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Keeping Hope Alive
Joseph M. Marshall III

Today Is Yesterday's Tomorrow
Jim Rohn

Clear Mind, Empty Head?:  A Leak In "Mind Like Water"
Maya Talisman Frost

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Eleanor Roosevelt

An honest reputation is within the reach of all people; they obtain it by social virtues, and by doing their duty. This kind of reputation, it is true, is neither brilliant nor startling, but it is often
the most useful for happiness.

Charles Pinot Duclos

"Sooner, rather than later," Old Hawk began, "we all learn that life is not easy."

Jeremy concurred silently.  Before his father had died, there had been other struggles.  He was still paying off student loans from college, and though he wanted to apply to graduate school, he wasn't sure he could pay for two more years of school.  A high school in Alaska had recruited him to teach there and the pay was nearly double his current salary.  But the cost of living up there was higher, and he wasn't sure he wanted to be so far from home and his grandparents.

"On the other hand," the old man went on, "if our journey has not known struggle and we have experienced little or no obstacles, then whatever we have gained may not seem worthwhile to us, be it riches, or status, or title, or anything else.  If we have not known struggle, then neither have we learned the value of hope.

"Since the world began, the sun has been rising and setting with regularity, a certainty we can depend on.  Yet no one on this Earth knows how many more days will come.  All we really need to know, however, is that each day can be a new opportunity.  What we do with it is up to each of us.

"Yet, time can be a burden or a gift, as your cousin learned after he came home from overseas. 

"He was constantly bombarded with memories triggered by the smells, sounds, and images of war.  At night he was terrified of going to sleep because of the vivid dreams of combat.  Alcohol became a haven because it numbed his guilt and sometimes softened the jagged edges of his memories and dreams.

"After months of guilt, pain, and despair, he considered ending his life.  But in the middle of one night he awakened from a drunken stupor on his parents' floor, with no indication of how he had gotten there.  Seated next to him on the floor was his mother, your uncle's wife.  She held a damp cloth and was gently wiping the sweat from his face.  Her soft touch finally broke the wall of anger and denial the young man had built, and he wept.  Through the tears he confessed that he could no longer face the images that were the memories of his buddies.

"When your cousin had cried until there were no more tears, his mother took his face in her hands and spoke.

"'Do not turn from their faces.  Let them come into your mind.  Hold them in your heart.  They were your friends, your fellow warriors.  All of you shared something, whether it was good, bad, or unspeakable.  No matter how my heart aches for you, I can never know what you witnessed or endured.  They come to you because you may be the only connection they have left to this world.  Tell them how difficult it is for you now; they will understand.  Then live your life for them as well as for yourself.  Honor the gift you have been given, a gift they would take in a heartbeat.'

"'There is nothing you can do to change yesterday, but you might make tomorrow easier by living the best you can today.  When the sun comes up, stand up, square your shoulders and face what comes.  You won't have to face it alone.  Your friends will be with you every step of the way.'

"In the days, weeks, and months after that night, your cousin remembered his mother's words often.  And he took her advice.  He let go of the day that had passed each night as he lay down to rest, and didn't worry what the next would bring.  The best he could do was hope and pray for the strength to live it well when it came.

"The road was not easy, but he did know where he was going.  Then he realized one night as he was about to drift off to sleep, that--for the first time in years--he was eager for the next day to come.  After that moment he regarded each day as a promise that there were always possibilities.

"Possibilities, he told me one day, were the children of hope.  And your cousin also said that his mom taught him how to hope.  She taught him that each new day was worth living for.

"I think she taught him something else.  I think she taught him that keeping hope alive is to know how to keep going."
  

Living Life Fully, the e-zine
exists to try to provide for visitors of the world wide web a place
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are presented as thoughts of the authors--by no means do we
mean to present them as ways that anyone has to live life.  Take
from them what you will, and disagree with whatever you disagree
with--just know that they'll be here for you each week.

The problem with waiting until tomorrow is that when it finally arrives, it is called today.  Today is yesterday's tomorrow.  The question is what did we do with its opportunity?  All too often we will waste tomorrow as we wasted yesterday, and as we are wasting today.  All that could have been accomplished can easily elude us, despite our intentions, until we inevitably discover that the things that might have been have slipped from our embrace a single, unused day at a time.

Each of us must pause frequently to remind ourselves that the clock is ticking.  The same clock that began to tick from the moment we drew our first breath will also someday cease.

Time is the great equalizer of all mankind.  It has taken away the best and the worst of us without regard for either.  Time offers opportunity but demands a sense of urgency.

When the game of life I finally over, there is no second chance to correct our errors.  The clock that is ticking away the moments of our lives does not care about winners and losers.  It does not care about who succeeds or who fails.  It does not care about excuses, fairness or equality.  The only essential issue is how we played the game.

Regardless of a person's current age, there is a sense of urgency that should drive them into action now--this very moment.  We should be constantly aware of the value of each and every moment of our lives--moments that seem so insignificant that their loss often goes unnoticed.

We still have all the time we need.  We still have lots of chances--lots of opportunities--lots of years to show what we can do.  For most of us, there will be a tomorrow, a next week, a next month, and a next year.  But unless we develop a sense of urgency, those brief windows of time will be sadly wasted, as were the weeks and months and years before them.  There isn't an endless supply!

So, as you think of your dreams and goals of your future tomorrow, begin today to take those very important first steps to making them all come to life.
   

Excerpted from the bookThe Five Major Pieces to the Life Puzzle.  Reproduced with permission from the Jim Rohn Weekly E-zine.
   

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By June our brook's run out of song and speed.
Sought for much after that, it will be found
Either to have gone groping underground
(And taken with it all the Hyla breed
That shouted in the mist a month ago,
Like ghost of sleigh-bells in a ghost of snow)--
Or flourished and come up in jewel-weed,
Weak foliage that is blown upon and bent
Even against the way its waters went.
Its bed is left a faded paper sheet
Of dead leaves stuck together by the heat--
A brook to none but who remember long.
This as it will be seen is other far
Than with the brooks taken otherwhere in song.
We love the things we love for what they are.

Robert Frost

Clear Mind, Empty Head?: A Leak In "Mind Like Water"
Maya Talisman Frost

There's a lot of talk in meditation circles about emptying the mind. This is a roadblock for many people. Why? Because it's counterintuitive.

After all, we spend most of our waking hours filling up our minds. We go to school, we get trained, we read, we learn, we absorb information from all around us. Then someone comes along and tells us that the best thing we can do is EMPTY our mind? Why would we want to do that?

Empty isn't a good thing in most cases. Empty wallet? Empty gas tank? Empty bank account? Empty restaurant? These aren't conditions we find satisfying. Mention your feelings of "emptiness" to your doctor and you may end up with a prescription for Prozac. Would you take it as a compliment if someone referred to you as "empty-headed"? Not likely.

We seek fullness in our bellies, our hearts and our lives.  Going for empty goes against the grain.

We've already got plenty of reasons to avoid meditation. It seems difficult, uncomfortable, or just plain boring to a lot of newcomers. We don't need any semantic obstacles. Hearing that little voice saying, "Your mind is not empty--you're lousy at this!" only adds to the clutter that muddies our spirit, fogs our intention, and paralyzes our progress.

We must relinquish this expectation that we are supposed to attain this state of emptiness--complete non-thinking--in order to have a good meditation session. Staying attached to this ideal is likely to provide just one more nudge in the never-mind direction.

David Allen is a productivity trainer and consultant who is the author of Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity. He offers some tips for dealing with the clutter that crowds our minds so that we can free up space for greater creativity.

Like Jim Ballard in his book called Mind Like Water: Keeping Your Balance In A Chaotic World, Allen uses the martial arts term to describe the process of preparing our mind for appropriate responses to demands. Having a "mind like water" refers to one's ability to react and reflect in a balanced way. If you drop a stone in a still pond, the ripples will appear in a direct, appropriate response to the force and mass of that stone. Nothing more, nothing less. As the ripples dissipate, the pond returns to stillness.

Still. Ripple. Still.

The only leak in this "mind like water" discussion is that Allen sticks with the tried-and-true "empty mind" terminology. That's too bad. It would have been a perfect opportunity to switch to clear!

When the "empty mind" concept becomes a barrier, slip into "clear mind" instead. After all, a pond is not empty. It is clear. Plenty of water. Rocks and mud at the bottom. Fish swimming here and there. If the water is clear, you can see it all and the finest details become magnified as they pop into view.

The important aspect is our ability to see whatever we need to see. What happens when you toss a stone into an empty pond? Not much. It makes a thud on the muddy bottom. Sure, you can see it. But what's the point?

Your mind will continue to have thoughts. Don't expect to avoid them. Drop the idea that you can remain "thoughtless" and embrace the value of seeing those thoughts clearly.

You've spent years filling your head. Mindfulness gives you the clarity to see what's going on in there without having to dump the contents first. By releasing the notion of emptiness, you can step into the power of clarity.

Empty mind? Clear mind? Choose the image that works for you.

I'll cast my vote for clear.

Maya Frost has taught thousands of people how to pay attention.  Her playful, eyes-wide-open approach to everyday awareness has been featured in over 100 media outlets around the world.  In her book, The New Global Student, she helps parents of high school students get calm, clear and creative about the best education options for their kids.  Learn more at www.mayafrost.com

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