Humanist Thought of the Week

Coping with Fear

Remember the old Roosevelt quote, “The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.” Well, it’s true.  And I think this is why people turn to supernatural solutions. They are afraid that they can’t handle whatever is happening to them on their own. Turning to the supernatural is a way to reduce your stress by pretending you are in control. In other words, it’s a way of hiding from reality. The problem is, reality doesn’t go away when you stop believing in it. You can’t solve your problems by hiding from them. So be brave. It turns out that when you face your fears, things are rarely as bad as you had imagined them to be. And even if they are, embracing reality helps you cope way more effectively then hiding in fear does.

Relax

Happiness is a bit of a paradox. The more you seek it, the less of it you tend to have. How do you know when you are truly happy? And are you happy enough? If you find yourself asking these questions, you’re trying too hard. The correct answer to: are you happy enough, is yes. Yes you are. All happiness is, according to Epicurus, is the absence of pain and a calm and contented mind. So the next time you get stressed about whether or not you are happy. Relax and stop worrying about that. Work on minimizing suffering, calming your mind and appreciating what is good in life and happiness will follow. Link to Epicurus recipe for Happiness - http://humanisthappiness.blogspot.com/2011/06/ive-been-re-reading-some-reflections-on.html

Interruptions

Interruptions My life for the last couple of weeks has been one big series of interruptions. Can’t hardly get started on a task when someone calls, rings the doorbell or needs my attention. Even when I sat down to write this post my hubby came home from work unexpectedly to drop something off and I had to go attend to that. It can be frustrating at times. However, that’s life. And instead of this podcast being about sexual ethics, I got diverted into thinking about interruptions. Oh - and I got some nice farm fresh eggs in the process. Long story short, interruptions are sometimes an annoyance. Sometimes they are a welcome diversion. But at all times they are a sign that life is moving on ahead, with or with out you. So enjoy the ride, interruptions and all. And I promise I will try to talk about sexual ethics next week.

Indulgence

Don’t get me wrong. Delayed gratification is important. Most of the time it is better to not indulge your impulses so that you can get a greater reward later. This ability to delay your gratification is the hallmark of mature reasoning. But that doesn’t mean that you should never indulge. After all, all work and no play makes us all pretty dull indeed. The trick is to choose your indulgences wisely. And for god’s sake - don’t ruin a perfectly good indulgence with guilt. If you’re going to do it - you may as well enjoy it.

Wrong practice yields right results

So, I’ve been learning tai chi.  Love it. What is most amazing to me is that it doesn’t matter what we learn. When we go home and practice it, we practice it totally wrong. And that turns out to be ok. Our teacher says we have to be exposed to a movement at least three times before we can begin to understand it. And he’s right. I can’t begin to recognize the right form until I’ve practiced the wrong form for a while. Only then can I learn how to tweak it to make it better. I guess what I am saying is that it’s ok to get things wrong sometimes.  It’s how we learn. As long as we are open to learning how to do it better.