What I’ve learned since moving to D.C. (some of which should be obvious): 0038

1851.  Jason Lancaster (the lead singer of “Go Radio”) looks like Kevin McKidd (of “Grey’s Anatomy”);

1852.  At this point in my life, when I meet someone, I have no expectations for them at all.  I don’t know if it’s a good way to see things or a defense mechanism against being hurt and/or let down. . . . Because, to some degree (whether judged fairly or not), I think I’ve felt hurt and/or let down by almost everyone that was important to me growing up;

1853.  It seems like every time my heart is broken a little part of me (perhaps my soul) dies inside, never to feel again.  I don’t think it’s immediately permanent, but it’s like a part of your body that’s deprived of oxygen.  It slowly withers and if it’s deprived of oxygen long enough, it eventually dies, never to come back.  It seems like at some point my heart will be broken so many times and for so long that I won’t be able to feel anything at all or anything ever again;

1854.  It seems like I’m only attracted to women that are uninterested in or emotionally unavailable to me. . . . Am I so afraid of (real) intimacy that I (unwittingly) sabotage myself?

1855.  If it doesn’t feel natural, it isn’t going to work;

1856.  If you want to accomplish something, you must first expect it from yourself;

1857.  You’re either a host to your source (who some call God) or a hostage to your ego;

1858.  January 13^th 1975 was a Monday;

1859.  (President) Abraham Lincoln started Thanksgiving (Day) in 1863 during the Civil War;

1860.  Paul Revere was celebrated by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.  And Americans have been hearing of the midnight ride ever since, mostly oblivious that the poem plays merry-hell with the true facts and ascribes to Revere the heroics of other men.  This was deliberate; Longfellow, writing at the outbreak of the American Civil War, was striving to create a patriotic legend, not tell an accurate history.  Revere did indeed ride to warn Concord and Lexington that the British regulars were marching from Boston, but he did not complete the mission.  Many other men rode that night and have been forgotten while Paul Revere, solely thanks to Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, gallops into posterity as the undying patriot and rebel.  Before the poem was published Revere was remembered as a regional folk-hero, one among many who had been active in the patriot cause, but in 1861 he entered legend.  He was indeed a passionate patriot, and he was vigorous in his opposition to the British long before the outbreak of the revolution, but the only time Revere ever fought the British was at Majabigwaduce, and there, in General Artemas Ward’s words, he showed “unsoldierlike behaviour tending to cowardice.”  The general was quoting Marine Captain Thomas Carnes, who closely observed Revere during the expedition, and Carnes, like most others in the expedition, believed Revere’s behavior there was disgraceful.  Revere’s present reputation would have puzzled and, in many cases, disgusted his contemporaries;

1861.  Information does not necessitate transformation;

1862.  90% of happiness is based on how you process information about the world;

1863.  (I think) I love you Robbie Harris;

1864.  96% to 97% of what you do is controlled by your subconscious mind;

1865.  Abraham Lincoln was a Republican;

1866.  Abraham Lincoln’s (eldest) son, Robert, served on (General) Ulysses S. Grant’s staff;

1867.  I self-medicate. . . . I smile;

1868.  Bourbon is made from a mixture of grain that’s at least 51% corn and aged in new, charred oak barrels;

1869.  You can mentally make plans to do things with someone (i.e., eat at a restaurant, go on a trip and do countless other things) and never consciously realize it.  That is until you’re faced with the reality that they’ll never happen. . . . You feel sad and a sense of loss . . . and a part of you is in denial and hopes that they’ll still actually happen;

1870.  At the end of the day, it is successful reference experiences that breed confidence;

1871.  You can gain a ton of confidence by hitting small goal after small goal.  These small goals slowly give birth to bigger and bigger goals;

1872.  If you have to have your Georgetown Cupcake fix, but hate waiting in line, order online and opt for pickup.  When you arrive, tell the hostess you’re there for pickup and they’ll let you go to the front of the line;

1873.  I think the lobster rolls at Hank’s Oyster Bar are better than the ones at Tackle Box (TackleBoxRestaurant.com), but their (grilled tilapia) fish tacos (with coleslaw, sour cream, pico de gallo & chipotle sauce) are pretty good;

1874.  “Grateful Dead” songs are very bluesy;

1875.  Most frozen crab cakes are awful, but the “waterfront BISTRO” crab cakes Maryland style, sold at Safeway (Safeway.com), are pretty good.  They’re mostly crab (meat) with very little filler;

1876.  Don’t believe everything you think;

1877.  It’s (really) hard to let someone go if part of you doesn’t want to let them go . . . or if you’re in denial;

1878.  The power of your beliefs to keep you stuck is enormous.  Those deeply ingrained notions act as chains restricting you from experiencing your unique identity.  You have the capacity to loosen these chains and make them work for, rather than against, you;

1879.  Every self-limiting thought that you employ to explain why you’re not living life to the absolute fullest–so you’re feeling purposeful, content, and fully alive–is something you can challenge and reverse, regardless of how long you’ve held that belief and no matter how rooted in tradition, science, or life experience it may be.  Even if it seems like an insurmountable obstacle, you can overcome these thoughts, and you can begin by noticing how they’ve been working to hold you back.  Then you can embark on a deprogramming effort;

1880.  A sense of powerlessness ensues when it comes to altering anything about yourself that has become so established that it feels like who you are;

1881.  Your beliefs carry far more weight than you realize in determining what you can do, what you’ll undertake, and how far you’re capable of going;

1882.  What you are is what you believe, not what you were handed genetically;

1883.  You attract what you are, not what you want; and what you are is your beliefs;

1884.  Thinking that you’ll always be poor, unlucky, overweight, or underweight; that you’ll always have an addictive personality; that you’ll never attract your soul mate; that you’ll continue to have angry outburst; that you’ll always lack musical, artistic, or athletic ability; or that you’ll forever be shy because you’ve always felt that way . . . are excuses.  And when you see them for what they are, you eliminate them.  On the other hand, if you find them to be firmly entrenched personality traits and habits of thinking that can’t be challenged, you’ll symbolically suck your thumb and cry when life doesn’t appear to cooperate;

1885.  A large body of evidence demonstrates empirically that your beliefs can change your genes;

1886.  While excuses are just thoughts or beliefs, you are the decider of what you ultimately store away as your guide to life;

1887.  All that we are is the result of what we have thought.  It is founded on our thoughts.  It is made up of our thoughts.  If one speaks or acts with a pure thought, happiness follows one, like a shadow that never leaves;

1888.  There’s statistical evidence that the conscious mind occupies approximately 5 percent of the total workings of the brain, leaving 95 percent to the realm of the subconscious;

1889.  You can access the program you’re operating with by examining your thoughts.  Your habitual mind takes over when you choose to ignore your conscious beliefs, and you just continue to act in ways you’ve been programmed to.  But you can shift to your creative mind and explore your options.  You don’t have to buy the old argument that a part of you is inaccessible, unreachable, or buried so deep down inside that undoing early programming is impossible;

1890.  If no one told me who I was, who would I be?  Quietly meditate on this by spending some time in the spaciousness of not knowing.  Imagine that your subconscious mind is nonexistent and there is no storage receptacle for excuses during your life.  There’s just an open and inviting clear space inside of you with a magical surface that nothing adheres to.  You might imagine that your everyday conscious mind simply doesn’t absorb the opinions of the folks you grew up with.  In this little fantasy, there’s never been anyone telling you who you are.  So who are you?

1891.  I can change my body’s infirmities by shifting my beliefs;

1892.  I have the power to undo old thoughts about my genetic destiny;

1893.  If I stay with them and live from my heart, my beliefs can inspire new talents if I so desire;

1894.  I can heal anything by healing my beliefs first;

1895.  I intend to keep my beliefs uppermost, and I refuse to blame anything in the material world for any deficiencies in my life;

1896.  Mark Warner (i.e., U.S. Senator for & former governor of Virginia) co-founded Nextel;

1897.  There’s a $5.95 processing fee for MasterCard gift cards;

1898.  Affirm: I believe that I am perfectly capable of overcoming any early conditioning I have adopted as a part of my personality and my current life experience;

1899.  Use positive proclamations daily that are life enhancing and align you with the loving Source of everything.  Rather than allowing your thoughts to insist that something is wrong or missing, retrain your conscious creative mind with beliefs such as these: What I desire is already here; I just haven’t connected to it yet.  It can’t be stopped because my thoughts are aligned with the mind or intellect of God;

1900.  Pimentón is smoked paprika;