There is more to serious life than drugs...

Asking questions and seeking answers is what Further Education is all about whether it's an Academic Education or educating oneself in Life in general.

Only too often you realize that some people only ask questions looking to be told what to believe, what to think and how to live.

They are absolving themselves of the responsibility of being Independent Thinkers.

It's so easy to get someone else to do your thinking for you and if at the end of the day it all goes wrong it was their fault, not yours.

You can very easily be selective about what you accept to make your own mind up.

Real learning is NOT passive acceptance.

That is how you learn at school.

It is called Spoon Feeding.

Anyone who's had the opportunity to attend higher education knows that you have to be selective as to what you accept and you are always in a position to offer your personal interpretation and you NEVER wait for information to come to you.

You go seeking knowledge with an inquisitive critical mind.

love light and peace

ps/smoh

I am...

I think therefore I am. But to think that is what I am, with all the misunderstandings, with all the bias I still have, with all the lack of knowledge. 

I am far from what I really am.

We all have some kind of misunderstood, things we thought we know in the past. And as our mind gather more information, we see what we understood or know was a misunderstood. 

Those misunderstood back then at its present moment how strongly we thought we understand it, as same as what we think we understand now. 

Thus how could we think what we understand now is really is. What we understand now is only the best we know how. We could not have find out it is a misunderstood thing without new information, those information are from what we learn. 

Without learning how could we able to get new information about what we think we understand. If you are strongly belief in what you understand is the true than anything else come along even if it is the true, you would pass it by as false information. 

Most of us have experience that with other, and you kept thinking to yourself what a stubborn person, or lack of knowledge person. 

Well by strongly belief what you are know is the fact, the true. Then you are just like the person that you thought stubborn or lack of knowledge.

Understanding this, I cannot claim “I know myself", but to claim I know very little of myself, and consider what I know maybe a misunderstanding because of lack of knowledge. 

What I know about myself would be very little, almost next to nothing. 

One thing for sure is that I still don't know myself, no matter how old I get, because there are always thing I need to learn.

With this understanding would help me keep looking and try to understand myself better.

The lighted up person is not our energy or spirit or soul. 

But it is ourselves with full of wisdom.

love light and peace

ps/smoh

One of the truest statements I've ever read!!! I don't give a damn who said it!

These words are so true they hurt... It appeals to human intellect a good message and a reminder that we all need to get perspective once in a while and evaluate how we are living our lives.

We exist and cease to exist. Claiming to know anything more is asking how many angels fit on the head of a pin.

love light and peace

ps/smoh

The simplicity of adding more to more to more to more to more.....The Joy Of......

the joy of rain

the joy of going for it

the joy of privacy

the joy of ignoring people who talk about spirituality

the joy of skin and nails and teeth

the joy of tasting it richly

the joy of actually enjoying it enjoying it enjoying it enjoying it

the joy of temporary

the joy of found objects turned into further found objects

the joy of not believing in name tags

the joy of knowing no human being anywhere on this island had anything to do with anything at all really

the joy of having just enough money for a coffee

the joy of philosophical activity

the joy of writing

the joy of an alphabet alone [in a] u-n-i-v-e-r-s-e

the joy of can't see the future

the joy of wheels

the joy of colors

the joy of "no one owns me"

the joy of not having to read a book in order to think new things

the joy of "how wrong they were about everything"

the joy of ignoring "that's not how you're supposed to do it"

the joy of staring at the plain white wall

the joy of strangers everywhere

the joy of "less is more"

the joy of paradox

the joy of "already dead"

the joy of eternal amnesia

the joy of mercy

the joy of "until again"

the joy of knowing neither east or west or north or south has anything to do with happiness

the joy of "gotcha ya!"

the joy of ignoring popes

the joy of ignoring presidents

the joy of ignoring people who need leaders; "nap and cookies?"

the joy of unchained hands and being able to touch it all

the joy of "nature makes no copies"

the joy of "stop taking credit"

the joy of not reading comments

the joy of getting older

the joy of not needing things to be magic

the joy of "never been alive before"

the joy of riding a bike

the joy of "no one forces me to read"

the joy of a long ass list

the joy of heights

the joy of "dead people did their best"

the joy of not even close to safe

the joy of eyes wide open

the joy of finding an alphabet all alone out in the open on a screen made of "plug that shit in"

the joy of whistling kettle

the joy of on-time trains

now cont. >>>>>>

love light and peace

ps/smoh

The Burden of Being Real...

The pain and pleasure of any sentence is in the reading/listening I do and the believing I do thereafter regarding the projection I create of "a writer/speaker", which could only be me...reading/hearing it that way I read and heard it.

The burden of being real is the patience it takes to read slower, listen slower, to the sentences hanging around the island.

No one forces me to read or listen the way I do. That kind of blameless interpreting pins all my hopes on me to simply not react to my own imagination regarding what I read, hear, and believe about where I decide it comes from, those sentences, and those utterances.

Can say "he said-she said" all I want to. That does not make me less responsible for my interpretation or assumption of authorship.

Can explode and yell and scream and weep and moan and laugh and sigh at anything I hear or read. The topic can be anything! Anything! There is no one else making it come to life. There is no one else forcing me to take the sentences seriously, or see them that way, or assume they are right or wrong or mean this or that.

That emotion comes from that interpretation. It cannot come from any other place. Nothing forces me to stay alive.

Not once have I met an author separate from the sentences, separate from my interaction with the words spoken or painted.

The name of "whoever" wrote it just another thing I interpret and decide I like or don't like, approve of or don't approve of.

"That’s a cool name."

"That’s a dumb name."

"That name means they are from this and that means they think this because that what I know about that spot on the map I am making up out of my interpretations, memories, desires, etc..."

Are the reader, listener and believer of whatever words I find arranged in whatever sentences travel by me. I make me miserable or happy or free or bound by what I believe about the sentences and by what I imagine about the author...the further sentences I add to the name of whomever I interpret.

I am a builder.

I make up a world and in that world I make someone else responsible for how I made it up; a child on the floor yelling at Lagos to "Behave!"

The bizarre agony and strange delight of being real is I cannot fault any name for how I feel about a world, a reality, a universe, if at all those are words I can use wisely. I doubt I can.

I cannot know if another side exists where what I imagine to be the case, or what I build from the cases I have previously built, is actually there separate from how I imagine and build it;

An alphabet in a lookout tower made of black boards and chalk and slow-melting lit fuses;

A wayward castaway on an island made of amnesia.

--

"Who made these words come to life?!"

love light and peace

ps/smoh

One can compromise in one's actions without compromising one principles.

In everything you do, you must first think about your final objective. What is it that you REALLY want to accomplish?

Once you are able to answer this question, then, and only then, will you know the right actions to take. If you act without first knowing what your final objective is, you are simply shooting in the dark, and you may find that the final outcome is something that you never intended and do not want.

There is a right way and a wrong to do everything in life.

Even when you know the right thing to do, you can still do the right thing in the wrong way.
For example, the doctor may prescribe a certain medicine for your medical condition. It is the right medicine and it will heal your body if you take it.
But, you can still take the right medicine the wrong way. If you go home and take the entire bottle at one time, you will not achieve your desired outcome.

In fact, you will probably achieve the exact opposite of what you wanted - you may die.

You can have the right intentions, the right effort, and the right heart, but if you take the wrong action, it can nullify all of your efforts.
And, if you take the right action, in the wrong way or at the wrong time, it can also cause you to fail.

One can compromise in one's actions without compromising one principles!

You must do the right thing, at the right time, and in the right way. If one of those is foundation stones are not right, it can cause your whole objective to fail and can even because unforeseen consequences that can lead to even greater problems than the one that you were trying to solve to begin with.

See things from every angle before you act.

love light and peace
ps/smoh
note to AOH

The EFFORTLESS CHANGE...

We can only truly change when we fully accept ourselves as we are right now; flaws, imperfections, doubts and all. A true painter uses the canvas they are given; they will not wait for the perfect canvas to begin.

The art must happen now.

You want the perfect partner? 

The perfect mother or father? 

The perfect boss? 

The perfect body? 

The perfect feelings? 

The perfect enlightenment? 

The perfect life?

How about deeply accepting what is here, right now? 

How about deeply accepting others, as they actually are? 

How about bowing to the energies that are alive, dignifying the place where you stand?

A strange place to start, admittedly. Sounds a little, er, back-to-front. Like giving up. Like settling for less than you deserve. Like weakness. A self-indulgent pity party. Getting lost in the mud.

But wait.

Is acceptance of 'what is' the same as giving up on the possibility of change? 

Actually, no.

Does acceptance mean tolerating or "putting up with" difficult feelings? 

Does it mean blindly following violent impulses? 

Not at all.

Does acceptance mean becoming detached and passive, turning a blind eye to the violence in the world, letting others walk all over us and our loved ones? 

No.

Does acceptance mean playing a false role, the role of the "very spiritually evolved, deeply accepting, utterly peaceful person"? 

No. 

Acceptance is not a role, and it's not personal.

Deep acceptance means aligning with the way things actually are. 

It means staring life in the face, right now. 

It means turning towards what is here, what has been given, the actual canvas. 

It means letting go of false hopes and dreams and awakening to what is really true. 

It means ending the war, seeing through the illusion of a 'self' separate from this mysterious movement of life. It means saying yes to the present scene of the movie, even if it isn't the scene you'd planned or hoped for.

It is the that out of a deep and uncompromising acceptance of this seemingly 'imperfect' moment, truly creative and intelligent and surprisingly effortless change can happen. Because you're no longer at war, and you're open to possibility, and you're fully alive.

You've nourished and fertilised the ground with loving attention and slowness, and now something new and beautiful can emerge.

The mind was never in charge of change, anyway.

And the ground was always trustable.

love light and peace

jf/ps/smoh

HAPPINESS IS LIKE THE SKY...

The word 'happy' is related to the word 'happen'.

Happiness is not a destination, then, or a goal.
It cannot be generated, bought or sold.
It has nothing to do with how much you have.
It cannot be controlled.
It simply happens.

It happens when you stop seeking it.
It happens when you cease trying so hard.
It happens when you least expect it.

It happens in the gap between thoughts.
It happens in the silence underlying sounds.
It happens in the stillness of the morning,
or as the sun gently sets,
or as your heart breaks.

It can happen in the midst of sorrow,
grief, doubt, confusion, fear.
It can happen when you are unhappy,
for it has no opposite, no enemy, no limit.
It is never far away.
It is like the sky, ever-present,
even as the rain falls,
even as the storm rages.

Do not seek happiness;
be it, know it, remember it..

Gratitude is one of the most powerful ways to improve your life and the lives of those around you.

For me happiness is Equilibrium. It's not about a joy or something that is pleasant to me... It's about the Balance that you have deep inside you, no matter what's going on outside... 
The certain point that is really You. 
Only in that point I can feel True happiness, that opens the feeling of Absolute.

love light and peace

ps/smoh

Rumors are carried by haters, spread by fools, and accepted by idiots.

Always consider the source when you hear or read information, especially on the internet. You can tell a lot about a person by what they talk about and how they say what they say. 

There have always been plenty of fools to spread gossip and rumors, and even more idiots to accept what they say without ever questioning it or attempting to discover the truth.

And the rumor mill has even become worse with the explosion of the internet. 

Today, haters can spread rumors without ever leaving their home, and without anyone ever knowing who they are. 

They simply type some lies, allow the fools to spread their rubbish, and hope that enough idiots will believe the rumors that they invented. 

These people are malicious cowards, refuse to be played by these people. Never blindly accept rumors or information.

Be wise and always be skeptical of rumors passed along especially when it comes from an anonymous source or someone of questionable character. 

You are responsible for everything you think, everything you say, and everything you do.

So many people in today's society try to justify their wrong actions or somehow blame their actions on other people, but no matter what, they are responsible for their own actions. No matter how you spin it, the responsibility for your actions always land at your own front door.

The superior man or woman is always willing to take responsibility for what he or she does. Right or wrong, the superior will man up and own their actions, their words, and their thoughts. Never blames someone else for a choice that YOU alone made.

It is time to get back to the old ways, the times where men and women took responsibility for their own actions.

Think before you act and then do what you think is right. And if the results are not what you want them to be, at least you tried to the best of your ability to do the right thing.

We have control over our actions, not always the results of our actions.

love light and peace
ps/smoh

It is sometimes hard to remember your task was to drain the swamp when you are up to your ass in alligators...

There is no faster way to bring about misfortune than to think it is coming. Thought is a powerful force, and it is a creative tool that many people give little energy to or abandon in the face of any real threat to safety or stability. 

What are you worried about today? 

Why? 

Rather than worry about it, would it not be a better use of your mental time to visualize a positive outcome? 

Use your mind in this way and you will have tapped one of the most extraordinary tools God has placed in your hand for the creation of your tomorrows.

When I feel scared about some outcome or find myself to start to worry, I remember who I am and, give thanks for everything I have and take breaths with the mantra "All is well". 

This makes me feel better because I know, in feeling better, miracles really do happen. Then I feel even better, and the well being flows.

It is more about letting go of the outcome and trusting that no matter how challenging life is, life is for me, and that everything comes together for good it’s more about "trust" and letting go, life’s challenges have a great way of stripping away attachments to things of temporary value to reveal the things that really matter and are eternal, like love, compassion, kindness etc.

You are without needs. There is nothing that you need to be perfectly happy. You only think there is. Your deepest, most perfect happiness will be found within, and once you find it, nothing can destroy it.

Do not miss a single chance not one single opportunity to tell someone how wonderful they are, how special they are, how important to you they are, how incredible as a person they are, how beautiful they are inside and out. 

Do not miss a single opening in which to insert such a comment, genuinely felt and genuinely meant. Make it your life's mission today to bring to the attention of another just how extraordinary they are. Say it. Say it. SAY it. 

Their heart is waiting to know that their own best thought about themselves can be believed.

Life is movement.

Movement is change. 

Every time a sub molecular particle swings through time and space, something is changing. Change, therefore, is inevitable. 

It is the nature of life itself. 

The trick in life is not to try to avoid change, but to create change. 

Then it is the kind of change you choose.

All of life is animated by a single fantastic energy, which is the essence of everything that is -- including you. Isn't that amazing? 

Now, because this essence is who you are and what you are made of, it can obviously never leave you. Perhaps not so obviously, it can also be wonderfully helpful. 

It can bring you peace in moments of stress, 

strength in moments of weakness, 

courage in moments of fear, 

wisdom in moments of confusion, 

forgiveness in moments of anger, and 

love in all the moments of your life. 

All you have to do is know that this is true, and it will be true for you, right now. I think that's terrific, don't you? 

You already know the reason that this particular reminder came to you today...

love light and peace

ps/smoh

One thing you can give and still keep, is your word.

Lying has become as common in our culture as telling the truth, but it shouldn't be that way. Make your word as good as gold. When you say that you are going to do something, do it. When you tell someone something, tell the truth.

There are some things in this world that you can give and still keep; your word is one of those things. And when you give your word, but don't keep it, you lose its value and you have little left.

Have enough self-respect to keep your word. Make your word mean something. Lying comes from fear have the courage to be honest and tell things like they truly are! 

I told my sons from early on 
"No matter how rich or poor you are your word is the one thing no one can take from you only you can screw that up by not keeping it".

Be nice until it is time to not be nice.

In whatever position you find yourself, first determine your objective. You have to know what your ultimate objective is.
What is your purpose? 

Always be nice until it is time to not be nice. Your intuition and your spirit will let you know when that time comes.
This can’t be accomplished if you allow your emotions to influence your decisions. Think rationally and accomplish your ultimate objective.

love light and peace
ps/smoh

I gave you $10, she gave you $20. You felt that she was better just because she gave you more. But she had $200. All I had was $10.

Too often we judge things without having all of the pertinent information. Some people who seem caring and giving, have alternative motivations; while others who seem less caring and benevolent are giving all that they can.

Never judge a person or a situation without first making sure that you know the facts. 

There are those who give just to make themselves look good or to fit in with their peers. And then there are those who give from their hearts. 

Make sure that you know the difference.

And, make sure that your own intentions are pure and noble. When you help someone, do with pure intentions and love, not to impress others.

Your intentions make all the difference.

love light and peace

ps/smoh

Excellence is not a skill. It is an attitude...

Excellence is not for the masses. Most people do not have the drive to constantly endeavour to improve themselves; 

they are completely satisfied being average, 

going to work, 

coming home, 

eating, 

watching television, and 

going to bed, only to get up and go through the same routine day after day until they can retire and do little to nothing with the rest of their lives.

To have a full life and living we know that every day is another chance to be a better being than we was the day before. 

Every day brings the opportunity to gain more knowledge, to increase wisdom, to perfect his skills in his chosen profession, and to once again live life to the fullest.

Pursuing excellence is an attitude that you consciously cultivate. It is not a natural state of being, but a lifestyle that you have to deliberately develop until it becomes your second nature.

This is the attitude I strive to have in life.

^__*

love light and peace

ps/smoh

The Universe is very capable of looking after itself and being responsible for its own actions. The Universe does not need a Daddy. It's a Big Boy with its own Morality called the Fundamental Laws of Nature.

I woke up this morning thinking about my dad and then the thinking drift into our universe....

The Universe is a very good boy and NEVER breaks the Law.

After the entire guy is 13.7 Billion years old with a lot of experience.

The thing I think about the Universe and "time" is that it will go on and on and on, no matter what happens to each and every one of us here on Earth. 

What we “think" matters not.

If all of a sudden time came to a standstill freezing the Universe and everything in it, we would abruptly stop thinking. 

Thinking is of the human brain and subject to time.

Am I positive that hasn't happened already? 

Hmm well looks like it sometimes, without time there are no music at all just random vibrations not making any sense.

Life and the Universe is not an opinion. It is a well established Fact. Please analyse things with facts. If you can't, let those who can eventually get there and tell the rest of us. 

Guessing and assuming based on guesses and Assumptions that are thousands of years old is silly.

Actually, the only thing science has given us about the end is yet another theory, "The Big Rip", and it's not widely accepted. 

The Big Rip is a Hypothesis. There is no evidence for it and no proof. It is just an idea. We don't know. Simple. 

If we don't know we should strive to find out and not guess and imagine that our guesses are correct.

As if the GRAND Universe is a kid.

Humans come and go.

The Universe just carries on.

Don't you get it??

love light and peace

ps/smoh

I've never really thought about this but it's interesting. I don't think it's egotistical at all.

I think it is cool to have place memories. You drive by an old place you use to spend time and it triggers memories of people that were important to you at some point in your life. 

Why not wonder who might think of you? 

Not really ego but curious if you are part of their memories too. Friend, lover, people who have passed on, mentors....smile at some of the memories.

I too think it is important to remember that what we say or do may impact another person's life - when we are aware of how our choices affect others, we may make better choices.

I wonder about others lives and their life events when passing through memories and places because I have a fine memory but it never occurred to me that I'd feature in theirs.

It's just self reflection; if you have your memories with people in them, in whose memories will you be at other people's minds?
It's just something to wander about...

It is egotistical not to wonder how you've made an impact to other people. If you have made neither impact nor care to make one, then shall I say you haven't really cared much of your choices and how you can affect a life?
You probably just existed but never lived.

We enjoy our great memories with those we know and have known - Why shouldn't we wonder how we have been kindly remembered.

It's nice when you hear a song and you associate it with the ones who were listening to it with you and you wonder how they are! Or an ex boyfriend if he's even alive, songs do that they bring out a time and place connection you can say yes! 

I was there with so and so!

Wonder if they even think of me? 

It's human nature we are all creatures of habit and curiosity! Some we tend to forget but many special meaningful people we've met are always in the backwoods of your mind...

Life's full of memories.

I have a great memory I do, but I don't dwell on them. I just don't spend that much time thinking about what other people think about me.  

Remembering Friends from my past. Never really thought about them most of the Time. I would be lying if I said I didn’t. 

I'm sure we all do from time to time when we have memory triggers.

love light and peace

ps/smoh

Nothing in life is ever personal it's always a projection from within them.

Personal belief can be compatible with Science.  Following a religion that has a holy book written by its god is impossible. 

Religious texts and practices show that God is wicked, cruel, and immoral, and totally unworthy of affection by moral human beings. 

Nope. No fear of gods. 

Definitely fear of irrational thinking.

And if you feel attacked just stay quiet and remember.....

"Nothing is under Control"

The only people who can do this are the ones who take no sides, have no external beliefs, and make no judgements..... 

love light and peace
ps/smoh

Live it. Learn it. Love it. It WILL change your life!

What the world needs now is love, sweet love...It's the only thing that there's just too little of....

You can love or accept someone for who they are... I think that is the essence. When love or respect isn't mutual, it is still important to accept this truth. Accepting a person for who they are will free your heart and mind to make the choices you need to make sometimes easier said than done. But when it's mutual, it's a beautiful thing, soar into the skies...

( •_•)
\( (> 
/ \ My son hates when I use the phrase 
"Don't put off till tomorrow what you can do today!", 
I live by that rule!

^___^

Lol. Sometimes u just don't wanna be held accountable.... ^____*

love light and peace

ps/smoh

Maths is beautiful and fun. People shouldn't be made to hate it...

The next time someone asks me to define "pedantic", I'm going to show them this - the teacher's response to this child's answer would seem to provide a classic example of pedantic behaviour.

Is this that whole "common core" math program? It seems like the biggest waste of time. Mathematics was taught better decades ago.

I start an all-out brawl on the topic of maths. Did you know that girls score higher in maths on average until the age of 12? That's when people start telling us that girls are bad at maths and we must be pretty instead of smart.

I'm actually one of the few people that say that teaching application and showing students the usefulness of maths is actually bad for their enthusiasm. The best part of maths is its beauty, not its usefulness.

I don't blame the teacher, I blame the way teachers are taught to teach. Clearly, the purpose of the lesson in this case was '5x3 should be thought of as 5 lots of 3'. It should, therefore, be expressed as such in the student's working.

Of course, the whole teaching system is stupid. The student completely understands the maths behind the whole problem.

It's also clear he/she realises multiplication works both ways (5x3=3x5).

But the teacher has a marking guide to follow... A marking guide that's been dumber down so much that it insists students have to do maths the 'right way' - by which it means with one very particular, overly pedantic method.

The problem is that the teacher doesn't understand the commutative rule for multiplication or maybe the creator of the marking guide. 

In any case, there is no mathematically dictated vertical vs. horizontal relationship between the first and second operands of multiplication so there are no grounds for claiming that the student was wrong.

Actually the child did perform both of the specific methods that were required. It just did them differently to the way the teacher understood as correct. 

So the poor kid lost both marks.

The student has been punished for deviating from the accepted way of tackling the problem, despite those deviations being completely trivial and inconsequential towards getting the right answer.

The errors are in the methodology, not in the answers. It's very prevalent in modern education that marks are given for the 'correct working', not for the answer itself. 

Obviously if you have the correct working, necessarily the answer will be correct. What I disagree with is the thing we see here, where alternative ways of answering the question are penalised, despite being accurate.

So the point that I am stressing here is when we use our brain we can get there even if we took a different root than others but we will get there, and NO ONE can tell us that we are wrong!

love light and peace

ps/smoh