Just so you know, this has nothing to do with Frozen, lol. :-)
I have been delving deeper into Buddhist teachings, since my break with the church. I have been reading Lama Surya Das, who is a brilliant writer, although a bit scatterbrained in person. :-D I have been reading a book called Awakening the Buddha Within, which explains in greater detail the Four Noble Truths and the Eightfold Path to Enlightenment, which are some of the basic teachings Shakyamuni Buddha taught while he was on Earth.
I have read the book two and a half times (working on my third time now) and the book does bring up some interesting thoughts. Nothing negative or overly deep, just statements that I have realized along the way without a ton of emotion attached to it. For example, I was reading about Right Livelihood, which explains that work should be done with a clear conscience and to the benefit of others. I realized when I was studying the book that I had never really worked for anything in my life. School has always come somewhat naturally to me while it held my interest, and I have always gotten money from my parents, except for the few times I held a regular job. They were always bailing me out, doing things for me, or manipulating the situation for me in my benefit. I mean nothing against my parents. There were times when it was quite beneficial for me, like when I was a young kid and didn't know how to solve a certain situation. But honestly, I took a neutral stance for most of my life on a lot of things. It wasn't my parents' fault, but I relied on them for advice and money and practically everything, and they took advantage of that sometimes. I think it made them feel needed.
It felt weird to come to that realization, that basically my life had been externally controlled, and I was a product of a lifetime of having things done for me so much that I had no discipline at all. I always took the easy way out because it was just that, easy, and required the least amount of discipline and effort. And people take advantage of you when you do that. It was a sucky reality that I had created for myself.
I have seen myself and a lot of other people come to similar realizations and be like, "Well, this stops NOW. I am a changed person by the virtue of this realization." I have over the years grown to view this with a certain degree of cynicism. You can't undo decades of bad habits simply by realizing something. It is a process. I was talking to my lovely about this last night when I came to this realization. It's like bench pressing, if you go in too quickly to a heavy weight, you will collapse under the pressure and possibly injure yourself. It's not the laziness talking, it's common sense.
I have also gone through this with my diet, come to a realization and been like, this is it, this is the first day of the rest of my life, and so forth. I overhauled and changed everything, only to come crashing down a few days later. I think to a certain extent you have to discipline yourself to discipline yourself. It is so easy to burn out. I figured it would behoove me at this point to make small goals, like having one healthy meal at a time, and deciding what I want to do job-wise and sticking to that commitment. I have made that commitment, and now I have to take the steps to get out of my rut. :-)
I hope everyone has a fantastic day. I will be spending mine with my lovely, and enjoying the warmer temperatures.
With metta,
Shelly
I have been delving deeper into Buddhist teachings, since my break with the church. I have been reading Lama Surya Das, who is a brilliant writer, although a bit scatterbrained in person. :-D I have been reading a book called Awakening the Buddha Within, which explains in greater detail the Four Noble Truths and the Eightfold Path to Enlightenment, which are some of the basic teachings Shakyamuni Buddha taught while he was on Earth.
I have read the book two and a half times (working on my third time now) and the book does bring up some interesting thoughts. Nothing negative or overly deep, just statements that I have realized along the way without a ton of emotion attached to it. For example, I was reading about Right Livelihood, which explains that work should be done with a clear conscience and to the benefit of others. I realized when I was studying the book that I had never really worked for anything in my life. School has always come somewhat naturally to me while it held my interest, and I have always gotten money from my parents, except for the few times I held a regular job. They were always bailing me out, doing things for me, or manipulating the situation for me in my benefit. I mean nothing against my parents. There were times when it was quite beneficial for me, like when I was a young kid and didn't know how to solve a certain situation. But honestly, I took a neutral stance for most of my life on a lot of things. It wasn't my parents' fault, but I relied on them for advice and money and practically everything, and they took advantage of that sometimes. I think it made them feel needed.
It felt weird to come to that realization, that basically my life had been externally controlled, and I was a product of a lifetime of having things done for me so much that I had no discipline at all. I always took the easy way out because it was just that, easy, and required the least amount of discipline and effort. And people take advantage of you when you do that. It was a sucky reality that I had created for myself.
I have seen myself and a lot of other people come to similar realizations and be like, "Well, this stops NOW. I am a changed person by the virtue of this realization." I have over the years grown to view this with a certain degree of cynicism. You can't undo decades of bad habits simply by realizing something. It is a process. I was talking to my lovely about this last night when I came to this realization. It's like bench pressing, if you go in too quickly to a heavy weight, you will collapse under the pressure and possibly injure yourself. It's not the laziness talking, it's common sense.
I have also gone through this with my diet, come to a realization and been like, this is it, this is the first day of the rest of my life, and so forth. I overhauled and changed everything, only to come crashing down a few days later. I think to a certain extent you have to discipline yourself to discipline yourself. It is so easy to burn out. I figured it would behoove me at this point to make small goals, like having one healthy meal at a time, and deciding what I want to do job-wise and sticking to that commitment. I have made that commitment, and now I have to take the steps to get out of my rut. :-)
I hope everyone has a fantastic day. I will be spending mine with my lovely, and enjoying the warmer temperatures.
With metta,
Shelly