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Mark Divine Quote on The Art Of Positive Thinking

    “The art of positive self-talk is simply paying attention to your inner dialogue and directing it toward positive, performance-based language.  Most people don’t take the time to sit back and witness their own thoughts, which is an essential step toward realizing that our thoughts are not who we are.  They don’t control us.  They’re just thoughts.  The only power they have is what we give them—what we feed them.  Once you create that mental distance between you and your thoughts, you can start to tame and manage them.”

    Mark Divine, The Way of the Seal

    Beyond the Quote (28/365)

    The difference between false-positivity and performance-based positivity is in the types of actions each inspire you to take.  In the first, you put a happy face on, you mask your emotions, and you distract yourself from the real problems with positive thinking—it’s a diversion and is nothing more than an avoidance strategy that leads to inaction.  In the second, positivity is looked at as a strategy that can be deployed and used to best deal with tough situations or emotions that are at hand.  Because if we’re going to deal with the situation(s) regardless (given that you’re not going to bury your head in the sand) we might as well do it from a place where we are mentally at our best.

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    Jonas Mekas Quote on Choosing Art and Beauty Against Ugliness and Horrors

      “I choose art and beauty, vague as those terms are, against ugliness and horrors in which we live today.  For somebody to look at a flower or listen to music does something to one, has a positive effect, and being surrounded by ugliness and horror does something negative.  So I feel my duty not to betray those poets, scientists, saints, singers, troubadours of the past centuries who did everything that humanity would become more beautiful.”

      Jonas Mekas, via Happiness is a Choice You Make (Page 45)

      Beyond the Quote (20/365)

      If it bleeds it leads.  If you haven’t heard this expression before, it’s sort of the unannounced, unofficial but predominantly popular strategy for many media outlets that represents the idea of using fear and despondency to keep viewers tuned in, listening, and coming back to them for more.  It’s popular because it works and because it works it helps media companies sell more advertisements and improve their bottom-line.

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      Bernard Malamud Quote on Writing—There’s No Secret Practice

        “There’s no one way [to write] — there’s too much drivel about this subject.  You’re who you are, not Fitzgerald or Thomas Wolfe.  You write by sitting down and writing.  There’s no particular time or place — you suit yourself, your nature.  How one works, assuming he’s disciplined, doesn’t matter.  If he or she is not disciplined, no sympathetic magic will help.  The trick is to make time — not steal it — and produce the fiction.  If the stories come, you get them written, you’re on the right track.  Eventually everyone learns his or her own best way.  The real mystery to crack is you.”

        Bernard Malamud, via Daily Rituals

        Beyond the Quote (16/365)

        If Dwayne Johnson AND Jocko Willink both wake up at 4am to get their workouts done, given how wildly busy and in shape they both are, then that must be the best time to wake up and workout, right?  To answer that from personal experience, no.  I have tried to build that idea into my routine several times and have failed awfully each and every time.  I experienced so much misery and resistance that I felt like even if I mustered together ALL of my willpower from a day, it wouldn’t be enough to get me through one 4am workout—let alone a lifetime of them.  So, what gave?

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          “No one will ever tell you how great you can be.  You will never be asked to do something incredible with your life.  You will never get a letter in the mail that says, ‘Dear you, please, do something important with your time.’  Even if you do it quietly you have to give yourself the life you want.” ~ Iain Thomas, Every Word you Cannot Say (Page 72)

            “Everyone you meet along the way is just someone at a different point in their story.  So be patient and kind.  But don’t let anyone tell you how your story should go.  Only you know how your story goes.” ~ Iain Thomas, Every Word you Cannot Say (Page 24)

              “We use discipline to clear the road for the future by deciding what to do and not to do now.  It’s learning what to accept and what to reject.  We’re able to see more and more clearly the difference between virtue and nonvirtue—gewa and migewa.  Our minds are strong through practice, so we’re not seduced into acting on negative emotions, even in our mind.  We know such actions will create more pain for us.” ~ Sakyong Mipham, Turning the Mind Into An Ally (Page 204)

                “We have to accept responsibility for the state of our own mind; it doesn’t work to blame others for our confusion or expect them to encourage or confirm us in our practice.  We have to look to ourselves as the source of our own confusion—and our own enlightenment.” ~ Sakyong Mipham, Turning the Mind Into An Ally (Page 98)

                  “If we want to undo our own bewilderment and suffering and be of benefit to others and the planet, we’re going to have to be responsible for learning what our own mind is and how it works, no matter what beliefs we hold.  Once we see how our mind works, we see how our life works, too.  That changes us.” ~ Sakyong Mipham, Turning the Mind Into An Ally (Page 5)

                    “Are you resisting your here and now?  Some people would always rather be somewhere else.  Their ‘here’ is never good enough.  Through self-observation, find out if that is the case in your life.  Wherever you are, be there totally.  If you find your here and now intolerable and it makes you unhappy, you have three options: remove yourself from the situation, change it, or accept it totally.  If you want to take responsibility for your life, you must choose one of those three options, and you must choose now.  Then accept the consequences.  No excuses.  No negativity.  No psychic pollution.  Keep your inner space clear.” ~ Eckhart Tolle, The Power of Now (Page 82)

                      “See if you can catch yourself complaining, in either speech or thought, about a situation you find yourself in, what other people do or say, your surroundings, your life situation, even the weather.  To complain is always nonacceptance of what is.  It invariably carries an unconscious negative charge.  When you complain, you make yourself into a victim.  When you speak out, you are in your power.  So change the situation by taking action or by speaking out if necessary or possible; leave the situation or accept it.  All else is madness.” ~ Eckhart Tolle, The Power of Now (Page 82)

                        “Usually, the future is a replica of the past.  Superficial changes are possible, but real transformation is rare and depends upon whether you can become present enough to dissolve the past by accessing the power of the Now.  What you perceive as future is an intrinsic part of your state of consciousness now.  If your mind carries a heavy burden of past, you will experience more of the same.  The past perpetuates itself through lack of presence.  The quality of your consciousness at this moment is what shapes the future—which, of course, can only be experienced as the Now.” ~ Eckhart Tolle, The Power of Now (Page 60)

                          “The mind is a superb instrument if used rightly.  Used wrongly, however, it becomes very destructive.  To put it more accurately, it is not so much that you use your mind wrongly—you usually don’t use it at all.  It uses you.  This is the disease.  You believe that you are your mind.  This is the delusion.  The instrument has taken you over.” ~ Eckhart Tolle, The Power of Now (Page 16)

                            “There is no 100 percent right solution.  The picture is never complete.  Leaders must be comfortable with this and be able to make decisions promptly, then be ready to adjust those decisions quickly based on evolving situations and new information.  Intelligence gathering and research are important, but they must be employed with realistic expectations and must not impede swift decision making that is often the difference between victory and defeat.  Waiting for the 100 percent right and certain solution leads to delay, indecision, and an inability to execute.  Leaders must be prepared to make an educated guess based on previous experience, knowledge of how the enemy operates, likely outcomes, and whatever intelligence is available in the immediate moment.” ~ Leif Babin, Extreme Ownership (Page 254)

                              “Everything is moving into the future, but the future doesn’t exist.  It’s what we create.  Our responsibility for the present moment, that’s morality.  The future of humanity or the family or whatever depends on what you do this moment.  If you want the next moment where everything will be better, then you’d better do this moment right.” ~ Jonas Mekas, via Happiness is a Choice You Make (Page 32)

                                “When things fall apart, and chaos re-emerges, we can give structure to it, and re-establish order, through our speech.  If we speak carefully and precisely, we can sort things out, and put them in their proper place, and set a new goal, and navigate to it—often communally, if we negotiate; if we reach consensus.  If we speak carelessly and imprecisely, however, things remain vague.  The destination remains unproclaimed.  The fog of uncertainty does not lift, and there is no negotiating through the world.” ~ Jordan Peterson, via 12 Rules for Life (Page 278)