Towards Greater Love

This has got to be one of the shortest posts I've ever written on The Walkabout. It however is, in my opinion, totally profound. Following is the reason why:

Remain true to yourself, but move ever upward toward greater consciousness and greater love! At the summit you will find yourselves united with all those who, from every direction, have made the same ascent. For everything that rises must converge.

The above quote by French Philosopher Pierre Teilhard De Chardin is from his 'Omega Point'. It inspired Flannery O'Connor's 'Everything That Rises Must Converge'. It is one of the best stories I've ever read. Flannery's similarly titled book, was referenced in The Incident [part 1], an episode in the popular TV Series LOST.

Thanks to copyright restrictions, I cannot post the story online. But here's an analysis of Everything That Rises Must Converge.

All in all, unconditional love is what the world needs.

Have a great day awesome people!

To Remember, and to Let Go

Note: A similar post was published on The Walkabout back in April 2011.

The Afterlife
I've just watched, for the umpteenth time, the Jack and Christian Shephard afterlife church scene in the LOST finale.

Looking inside his father's empty coffin, Jack is surprised when his father, standing nearby, speaks to him.

Well knowing that Christian already died, Jack asks his father how he is there. Christian also asks Jack how he is there as well, and it dawns on Jack that he died too.

When Jack eventually asks where they are, his father tells him that they are in a place that all the losties made together so that they would find one another.

I find what Christian says next to be both a profound and defining revelation in the entire LOST TV series.

The most important part of your life, was the time that you spent with these people. That's why all of you are here. Nobody does it alone Jack. You needed all of them, and they needed you.

To remember, and to let go.

Watch the video below:



Every so often, we find ourselves in a situation where we have to look back at people and things that made us who we are today.
Whether the past is marked by fond memories or bitter ones, moments to cherish, enduring scars, lingering doubts, uncalled for pain or traumatic recollections... whatever it be, there are always lessons to learn and move on.

The biggest attendant risk in such a defining moment is to try clean your hands in dirty water.

I recently had one of these situations where I simply remembered everything about a certain person. Yeah, it was not easy dealings with the ever present feelings of loss when one lets go.

I however was finally able, thanks to a great deal of effort, to cut loose. I closed the door, changed the record, cleaned the house and got rid of the dust. I let go and moved on.
Additionally, I've had to let go of a project I have been excited about since 2010. I realized that in going on with it, I would do more harm than good to my schedule. I may eventually work on it when the timing is right and all attendant factors are favorable. 

It was only then that I stopped being who I was and became who I am.

Willpower in Avoiding Temptations

Matters of willpower and determination frequently feature in The Walkabout.
The most recent post was on how determination is largely made up of a strong WILL and a stronger WON'T.

On Monday, January 9, Wired.com published an article titled The Willpower Trick. It now turns out that carrying out a strategic allocation of attention is actually what we do in avoiding temptations. The human will is too weak to resist temptation outright.

Following are excerpts:

Human habits, [...]are stubborn things, which helps explain why 88 percent of all resolutions end in failure.

The reason our resolutions end in such dismal fashion returns us to the single most important fact about human willpower — it’s incredibly feeble.

A tired brain, preoccupied with its problems and run down by the world, is going to struggle to resist what it wants, even when what it wants isn’t what we need.

...people with higher levels of self-control had just as many desires, but they were less likely to feel that their desires were dangerous. Their desires also tended to be less intense, and thus required less inner strength to resist.

they are able to intelligently steer clear of situations that trigger problematic desires. They don’t resist temptation — they avoid it entirely.

Too often, we assume that willpower is about having strong moral fiber or gritting our teeth and staring down the treat. But that’s wrong — willpower is really about properly directing the spotlight of attention...

Should you occasionally stumble and fall short, just know that all is not lost, that you are still in repair and on the way there. And never give up. Ever!

All the best in overcoming temptations!