I read this quote this morning, and due to its length I had to share it here:

“We can’t become anything we want to be. We come into this world with a specific, personal destiny. We have a job to do, a calling to enact, a self to become. We are who are from the cradle, and we’re stuck with it. Our job in this lifetime is not to shape ourselves into some ideal we imagine we ought to be, but to find out who we already are and become it. If we are born to paint, it’s our job to become a painter. If we are born to raise and nurture children, it’s our job to become a mother. If we were born to overthrow the order of ignorance and injustice in the world, it’s our job to realize it and get down to business.”–Steven Pressfield

This quote might seem to contradict standard metaphysical principles, which would encourage the thinking that one COULD indeed be anything one desires, but it doesn’t. It is a reasonable statement of the nature of our limitless potential and the context in which that potential can be realized.

The following quote of the day struck me from my reading today:

“The pain that’s created by avoiding hard work is actually much worse than any pain created from the actual work itself. Because if you don’t begin to work on those ideas that God has blessed you with, they will become stagnant inside of you and eventually begin to eat away at you. You might seem OK on the outside, but inside you will be ill from not getting those ideas out of your heart and into the world. Stalling leads to sickness. But taking steps, even baby steps, always leads to success.”–Russell Simmons

About the Author

The above quote is from Russell Simmons’ book, Do You. Russell Simmons is an Afriican-American enterpreneur most noted for being the creator of Def Comedy Jam.

Following is a quote by one of my favorite sources, the great Albert Einstein:

“From the standpoint of daily life, however, there is one thing we do know: that we are here for the sake of each other – above all for those upon whose smile and well-being our own happiness depends, and also for the countless unknown souls with whose fate we are connected by a bond of sympathy. Many times a day I realize how much my own outer and inner life is built upon the labors of my fellow men, both living and dead, and how earnestly I must exert myself in order to give in return as much as I have received.”–Albert Einstein

The Quote

I came across this great quote that really crystalizes the meaning of “suffering” as well as how we might interpret events in our lives in a manner that always results in our betterment:

“Do you want a sign that you’re asleep? Here it is: you’re suffering. Suffering is a sign that you’re out of touch with the truth. Suffering is given to you that you might open your eyes to the truth, that you might understand that there’s falsehood somewhere, just as physical pain is given to you so you will understand that there is disease or illness somewhere. Suffering occurs when you clash with reality. When your illusions clash with reality, when your falsehoods clash with truth, then you have suffering. Otherwise there is no suffering.”–Anthony de Mello

The Author

Anthony de Mello was a Jesuit priest and psychotherapist known mostly for his books on spirituality. One of his most noted conferences, “Wake Up To Life,” is the only full length conference he permitted to be recorded. He died suddenly in 1987, after which many of his teachings were questioned by Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger (Pope Benedict XVI) in 1998 as being distanced from the Christian faith and the teachings of the Catholic Church. Considering spirituality–and not religion–was the main point of his teachings, this is not a surprise. After all, if everyone took responsibility in full for their own spirituality, why would we need a church?

This quote for today resonates with me, because it provides clues to the true natural of spirituality and the continual journey of spiritual awakening:

“The spiritual journey does not consist in arriving at a new destination where a person gains what he did not have, or becomes what he is not. It consists in the dissipation of one’s own ignorance concerning one’s self and life, and the gradual growth of that understanding which begins the spiritual awakening. The finding of God is a coming to one’s self.”–Aldous Huxley

About the Author

Aldous Huxley was an English writer best known for writing novels, including Brave New World–a futuristic novel set in the year AD 2540 (530 years from now). He was widely regarding as an intellectual, humanist, and pacifist as well as a philosopher.

What this means for me today…

I am currently reading a book by Deepak Chopra called The Book of Secrets: Unlocking the Hidden Dimensions of Your Life. This morning, I read Secret #6, which is titled “Freedom Tames the Mind.” Without basically regurgitating the whole chapter here, the general point is that our growth along the path of our spiritual journey is many times constricted by our thoughts regarding the collection of choices we have already made in our lives–and the judgments we have placed on them. Because the results of those choices–whether considered good or bad by our judgment–actually contain elements of both when fully analyzed, we are bombarded with a plethora of conflicting lines of thought referred to as samkaras, the Sanskrit word for “to flow together.” These “grooves in the mind” makes future thoughts flow in the same direction. This prevents us from actually exercising “free will” in decision making or “living in the moment,” as is so important in spiritual growth. We are, in effect, imprisoned by our past in this way, the problems associated with conflicting lines of thought based on an inaccurate perception of past events are many.

The Connection

The connection my reading and this quote lies in the answer suggested at the end of the chapter. The goal of the solution is to free the mind from these past considerations, so one can exercise free will, live in the moment, and make a “choice as if making it for the first time.” One might say that this might lead to a person repeating past mistakes, which is the common irrational fear, but this is prevented by discovering the part of one’s self–the Inner Self–that resides inside each of us and always knows the right answer. The “samskaras” from our past sit in between our true selves and the real answer–and need to be cleared away, so we can be free. Thus spiritual awakening occurs as a function of self discovery–the realization that we already have the answers we seek. We just need to look in the right place. With the right intent, even decisions that might be considered “bad” are reworked by the Universe that responds to our intent and can make “lemons into lemonade.”

This quote of the day is all about my current mission for this year:

Every moment of our lives we are either growing or dying—and it’s largely a choice, not fate. Throughout its life cycle, every one of the body’s trillions of cells is driven to grow and improve its ability to use more of its innate yet untapped capacity. Research biologist Albert Szent-Gyoergyi, who was twice awarded the Nobel Prize, called this syntropy, which he defined as the ‘innate drive in living matter to perfect itself.’ It turns conventional thinking upside down…As living cells—or as people—there is no staying the same. If we aim for some middle ground or status quo, it’s an illusion—beneath the surface what’s actually happening is we’re dying, not growing. And the goal of a lifetime is continued growth, not adulthood. As Rene Dubos put it, ‘Genius is childhood recaptured.’ For this to happen, studies show that we must recapture—or prevent the loss of—such child-like traits as the ability to learn, to love, to laugh about small things, to leap, to wonder, and to explore. It’s time to rescue ourselves from our grown-up ways before it’s too late.–Robert Cooper, from The Other 90%: How to Unlock Your Vast Untapped Potential for Leadership & Life

Jesus once said:

“At that time the disciples came to Jesus and asked, ‘Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?’ He called a child, whom he put among the, and said, ‘Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Whoever becomes humble like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. Whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me.’”–Matthew 18:1-5

We must always retain our childlike capacity for growth if we are to fulfill our potential.

The following quote struck me today as the obvious “quote of the day”:

“This is the true joy in life, the being used for a purpose recognized by yourself as a mighty one; the being a force of nature instead of a feverish selfish clod of ailments and grievances complaining that the world will not devote itself to making you happy. I am of the opinion that my life belongs to the whole community and as long as I live it is my privilege to do for it whatever I can. I want to be thoroughly used up when I die, for the harder I work, the more I live. I rejoice in life for its own sake. Life is no ‘brief candle’ to me. It is sort of a splendid torch which I have a hold of for the moment, and I want to make it burn as brightly as possible before handing it over to future generations.”–George Bernard Shaw

George Bernard Shaw was an Irish playwright and activist, who, ironically, believed in socialism. He founded the London School of Economics and Political Science and was a most revered figure in English and Irish culture for his philosophical ideas until his death in 1950 at the age of 94.

I never intended to establish a New Year’s Resolution for 2010, for the new year simply serves as the second year in the progress of my personal 5 year plan. However, after reading the following quote, I changed my mind:

“My chief task has been to conquer fear. The public sees only the thrill of the accomplished trick; they have no conception of the tortuous preliminary self-training that was necessary to conquer fear…no one except myself can appreciate how I have to work at this job every single day, never letting up for a moment. I always have on my mind the thought that next year I must do something greater, something more wonderful.”–Harry Houdini

Fear is the most common human emotion that prevents progress–fear of failure, fear of success, fear of self, etc. In order to go beyond the boundaries of previous experience and performance, this must be conquered in the same manner as Houdini routinely experienced in the execution of his most dangerous illusions. I have chosen to devote 2010 to the elimination and mastery of fear–privately and publicly.

Happy New Year!

The following quote embodies the perfect application of the Law of Attraction:

I’ve always believed in magic. When I wasn’t doing anything in this town, I’d go up every night, sit on Mulholland Drive, look out at the city, stretch out my arms, and say, “Everybody wants to work with me. I’m a really good actor. I have all kinds of great movie offers.” I’d just repeat these things over and over, literally convincing myself that I had a couple movies lined up. I’d drive down that hill, ready to take the world on, going, “Movie offers are out there for me, I just don’t hear them yet.” It was like total affirmations, antidotes to the stuff that stems from my family background.–Jim Carrey from Interview in “MovieLine”, July 1994

Start each day in this way, and miracles will happen all the time.

The following quote is a great one from one of the foremost visionaries in technology:

“For the past 33 years, I have looked in the mirror every morning and asked myself: ‘If today were the last day of my life, would I want to do what I am about to do today?’ And whenever the answer has been ‘No’ for too many days in a row, I know I need to change something…almost everything – all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure – these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important. Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose.”–Steven Jobs

Steven Jobs needs no introduction…