“The past is beautiful because one never realises an emotion at the time. It expands later, and thus we don’t have complete emotions about the present, only about the past.”
Virginia Woolf, via Educated
An Insightful Short Story About Spilling Coffee — What’s In YOUR Cup?
Excerpt: This short story about spilling coffee shares a powerful analogy that can help you better understand your temperament (and reactions) in life.
Read More »An Insightful Short Story About Spilling Coffee — What’s In YOUR Cup?
“The way you think is the way you feel, but thought and feeling seem to be different in your experience. Why is this so? Because thought has a certain clarity, a certain agility about it. Emotion is slower. Today, you think this is a very wonderful person and you have warm feelings about him. Suddenly, he does something that you don’t like, and you think he is horrible. Your thought tells you he is horrible, but your emotion cannot change immediately. It struggles. If it is sweet now, it cannot turn bitter at the very next moment. It takes time to turn around. It has a wider turning arc. Depending on the strength of your emotion, maybe it will take three days or three months or three years, but after some time, it will turn around.”
Sadhguru, Inner Engineering (Page 192)
Henry Longfellow Quote on Rain and What The Best Thing To Do When It’s Raining Is…
“For after all, the best thing one can do when it is raining, is to let it rain.”
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
Beyond the Quote (259/365)
You can curse the clouds. Yell at the wind. Blame the rain for ruining your day. You can close your blinds and hide under your blankets. You can turn the TV up real loud so you don’t hear the thunder. You can even browse some “sunny 70” exotic destination locations on IG. But, whether you confront the rain with anger and hostility or dig your head into the pit of your couch and pretend like it doesn’t exist, one thing is for sure—it’s going to keep on raining.
Read More »Henry Longfellow Quote on Rain and What The Best Thing To Do When It’s Raining Is…Quote from The New Mutants Movie on the Two Bears Inside (and How To Control The Evil Bear In You)
Excerpt: ‘Inside every person there are two bears, forever locked in combat for your soul. One bear is all things good, compassion, love, trust. The other is all things evil, fear, shame, and self-destruction.’ — This quote from The New Mutants Movie lays the foundation for a deeper discussion about what’s going on inside of ourselves. Enjoy!
Read More »Quote from The New Mutants Movie on the Two Bears Inside (and How To Control The Evil Bear In You)
The Story of Two Wolves: A Tale About Handling Inner Conflict Mindfully
Excerpt: The story of two wolves. One is all things good. The other is all things bad. They both live inside. Which will win? The answer is in the tale…
Read More »The Story of Two Wolves: A Tale About Handling Inner Conflict Mindfully
Humble the Poet Quote on Emotional Intelligence and How To Deal With “Less Desirable” Emotions
“All of our emotions have value, and as unpleasant as some are, they’re reminders that we’re alive and have a whole lot going on inside. Why not approach life with curiosity and wonder, instead of dread and fear. We don’t avoid movies because we know they’ll end. We enjoy the journey they take us on.”
Humble the Poet, Things No One Else Can Teach Us (Page 46)
Beyond the Quote (237/365)
Emotions are a signal of the state of your being. Many people categorize emotions as being either “positive” or “negative.” I think this is a dangerous practice that can lead you to suppress, ignore, invalidate, or even deny very valid signals from your body. Better to look at some emotions as being more desirable than others. States of happiness, excitement, enthusiasm, and joy, of course, are typically more desirable than sadness, anxiousness, or anger. But, don’t get it twisted. Sadness, anxiety, or anger are not “negative” emotions, per se.
Read More »Humble the Poet Quote on Emotional Intelligence and How To Deal With “Less Desirable” EmotionsKobe Bryant Quote on Keeping Calm and Centered in Basketball and in Life
“The game is full of ebbs and flows—the good, the bad, and everything in between. With all that was going on around me, I had to figure out how to steel my mind and keep calm and centered. That’s not to say my emotions didn’t spike or drop here or there, but I was aware enough to recalibrate and bring them back level before things spiraled. I could do that in a way others couldn’t, and that was really key for me.”
Kobe Bryant, Mamba Mentality (Page 175)
Beyond the Quote (226/365)
And so it is for life, eh? The game of life is full of ebbs and flows—the good, the bad, and everything in between. I think 2020 highlights that in more intense ways than in many years of recent past—especially for Kobe—may he rest in peace. And while it’s natural to hope that things go back to “normal” and that the ebbs and flows “level out” so that they may be more easily managed—it would be unrealistic and naive to expect it to actually happen. The ebbs will continue to ebb and the flows will continue to flow, like they always have and like they always will. So, what then are we to do?
Read More »Kobe Bryant Quote on Keeping Calm and Centered in Basketball and in Life
“When there is no way out, there is still always a way through. So don’t turn away from the pain. Face it. Feel it fully. Feel it—don’t think about it! Express it if necessary, but don’t create a script in your mind around it. Give all your attention to the feeling, not to the person, event, or situation that seems to have caused it. Don’t let the mind use the pain to create a victim identity for yourself out of it. Feeling sorry for yourself and telling others your story will keep you stuck in suffering. Since it is impossible to get away from the feeling, the only possibility of change is to move into it; otherwise, nothing will shift. So give your complete attention to what you feel, and refrain from mentally labeling it. As you go into the feeling, be intensely alert. At first, it may seem like a dark and terrifying place, and when the urge to turn away from it comes, observe it but don’t act on it. Keep putting your attention on the pain, keep feeling the grief, the fear, the dread, the loneliness, whatever it is. Stay alert, stay present—present with your whole Being, with every cell of your body. As you do so, you are bringing a light into this darkness. This is the flame of your consciousness.”
Eckhart Tolle, The Power of Now (Page 222)
“When you deny emotional pain, everything you do or think as well as your relationships become contaminated with it. You broadcast it, so to speak, as the energy you emanate, and others will pick it up subliminally. If they are unconscious, they may even feel compelled to attack or hurt you in some way, or you may hurt them in an unconscious projection of your pain. You attract and manifest whatever corresponds to your inner state.”
Eckhart Tolle, The Power of Now (Page 222)
Susan David Quote on Having Emotional Agility and Staying Balanced in the Face of Complexity
“How we deal with our inner world drives everything. Every aspect of how we love, how we live, how we parent and how we lead. The conventional view of emotions as good or bad, positive or negative, is rigid. And rigidity in the face of complexity is toxic. We need greater levels of emotional agility for true resilience and thriving.”
Susan David, Ph.D, Mindful
Beyond the Quote (127/365)
As a result of people being in quarantine because of COVID-19, there have been two conversations that have been happening at large. One group has been pushing for productivity. The idea is to use all of this extra time to do more of that you felt you never had time to do before. Start that blog; write that book; lose that weight; create that website; become that person. The other group has been pushing for conscientious recovery. The idea is that this global pandemic has radically affected all of our lives and has redefined “normal.” We need to be taking this time to mindfully cope with all of new unknowns and pay close attention to our mental health during this global crisis. Both of these schools of thought should be carefully considered by everybody.
Read More »Susan David Quote on Having Emotional Agility and Staying Balanced in the Face of ComplexityMilk and Honey [Book]
Book Overview: #1 New York Times bestseller Milk and Honey is a collection of poetry and prose about survival. About the experience of violence, abuse, love, loss, and femininity. The book is divided into four chapters, and each chapter serves a different purpose. Deals with a different pain. Heals a different heartache. Milk and Honey takes readers through a journey of the most bitter moments in life and finds sweetness in them because there is sweetness everywhere if you are just willing to look.
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Post(s) Inspired by this Book:
Kahlil Gibran Quote on Giving To Others That Which You Most Hope To Receive (and Knowing What to Give)
“You give but little when you give of your possessions. It is when you give of yourself that you truly give.”
Kahlil Gibran
Beyond the Quote (118/365)
Once a group of 500 people were attending a seminar. Suddenly the speaker stopped and decided to do a group activity. He started giving each person a balloon. Each person was then asked to write their name on it using a marker. Then all of the balloons were collected and put in another room.
Read More »Kahlil Gibran Quote on Giving To Others That Which You Most Hope To Receive (and Knowing What to Give)
“Most of us would be seized with fear if our bodies went numb, and would do everything possible to avoid it, yet we take no interest at all in the numbing of our souls.”
Epictetus, via Stillness is the Key (Page 83)