On my exciting and amazing journey to the stars.....

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"The first rule is to keep an un-trouble spirit. The second is to look at things in the face and know what they are." - Marcus Aurelius, Roman Emperor and Philosopher (04/26/121 - 03/17/180)

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JE8taOWjVbc


Defeat

Kahlil Gibran 1883 –1931

Defeat, my Defeat, my solitude and my aloofness;
You are dearer to me than a thousand triumphs,
And sweeter to my heart than all world-glory.
 
Defeat, my Defeat, my self-knowledge and my defiance,
Through you I know that I am yet young and swift of foot
And not to be trapped by withering laurels.
And in you I have found aloneness
And the joy of being shunned and scorned.
 
Defeat, my Defeat, my shining sword and shield,
In your eyes I have read
That to be enthroned is to be enslaved,
And to be understood is to be leveled down,
And to be grasped is but to reach one's fullness
And like a ripe fruit to fall and be consumed.
 
Defeat, my Defeat, my bold companion,
You shall hear my songs and my cries and my silences,
And none but you shall speak to me of the beating of wings,
And urging of seas,
And of mountains that burn in the night,
And you alone shall climb my steep and rocky soul.
 
Defeat, my Defeat, my deathless courage,
You and I shall laugh together with the storm,
And together we shall dig graves for all that die in us,
And we shall stand in the sun with a will,
And we shall be dangerous.

[Deliciously Happy]

12 Rules for Life, Book by Jordan Peterson

1. "Stand up straight with your shoulders back."
2. "Treat yourself like someone you are responsible for helping."
3. "Make friends with people who want the best for you."
4. "Compare yourself to who you were yesterday, not to who someone else is today."
5. "Do not let your children do anything that makes you dislike them."
6. "Set your house in perfect order before you criticize the world."
7. "Pursue what is meaningful (not what is expedient)."
8. "Tell the truth – or, at least, don't lie."
9. "Assume that the person you are listening to might know something you don't."
10. "Be precise in your speech."
11. "Do not bother children when they are skateboarding."
12. "Pet a cat when you encounter one on the street."

Great book. In the book, Jordan explains in depth the reason and logic of the 12 rules by using timeless patterns.

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“And, when you want something, all the universe conspires in helping you to achieve it.”
― Paulo Coelho, The Alchemist

"If you want something with all your heart, the universe conspires to give it to you." from a Hindi movie

The first one is the original and the second is the copycat, but I have always like the second one better because I heard it first, and it feels more passionate because it includes "with all your heart." 
 

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"What you resist, persists."

If you are filled with negative energy like anger or frustration due to something someone said, or did, and you keep it inside, you are resisting against their actions or words, and the anger or negative energy will sit inside you eating you alive. You have to not resist it and let it pass through you. You will then be at peace and calm.

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The purpose of meditation: Per the teachings of Eckhardt Tolle, the purpose of meditation is to stop thinking or at least separate ourselves from our thoughts. Our thoughts are like the clouds and we are the sky. We are not our thoughts. Our mind is constantly thinking and criticizing and judging the situations of the current circumstance. Our mind thinks about the past and it suffers because it wishes it was better, only if we could change it. Our mind thinks about the future and it suffers because it wants a future that is better than today. If we stop thinking or is able to just witness our thoughts without attachment, then we become more at peace and is able to stay in the present. If we are able to see out thoughts as just thoughts and detach from them, we are also able to reach peace because the thoughts lose their hold on our emotional state.

Some Zen masters have said that the entire practice of meditation is to stop thinking.

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"Your mind is wired to focus on what hasn't changed yet and what you cannot do. If you look at yourself from the outside, you will see to how far you have already come. The problem isn't that you're stuck, it's that your thoughts convince you that you are. The truth is you're never really stuck. You always have choices. They might not be easy choices, and they might come with risk. But they exist. The real reason you feel stuck isn't you can't move forward, but you're afraid to. Maybe, you're afraid of failing. Maybe you're afraid what people will think if you take risk and fall flat on your face. " - Daniel Chidiac author of "Stop Letting Everything Affect You."

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"Your mind is wired to focus on what hasn't changed yet and what you cannot do. If you look at yourself from the outside, you will see to how far you have already come. The problem isn't that you're stuck, it's that your thoughts convince you that you are. The truth is you're never really stuck. You always have choices. They might not be easy choices, and they might come with risk. But they exist. The real reason you feel stuck isn't you can't move forward, but you're afraid to. Maybe, you're afraid of failing. Maybe you're afraid what people will think if you take risk and fall flat on your face. " - Daniel Chidiac author of "Stop Letting Everything Affect You."

It goes back to a quote I once heard "A life lived in fear is a life half lived."

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"The true value of a human being can be found in the degree to which he has attained liberation from the self." - Albert Einstein

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Chris Langdon vs J. Robert Oppenheimer by Malcom Gladwell

"According to Gladwell's analysis, both men were highly intelligent, but Oppenheimer's ability to navigate complex social environments, leverage his elite background, and persuade people was the crucial factor that allowed him to succeed where Langan did not. Oppenheimer was able to turn his ideas into action through collaboration and networking, while Langan's inability to connect with formal systems left his intellectual gifts largely unrealized in a conventional sense. The contrast highlights that success often relies heavily on social skills, opportunity, and a supportive environment, not just raw intelligence."

https://www.google.com/search?q=chris+langdon+versus+j+robert+oppenheimer&oq=chris+langdon+versus+j+rober&gs_lcrp=EgZjaHJvbWUqBwgBECEYoAEyBggAEEUYOTIHCAEQIRigATIHCAIQIRigATIHCAMQIRigATIHCAQQIRigATIHCAUQIRirAjIHCAYQIRirAjIHCAcQIRiPAtIBCjI0ODYyajBqMTWoAgiwAgHxBf8BRMFcpmd28QX_AUTBXKZndg&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8

Basically, its the differences in the culture surrounding both men's upbringing that made a difference in their lives.

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"Underneath our impression of being the same, there is the nature of impermanence. Nothing can remain the same in two consecutive moments. This applies to a human being, a cloud, to everything." - No Death No Fear by Thich Nhat Hanh

Impermanence is how a caterpillar transforms into a butterfly, a baby into adult, and everything else. Without impermanence, such transformation could not happen in nature or in us. We could not grow physically or mentally and emotionally. Thus, impermanence is good for the evolution of our being.

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According to Thich Nhat Hanh, things in this world, including you and me, manifest themselves when the conditions are right. They come into being. And when the conditions are no longer right, they transform and are no longer a manifestation in the world.

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In Allison Fallon's book 'The Power of Writing it Down' she emphasizes the importance of writing down your thoughts and then visiting them later to help you grow as a person. Because when you write it down, it gives you a chance to visit and revisit from different perspectives.

A couple things that I wrote that stayed with me, and I hope it grows inside:

1. The Magic of Doing

2. "I can do anything and I will do it in this lifetime. Find yourself first and I will live inside you."

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I married the most beautiful girl in the world. It took me a long time to understand the reasons why the marriage didn't work out, eventually. I was so mesmerized by her beauty that my young self, lacking wisdom regarding the hearts of people, myself included, disregarded all the warning signs that we were not a good match and kept pushing it forward. We do not marry the physical person, but we marry the hearts of others because its their hearts that drive their actions over the life of the journey. I wasn't wise enough to know that truth in my youth, and so I put us in a situation to fail.

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When I think of my kids, I am glad to be born as a mammal in this lifetime because mammals nurture and love their young. If I was a fish or a crustacean, I would never have that opportunity to bask in the wonder and beauty of the next generation.