Don't Listen to the Static

Just for today, the choice is mine.

1. Just for today I will try to live through this day only, not tackling all of my problems at once. I can do something at this moment that would discourage me if I had to continue it for a lifetime.

2. Just for today I will try to be happy, realizing my happiness does not depend on what others do or say or what happens around me. Happiness is a result of being at peace with myself.

3. Just for today I will try to adjust myself to what is and not force everything to adjust to my own desires. I will accept my family, my friends, my business, my circumstances as they come.

4. Just for today I will take care of my physical health; I will exercise my mind; I will read something spiritual.

5. Just for today I will do somebody a good turn and not get found out. If anyone knows of it, it will not count. I will do at least one thing I don’t want to do, and I will perform some small act of love for my neighbor.

6. Just for today I will try to go out of my way to be kind to someone I meet. I will be considerate, talk low, and look as good as I can. I will not engage in unnecessary criticism or finding fault, nor try to improve or regulate anybody except myself.

7. Just for today I will have a program. I may not follow it exactly, but I will have it. I will save myself from two pests—hurry and indecision.

8. Just for today I will stop saying, “If I had time.” I never will find time for anything. If I want time, I must take it.

9. Just for today I will have a quiet time of meditation wherein I shall think of my Higher Power, of myself: and of my neighbor. I shall relax and seek truth.

10. Just for today I shall be unafraid. Particularly, I shall be unafraid to be happy, to enjoy what is good, what is beautiful, and what is lovely in life.

11. Just for today I will not compare myself with others. I will accept myself and live to the best of my ability.

12. Just for today I choose to believe that I can live this one day

in such I am truly free, Peace

“ I have come to the frightening conclusion that I am the decisive element. It is my personal approach that creates the climate. It is my daily mood that makes the weather. I possess tremendous power to make life miserable or joyous. I can be a tool of torture or an instrument of inspiration, I can humiliate or humor, hurt or heal. In all situations, it is my response that decides whether a crisis is escalated or de-escalated, and a person is humanized or dehumanized. If we treat people as they are, we make them worse. If we treat people as they ought to be, we help them become what they are capable of becoming.

— Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, 1749-1832

Wild Geese

You do not have to be good.
You do not have to walk on your knees
For a hundred miles through the desert, repenting.
You only have to let the soft animal of your body
love what it loves.
Tell me about despair, yours, and I will tell you mine.
Meanwhile the world goes on.
Meanwhile the sun and the clear pebbles of the rain
are moving across the landscapes,
over the prairies and the deep trees,
the mountains and the rivers.
Meanwhile the wild geese, high in the clean blue air,
are heading home again.
Whoever you are, no matter how lonely,
the world offers itself to your imagination,
calls to you like the wild geese, harsh and exciting —
over and over announcing your place
in the family of things.

Mary Oliver

In the moment

“ Once you have a mission, you will never have a job again

— Shai Agassi

» Slightly Interesting Picture

“ You can’t expect to win unless you know why you lose.

— Benjamin Lipson

“ The future is just a fucking concept that we use to avoid living today.

— Brenda Chenowith - Six Feet Under

Falling into the Same Hole

by Portia Nelson

I. I walk down the street. There is a deep hole in the sidewalk. I fall in. I am lost… I am helpless. It takes forever to find a way out.

II. I walk down the same street. There is a deep hole in the sidewalk. I pretend I don’t see it. I fall in again. I can’t believe I am in the same place. But, it isn’t my fault. It still takes a long time to get out.

III. I walk down the same street. There is a deep hole in the sidewalk. I see it is there. I still fall in… It’s a habit… but, My eyes are open. I know where I am. It is my responsibility. I get out immediately.

IV. I walk down the street. There is a deep hole in the sidewalk. I walk around it.

V. I walk down another street.

“ Had to find some higher ground
Had some fear to get around
You can’t say what you don’t know
Later on won’t work no more
Last time though I hid my tracks
So well I could not get back
Yeah my way was hard to find
Can’t sell your soul for peace of mind

Square one, my slate is clear
Rest your head and meet my dear
It took a world of trouble, it took a world of tears
It took a long time to get back here

Try so hard to stand alone
Struggle to see past my nose
Always had more dogs than bones
I could never wear those clothes
It’s a dark victory
You won and you are so lost
Told her you were satisfied
But it never came across

Square one, my slate is clear
Rest your head on me my dear
It took a world of trouble, it took a world of tears

— Tom Petty - Square One