What I’ve learned since moving to D.C. (some of which should be obvious): 0041

2001.  Want more for others than you do for yourself; that is, be compassionate;

2002.  Rather than saddling yourself with self-limiting labels, affirm: I am capable of accomplishing anything I place my attention upon;

2003.  Complaining and explaining are the two huge allies of excuse making.  Generally speaking, when you resort to complaining you employ an excuse of one kind or another, placing the responsibility for what’s upsetting you on something or someone external to yourself.  Complaining about the way somebody has performed (or failed to perform) is another way of making an excuse for why you’re dissatisfied or unhappy;

2004.  By not expecting to be impacted in a negative or fearful way, you have a much better chance of eliciting the reaction you want.  You have a higher chance of your family members being supportive when you support your own desires and intentions.  And do be willing to endure any disapproval you might face by asserting your strong beliefs about your purpose in life–that disapproval will most assuredly morph into respect, gratitude, and even awe;

2005.  Loving what you have and being in a continuous state of contentment is the key to having what you want.  Also, be willing to contemplate that whatever assistance you need is on its way, even when you can’t predict where it’s coming from;

2006.  Whenever you’re tempted to use an excuse to explain some deficiency in your life (or even after you’ve noticed that you just relied on a long-standing alibi), silently put the excuse to the truth test.  Simply and honestly answer these two questions: (1) Is it true? and (2) Can I be 100 percent certain that it’s true?  As you do, you’ll discover that no excuse pattern holds up to this scrutiny;

2007.  Create an explanation that reverses the excuse you’re using.  It should be just as capable of being either true or untrue as your mental crutch, but the difference is that this explanation leads you away from self-defeat.  Since neither your old excuse nor your new belief can be 100 percent guaranteed, and you’re free to hold either of these two visions for yourself, why not select the one that will work for the highest aspirations you hold, rather than against them?

2008.  Once you start understanding, you can stop rationalizing and justifying.  Your past isn’t another reason to explain your deficiencies;

2009.  Everyone in my life did what they knew how to do, and I chose to buy into it at that time.  But today I’m going to stop this insidious kind of absurd thinking.  I will no longer entertain thoughts of my being unworthy–I’ve lived with them long enough, and they’ve never served my highest good;

2010.  The excuse It’s not my nature came directly from the list of what you were taught you couldn’t do or be.  You were formulated and then crafted into the finished product that your family and culture desired.  When you’re told “You can’t do this; you can only do that” enough times, and you’re willing to become the product the people around you want you to be, then you believe that your nature is what you’ve been told.  You act on the pronouncements about yourself that you’ve absorbed.  So if you hear that you’re lazy, undeserving, or uncoordinated often enough, it ultimately leads you to adopt this as your self-portrait.  If you’re told over and over again that you’re just like your father and he never amounted to anything, then you’ll ultimately view your nature the way that others viewed your dad;

2011.  I chose to allow the opinions of others to be more important than my fledgling opinions of who I was and what I intended to become.  Yes, I was small and vulnerable, but it was still my choice;

2012.  Academic performance has nothing to do with your potential for intellectual mastery;

2013.  Laws provide against injury from others; but not from ourselves;

2014.  I chose to use excuses as a child.  I didn’t realize at the time that I had other choices available.  I realize I’ve continued to choose those excuses until now;

2015.  Forgive everyone, including yourself.  All those individuals who proliferated mind viruses and conditioning were only doing what they knew how to do given the circumstances of their lives.  Keep in mind the line from the Prayer of Saint Francis: “It is in pardoning that we are pardoned.”  Eschew blame and free yourself from anything that’s been plaguing your life and holding you back.  By forgiving everyone, you pardon them . . . and yourself;

2016.  Nothing is in reality either pleasant or unpleasant by nature; but all things become so by habit;

2017.  Many behaviors and thought patterns persist because of perceived rewards . . . which may not be that good for you.  In fact, most of the psychological benefits you receive from your excuse-making habit are actually quite self-destructive;

2018.  Avoidance is a common and easily identifiable payoff, or the psychological reward that allows you to be somewhat at peace with yourself when you make self-thwarting decisions.  The excuse becomes your ally, even though it’s an ally that doesn’t have your best interests at heart;

2019.  None of us like to feel unsafe, so excuses become what we use to avoid potentially dangerous situations.  Rather than wandering off into uncharted territory where we might face the risk of low performance, failure, criticism, exhaustion, the unknown, appearing foolish, getting hurt, and the like, it’s more convenient to retreat into a haven of familiarity.  The problem is that the excuse habit only brings us a false sense of security, in the same way a “blanky” comforts a frightened child;

2020.  Any excuse at all offers the bountiful reward of the easy way out.  Let’s face it, when you’re confronted with a choice between doing something requiring effort and something that’s effortless and easy, you’re apt to pick the latter, even if it’s not the choice that will actually lead to your objectives;

2021.  Your highest self wants you to fulfill your destiny, which often involves some type of sacrifice, expenditure of time, mental and physical energy, and material resources.  Ego is frequently in conflict with what your highest self desires–your false self pushes and cajoles you into staying put, threatened by anything that disrupts its mission of keeping you nice and comfortable by avoiding difficult choices.  Thus, there’s a big payoff for using excuses that allow you to take the easy road;

2022.  Excuses are simply explanations you make to yourself that have no necessary bearing on the truth–yet even though they’re lies, they do bring you some sort of reward.  So while your only evidence may be a habitual thought, if you convince yourself that you’re right, you get to retreat into the illusion of winning.  In this case, the excuse is a deception that props up your low self-esteem.  You’ve substituted an excuse in place of authentic self-worth, and the payoff is that your reasoning helps you live with yourself without acknowledging your self-deceit;

2023.  When you resort to using an excuse, the ultimate payoff is that you remove responsibility for your own shortcomings and place responsibility for them on the shoulders of someone else;

2024.  Make the decision that you’ll no longer use excuses to keep you from what you know is in your best interest.  Today, act on something you’ve always avoided and explained away with a convenient excuse;

2025.  Remind yourself that no one can ever make you feel anything without your consent.  Therefore, there’s no one to blame for whatever is taking place in your life;

2026.  When you feel dejected or out of sorts, ask yourself: Do I wish to use the present moment–the precious currency of my life–in this manner?  This will help you to become conscious of the importance of being here now–not just in your body, but in your thinking as well;

2027.  Become conscious of just how valuable the present is, and obliterate that old tendency to use excuses for the purpose of escaping the moment;

2028.  Eliminating lifelong thinking habits cannot and will not happen if it doesn’t strike you as a sensible thing to do.  It doesn’t really matter that everyone you know tells you how important it is to change–if it doesn’t make sense to you, then you’ll retreat to your old ways and continue to explain them away with your convenient laundry list of excuses.  If the answer to Do I really want to bring about this change? is yes, then that’s all you need in order to proceed and succeed.  But if you have any doubts whatsoever, your old excuse making will surface, and you’ll revert back to your long-held habits;

2029.  If you want to shed old habits and excuses, take some time to visit that private place within you.  Close your eyes and visualize yourself as being completely free of these limitations . . . how does your body react?  If you feel good, that’s all the evidence you need to prove to yourself that you have a rational reason to change;

2030.  If you’re hanging on to a whole bunch of habits that have been reinforced by excuses, note that these will make you feel bad.  Your old mental crutches only serve to keep you from having an experience within your body that registers as “good,” so you may even be accustomed to being emotionally bankrupt;

2031.  Pain, anxiety, fear, anger, and the like make themselves known in your body as rashes, eczema, heart palpitations, arthritis, backaches, headaches, stomachaches, diarrhea, eyestrain, cramps, and many more ailments too numerous to mention.  The point is that these emotional reactions that show up in the body can become your way of life, to the point that they define your reality.  And when you’re questioning why that is, that’s when the excuse I’ve always been this way tends to rear its ugly head;

2032.  Reheated, bottled pasta sauce makes a pretty good dipping sauce;

2033.  If the lifelong thinking pattern you’d like to change doesn’t make sense to you but everyone around you is telling you that it’s the right thing to do, erase it from your mind;

2034.  By being brutally honest with yourself, determine if, given the conditions of your life and how well you know yourself, this lifelong thinking pattern you’d like to change is truly doable.  You may not know how to do it, but you can still assess if it is in fact something that’s possible for you.  If it isn’t then discard it;

2035.  Picture yourself as being free of your habituated way of being, totally disconnected from the habit.  If that idea doesn’t make you feel good–and I mean really good–then it’s not for you;

2036.  Fourth line, left wingers can’t dance/skate Gangnam style, but second line, right wingers can (specifically Matt Hendricks and Troy Brouwer of the Washington Capitals);

2037.  A woman’s nipple can protrude out 3/8^th of an inch;

2038.  How do you make a “dancer” jump?  The answer is: By pinching her (protruding) nipple;

2039.  “Dancers” can have very strong thighs;

2040.  Some people actually name their daughters Bambi;

2041.  You don’t attract what you desire; you attract what you are;

2042.  You can’t just wish for a change, or simply think about what you want, and expect it to appear.  To see the old habits fall away and access Divine guidance in making your life work at the highest levels of happiness, success, and health, you must forget about what’s in it for you.  Start practicing higher awareness by serving and wanting even more for others than you want for yourself.  Otherwise, you’ll never experience the subtle joy of a blissful, fulfilled life;

2043.  You can’t demand guidance; it will come when you align as your Source is aligned;

2044.  It’s a flat rate of $33.00 to take a taxi from Miami (International) Airport to South Beach;

2045.  You know it’s a dive bar when Happy Hour goes from 8:00 AM until 7:00 PM (i.e., Mac’s Club Deuce);

2046.  Watch out for places in South Beach that lure you in with lunch (and drink) specials and when they seat you, you actually have to ask for the specials menu (specifically 530 Ocean’s Grill);

2047.  You know the food is bad when the (lemon honey) salmon is overcooked, chewy and tastes like bacon drippings;

2048.  Be wary of places in South Beach that lure you in with drink specials and their drink menus don’t actually have any prices on them (specifically the Kitchen Restaurant) . . . and when they try to upsell you the seafood sampler, just say no;

2049.  Most places on Ocean Drive (in South Beach) will give you a to go cup for your drink;

2050.  “Friction dancing” is just another way of saying dry humping;