wearing a mask

“The kingdom of heaven has suffered violence, and the violent take it by force.”  Matthew 11:12

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wearing a mask
drains emotional energy
until eventually
all sense of spontaneity
becomes eroded
it places you
in long-term acting roles
where you feign
presence and enjoyment

-- intuitivefeeling

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"No matter how difficult it may seem, make the choice to live consciously. Do not succumb to that half-conscious realm of fear-based thinking, filling your life with distractions to avoid facing what you feel in those silent spaces between your thoughts. Either exercise your human endowment of courage and progressively build the strength to face your deepest, darkest fears to live as the powerful being you truly are, or admit your fears are too much for you, and embrace life as a mouse. But make this choice consciously and with full awareness of its consequences. If you are going to allow fear to win the battle for your life, then proclaim it the victor and forfeit the match. If you simply avoid living consciously and courageously, then that is equivalent to giving up on life itself, where your continued existence becomes little more than a waiting period before physical death - the nothing as opposed to the daring adventure." -- Steve Pavlina

Note: Steve Pavlina is an independent thinker with some fresh ideas. However, I do not endorse his ideas about religion nor anything about open "love relationships". 

givers and takers

Givers tend to fall into the hands of takers. It makes sense. Exploitative folks cannot implement their tactics on individuals similar in kind. While the strategies may vary, the one common denominator of takers fits this lamentable yet true description:



A pastor friend said givers seek to resolve conflicts without causing upset. They attempt to back away from toxic situations using discretion. He explained how useless this is when dealing with manipulators. Put bluntly — there’s no friendly way to get away. Furthermore (the pastor friend concluded) givers need to accept they may even be labelled the bad guy.

~ intuitivefeeling

 

dirty fish tanks

I once thought I had sufficient experience in taking care of fish and fish tanks, yet found myself needing urgent technical assistance one day. Some of the fish in my aquarium were mysteriously dying, especially the little catfish that formed part of the cleaning department in the lower level.  As quickly as I replaced the dead ones, the new arrivals suffered the same fate within a week or so.

One day I asked the owner of a pet shop what was going on. It so happened he was a marine biologist. He explained whenever you change the water from any aquarium, you remove the delicate bacteria culture that sustains aquatic life. If you don't replace that good bacteria, the fish die by ingesting their own toxic waste which mixes with the bits of food in the gravel below. The good bacteria neutralizes the fishes' body waste, thus preventing any fatal toxic effects.

This insight not only helped me to remove the death threat, but also to see my spiritual journey differently.  Like that good bacteria we need grace in our pursuit of godliness.  Without it we can perish in the toxicity of our own self-contempt since we cannot fulfill even our own high standards -- even less God's holy commandments.  Statistics say 80% of psychiatric patients are religious (Fitchett, Burton, & Sivian, 1997) to the point of pushing themselves off the proverbial edge.
The Christian faith isn't meant to pull us down into despair and loathsomeness, but to raise us up toward health, strength and everlasting hope.  Perhaps this is what Jesus meant when he said,

“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” -- Matthew 11: 28-30
~ vincenzo