INTERESTING TIMES

BE IMPECCABLE WITH YOUR WORD
Speak with integrity. Say only what you mean. Avoid using the word to speak against yourself or to gossip about others. Use the power of your word in the direction of truth and love.

DON'T TAKE ANYTHING PERSONALLY
Nothing others do is because of you. What others say and do is a projection of their own reality, their own dream. When you are immune to the opinions and actions of others, you won't be the victim of needless suffering.

DON'T MAKE ASSUMPTIONS
Find the courage to ask questions and to express what you really want. Communicate with others as clearly as you can to avoid misunderstandings, sadness and drama.

ALWAYS DO YOUR BEST
Your best is going to change from moment to moment; it will be different when you are healthy as opposed to sick. Under any circumstance, simply do your best, and you will avoid self-judgment, self-abuse and regret.

My resolutions for last year included a renewed emphasis on always doing my best. That practice allows me to go easy on myself when my best isn't the greatest. I did well on this resolution, especially when I decided to put my energies into doing the research that will allow me to be a good doctor, instead of simply doing what it took to pass my program. I feel good about the work that I've done and I know it will put me in good stead in the future.

I also resolved to keep my vision on the horizon. I have been swayed a bit much by men who have crossed my path; it is my weakness. My longterm goals need to be present in my daily life, and I need some way to remind myself of them. I think I was too vague about exactly what I was going to do, which helped me to not do it.

So let it be also resolved that I will make a list of my 10 longterm goals along with a timeframe for completion, and see how that ends up matching with reality. Prediction is a whole different matter from simply reporting what is. Planning is what makes some people in great demand as project managers. I need to manage this project of my life a little more actively and see how it goes.

Mind you I have a longstanding practice of going with the flow. I recognize the hazard of trying to force things, and I know the beauty in letting the finest manifestations emerge out of not knowing. I would like to enter a state of being in which the flow moves my goals forward. In other words, this is a good time for setting intention.

7 Common Habits of Unhappy People
Posted By Henrik Edberg On October 5, 2011
http://www.positivityblog.com/index.php/2011/10/05/7-habits/
( useful article!!: text saved )

No nation keeps its word. A nation is a big, blind worm, following what? Fate perhaps. A nation has no honour, it has no word to keep.
--Carl Gustav Jung during an interview with H. R. Knickerbocker in 1939

Found this list here thanks to midnight_swirl. Check out the original article here.

11 STYLES OF NEGATIVE THINKING
( midnight_swirl's breakdown of the styles )

Yesterday morning Kathy picked me up and we headed over to the Columbia River Gorge, crossing the toll bridge at Hood River and finding our way to the takeout. The falls is right at the takeout, so we scouted it from the bridge. We left Rick's car at the takeout and headed to the putin, BZ something. The level was 2 and a quarter, which is the high end of the levels that these boaters consider good to go. Any higher and it would be very fast with few eddies and stout holes. Any lower and it would be pleasant eddy hopping without push. At this flow it was bankfull and slightly pushy, but only when it was narrow. There were lots of eddies but the mid-river ones were small and often behind rocks that were just below the water's surface, making them hard to see from upstream. The run is BZ Corner to Husum, 5 miles, 90 feet per mile.
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The woman who cheated on her biochem exam in first quarter, the woman I turned in for cheating, she is still in my program. She knows that I reported her, and since then we have not had honest words. She has avoided me, or been syrupy fake. I have waited for a chance to begin to speak openly with her again, because I like her, because I respect what she has done in life. I even tried to call her but her cell phone number has changed. So I have waited for my chance. Today she gave a presentation on alternative cancer cures that I was particularly interested in, and I asked her if I could get a copy of her powerpoint. She said yes and took my email. I said thankyou. She said "You're welcome bitch" as she turned away. I did not react. We continued to interact inside the same group of people for the next 10 minutes or so and she would not meet my eye or speak to me. I would like to be open with her. I understand that she is holding a grudge, that she thinks I was wrong to turn her in. I do not know if she understands that it was not personal. I like her. I would have done the same if ANY other classmate of mine had been cheating. I'm sure she had reasons that she was not prepared for the exam. My choice to report her was about the principle, and I stand behind that principle. I wonder how long it will take for her to cease being so angry and be willing to speak with me again. I am grateful that I am able to understand her grudge and not take it personally. For the most part. A part of it still stings, and that is my work to do.