First of all, happy birthday Neils Bohr!! Yes, today is THE Bohr's birthday, the planetary-model-of-the-atom Bohr whom I so admire. I also liked what he said about the reflection and absorption spectra of the hydrogen atom (well I believe it was that atom :p). So Bohr is a solar Libran. Brilliant. Those Libra men are always so smart :) Well, this is an astrology blog - I had to throw in a word edge-wise about the matter of his zodiac sign.
Anyway, here's a quote from Bohr that has gotten me thinking in the past, hope it gets your minds running if they haven't started doing so yet on this lazy autumnal day:
"The opposite of a fact is falsehood, but the opposite of one profound truth may very well be another profound truth."
Don't worry, this isn't going to be a post about Bohr. I just mentioned him because Google was so kind as to inform the world that today is the man's birthday, and I rather like the guy and what he said and what he did for the world. I thought it was worth mentioning; it's nice to be admired for your toil by people.
Here's a picture of Bohr so that you guys can see the man, for those of you who don't know what he looks like. Save your imagination for other things :)
I think this picture makes him look young and bright-eyed and hopeful, and I like that.
Okay, and now I reach the point of my post.
While I'm getting there, I'm going to give you guys a quote from Mr. Bohr that will get my talkative juices flowing. I found it now and it fits what I'm going to talk about. So, here it is:
" Every great and deep difficulty bears in itself its own solution. It forces us to change our thinking in order to find it."
Today I'll be talking about the subject of thanks, and by extension, positive thinking, which this quote leads us to think of.
Guys, ask yourselves, "How many of us really make an effort to think positively?"
No, like, really make an effort to try and not be so negative about everything that's "wrong" with our lives. To actually sit down with one's mind and say, "I am not going to mistreat you with all the negative thought patterns I've built up over the years. I am going to love you, and appreciate your propensity for generating joy, even out of the most difficult and trying situations."
Positive thinking is an act of love, not only towards our minds and souls, but towards our bodies, and towards our "God" and the people who would like to see us flourish in life.
Don't misunderstand what I have to say. I am not preaching delusion, and just sitting around while things crumble about oneself when something can be done to better the situation. I'm not even talking about action. I'm just talking about positive thinking as a theoretical idea.
Back to the topic:
Let me ask you. Suppose you're having body image issues. People left and right keep telling you to lose weight, to cut off those split ends, to fix your teeth because, "Oh, it's just that, well, you'd be so much prettier" or "so much more handsome" if you "tweeked this, tweezed that, jus' a lil', you know. But you're still good."
You start to listen. You let the negative thoughts come creeping into your psyche, and soon enough you think the way they do. And then the hatred comes.
You start to see yourself through the distorted lens of other people's negativity. Instead of respecting your body for the life it enables you to carry out on this Earth, and the health and lack of deformity of its condition, and the sheer beauty of the naked human form, you start to dread looking in the mirror, and down goes your self-esteem, all because you can't seem to tell yourself that you are beautiful.
The big and sad downfall of this situation is that you are not only insulting your body, but you are robbing your mind of its birthright to be brave and calm and stable. And you are chaining up the love towards yourself that you need to feel if you're ever going to move forward and live the life your soul desires, stifling it under all this hatred.
Who knows, you may be what people in human societies call "fat". You may not fit the aesthetic mold for "beauty". You may not have a high enough IQ, or not earn a big enough paycheck. So. Fucking. What?!
Etiquette dictates you should never insult a person on the street for being fat, for example. Then why should it be that so many of us can't even offer up that same basic respect, towards our own fatness, or un-prettiness, or un-intellectualism? It's a beautiful thing to be able to say (and mean), "Okay, I may not be where I want to be, but I'm going to love you through whatever experiences we go through together, dear body/mind/soul of mine." When you do that, you let love in, and the hatred starts to lose its value. It's insignificant, because love is more soothing than constantly wrestling with our daemons. Love is a better companion to carry into your dreams at night, when you should be appreciating the day that has past, and the day that will hopefully come. Once you start working on letting that love in, little by little, that's when the miracle happens... you start to let the hate out. You set it free, let it go - the hatred towards yourself, and towards your fellow brothers and sisters. And that would be a true religion, based entirely on loving yourself and everyone around you as an image and likeness of God (thank you for that beautiful highlighted statement, Mr. Moffarij. I understand now a little bit better what you tried to tell me, and the joy is, I understand with my heart as well as my mind).
Keep in mind that the daemons won't neccessarily go away. They'll still be there, as long as people will be there, and society, ready to taunt you and knock you down. And sometimes, I'm sure, you will be knocked down. Just don't let it happen too much. When we give in to negative thought patterns time and again, never bothering to put the effort towards positivity, we just forget that the love's around, waiting in us and around us to discovered and seized upon and channeled appropriately.
I know a person who's always complaining. No, not just one person, I know a lot of people who are always complaining :) I was one of those people too. It's understandable to feel frustrated with the way life's going, or isn't going, you know, we're just humans, it's what we do sometimes, we get frustrated, and think that life isn't treating us the right way.
But you know, if you complain, you're still in the same place you started - "NotWhereYouWannaBe".
Look, you're going to complain. That's a given. Just don't make a habit out of it. It's about reconditioning your thought processes to be, well, more rosy.
But some of you can come and say to me, "Well, look, it's all nice and well, what you're saying. But to adopt a more positive method of thinking is to view life through a distorted lens as well."
Maybe so. But who among us is a stark realist, neither optimistic or pessimistic, having adopted the computerized way of viewing the world? None of us, surely. Maybe Martians, but none of us.
And so, I ask you, "If the lens has got to be distorted anyway, wouldn't you rather choose the distortion that works in your favor?"
Choose positivity. Make the choice of thanks, and the sacrifice of love. Throw aside your hatred, for the all-encompassing truth. The choice is entirely in your hands, this minute, and every minute, for you are of that Universal Power that shakes us to the very core of our being, and drives about these neccessary changes for understanding, just a little bit more, the secrets of life.
I shall continue this topic in the next post, "I Am Thankful". Try to read the two together, as they're quite connected.
Guys, please be brave and make the right choices for yourselves today, and every day. And I hope you pray for me too, to keep continuing on the better track, along with you, and the rest of humankind. Amen.
Signed, your friendly Water Bearer.
Have a question? Need to vent? Complaints, comments, tips? Give this ole dog a hoot at bemgcasrbaquarian@gmail.com
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