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In my dreams I often pass from being myself to watching myself - like a movie. Or, I alternate from being someone other than myself to watching.

I think my inner mind has been trying to teach me this lesson for a long time.

I will try to make this happen in the waking world. Emotions can be so strong, so overpowering that they are hard to incorporate or express. My dreams remind me that sorrow can be lovely, anger can be thrilling and happiness can be dull. 

Emotions are not as we have been taught to believe -all good or all bad. Every thought, every emotion, has it's beauty and it's ugliness.

Remember, only by experiencing difficulty can you experience ease. You cannot have pleasure without pain to give it reality.

All "bad" alone might be endless black, but all "good" alone is endless white. We are here to see the colors of this life.

i have found that increasing faith in the rightness of god's plan for me brings freedom from fear. this is the greatest freedom i have known thus far in my life. for those times when my faith is not enough to banish fear from my thoughts, i must find courage to act with trust, even though i do not trust. i do not think this battle will ever be finished in this lifetime (for what else is the purpose of this lifetime?); but for every moment i am able to live in trust, and especially trust without fear, i have lived a complete moment. with every moment i decide not to be in control, but to cede control, with (or even without) complete trust, to the one who knows so much more than i - in such moments do i lighten my feet on the earth. oh, how i strive to achieve more of these moments of freedom and lightness. . . .

The old saw that love (a job, peace, enlightenment, whatever) comes when you least expect it is true. Les has aptly captured why this is so. Remember, if you keep your eyes on the goal you will walk a straight path. As soon as you start looking at your feet, whoops!

When you have a desire you have decided for yourself what should be the outcome of a given situation. You have become an ego-driven being intent on aquiring, discarding, or achieving something. Desire can be very powerful. It can be more important than other people. It can be more important than other living things. It can be more important than the future, the past or even the health and survival of your very body, mind and emotions. We all have these feelings. They start young. They continue until death takes us back. The only peace in the face of strong desire is the continual acceptance of our ignorance, our inadequacy, our very limited point of view in the vastness of the cosmos. I must admit every day of my life "I am not God and you are. I want what you want for me. I totally accept whatever that is, please try to get through to my dim animal brain what that is and help me to work for it." Don't ever kid yourself that there is no harm in "flowing" with the ego-winds that blow across your mind. A smart ego-driven person can rationalize any behavior. Only one who can admit they are not so smart can have a chance of avoiding great pain and regret.

I have been struggling for some time now with the feeling of lonliness in the midst of people who I know care for me deeply. I find that I am often overtaken by the burning desires that come with such a sense of urgency. These thoughts are not only saying that I am not who I want to be, but that those around me are not what I want them to be, as well. There can be no peace or forward movement when we are caught in the flames of wishing and wanting. The idea of coolness, cool breezes, a cool hand on a fevered brow is very healing to me now. How comforting is the image of cool aloness. I find my greatest peace these days alone with God, alone with my thoughts and no-thoughts, even not-really-alone with my animals. If anything can teach you to live in the moment, it's a dog! I will continue to tamp down my flames of desire with the image of the big picture peace life oneness that chases out the self alone. Peace.