About Freedom, Judgement and Moderation
Freedom, Judgement and Moderation
About Freedom -
"Freedom can mean the ability to say no to unproductive habits and unsatisfying ways of living. Freedom means surrendering my powerlessness to my Higher Power. It enables me to turn loved ones and troubles over to God's care. Freedom gives me the strength to say no when I want to, and need to. Freedom can mean to be in control of what I do with my thoughts, feelings, actions and reactions. In the same way, freedom allows me to say yes to positive and productive attitudes. In other words, I am free to be the best me I can be."
MEDITATION FOR TODAY
Thank You for my freedom, which can be another word for self-discipline.
TODAY I WILL REMEMBER
Only the disciplined are free.
From the book "Today", EA
*********
One of the great things about our country is the freedom to be who we want, do what we want, when we want, etc. etc. Freedom of choice is a great thing, but a saying that always comes to my mind when I think about freedom, is:
"Just because you CAN do something, doesn't necessarily mean that you SHOULD."
With freedom comes responsibility...but then, I guess it depends on to whom you're responsible, doesn't it? Yourself? God? Society? Friends? Family? A lot of times in life, the things we want aren't necessarily the things which are best for us. Can you be responsible for your own choices? Can you truly be "free" and self-disciplined? What's your motivation to do so?
*********
About Judgment -
Man, it's easy to be judgmental. It's easy to take a self-righteous attitude and sit in condemnation of others. Another saying I read recently (yeah, I'm full of 'em and have no qualms about sharing them) is:
"When I point a finger at you in Judgment, three of my own fingers are pointing back at me."
Hmmm...how true. Knowing this makes it easier for me to temper my judging and critical attitude of other people. That doesn't mean I can't and won't set boundaries for how people treat me. But it does mean that I don't have a right to tell them how to live, act, etc. and judge them or criticize them if it's not MY way of doing things. If I find myself being judgmental or critical of other people, it probably means my EGO is getting the better of me. (<--- I've discovered that's a beast that will never quite be 'tamed', and that's a whole nother blog).
*********
About Moderation -
We've probably all heard the saying, "Everything in moderation". This would presumably be so that all of life could be "in balance". But I have to admit that in a society so full of extremes, excess and the unlimited plethora of things to choose from, 'moderation' becomes something of a joke. Or maybe it's simply a matter of self-discipline/self-control and wise choices.
I admit I'm addicted to nicotine and caffeine. Moderation becomes my 'watch-word' with these things, because of my addiction to them. I believe that anything that a person regularly 'uses' can be deemed an addiction, and so can put one's life 'out of balance'.
It's unfortunate that so many people simply don't care whether or not there is balance in their life. They laugh at the idea of any kind of limits, self-restraint, boundaries. Extremism is not only a way of life, but a central part of their 'core'. So caught up in ego, they fail to see how their lack of moderation makes them slaves to whatever it is they become addicted to - whether it's drugs, alcohol, sex, money, power, pain, excitement...whatever.
But hey, that's a personal choice, and I have no control over anyone else's choices except mine. Someday (maybe even someday soon) I'll make the choice of whether or not I want to stay a slave to my addictions, or whether striving to be more 'in balance' is more important to me. I've been an extremist all of my life; I'm all about passion for something you strongly believe in and following your heart, your dreams. But as I get older (and hopefully wiser), I'm also learning that there are so many things in this world to be distracted by, to choose from, to allow to be a part of my life and choose how important they become (or are) to who I really am, as a person.
If I choose moderation, I can choose a better form of balance. For me. Everyone has different choices. If I stay a slave to something, it's because I choose to be. I hope that before I die, I won't be such a slave to my ego, my addictions and the other 'things' of this world which will constantly clamor for my time and attention.
About Freedom -
"Freedom can mean the ability to say no to unproductive habits and unsatisfying ways of living. Freedom means surrendering my powerlessness to my Higher Power. It enables me to turn loved ones and troubles over to God's care. Freedom gives me the strength to say no when I want to, and need to. Freedom can mean to be in control of what I do with my thoughts, feelings, actions and reactions. In the same way, freedom allows me to say yes to positive and productive attitudes. In other words, I am free to be the best me I can be."
MEDITATION FOR TODAY
Thank You for my freedom, which can be another word for self-discipline.
TODAY I WILL REMEMBER
Only the disciplined are free.
From the book "Today", EA
*********
One of the great things about our country is the freedom to be who we want, do what we want, when we want, etc. etc. Freedom of choice is a great thing, but a saying that always comes to my mind when I think about freedom, is:
"Just because you CAN do something, doesn't necessarily mean that you SHOULD."
With freedom comes responsibility...but then, I guess it depends on to whom you're responsible, doesn't it? Yourself? God? Society? Friends? Family? A lot of times in life, the things we want aren't necessarily the things which are best for us. Can you be responsible for your own choices? Can you truly be "free" and self-disciplined? What's your motivation to do so?
*********
About Judgment -
Man, it's easy to be judgmental. It's easy to take a self-righteous attitude and sit in condemnation of others. Another saying I read recently (yeah, I'm full of 'em and have no qualms about sharing them) is:
"When I point a finger at you in Judgment, three of my own fingers are pointing back at me."
Hmmm...how true. Knowing this makes it easier for me to temper my judging and critical attitude of other people. That doesn't mean I can't and won't set boundaries for how people treat me. But it does mean that I don't have a right to tell them how to live, act, etc. and judge them or criticize them if it's not MY way of doing things. If I find myself being judgmental or critical of other people, it probably means my EGO is getting the better of me. (<--- I've discovered that's a beast that will never quite be 'tamed', and that's a whole nother blog).
*********
About Moderation -
We've probably all heard the saying, "Everything in moderation". This would presumably be so that all of life could be "in balance". But I have to admit that in a society so full of extremes, excess and the unlimited plethora of things to choose from, 'moderation' becomes something of a joke. Or maybe it's simply a matter of self-discipline/self-control and wise choices.
I admit I'm addicted to nicotine and caffeine. Moderation becomes my 'watch-word' with these things, because of my addiction to them. I believe that anything that a person regularly 'uses' can be deemed an addiction, and so can put one's life 'out of balance'.
It's unfortunate that so many people simply don't care whether or not there is balance in their life. They laugh at the idea of any kind of limits, self-restraint, boundaries. Extremism is not only a way of life, but a central part of their 'core'. So caught up in ego, they fail to see how their lack of moderation makes them slaves to whatever it is they become addicted to - whether it's drugs, alcohol, sex, money, power, pain, excitement...whatever.
But hey, that's a personal choice, and I have no control over anyone else's choices except mine. Someday (maybe even someday soon) I'll make the choice of whether or not I want to stay a slave to my addictions, or whether striving to be more 'in balance' is more important to me. I've been an extremist all of my life; I'm all about passion for something you strongly believe in and following your heart, your dreams. But as I get older (and hopefully wiser), I'm also learning that there are so many things in this world to be distracted by, to choose from, to allow to be a part of my life and choose how important they become (or are) to who I really am, as a person.
If I choose moderation, I can choose a better form of balance. For me. Everyone has different choices. If I stay a slave to something, it's because I choose to be. I hope that before I die, I won't be such a slave to my ego, my addictions and the other 'things' of this world which will constantly clamor for my time and attention.
Labels: Life
posted by Dragon Katet at 10:29 PM
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