Hello fear, my old friend, I see you’re back for a visit. Welcome! Do you have a teaching for me today? Handling fear, the big kind, the kind that is the main obstacle between us, the realization of ourselves and of our fullest potential, is the lifelong biggie. As my exemplar, I’ve chosen Exodus 14:13-15.… Continue reading Be Still – Get Going
Blog
On “Success”
I was having lunch recently with a friend and the subject got around to how each of us would characterize a “successful” life – this is a typical conversation for geezers when not engaged in their usual, what I call “organ recitals,” (AKA- the medical laundry list). I have a lot of trouble around… Continue reading On “Success”
The Picture From Life’s Other Side
As some of you know, before coaching found me I spent almost 40 years in business, and during that time, found out that a lot of the stuff I learned there was as much about life and human nature outside business as inside. That’s why, since the whole point of this blog is to serve… Continue reading The Picture From Life’s Other Side
Greeting The Dragons
In Life of Pi, author Yann Martel characterizes fear as “life’s only true opponent…only fear can defeat life”. For the philosopher J. Krishnamurti, fear is “the movement from certainty to uncertainty.” And for the poet, Rainer Maria Rilke (my favorite), “Our deepest fears are the dragons guarding from us our greatest treasures”, and those very dragons… Continue reading Greeting The Dragons
Firing the judge
Six years ago, as part of my training as a life coach, I was likewise being coached on my own topic, namely my lifelong relationship (struggle) with my relentless inner critic: the judge. Among many other exercises, my teacher (and coach) assigned me to create a conversation with the judge, essentially firing him. What follows… Continue reading Firing the judge
Teachers on the #9
I’ve mentioned before that I volunteer at a homeless shelter (Martin de Porres) in San Francisco on Thursdays making and serving soup to our guests. It makes me happy because it feels good to do good stuff. To get there, I sometimes take the SF Muni #9 bus, and if you want to see a… Continue reading Teachers on the #9
Speak? Remain Silent?
It can be really, really useful to have simple criteria to call upon, for all those situations when we are not sure whether to speak up, or not. Right (or skillful) speech (and action) is a core teaching in Buddhist practice, and the best articulation on this matter that I have ever heard came from… Continue reading Speak? Remain Silent?
I Never Met A Man I Didn’t Like
When I was 17 or 18, and still knew everything, I read this quote from a deceased dude named Will Rogers: “I never met a man I didn’t like”. (For the benefit of any non geezer readers of this blog (maybe just a few?), Will Rogers (1879–1935) was a Cherokee-American cowboy, comedian, humorist, social commentator,… Continue reading I Never Met A Man I Didn’t Like
Embarrassed? Oh…no!!
My last post about “crying unabashedly”, and people being embarrassed by that, got me thinking about the other stuff we say embarrasses us, and why. There is certainly no shortage of possible candidates for that list. It’s endless actually: – You’re chatting with someone at a party. A friend comes over and asks to be… Continue reading Embarrassed? Oh…no!!
Tears
In a recent email exchange with my sweet, wise lifelong friend (and brother) Sage, he mentioned that he and his beautiful Judith had recently seen the Lion King, and were so moved by the experience that they had “wept unabashedly” – which, of course is absolutely right – unabashedly is the only way to weep.… Continue reading Tears