Friday, November 20, 2009

The Root Of Rage


Unchecked frustration is a poison. It eats at us and haunts us. It can so quickly build into rage and explode - hurting us and our loved ones.

We should seek to curb frustration through the loving, conscious expressing of our fears and worries. When we share these in a gentle way the weight of them lifts off us and frustration is no more.

We should also seek to curb frustration through removing the burden of expectation. We should seek rather to be hopeful of what the future might bring and accepting of what comes than to be dogmatic with our expectations for this can only create frustration and disappointment when things turn out to be different from our planned outcome.

To experience joy and freedom we must banish frustration from our minds. Seek to cease it's occurrence through releasing expectation and then to halt it when it does occur by releasing it with love.

In this way frustration loses it's power to harm and becomes instead an emotion that comes and goes like all others. In healing frustration we find peace must surely be with us for the mind can rest and the heart can be still.

Tuesday, October 20, 2009

On Living In The Now


Seek to live in this moment. Right now. For there is no other moment in existence but this very one.

The past is gone. It no longer exists. To be haunted by that which is gone creates guilt, depression and longing- pain that exists in this moment over injuries from something that has passed. Releasing the past is paramount to being in this moment and it frees us from the shackles of these pains.

The future has not happened. It does not yet exist. To be too concerned with what may (or may not) happen creates worry, fear and anxiety. This is pain that exists now over things that have yet- or may never- happen. Releasing the future to be what it will be gives us the freedom to create our desired future in this moment.

Looking back is necessary to avoid past mistakes and to replicate and expand on past successes. Looking forward allows us to plan brighter futures and avoid possible pitfalls. Yet to dwell in either of these spaces draws us out of this moment, where we are, and puts us where we are not.

Instead we must be where we are. Here. Now. For it is only in this moment that we can ever find true happiness and freedom for no other moment exists.

Monday, October 19, 2009

This Too Will Pass


Nothing can be kept forever. All things are temporal and must eventually change.

When we learn acceptance of change we can truly master life. Each thing, person and place will come and go and when we learn that the going is inevitable we stop holding on and attaching and start to appreciate the blessings they bring.

Each joy will pass. Each sorrow will pass. We cannot bask in any one blessing forever nor can we suffer any one torment forever. Each thing has a time and then it will change or leave us.

So seek to accept the transitory nature of things. Let each experience come and then allow it to go. In this way the pain of lost attachment cannot harm us. In this way we are free.

In memory of Paul.

Wednesday, October 14, 2009

On Abundance


Give thanks for all that you have and for all the good things coming to you. We are creative beings and that which our minds dwell on becomes what the hands manufacture.

When our minds are filled with thanks for the abundance and love in our lives we tend to draw more of these things to ourselves. When we are negative in our thinking we tend to find more to be negative about in our lives.

In this way we find many financially wealthy people who are miserable while others have great joy in the very little they have. An attitude of gratitude is paramount to being satisfied, and ultimately, happy with your life whether you be prince or pauper.

Gratitude reinforces our mental belief that we experience abundance in all things and this in turn makes us able to create more abundance since one cannot have something if they do not believe they can have it.

So seek to be grateful for the many riches in your life and be hopeful of more to come. For in thanks we find that wealth is all in the mind and she who masters that mind has everything and needs nothing.

Thursday, October 8, 2009

Freedom From Choice


Choice is a gift. In choice is freedom. It is the foundation for our liberty and the conduit in which joy comes to us.

But choice must come from the will of the heart and gratitude for all we have and will receive. In this way our choices create harmony in our lives. When choice is based on competitive ideals or on our fears we manifest discord and pain.

When we choose joy and abundance and freedom then these ideals manifest first within us then they flow out into the world. That is why no freedom can be given by another to you and wealth and happiness are states of mind. They must first come from inside us to be made manifest outside us.

So choose wisely and with gratitude and expectation and you will find your life is fuller for it.

Monday, September 28, 2009

Tha Joy of Giving


Seek to share the best of your being with the world. It is through service that we are able to uplift others and recognise the abundance that exists in us.

No one can give something they do not already possess. It is thus that when you share of your joy, laughter, hope and love you begin to see how much more you have in reserve.

What we put out into the world multiplies. If we seek to put love out then that multiplies. If we seek to put thankfulness out then it multiplies too. When we seek to put generosity out then it too multiplies and eventually so much love, kindness and gratefulness will surround us.

So take some time to be kind to someone who needs to smile. Share a laugh with your neighbour. Be gentle with your colleague. It is in doing these things that we discover the abundance of joy within us and it is in this way that we bring joy to the world.

Wednesday, September 23, 2009

On Inner Wisdom


There is a voice in every heart that implores us to be our greatest selves. It recognises us as the possibilities that exist in our dreams rather than the culmination of past choices we have made.

It insists on guiding us to be what we dream of becoming. It seeks to lead us to joy and fulfilment. It asks us to be the highest version of our greatest vision of ourselves.

In this voice we have a companion, always gently nudging us to be more, be better, be happier.

And it speaks in soft tones and metaphors. It whispers in our dreams and nudges us to look at coincidences. It uses emotions and chance encounters to remind us of what we could be if only we would listen to it.

Seek to hear this voice. And when you have heard it seek to follow it for it is your greatest encouragement and the path to your highest joy and in it's guidance you will certainly find your way to fulfilment.

Thursday, September 17, 2009

Freedom in the Moment


The gift of conscious living can only be experienced by being present in the moment.

Consciously coming back to the current and eternal moment of now allows you to be free. There are no ties to the past and the weight and pain that reside in it as the past no longer exists in the present. There is no worry for the future either as it too does not exist as it has not occured and so all that remains is now. Right now.

This moment is a gift wherin all pain and guilt cannot exists because they only exist in a moment that has passed. Similarly fear cannot live as it concerns things that do not exist now. And though they may exist in some future "now" they have not come to pass and so they are not real.

All that is real is right now. And right now freedom exists, peace exists and stillness exists. In this moment you can be peaceful and still and whole if only you would choose it. In this moment your choice is your experience. In this moment you are truly free.

Monday, September 14, 2009

Love Never Leaves


Love surrounds us always. It is in the gentle and the rough. In the brilliance of light and the coolness of shadows.

Love never leaves us and is always waiting to escort us to grace. Love is a confidant, a friend, a lover and a parent.

Love keeps us in it's embrace and when we feel most alone and the woes of this world weigh heavy on us love gently reminds us that we are never alone. For in love there is companionship and that love is always within our hearts.

Wednesday, September 9, 2009

Looking With Many Eyes


Perspective is a healing gift. To see things from a multitude of angles is an ability that we all have to create strength from pain.

No thing is absolute- all black or all white. Each experience has shades of joy and pain, laughter and sorrow, peace and distress.

Each action has motivations of love and fear and when we can see each component as it truly is our understanding grows. So, we can be compassionate in the face of injury and loving in the face of rage.

It is only by seeing through many eyes that we can be always loving and still for then we can see that life always spirngs from the remnants of death and when all other emotions are stripped bare only love remains.

Tuesday, September 8, 2009

It's Good to Be (Back)

I took a two week sabbatical from blogging but I'm certainly glad to be back. I hope you enjoy the refreshment and renewal of my writing as much as I have.

With love,
The Sage

Monday, August 24, 2009

On Passionate Work


Passion is the fuel that keeps joy alive. When you are passionate you find joy in the simplest tasks and the most arbitrary things.

Passion drives you to work more effectively and it makes work's burden light. Passion makes your days meaningful. It gives you the drive to achieve and satisfaction in your endeavours.

So seek to do the things that you are passionate about. In this way you will find rewards far greater than a pay cheque or praise. In this way you will find joy in every day.

Monday, August 17, 2009

On Overcoming Fear


Fear is the enemy of success. It boasts in procrastination and revels in our failures.

When we strive to move forward it pulls us back. When we dream of greatness it tells us we will fail.

We must be strong to make fear weak. We must fight it's inertia and act when it tells us to wait.

For to overcome fear we must take action. We must run when it says walk, leap when it says halt. When we act regardless of fear's grip we overcome it. In this way we become free.

Thursday, August 13, 2009

Freedom Within, Freedom Without


First we sought physical freedom. We sought to release the chains of bondage and serfdom. When we found our bodies were free we were not satisfied and so we looked to our minds.

We sought freedom of speech and thought. We sought to give every person a voice. When we found our minds were free then we were still not satisfied so we looked at our governments.

We sought political freedom, rights and democracy. We sought to be free politically and economically. We have found our politics are now free but we are not.

The mistake we have continued to make is that we have continued to look for freedom outside ourselves, outside our own minds. Freedom is a state of mind. A man could be confined to a cell and if his mind is free then so is he.

Yet most of us live without experiencing this freedom because we expect it to come from our political system or our economy or our employers. This cannot be.

Freedom must begin within by letting go of all rules, systems and the opinions of others. When we can just be authentically who we are, that is freedom.

So, seek to be free where none can imprison, enslave or bankrupt you. Seek freedom within your mind and you will find you are free everywhere else.

Monday, August 10, 2009

In Stillness


In stillness there is peace. When we are still the ebb and flow of life releases it's grip on the mind and gives us the chance to find peace within ourselves.

When we are still within we cannot be quickly moved by what is outside us in the world. Stillness is the basis upon which strength of character stands. Free choice can then flourish where we can act out of conscious consideration rather than powerless reaction.

So, be still. For in stillness you are at peace and in peace you can find your freedom.

Friday, August 7, 2009

The Gift of Fun


Find fun in every day. Fun is life's way of remining us to be happy.

There are always opportunities to play, to frolic and to laugh. There is always time for a smile.

Life is too short not to laugh every chance you get. It is too special not to have magical moments. And surely life is too precious not to treat it lightly.

For it is in play that the beauty of a smile beams true and in laughter that the heart sings loudest.

Wednesday, August 5, 2009

The Gift of Pain


Pain is a gift we too often curse and, in so doing, miss it's true value.

In disease and illness we can discover the blessing of our good health. In loss we can remember the blessing of relationships and seek to love again. In turmoil we can learn the blessing of the peace we had and that will come again.

In pain we learn to appreciate our blessings and to value what and whom we have. In this we find pain is the prelude to peace and the preamble to joy.

Sunday, August 2, 2009

On Thankfulness


Be thankful for all that you have and all that you are. We are each showered with blessings, gifts and talents for which we should be grateful and appreciative.

When we are grateful we enter a state of peace as we are no longer concerned with acquisition of new things or changing ourselves. Instead in gratefulness we look at ourselves and all we have and say: "I have enough and I am enough".

In this way we find grace in acceptance and peace in the knowing that fulfilment lies not in having more or becoming "better" but it is in being happy with what and who we already are.

For within us all is beauty and greatness and brilliance and this is our true wealth. And for the wealth within us all we can only be thankful.

Wednesday, July 29, 2009

Chasing Dreams


Every heart has a dream. Follow yours.

Your heart has quests and hopes and goals for you. Following the way towards these is where bliss lies waiting for you.

Fear will fight to keep things comfortable and worry will try to block your path but the dreamer cannot be halted by worry or vanquished by fear so long as she trusts the guidance of her heart.

Trust that you will finally arrive at your destination and take pleasure in the journey. Be joyful that you are heading towards your heart's desires even if the way may be slow.

For it is in chasing dreams and following the heart that we discover our own way to fulfilment. And it is in achieving those dreams that we become great.

Monday, July 27, 2009

Lighting The World With Love


Seek to share with the world the love in your heart.

Share it first with yourself. Be gentle and caring with yourself as you are deserving of love and if you cannot love yourself then no one else can.

Share your love with your family, partner and friends. Find out the ways that they choose to feel loved and be that for them.

The more you share your love with them the more love you will find is within you to give. Love is a well that can never run dry and the more of it you give the fuller the well becomes.

Share your love with starngers, the weak, the poor, the children, the aged, the wretched and the sick for they are your brothers and sisters. When you can share your love indiscriminately you will find that love lives all around you.

You will become a beacon of light, brightening the world for all. You will give hope to the hopeless and joy to the sad. Your little bit of love can change the world if only you would share it.

Seek to share love with others to bring love to your world.

Friday, July 24, 2009

Each Day I Choose Joy


Each morning choose to find joy in the world. Happiness is life's sweetness and it asks only that we savour it when it reveals itself in the blessings of every day.

That the sun still shines is a blessing and it's warmth and light are reason enough to smile. Take a moment each day to enjoy the sunlight and the life it brings.

That our hearts can love is a blessing we too often take for granted. Yet it is in sharing and recieving love that we find joy and hope. Take a moment each day to give your love to another for it is in this way that we find that we have an abundance of love within us always.

That there is life in our veins is a blessing and it is the greatest gift we can receive. Use it fully and don't waste even a moment of it for it is far too short and fleeting.

Chase your dreams and let life's magic be revealed for you. Don't put off your joy for tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow. All that exists is this moment for the past is no longer and the future is not yet to be.

Let now be your happiest moment, the zenith of your joy for there is no better, or other, time to be happy than now.

Monday, July 20, 2009

Concious Evolution


Growth is as certain as birth and death. We are all of us always growing.

Whether through learning about the world, about ourselves, gaining wisdom, finding love or becoming increasingly fearful we grow evermore into who we want to be.

Choose to conciously evolve. Create an image of who you wish to be and then, in each moment, make the choices and take the actions that will turn you into that.

Thought guides action. Action determines what you become. So in order to become the perfect being you seek to be you must first choose to be it.

In this way growth is not the steady progress towards death, it becomes the path to fulfilment and a fuller life.

Wednesday, July 15, 2009

Love and Freedom


Let love be free. Seek not to constrain it or define it or control it.

Rather let it be what it chooses to be. Let it be in the small things and the fleeting things and the things that come for a time and then pass. Let it be true and passionate but don't try to keep it forever as like all things love comes and goes.

Let love change over time but don't become complacent in love or expect love to wait for you. Seize every opportunity to love and be loved.

Love indiscriminately. Love with all your heart. And remember, when you let love free, love frees you.

Monday, July 13, 2009

On Authenticity


Authenticity is the first step to freedom. None is free that is not being true to who they are.

Being authentically you means your actions, thoughts and words are in harmony. It is when your highest inner image of yourself is reflected in your outer existence. It is when the heart and the mind create in unison. It is when heart and mind are one.

When heart rules mind chaos ensues as the heart has no order. When mind rules heart it causes joylessness and pain as the mind has no bliss. When heart and mind are in harmony there is no conflict. There is only lightness of being as there is no heaviness to weigh on the heart's emotions or the mind's thoughts.

This harmony of the inner and the outer brings peace. There is no discord, no worry. There is only the joy of living in wholeness.

Seek harmony of mind and heart. Life is the richer for it.

Friday, July 10, 2009

Love Is A Verb


Seek to treat others with love. Be loving, gentle, caring, kind and patient.

When love becomes a way of being- a way of doing- it transcends the temporal impermanence of feeling. Instead of just being a singular fleeting emotion it becomes an experince shared.

When love is felt it is felt by one. When love is done it is felt by many.

Wednesday, July 8, 2009

Overcoming the Workday Blues


The workday blues can be a drag. Sitting- as many of us do- behind a desk, indoors,without natural light, disconnected from people and nature can drain the joy from life.

Here are a ten actions you can take to bring a little spark to the drudgery:

1. Take a 10 minute walk outside.
The fresh air, sunlight and a light exercise are relaxing and will lift your mood and give you time to get some perspective on your work.

2. Put an uplifting song on your MP3 player, find a quiet nook and dance.
Releasing your inhibitions and cutting the rug up will lift your spirits and put a smile on your face.

3. Connect deeply with a stranger.
Pick out a stranger and share something that's weighing on your mind. Connecting with people makes us feel like we belong. It opens us up so that we don't feel so alone in the world.
Who knows, maybe the stranger will be able to give you some guidance, a valuable perspective or assistance.

4. Buy a lollipop and lick it.
There is a joy that comes to the adult heart when it indulges in choldlike activities. Licking a lollipop is something most adults don't regularly do yet it is a joyful way to lift the spirits and you can keep one in your drawer and pop it out for a sneaky lick when no-one is looking for that added sense of indulgence.

5. Breathe.
Pause the haste and stress for a moment and just breathe deeply for a minute or two. Introducing still moments into your day will make you calmer, more focussed and give your mind a chance to rest a bit.

6. Flirt.
Call your partner and chat them up. Wink at the busdriver. Pay a stranger a compliment. Playful flirting makes the heart flutter and will leave a smile on your face and leaves the other person feeling good about themselves.
That being said, avoid being crude or lecherous and beware of being touchy-feely or overtly sexual as this can be inappropriate and create awkwardness and lawsuits. Be playful rather than predatory.

7. Take your lunch break in a park.
Pack up a lunchbox and have your break in the sun away from the canteen. Better yet, invite some colleagues along and have a picnic!

8. Take a 15 minute nap.
If you have been productive all day and hit that mid-afternoon slump then why not take a quick nap? Even a quick nap will revitalise and refresh a tired mind.

9. Go to the window and look out at the world.
There are a myriad of beauties waiting to be observed just on the other side of the glass if only you would look.

10. Read this blog :-)
Read a poem, Google your favourite artist or pick up an inspirational book. Find something inspiring and appreciate it for a minute or two.
Inspiration is not a chance occurence, it is an active pursuit.

Monday, July 6, 2009

Following Your Heart


Greatness is found in the pursuit of your heart's desires.

When you deeply desire success in an area of your life your inner guidance will drive you to achieve it. You will commit regardless of the percieved obstructions that litter your path.

You will find joy in your toil and pride in your sweat as your heart will be glad to suffer and bleed to reach for your dreams. The journey, whether ultimately succesful or not, will be satisfying and rewarding to you because you will be living your passion.

So, follow your heart to find fulfilment in your life. Then maybe you will find that instead of working to live, life will work for you.

Friday, July 3, 2009

We Are None Of Us Alone*


There is a pain in loneliness that kills hope.

To be alone is bleak. It is to find yourself without connection. Seperate.

Yet we are never alone. By virtue of our origins in the same soil and the rays of the one sun we are all of this one place. This is a home to us all.

We are never alone so long as we look to the same night sky and dream. We are never seperate so long as the morning light warms us all. We are always connected so long as we breathe this one air.

I am with you always and you are with me. All together on this one big ball. All at home.

*Title quoted from Fushumongu's soliloquy on connectedness as quoted on the NBC series Life. Read it here.

Wednesday, July 1, 2009

Fear & Greatness


Fear is the enemy of greatness. To make any great achievement you must first hurdle the barrier of fear.

Fear grips the heart and whispers: don't go there, don't do it, you can't, you won't be able to, you cannot win.

Mastery in life is not the absence of fear, it is rather the challenging and overcoming of fear. In this you find that you experience relief. Whether your actions find success or failure you will find that you are happier for knowing that you chased a dream and lived to chase more.

Monday, June 29, 2009

The Beauty of Simple Things


The beauty of life is mostly in the little, simlple moments.

All too often we look for the overt, obvious forms of beauty and miss the subtle, simpler beauties that surround us every day.

The play of sunlight on a leaf or the aroma from Mom's kitchen are as gorgeous as any painting in a frame.

Seek these simple prettinesses out in your life daily for they are fuel for lasting joy and food for light hearts.

Wednesday, June 24, 2009

The Disciple As His Own Teacher


Be patient with your neighbour as he is seeking his way in life. His path and his choice are not yours.

Be gentle with him and give him your best counsel and intention and allow him the space to seek his growth how he sees fit.

This is the way that the master teaches. By showing the disciple how to teach himself.

Thursday, June 18, 2009

Where Love Waits For You


Sitting in the airport yesterday, I was struck by how much love there is around us all.

It waits in the embrace of lovers reuniting. It is in the tears of a daughter returning home. It is in the relief of a familiar face and the hugs and the handshakes and the smiles.

The airport, it seems, is where love waits for you if only you'll take the time to see it there.

Wednesday, June 17, 2009

Success and Failure


Failure is a natural part of the process of success. Falling is a prelude to getting back up. If you look at your failures as opportunities to renew and correct your efforts then you will find that you never fail. You will find that your success is certain.

Thursday, June 4, 2009

On Patience


Patience is the adhesive that binds relationships. It allows you to be still. 

When one cannot be still with another only turmoil results. When you are still in the turbulence of another, stillness creates peace in you both and healing results.

Patience is still. Mastery is still.

Friday, May 29, 2009

Acceptance & Being


Acceptance is the salve that heals dissapointment and regret. If you know that what has happened is now in the past and the past no longer exists then you needn't worry about it as it no longer exists. 

Accept what already is for it has already come to pass and then seek the change you envisage through choosing how you seek to be. Pursue being as a tool to create your intended reality as it is more powerful than doing. If you are being happy you will likely do more things that make you happy. However, if you are being sad then doing happy things becomes harder. 

First acceptance, then choice, then being, then action - this is the way to mastery.

Joy By Design



Joy occurs by design - not by chance. You must first choose joy, then believe it will find you, then allow it when it does. There is joy to be found everywhere if you choose to accept it. From the smiles of your neighbours to the sunshine in the morning, joy awaits you in every moment.