Blick über den Tellerrand #7
If you want to, you can easily find tons of reasons to live your life scared and negative. You can use all kinds of logic to justify a bitter, guarded attitude, as if it’s the only way protect yourself from bad things that could happen. The irony is that this is the worst thing that could happen, because it makes the space inside your head persistently painful–and it doesn’t actually prevent pain or misfortune. It’s a self-made prison that you can only escape by choosing to shift your perspective.
(Lori Deschene: On Choosing Optimism)
Is buying a fancy car your dream? Then buy it. But most people need something more than just stuff, to do something worthwhile. The next time you’re about to spend a respectable sum of money, or hours/days of your life, ask yourself: is it going to get you closer to your amazing ambition you want to achieve before you die? Or make you a better person or the world a better place?
(Jessica Dang: Dream-unrelated fluff)
I suspect that if we’re honoring our authentic selves, we will occasionally, and maybe even often, feel rejected. We will sense that some people don’t get, understand, or appreciate us for who we really are. It’s inevitable when we’re being our true selves that some people will dislike what they see and judge. Perhaps the key to accepting ourselves is accepting that it’s perfectly OK if other people have negative opinions. In fact, it’s actually a positive choice to allow other people to think what they will, knowing there are plenty of people who love you, just as you are–and that you are one of those people. Today if you feel tempted to censor yourself for fear of not being accepted, remember: It’s better to be judged for something you are than to be accepted for something you’re not.
(Lori Deschene: On Being Openly You)
My business card doesn’t have any titles or labels. Just my name, e-mail and website. I know myself. And I know I’m constantly evolving as a person. (…) I do not want to be limited by labels. (…) Cut the bullcrap that’s on your business card, your resume, your CV, your e-mails, your papers, your essays, your blog posts, your conversations, your meetings, your projects.
(Nina Yau: Let’s Cut the Bullcrap, Shall We?)
If you live a good life, other people will know it, and maybe they’ll write it down, but the most important thing is that you did your best, and that is something nobody can take away from you.
(Jessica Dang: Greatness and Impermanence)
I know that there’s something you want to do, but you’re scared to. Something or someone is telling you “no” or “you shouldn’t/couldn’t!”. I know this because everybody has a dream being trampled on like that. Even the greatest men and women in history had the same feelings as you. But the difference is that they weren’t scared of getting burned. Are you?
(Jessica Dang: If you play with fire)
Ohne Pflegemittel für Körper, Haut und Haare auskommen. (…) Meine Haare sind ein Traum. Meine Haut auch. Mir fehlt zwar immer noch Nagellack und ein bisschen Lippenstift und ich freue mich schon sehr wenn ich wieder etwas benutzen kann, aber ich weiß nun auch, dass ich Duschgel und Shampoo nur noch brauche, wenn ich wirklich dreckig bin (also z.B. mit Schmierfetten wie Ruß oder Öl in Kontakt gekommen bin).
(Frau Ding Dong: Das Mai-Experiment)
People often mistakenly think that to be a minimalist, you need to live with less than 100 things (or 50 or something crazy like that). That’s not at all true. A minimalist is simply one who questions the necessity of things, and who tries to live with what’s necessary, rather than with consumerism.
(Leo Babauta: Can you live without?)
Die Leere aushalten und hindurchgehen, ohne zu wissen wohin der Weg führt. Das ist wahres Zen. Minimalismus habe ich oft auch als eine praktische Form des Zen verstanden. Schließlich ging es ja auch um’s Loslassen, um Freiheit, um die Besinnung auf das Wesentliche.
(think minimal: Was kommt nach dem Minimalismus? — offline)