What I’ve been reading:
Toward a Psychology of Being by Abraham Maslow
Another reread. There are many life-enhancing ideas in this book and in Maslow’s work as a whole. But there is one suggestion he makes in this book that I want to make an effort to keep sharing with as many people as possible.
Internal struggle and conflict, guilt, bad conscience, anxiety, depression, frustration, tension, shame, feeling of inferiority and unworthiness, self-punishment… We are taught that all of these are signs that something is wrong with you.
Well, Maslow argues that these symptoms can be found in healthy people or people growing toward health.
“Does sickness mean having symptoms? I maintain now that sickness might consist of not having symptoms when you should.”
Consider a person who has been through, or is still going through, a stressful or even traumatic period of life. If they have become adjusted to the situation and feel no internal struggle and conflict as a result of it, they might be protected from the pain of their situation. But their growth has stopped. They have ceased to be a dynamic and developing person. The person who is still dynamic, who is growing, must experience internal struggle in a situation that is in contrast to the higher ideal of who they should become and what their life should look like.
What I’ve listened to:
Single-Minded Way (ZEN: Right Attitude) by Shunryu Suzuki
Shunryu Suzuki was a Sōtō Zen monk, teacher, and an author of Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind, one of the most influential books on Zen in the West.
What I’m sharing with you is a snippet from one of his lectures.
What you are doing is not preparation for something else. It deserves your full focus and attention on its own, without thinking what comes next.
What I’ve been thinking about:
One of the most common causes of wasting your life:
Waiting for things to be the way you want them to be rather than they way they are before you start living.
Thank you for reading.
Stay strong, love life, and never feel sorry for yourself.
Free Resources:
My free ebook: The Lost Art of Reading
Paid Resources:
The Art of Showing Up: A Clear and Practical Method for Mastering Consistency
The Gold Pill: Timeless Ideas for a Life Worth Living
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