Very wise thoughts of the day

[sabrinamari]

http://gwisteria.livejournal.com/171319.html?view=468279#t468279

Fifteen things to give up to preserve happiness.

Very wise. Thank you, gwisteria.

For me, I let them go every day. I don't think I can do it just once and have it stick. :)

Comments

[tigira.livejournal.com]

for me, I have to choose it again each day, too. And if I goof and pick it up again, I have to remind myself that I can put it down again, too.

Mindful living takes a lot of work.
Peace of mind is not something that happens by just not worrying.
It must be chosen, and it's the one that takes more thought, ironically.

[sabrinamari.livejournal.com]

"Mindful living takes a lot of work.
Peace of mind is not something that happens by just not worrying.
It must be chosen, and it's the one that takes more thought, ironically."

Laughing...

True!

[kyrian03.livejournal.com]

Thank you for sharing this. It is something that I need to work harder on. These are great reminders!

[sabrinamari.livejournal.com]

gwisteria found them--she did it!

[the-smith-e.livejournal.com]

I agree with most of them and have actually achieved many. This non-attachment thing is actually one I only take so far, although I can use Ragnarok to teach the concept.

[sabrinamari.livejournal.com]

The non attachment idea is tricky. I think most of us think of attachment as love, not fear.

There is a lot of support in Buddhist thought for the idea that love does not have to include attachment. I am exploring that idea and turning it around in my mind.

I get it from the perspective that when you love somebody, you just want them to be happy. More than anything, you just want them to feel joy. So your own attachment is less important, less, really, about love and more about, maybe lack of trust---"If I don't cling hard, where will the love that I am due comes from? Will I be all alone???"

I also get it from Michael's perspective, which is that to be wanted is much more desirable than to be needed. He says that if you feel you literally need someone to go on, then you're not really choosing them---they are your crutch, not your choice.

But if you recognize that you don't need someone to be happy, but you choose them anyway, this is a huge honor: you have actively selected them from your own free will and not from compulsion, need or fear.

"I want you to choose me, not need me," he told me solemnly, early in our relationship.

Now I always think about that in relation to people I love. I want to choose, always---not to feel compelled or forced.

[bobby1933.livejournal.com]

Thank you!

[sabrinamari.livejournal.com]

You're welcome!