Morning Reflection: The metrics of self worth
The metrics of self worth.
How do you judge your self worth?
By what standards do you see yourself, and what measurements do you find value in?
You have value, because you exist. Who is to say that one person is of more value than another.
Each person, each life, has the capacity to help, serve, learn and become.
Self worth is vital to your confidence, your courage, your commitment and communications.
If you judge yourself to be of less worth than others, then you invite pain and unhappiness into your life.
There is no nobility in demeaning yourself, there is only denial of the great potential that you have.
Just know that you have value. You have worth. Even if you don’t see it right now.
I have never met anyone who wasn’t important, and I’ve never met someone who had no value.
You are important. You have value.
If you doubt that, ask me, and I will tell you why.
-- Dr. Alan Barnes
@maddrbmusings
Morning Reflection: Balance is the most underrated skill
Balance is the most underrated skill.
The more I come to know myself, the more I realize I tend to be a binary creature. Black or white, light or dark, love or hate. I find that my brain tries to react, and control all information and experiences, assigning them a simple binary value.
I (and we) do this because as our world becomes more complex, there are so many details to manage, and it’s easier for our brain to manage simple details, rather than complex equations. So, in order to try to make sense of our world, and our place in it, we simplify the details.
It constantly requires observation and modulation from my higher self (frontal lobe) to restrict, control and modify the binary nature of my lower self (limbic system/primitive brain), because reducing things to a binary structure often leads to an over-reaction to a complex small event, which in turn can intensify smaller oscillations (events) into larger problems (oscillations).
Frequently, I find that when I am afraid of something, I tend to see that something in the binary values I assign to experiences, and I react according to that perception, when it may not be there, or it is there on the periphery of potentials, but I see it as an absolute because of my fears.
To quiet my fears, and find balance, requires courage, acceptance and stillness.
So I meditate to find stillness, use courage to face my fears, and acceptance to allow the fear to wash over me, and remain after it has gone.
I try to balance.
And it’s very, very hard.
-- Dr. Alan Barnes
@maddrbmusings
Morning Reflection: When you are born, you’re really flexible. When you are dead, you’re really not.
When you are born, you’re really flexible. When you are dead, you’re really not.
Flexibility denotes movement, so therefore movement is a component of life. The 7 signs of life are respiration, irritability, nutrition, growth, movement, excretion and reproduction (Thank you Mrs Thomas, I still remember).
So an area of your life in which you are stuck indicates a lack of movement, and therefore the presence of death.
What are the areas of your life in which you feel stuck, and therefore dead?
Chances are, these areas are the same today as they were yesterday, and the day before that, and the day before that.
Movement in life is essential, especially if an area of your life is out of balance and causing you pain.
What are the areas of your life that are stuck in unbalance, and how can I help you find movement…?
-- Dr. Alan Barnes
@maddrbmusings
Reflections
Morning Reflection: “You cannot read the label on your own jar”
“You cannot read the label on your own jar”.
Meaning: you can’t see your own problems as clearly as you see everyone else’s.
I have reached a point in my life where I truly believe that the only true enemy that exists to my happiness and success is looking right back at me in the mirror each morning.
If I am to take ownership of my life, then I have to own my problems. However, most of the time, we can’t see our problems. The bible talks about seeing the ‘mote’ or speck in someone else’s eye but not seeing the ‘beam’ or speck in your own eye.
I think that’s partly because you can see their inconsistencies, whereas facing your own usually means confronting powerful and painful emotions that you don’t want to experience.
What do you see when you look at yourself? What do others see when they look at you?
I wish I could see myself the way you see me, because all I see is my own distorted view.
I wish you could see yourself like I do. Chances are, I think you are amazing.
-- Dr. Alan Barnes
@maddrbmusings
Morning Reflection: The truths we don't want to hear, are often found in the silence we try to avoid
The truths we don't want to hear, are often found in the silence we try to avoid.
I've been working harder on my meditation practice over the last couple of weeks, and I've realized that the thoughts that intrude are often the sign of areas of my life that are incomplete, unbalanced and requiring my attention.
Reflection requires focus, and too often we distract ourselves. We use media to distract us, serving others to justify us, our angers to persuade us, food to pacify us, and causes to absorb us.
All of these create a pathway of avoidance, while the silence that our heart requires to find peace is forever just out of reach.
We can strive to find truth in peace, or we can allow chaos to uncover it for us. Unfortunately, chaos usually brings pain as it's companion.
Listen in the silence to what your heart is trying to tell you, and act from there.
-- Dr. Alan Barnes
@maddrbmusings
Photo by James Hammond on Unsplash
Morning Reflection: Do you spend any time in the morning to mourn the passing of yesterday?
Do you spend any time in the morning to mourn the passing of yesterday?
If you didn't mourn the passing of yesterday, then you didn't value it, and the chances are you are not going to give today the value it deserves either.
Each day is a gift, a blessing, a moment of potential in the infinite eternal..... and then it is gone.
Be grateful for it, and mourn it. Then embrace today, value it, and use the time wisely.
Tomorrow is not for certain, an hour from now is not for certain.
Live now.
-- Dr. Alan Barnes
@maddrbmusings
Morning Reflection: Imperfection does not equate with a lack of value
Imperfection does not equate with a lack of value.
Kintsugi is the art of repairing broken pottery with gold. The value of the pottery increases after it has been broken and then repaired.
So it is with people. Those who have been broken, but have gone through the fire of self repair are often those who have learned compassion and control, and who often are able to manifest greater value in the lives of others.
Don't be afraid of a little seasoning on your soul. New shoes may look neater, but worn shoes are more comfortable.
Live your life, with your imperfections and flaws. Who knows how valuable you may be to someone else.
-- Dr. Alan Barnes
@maddrbmusings