Living the Inner Life

072: Seeing the Big Picture

Never lose sight of the big picture. Re-state your mission statement. When the goal becomes more about the tasks and to-do lists, focusing more on the means than the end, it's easy to lose sight of what you're doing and more important - why you are doing it.

071: Divine Discontent

Shakespeare wrote: "Now is the Winter of our Discontent" and this episode explores the idea of Divine Discontent - that there is a soul stirring, a restlessness that occurs when we are not fully living our best life. The discontent is more of an indicator or signal that is telling us something, but we often try to numb these uncomfortable feelings. However, it is a Divine Discontent, and not merely an unpleasant annoyance. It is our Soul's longing, reaching out to us from within and pointing us in the right direction - upwards and onwards to a more whole, enlightened and divine part of our own individual lives. Listen to the discomfort, find out what it needs from you and for you. Then as you are moving in the right direction, the discontent will disappear.

070: Being Thankful

It is easy to be thankful and grateful for good things that come our way. But what about the negative things? How can we be thankful for pain or difficulty? For me, physical pain from being in a wheelchair is an indicator that it is time to shift my weight, sit in a different chair, or lie down for awhile. Otherwise, I might get a pressure sore, as is the case with many people with paralysis - they can't feel that pain and that can lead to worse and serious problems. Thankfully, I will never experience that - because I can feel physical pain. Same with the inner life. If something is painful to do - or it hurts when you don't do something - that is an indicator that you may need to shift the way you are doing something, or, to resume doing the things that keep that emotional pain at bay. This is sometimes called "Divine Discontent", in that if we don't follow our soul's longing, we will be in trouble. Honoring our true selves will keep us out of trouble, but we need that discontent to recognize that.

069: Feelings over Facts

People say, facts don't care about feelings. Perhaps with scientific laws of physics, this may be true. But in the human experience, feelings can completely overpower the facts. Even if we know the facts, we can convince ourselves that something else is true. Especially with ourselves. We can tell ourselves a lie, and believe it, and have that rule our conduct regardless of the facts. We can also use our convictions - energized and vitalized - to transcend any situation, in the face of compelling evidence. William James called this the passional over the rational - that our emotional passions can supersede our rational, logical sensibilities. Living the Inner Life

068: The "Enemy" Within

One of the greatest conflicts we ever have to face is the battle with ourselves. Man vs. Nature, Man vs. Man, and Man vs. God are the other three, but Man vs. Himself is within and not 'out there'. So, if you 'win' this conflict, do you also lose? How can you defeat yourself and yet be victorious? The solution lies in understanding this inner conflict and turning our inner adversary into an eternal ally. Together, undivided, the individual will not only live harmoniously with one's self, but also profoundly affect and improve the other conflicts as well.