Tuesday, December 30, 2014

Self-acceptance Quotes



“The worst loneliness is to not be comfortable with yourself.” – Mark Twain


The curious paradox is that qwhen I accept myself just as I am then I can change.  - Carl Rogers

If you begin to understand qwhat you are qwithout trying to change it, then what you are undegoes a transformation.

The first step toward change is awareness.  The second step is acceptance.  - Nathaniel Brandon

Stop hating yourself for everything you are not. Start loving yourself for everything you are.

To be beautiful means to be yourself.  You don't need to be accepted by others: You need to accept yourself.

Be careful how you are talking to yourself because you are listening.  - Lisa M. Hayes

No amount of self-improvement can make up for any lack of self-acceptance. - Robert Holden
 

When people are not accepting toward themselves they are often obsessed with acceptance by others.  - Nathaniel Brandon


“Because one believes in oneself, one doesn't try to convince others. Because one is content with oneself, one doesn't need others' approval. Because one accepts oneself, the whole world accepts him or her.”
― Lao Tzu



“Peace comes from within.  Do not seek it without.” 
― Gautama Buddha

“Once we believe in ourselves, we can risk curiosity, wonder, spontaneous delight, or any experience that reveals the human spirit”
― E.E. Cummings


“The most terrifying thing is to accept oneself completely.” 
― C.G. Jung



“We can never obtain peace in the outer world until we make peace with ourselves.” 
― Dalai Lama XIV


“It's not worth our while to let our imperfections disturb us always.” 
― Henry David Thoreau



“Because true belonging only happens when we present our authentic, imperfect selves to the world, our sense of belonging can never be greater than our level of self-acceptance.” 
― BrenĂ© Brown   

“If you begin to understand what you are without trying to change it, then what you are undergoes a transformation.” 
― Jiddu Krishnamurti

“I now see how owning our story and loving ourselves through that process is the bravest thing that we will ever do.” 
― BrenĂ© Brown


“At 30 a man should know himself like the palm of his hand, know the exact number of his defects and qualities, know how far he can go, foretell his failures - be what he is. And, above all, accept these things.” 
― Albert Camus


"Self-acceptance means living the life you choose to live without worrying what others think about you. It doesn’t matter what someone else thinks about you. What matters is what you think about yourself. Life is about choices—your life choices, not someone else’s choice about how you should live.” 
― Sadiqua Hamdan, Happy Am I. Holy Am I. Healthy Am I.



“Beyond a wholesome discipline, be gentle with yourself.
You are a child of the universe, no less than the trees and the stars; you have a right to be here.
And whether or not it is clear to you, no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should.” 
― Max EhrmannDesiderata: A Poem for a Way of Life


“There comes a time in each life like a point of fulcrum. At that time you must accept yourself. It is not any more what you will become. It is what you are and always will be. You are too young to know this. You are still becoming. Not being.” 
― John FowlesThe Magus



“What is freedom? It consists in two things: to know each his own limitations and accept them – that is the same thing as to know oneself, and accept oneself as one is, without fear, or envy, or distaste; and to recognise and accept the conditions under which one lives, also without fear or envy, or distaste. When you do this, you shall be free.” 
― Ann BridgeIllyrian Spring
 

Tuesday, October 7, 2014

Education Ideas by Bill Gates, Sir Ken Robinson among others.

Published on May 11, 2013


Found on: http://video.pbs.org/video/2365006219/

Hear inspiring leaders on the topic of learning in this TED project hosted by John Legend.

Hear inspiring and forward-looking leaders and thinkers on the topic of learning, including Dr. Angela Lee Duckworth, Bill Gates, Rita F. Pierson, Sir Ken Robinson and Geoffrey Canada, among others. 

Hosted by John Legend, this special focused solely on education marks the first TED project produced specifically for television.
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Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind



“Even though you try to put people under control, it is impossible. You cannot do it. The best way to control people is to encourage them to be mischievous. Then they will be in control in a wider sense. To give your sheep or cow a large spacious meadow is the way to control him. So it is with people: first let them do what they want, and watch them. This is the best policy. To ignore them is not good. That is the worst policy. The second worst is trying to control them. The best one is to watch them, just to watch them, without trying to control them.” 


― Shunryu SuzukiZen Mind, Beginner's Mind: Informal Talks on Zen Meditation and Practice







http://www.arvindguptatoys.com/arvindgupta/zenmind.pdf






Shunryu Suzuki [Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind] 02 Right Practice - Posture




This is #2 of 26 lectures



Shunryu Suzuki [Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind] 01 Prologue - Beginner's Mind


Short film (4 mins) by Shunryu Suzuki Roshi – Sandokai – Sound and Noise





Friday, September 26, 2014

Mindfulness with Jon Kabat-Zinn



Jon Kabat-Zinn leads a session on Mindfulness at Google.

Source: http://youtu.be/3nwwKbM_vJc


The Degrowth Movement



The degrowth movement is a relatively new contender in the economic and political debates that swirl around humanity's future. 

Degrowthers believe we need a more modest and sane alternative to the constant pressures of expansion that are destroying the ecological basis of our existence. 

Author and essayist Richard Swift explores the degrowth alternative, in theory and in practice.


IMO, This is one of the many great shows on the CBC radio

 CBC IDEAS Schedule for September 29 - October 3


Sunday, August 3, 2014

Charles Darwin


It`s not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent, but the one most responsive to change.  - Charles Darwin


The importance of decision making


“Happiness is not something ready made. It comes from your own actions.”
 —Dalai Lama

This months diet is next months body.




Friday, August 1, 2014

Learn to relax

Anna Netrebko - "Pie Jesu"

Uploaded on Dec 3, 2008
Anna Netrebko's stunning recording of the Andrew Lloyd Webber "Pie Jesu" from his Requiem Mass. Recorded for her new album "Souvenirs" Anna duets this gorgeous piece of music with Andrew Swait.

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ANNA NETREBKO: O MIO BABBINO CARO






The neuroscience of mindfulness

SCIENCE

The shortest explanation of the neuroscience of mindfulness ever!
We westerners need the stamp of science if we’re going to try anything new and I think it’s useful to know what doing meditation every day actually does to our brain.
There are plenty of website articles, videos and research findings about the neuroscience of meditation but they can be very long and overwhelming at times, especially to the non-scientist. My intention for this page is to give you a very basic summary of the neuroscience behind mindfulness so you don’t have to spend hours reading and scratching your head. New research is coming out all of the time so this page will probably be added to.
NeuroscienceBrain
It turns out that our brain is a river and not a rock.  Research has shown that 70% of the synaptic connections in our brain change each day.  What we think and do influences this change. This means that we can potentially expand our range of cognitive and emotional capabilities through training. Neuroscientists call this brain malleability neuroplasticity.
Research
I have chosen Richard Davidson, who directs the Laboratory for Affective Neuroscience at the University of Wisconsin, for this summary as he really is the pioneer for research in this field. Davidson’s studies have shown that people with more left-sided activation tend to be more emotionally positive and people with more right-sided activation have more negative emotions.
Davidson’s key research involved wiring up the heads of hundreds of Buddhist monks with 256 sensors, assessed with functional magnetic resonance imaging (FMRI). The participant’s brain waves were monitored for activity between neutral and meditation states. Non meditating volunteers were also used as a control.
From this study Davidson discovered that the meditation practice increased left-sided prefrontal activation linked with happiness and positive emotions.  He also observed that this shift towards increased left-sided activation was associated with significant reductions in anxiety, further cementing the link between mind and body connection.
Davidson concluded from the research that meditation not only changes the workings of the brain in the short term, but also possibly produces permanent changes.  Other studies have shown significant changes in the brains of Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction course participants after just eight weeks.
Final thoughts
Meditation practice dates back over 5000 years and only now are we really starting to understand how it affects our brain.  However, as interesting and exciting as the new findings are they don’t compare to actually practicing meditation and experiencing it all for yourself……so get meditating! Otherwise it’s like you’re reading a menu in a restaurant but never tasting the food.



Thursday, July 31, 2014

Warren Buffett offers investing advice



Warren Buffett called into CNBC to surprise 17-year-old Tre Grinner, a Hodgkin's Lymphoma patient who wants to be an investment banker.


Thursday, July 31, 2014


Warren Buffett surprises teen cancer patient on CNBC




Warren Buffett called into CNBC to surprise 17-year-old Tre Grinner, a Hodgkin's Lymphoma patient who wants to be an investment banker.
With help from the Make-A-Wish Foundation, Grinner has been working as an intern at Goldman Sachs and he was doing a live interview about that experience.
Buffett's main piece of advice for Tre as he prepares to enroll in community college this fall: learn accounting so you can read financial statements. "Accounting is the language of business and there's nothing like getting it early and getting it into your system."
Pointing out that accounting is a "language all of its own," Buffett said, "Getting comfortable in a foreign language takes a little experience, a little study, early on but it pays off big later on."


He also told Grinner to ignore the day-to-day moves of the stock market, like today's plunge on Wall Street, and concentrate on buying stocks in good businesses at good prices. "The lower prices go, as long as you know the company you're investing in, the better it is for a buyer. Down days always make me feel good."
As part of his internship, Grinner was given $50,000 in imaginary money to "buy" stocks. He quickly turned it into $70,000.
Buffett was impressed, saying he wants Grinner to "do that for me."
At the end of the conversation, Buffett invited Grinner to come to Omaha for Berkshire Hathaway's annual meeting in May. "I'd like to meet you personally."

Ben Hider | NYSE
By CNBC's Alex Crippen. Follow him on Twitter: @alexcrippen



Link http://www.cnbc.com/id/101884484 




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Tuesday, January 7, 2014

Bringing back a Wandering Attention - William James

 

 William James was interested in mindfulness and attention:  



 “The faculty of voluntarily bringing back a wandering attention, over and over again, is the very root of judgment, character, and will. No one is compos sui [master of himself] if he have it not. An education which should improve this faculty would be the education par excellence.”




William James, Psychology: Briefer Course, p. 424 (Harper Torchbooks, 1961)