Everything We Need to Know

The wonderful Hokusai Says which perhaps encapsulates everything we need to know about living.

Learning from the Imperfect

"Have no fear of perfection - you'll never reach it." - Salvador Dalí











Remember that whole month when you were just perfect? 

Those thirty long days when you made all the right decisions, achieved everything you planned, and were compassionate to everyone and stood up for all the things you value. 

That month when you looked amazing every day, ate the perfect food and trained like an athlete.

Perfection is pretty hard to come by, even for thirty days. Still, like many people, I've found myself unwittingly looking for perfection in others. 

Not from those I interact with on a day-to-day basis, we all know everyone makes mistakes and we're used to dealing with the little (or sometimes big) inconveniences that can cause.

But when I was looking for inspiration, or for people to learn big life lessons from, I realised that I expected those people to be perfect. I reasoned that I wanted to learn from people who had fully mastered every aspect of life, so that I could learn how to master every aspect of life.

Where people sit like mountains, smiling with indescribable smiles

"Sometimes, we lose our concept of freedom so completely that even though the door to our prison is wide open, we don't go outside." - Unknown





There’s an old story of a young man, who, as he grew, started to cause a great deal of disquiet in his village. He spoke of strange, far off worlds, worlds very different to anything anyone had ever heard of. 

He spoke of worlds where the sun, trying to savour every moment, grazed the horizon all night long, casting shadows over people that never slept. He spoke of great oceans surrounded by hills of sand, of salty spray carried on the wind beneath skies of sparkling jewels. He spoke of ancient people of orange and red who sat like mountains and smiled with indescribable smiles.

All this talk started to cause a lot of disruption. Some thought he just had an over-active imagination, some thought he was trying to trick them, and for a few, his words seemed to awaken something within them, although they weren't sure what it was, and so they became afraid.

The Biggest Lottery

“We’ve come a long way to belong here” - Jason Mraz 

Looking around the world there is so much to be concerned about. The economy is in tatters, there’s a crisis in the Euro, civil wars are brewing, the terrorists could be anywhere and everywhere and even if we make it to old age, there may be no pension funds left. 

Sometimes it’s hard to find the time to worry about all the things we need to worry about. Actually though, all those are nothing compared to the real big worry, something so big it could mean the end of the world for all of us! 

What if I never get born? 

A Small World?

 

 

Adapted from original imagy by kuyman

A Few Words

Sometimes a few words can speak volumes. One of my favourite quotes attributed to the Buddha is simply:

"Meditate, 

Live purely, 

Be quiet, 

Do your work with mastery, 

Like the moon, come out from behind the clouds, 

Shine."  

Image by James Loesch

Giving Thanks

"All that we think we own was given to us by someone, somewhere, sometime." - Unknown

There is an old story of a Zen Master in Japan who needed a larger building because his students had grown to such great numbers. A local merchant decided to donate a large sum of money toward the new school and one day he brought the money to the Master.

‘All right, I’ll take it,’ the Master said.

The Merchant felt a bit disgruntled at the Master’s cool response because it was a large amount of money, considerably more than a lifetime’s salary. The Merchant pressed the Master by repeating the exact amount of money he was donating.

‘Yes, you already told me,’ replied the Master.

The Merchant pressed further, ‘Well I may be wealthy but even to me it is a lot of money’.

‘Would you like me to thank you?’ the Master asked.

‘Yes you should,’ replied the Merchant.

‘Why is that?’ the Master asked. ‘It is the giver who should be thankful.’

Image courtesy of Mr Kris

Humanity

The motivation for this video came from seeing two contrasting news stories side by side on the same page. 

On one side was a picture of Aung San Suu Kyi, the Burmese pro democracy leader who was recently released after 15 years of house arrest. Awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1991, she has fought tirelessly to attain 'democracy, human rights and ethnic conciliation by peaceful means'.

On the other side was a picture of a serial killer who had recently been convicted of yet another killing.

The contrast brought home to me the almost infinite capacity of human beings to be a source of suffering and misery or a source of compassion and happiness.

The Happiest Man in the World

An inspirational video from Matthieu Ricard. Matthieu trained in biochemistry before moving to the Himalayas to become a Buddhist monk. His description of happiness is delivered with such congruity, it's impossible not to be impressed!

The Big Ten: 10 - Never Give up

"Never Quit. Don't ever, ever quit. Recognize that stopping now, regrouping to try a new approach isn't quitting. If you quit you'll regret it forever." Rudy Ruettiger.

There is a story of a man named Aron Ralston, a mountain climber. Aron lived for the wilderness, to be out there in the wild, alone and climbing. The more remote the place the better, such was his desire for solitude that he often wouldn’t even tell anyone where he was going. 

One day he was climbing in a remote part of the Utah desert, as he put his weight on a lose boulder it came crashing down into a crevice, crushing and trapping his right arm. Miles from civilsation and with only a backpack of equipment, Aron was trapped in that crevice for days.

The Porters of Tangier

"Though the barriers of life seem formidable, we find when we challenge them that they have no will."  Robert Brault.

A few days ago I returned from a small village in the mountains of Morocco. What I found there was an incredible amount of beauty – in nature, in the immaculately painted houses and most of all in the people. Their warmth, hard work and recognition of the oneness of all of us as human beings was amazing.

However, one of the things which had the biggest impact on me wasn’t found in the mountains but at the port while waiting for a ferry to cross back into Spain.

At the entrance to the port there is a very long drag of concrete steps which leads to an overpass. To board the ferry you must make the long steep trek with your luggage. In the centre of the steps there is a slope so you can push luggage carts up – if you’re Superman that is.

Here’s what amazed me. Waiting there at the port for every ferry was a small band of porters.

Stand by Me

"No matter who you are, no matter where you go in your life, at some point you're going to need somebody to stand by you." Roger Ridley - Musician.  

An amazing video put together Playing for Change - an organization that brings people together from all over the world through their music.

Imagine

“Life is very short, and there's no time for fussing and fighting my friends.” John Lennon
















Some of my favourite quotes from the great man.


“A dream you dream alone is only a dream. A dream you dream together is reality.”

"Time you enjoy wasting, was not wasted."

"There are two basic motivating forces: fear and love. When we are afraid, we pull back from life. When we are in love, we open to all that life has to offer with passion, excitement, and acceptance.”

"Reality leaves a lot to the imagination."

 “When I was 5 years old, my mother always told me that happiness was the key to life. When I went to school, they asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up. I wrote down ‘happy’. They told me I didn’t understand the assignment, and I told them they didn’t understand life."

 
“I can't wake you up. You can wake you up. I can't cure you. You can cure you."

“Once a thing's been done it's been done, so why this nostalgia - I mean for the '60s and '70s, you know, looking backwards for inspiration, copying the past - how's that rock 'n' roll? Do something of your own. Start something new, you know? Live your lives now. Know what I mean?"



John Lennon 9 October 1940 – 8 December 1980


Image uploaded by Affendaddy

Just Dance

"All the ills of mankind, all the tragic misfortunes that fill the history books, all the political blunders, all the failures of the great leaders have arisen merely from a lack of skill at dancing.” Molière - French playwright and Actor

I think this is an inspirational clip. If you're not one of the 33 million who have apparently watched it, check it out. It's a great reminder that we are all unique, and yet, underneath we are all really very similar.

"Only when we are so old, we are aware of the beauty of life"

This post is a little bit different but I wanted to share with you a short clip about the life of an extraordinary woman called Alice. Alice is about to celebrate her 107th birthday and her attitude to life is inspirational. 

No one can say it better then lady herself so I will leave you to enjoy - Alice you are an inspiration to us all! 

Editors note: Sadly the original 12 minute video has been removed from YouTube and replaced with a much shorter one which doesn't really do the story justice. You can read more about Alice's story here.