Yourself. Not the economy, not society, not traffic, not the weather, not the government, not your negative relatives, not any circumstances. Just you. But here’s the simple answer: you would be hard pressed to change what is outside of you, but it is perfectly in your power to change what is within you. In the […]
Author: Spencer
The musings of a transient being castaway in the infinite waters of existence, a pilgrim in search of the ethereal yearnings of the heart. Or, put in a less nebulous way, a Canadian bloke wandering his way through the blogiverse. Consult your physician before reading. Seriously.
Stay The Course
Life is hard. All of human history has been opportunity and adversity mixed in an endless whirlpool of change. So, too, with our lives today. There is much to be seized as our own, and there is much standing in our way. We invariably choose a path. Our youth is filled with dreams and desires, […]
Thoughts on Fear
Fear is like a gossamer veil. It distorts what we see, but at the same time it is often light enough to remain beneath our awareness. Oftentimes we do not understand that a situation, an opportunity, or a change is not in itself a terrible thing, that the reason we feel so repelled, so unwilling […]
Seneca on Activity, Fear, Self-Love, Death, and Enduring Suffering
All of us can stand to gain from musing on the thoughts echoed through the ages, the ideas passed on, immortal ideas, the gifts of those who came before us and were students enough of life to not only think, but be generous with their thoughts. It is one of the greatest gifts of all. […]
Seneca On Taking Care of One’s Spirit
See, then, that the spirit is well looked after. Our thoughts and our words proceed from it. We derive our demeanor and expression and the very way we walk from it. If the spirit is sound and healthy, our style will be firm and forceful and virile, but if the spirit stumbles all the rest […]
Madeleine L’Engle on Self and Being
“The great thing about getting older is that you don’t lose all the other ages you’ve been.” Madeleine L’Engle, an American writer who wrote young adult fiction, including A Wrinkle in Time and its sequels, put forth a wonderful reflection on self and being in her book, Glimpses of Grace. Below is an abbreviated portion […]
Learn from Everyone
The formal education is something that has been given a lot more credence than other ways of acquiring knowledge, the focus on curriculum and standardized methods of learning overshadowing all else. This does not detract from the importance of these methods. Schooling is not a bad thing, and one can learn plenty in a formal […]
Fear
Fear is pervasive, and it is the major paradigm that holds most back in life: fear of failure, fear of criticism, fear of rejection, and so on. Fear cannot be escaped. It is human. But what every person has the power to do, whether they believe it or not, is to evaluate their fear and […]
Keep Going
Persistent people recognize and sweep aside the weaknesses which stand between them and their goals. Their persistence develops into a respected, progressive power. Without persistence, we are defeated even before we start. With persistence and strong desire and consistent action we will win. Be the one who takes the pain of defeat and uses it […]
Letting Go, and Becoming
It takes guts to form the right habits, to stay true to them despite all the things that life does to try and pull us away. Here is one way to look at success habits: Devise – consciously decide what you yearn to become more of. Expectation – seeing yourself in the possession of or […]