Landmark Education - BUT vs AND

A dear fellow life-contemplation friend of mine invited me to a "Landmark Education" forum this evening and after about 3.25 hours of reflecting and crying, I'd like to share some of the enriching contents I learned with you:

1. Have you ever had your heart broken? (yes) Have you ever been rejected? (yes) This knowledge is what's weighing you down. It leads to living in the past and a fear of being fully open to new life experiences.
   
   
2. Have you ever told yourself "I want to stop hurting?" or "I want these hardships to end"? When you stop running into hardship, you stop experiencing and learning from all that life has to offer.
   
   
3. Problems are just "boxes" of how you look at life. And it's how you approach these problems that can either empower or weaken you. One way this can be explained is how you express your "problems" and the big word that weakens you is the word "BUT".
   

For example, fill in these blanks:

I want _____________, 'BUT' _________________.

"I want my relationship to be better with this person, 'BUT' they are narrow-minded."

"I want to fall in love again, 'BUT' I'm not meeting the right person."

"I want to travel, 'BUT' I'm broke."

"I want to get in shape, 'BUT' I don't want to exercise."

Now....let's convert the word 'BUT' to 'AND'.

"I want my relationship to be better with this person, 'AND' they are narrow-minded."

"I want to fall in love again, 'AND' I'm not meeting the right person."

"I want to travel, 'AND' I'm broke."

"I want to get in shape, 'AND' I don't want to exercise."

By simply changing your wording...your view and interpretation of the so-called "problem", you find that your problems are NOT definitive. When we say 'BUT', we automatically link what we want with another statement that negates our true potential. When we say 'AND', the two statements become completely separate facts and as a result, your WANT becomes something you CAN control.

Thus...step 1: is to change our approach and attitude towards what is thrown to us and how we want to shape our lives.

AND with that said...I'm going to take the next week to practice substituting my "BUT's with "AND"s.

:)

San Francisco Enlightenments

After missing my bus and already running late, I caught a taxi today to meet up with some friends for lunch. My taxi driver asked me how I was doing and where I was from and after a few general statements about the weather and how I just moved to the city, I asked him how his day was going. In which he replied "Today? Today is as great as every other day. And every day is great because I am here in this beautiful city and have both my legs and both my arms. There are thousands of people who want to be here where we are, but we are here. Alive and able to enjoy what we have. And that makes today great."

Taxi driver? Or guru? I'll never know.

Regardless, those few sentences were sincerely appreciated. Because every day...as we age and grow older and get more submerged into the agony and pains of the world...we tend to become more "realistic" aka: pessimistic. Jaded almost. But, how can there be room for more bickering, war, and discrimination...when shit like tsumanis, earthquakes, global warming continue to happen? The world has so many natural disasters already... why must human-kind add to it?

And so...despite all this crap...this humble little taxi driver man has a glimmer of hope. To be TRULY grateful for that of which we DO have and to truly make the most of the fact that we are SO lucky to be where we are.

And so with that said I have to say that SF has been pretty darn amazing to me thus far. And, as a Bay Area native who has spent way too much time in a car and/or at home, I've certainly taken it for granted.

My little neighborhood in San Francisco, Nob Hill, besides being close to the awesome Polk street with its cute restaurants and coffeeshops, is just a 15 minute run down to Fort Mason/the Marina. It takes my breath away to be able to run over that little random hill and towards the Golden Gate Bridge. And then when I'm running back...lo and behold Ghiridelli Square and its missing neon letters and the backdrop of the pier and fisherman warf in all its glory...gee golly this is MY home! My Bay Area! It's like *slap me silly* someone wake me up?!

And then the other day I walked to the Moscone center and it only took 30 minutes!

And today...on my trek back to my new home, I walked along the cable car path along California street and to the Grace Cathedral. Seeing that the place is opened to the public, I walked into the cathedral and was in complete awe...the stained glass windows and incredibly high ceiling..the sheer size of the place was astounding. The floor labyrinth. The murals, and the lighted candles spread throughout the entire church.

As someone started gently playing the piano and another started softly singing some hymns, I sat down near the alter for about 30 minutes and kid you not I closed my eyes and cried. Tears welled up as I sat there in complete solitude reflecting on all that has happened and what is to come.

I know moving doesn't seem like such a big deal for many, but to me...to move to the city has been something I've been longing for for so long then to do so and for all of it to just happen at the speed of light reminds me that I really do need to make the most of each moment and to fully experience all that life has to offer.

I have both my legs and both my arms, and There is SO much to see and SO many people to learn from.

And so, dear taxi drive, I'm right there with ya. "Alive and able to enjoy what we do have."