Monday 4 February 2013

If you wish to levitate, you must first put yourself in a meditative state. You must become calm, peaceful and serene. Your legs should be crossed in what yoga teachers call the lotus position and it would be helpful if you could also enter the inner-realm that gurus call Samadhi. Then, little by little, you should start to float. A likely story?
 But other developments of a delightfully surprising nature may yet happen more easily than you think. Are you playing by the rules? Are you doing things by the book? What if the rules are wrong? What if the book needs rewriting? What if it is just too easy to take the conventional view and end up in the most obvious position? What if you hunger for a little adventure? Will there be terrible consequences? Will you live to regret indulging the more carefree side of your character? Let's be clear. If you are going to end up regretting anything, it is going to be all about how much you wish you had been that little bit braver. We have tendency,  the  futility of looking that far into the future and hoping to see anything that is remotely useful to you in the present. Even if we look much nearer ahead in time than that, what do we achieve? You have got enough on your plate, just dealing with current and imminent events.
 Don't let anything else preoccupy you. How do you tell the difference between an old person and a young one? Ask them who first coined the phrase, 'Whatever doesn't kill you makes you stronger.' Those who are under a certain age, will probably reply, Kelly Clarkson, because she had a hit of that name last year. Crusty old codgers like me will say, 'Kelly Who? I think you mean Friedrich Nietzsche.' But the principle remains the same. Recent events have been difficult for you. But ultimately, they have made you stronger - as you will soon see.What if you get it wrong? What if you make a mistake? What if you jump to the wrong conclusion and then find that you can't get back from there to the right conclusion?
 Hey, listen, I'm really not trying to make you feel worried. I'm just attempting to echo the apprehension that you currently seem to be experiencing. You are allowing a minor matter to weigh far too heavily on your mind. Trust what you instinctively feel to be right. Your instincts are so much sharper and more reliable than you fear.'They call it stormy Monday...' So sang the legendary blues giant, T-Bone Walker. Now, I know what you are thinking. Why is he quoting a song about Monday? Ah, but in the very next line of his song, Mr Walker adds, 'But Tuesday's just as bad.' So there you go. If Monday was stormy, you can't expect much sunshine today. But your Monday wasn't so stormy, was it? (By this, I'm not talking about the weather). Your outlook has been brightening for quite some while now, and soon you will see even stronger signs of sunshine.
Are you okay?' 'Ah well, yes, you say you are fine but do you really mean it?' 'Perhaps the fact that you keep on insisting that you are just fine, is actually an indication of how far from fine you really are.' 'No, think about it, you are just pretending to be fine, aren't you?' 'Oh, I see, now you want to tell me that everyone in your life is fine, apart from the fact that you have got someone talking to you who keeps trying to make you concede that things are not so fine.' 'Okay then, go ahead and blame it all on me.' A lady is driving to an important job interview. Having been lost and delayed in traffic, she finally arrives at a car park. It is full. Growing ever more anxious, she goes round in circles and begins to pray. 'Dear God, I know I haven't had much faith in you in the past, but if you can just find me somewhere to put this car now, I'll trust you for evermore.' Just then, a car pulls out in front of her leaving the perfect gap. Quickly she says, 'Oh, forget all that. I don't need your help any more.' But you are about to get something to be truly grateful for. Whose world is this? Whose planet are we on? If we really believe that it is ours, why don't we take better care of the place?
 Perhaps we collectively act like a bunch of tourists because we are all aware that our existence is finite. It is hard to plan for a future that you don't expect to be a part of. Somewhere in your world now, a conflict is arising out of someone else's uncertainty about the true extent of their stakeholding in an emotional investment. Be reassuring; but remember, too, this is more their problem than it is yours, is not to be protected against every possible problem. You can't rest assured that wherever trouble strikes, it won't be in your direction. But you can safely conclude that even if this does occur, it won't catch you with the full force of its venom.
 You will be cushioned somehow. Nor is there some absolute guarantee that admirers will start falling like flies at your feet, gasping and swooning at the sheer animal magnetism that you effortlessly . exude. But it may come close at times! Imagine, please, that you are a small kid at a new school. You are worried in case the other children pick on you. But it turns out that you have a big brother and he is keeping a careful eye out for you. If you get into trouble, you will just have to yell and he will be there. We all yearn to feel as if somehow, we are enjoying this much protection. Actually, even those of us who really do have big brothers, don't necessarily feel so reassured. But that sense of being looked over and looked after will intensify soon.
They say that stress is a modern disease. Really? Our cave-dwelling ancestors didn't find life stressful, coping with all those fierce animals and battling enemy tribes? Do we really think life was any less tense in the Middle Ages? Or even the 19th Century? The only thing that is new, is the understanding that it is a condition in itself and doesn't always have to be related to physical or psychological circumstances. That is a key point. The only change that you need now, if you are to rise above stress, is a change of outlook. From my friend Jonathan Cainer.

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