the future.  Or clarity.  Or insight.  Or happiness.  Or peace.  There is only this moment.

-Ryan Holiday,  Stillness Is The Key

the actual thing..........................

Our society is very result-oriented, that’s why we are so competitive. That’s why we are always stressed, because we are always looking at something in the distance. If you are always looking at the top of the mountain you are climbing, you cannot be aware of the grass and flowers growing at your feet. We are always looking ahead, aren’t we? And then the actual thing, the actual living, passes us by. We are locked inside our brains, cut off from the present moment, always centered on something beyond our reach. We are imagining this mirage of happiness, satisfaction and fulfillment which will magically appear once this and this and this happens. But what’s happening right now is “it” and it’s the only “it” we have. The rest is just fabrication.

-Tenzin Palmo, Reflections On A Mountain Lake: Teachings On Practical Buddhism

via

Handle with care.....................

It's fun to think about the future.  It's easy to ruminate on the past.  It's harder to put the energy into what's in front of us right now at this moment - especially if it's something we don't want to do. ... There is an old saying:  "How you handle anything is how you do everything."  It's true.  How you handle today is how you will handle every day.  How you handle this minute is how you'll handle every minute.

-Ryan Holiday, from today's entry in The Daily Stoic

Probably not a very busy intersection.....

While technology may create the need........

...........................for immediacy, we actually live in a "not-yet" world.  Jeff Gill offers some thoughts:

"The world around us may expect speed, but we look for truth, a concept that can be blessedly slow."

Here and now...........................

   via

The Present......................

Much has been said about being in the present.
It's the place to be, according to the gurus,
like the latest club on the downtown scene,
but no one, it seems, is able to give you directions.

It doesn't seem desirable or even possible
to wake up every morning and begin
leaping from one second into the next
until you fall exhausted back into bed.

Plus, there'd be no past
with so many scenes to savor and regret,
and no future, the place you will die
but not before flying around with a jet-pack.

The trouble with the present is
that it's always in a state of vanishing.
Take the second it takes to end 
this sentence with a period - already gone.

What about the moment that exists
between banging your thumb
with a hammer and realizing
you are in a whole lot of pain?

What about the one that occurs
after you hear the punch line
but before you get the joke?
Is that where the wise men want us to live

in that intervening tick, the tiny slot
that occurs after you have spent hours
searching downtown for that new club
and just before you give up and head back home?

-Billy Collins, from his collection of poems in The Rain In Portugal

Bill Murray.......................

.....................................................................Just one more proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy.  Story here

thanks craig

Be gentle.......................

Beyond a wholesome discipline, be gentle with yourself. You are a child of the universe no less than the trees and the stars; you have a right to be here.

Max Ehrmann,  Desiderata

Go..................................

“It’s a terrible thing, I think, in life to wait until you’re ready. I have this feeling now that actually no one is ever ready to do anything. There is almost no such thing as ready. There is only now. And you may as well do it now. Generally speaking, now is as good a time as any."
-Hugh Laurie, as quoted in this blog post

Satisfied.............................................

"A happy man is too satisfied with the present to dwell too much on the future."
-Albert Einstein

Self-imposed............................

      Getting caught up in memories of the past or worrying about the future is a form of self-imposed suffering.  Either retirement or youth can be seen as moving on, a time for something different, something new.  Start fresh.  It's a new moment.  Aging is not a culmination.  Youth isn't preparation for later.  This isn't the end of the line or the beginning.  Now isn't a time to look back or plan ahead.  It is a time just to be present.  The present is timeless.  Being in the moment, just being here with what is, is ageless, eternal.
-Ram Dass, Polishing The Mirror:  How To Live From Your Spiritual Heart

At this moment.....................................

"He who has gotten rid of the disease of 'tomorrow' has a chance of achieving what he is here for."
-George Gurdjieff