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Posted: Tue, Jun 20, 2017 08:57:27 AM

with the God within me.
today, not so much. these sort of days happen and ironically the day i cannot still the treadmill of thoughts, is day i am **listening** for guidance about the direction i need to take. that is probably not entirely true, i have a strong sense of what i need to do today, and among those tasks is to admit to being an oafish slob, support my Dad in his never-ending saga and be supportive, courteous and responsive at work. all stuff i can do, am fairly certain i am willing to do and have just enough desire to do.
i could brag about how deep my meditation has been, of late, but to what end, meditation is not a competitive sport and on the scale of those who do sit, i probably am barely average. being average, in this realm is not a bad or “less than”status, as meditation does not come easily to me. anything beyond five minutes is a “win” for me, so this morning was not bad. my problem is that my definition of “quality” has been altered. where once my metric of meditation was based on length of time, now it is based on stillness. as my expectations of what happens when i “sit” changes, my definition of success and failure does as well. which goes to the heart of the reading this morning. through diligent practice, i am getting more than i ever dreamed possible out of meditation and like a “addict” i want more and more.
so what else can i say about persevering through times when i never though i would “get” it? well i am grateful that i kept at it and today as chaotic as my effort felt, i still walked away with a sense of peace of a bit more serenity especially dealing with those for whom i provide a service. i get that they have concerns and me being nasty, petulant and disrespectful, does very little to enhance that relationship. what i want and what i need always seem to be in conflict, so i am certainly grateful, that at least right here and right now, they feel the same. of course desire is always waiting to bea part of my day. so it is off to the races to see what i can accomplish

∞ DT ∞


Another Look

This day in older entries

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691 words ➥ Saturday, June 20, 2026 by donnot
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438 words ➥ Friday, June 20, 2025 by donnot
🕴 to my great disappointment, 🕴
574 words ➥ Thursday, June 20, 2024 by donnot
🌊 a willingness 🌈
499 words ➥ Tuesday, June 20, 2023 by donnot
🤫 quietly powerful 💪
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🧠 quieting my mind 🧠
341 words ➥ Sunday, June 20, 2021 by donnot
❃ an inner peace ❃
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🗣 what is it 👂
447 words ➥ Thursday, June 20, 2019 by donnot
䷓ i still do not ䷛
668 words ➥ Wednesday, June 20, 2018 by donnot
🏰 the GOD 🏯
709 words ➥ Monday, June 20, 2016 by donnot
δ nothing dramatic δ
648 words ➥ Saturday, June 20, 2015 by donnot
¦ no bolts of lightning or claps of thunder ¦
319 words ➥ Friday, June 20, 2014 by donnot
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462 words ➥ Saturday, June 20, 2009 by donnot
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474 words ➥ Friday, June 20, 2008 by donnot
∞ there was nothing dramatic in that awareness ∞
289 words ➥ Wednesday, June 20, 2007 by donnot
α taking time to get my ego and my ideas out of the way ω
306 words ➥ Tuesday, June 20, 2006 by donnot
δ keeping quiet δ
202 words ➥ Monday, June 20, 2005 by donnot
sunday solstice sunday
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Tao Te Ching

☯ The Tao that can be spoken is not the eternal Tao ☯

The Tao Teh King, or The Tao and Its Characteristics
by Lao-Tse
Translated by James Legge

Book 1

2) The multitude of men look satisfied and pleased; as if enjoying
a full banquet, as if mounted on a tower in spring. I alone seem listless
and still, my desires having as yet given no indication of their presence.
I am like an infant which has not yet smiled. I look dejected and
forlorn, as if I had no home to go to. The multitude of men all have
enough and to spare. I alone seem to have lost everything. My mind
is that of a stupid man; I am in a state of chaos. Ordinary men look
bright and intelligent, while I alone seem to be benighted. They look
full of discrimination, while I alone am dull and confused. I seem
to be carried about as on the sea, drifting as if I had nowhere to
rest. All men have their spheres of action, while I alone seem dull
and incapable, like a rude borderer. (Thus) I alone am different from
other men, but I value the nursing-mother (the Tao).