Dumbing down

Is clear in many fields of modern life

Hollywood and others understand that formula products work

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Producing an endless stream of forgettable garbage

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Simple plots filled with sex, violence and vulgarity

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In fact in many media today it is difficult to find any programs that have merit except from their successful appeal to the lowest common denominator

Along the way core values have become blurred or lost

Values such as honesty, trust, respect, courage, love, wisdom, generosity, kindness, enthusiasm are often totally lacking

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Powerful lobby groups spin and distort any protest against this situation

Arguing that their programs have no negative effect

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They lie

We lie to ourselves

We feel impotent to influence this situation

On a global scale this is surely true

On a local scale this does not have to be true

It depends on you and your own values

If you have strong positive core values and follow them in your daily life

If you do not support or help reward rubbish media

Then over time this must impact

How and when might not be clear today

But then it does not really matter as the reason you follow worthwhile values is because they are right for you

Commercial logic dictates that dumbing down must continue until the saturation point is reached

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In some fields we are already there

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Boredom is beginning to set in

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Your values and behaviour can impact

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Do not dumb down your own life

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Live by clear and correct core values

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Who knows what influence you can have.

ipods

MP3's and other music devices transport us into our own world away from those around us

So does TV whether as background or as an absorbing medium

PlayStation's, Xboxes, Gameboys do so too

Magazines, newspapers, online services they take us away as well

Away from what?

Each other usually but mainly from our minds

Our minds boss us from morning to night

Seldom do we stop to ask is this normal?

Is this how it has to be?

Is there another way?

Answer no it is only normal in the modern world

No it does not have to be this way

Life with a mind under control is very different

It is one where peace of mind is not just an expression but a reality

Not easy to obtain in fact it is the hardest thing you can do

But then all the world's great teachers have pointed out that the big fight is with ourselves

The fight to subdue our own selves this is the difficult one

So start today by noticing how often you have negative thoughts about anything

Notice consciously when negative thoughts come to you

Ask why?

Do this until you can catch all the negative thoughts coming in from your mind

Yes coming into your consciousness from your mind

Notice how many are not yours

They just spring up

The thought is just there

Question who or what is controlling these thoughts?

Now consider do I want to continue this way for the rest of my life?

End of summer

In the Northern hemisphere you can feel it coming

Just the faintest of whispers

Just a feeling, the leaves are dryer

The days getting shorter

The mornings sharper

Children about to go back to school

Business getting down to work again after the summer holidays

No idea what the winter will be like

No idea how cold or wet

Do know one thing having the right clothes feels better than not

Being happy at the idea of colder weather is better than regretting the passing of hot days

What we feel changes how we experience things

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Our thoughts lead the way

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Change how you think about the coming winter and it will change how you experience it

Check your feelings about it now

Be pleased at the opportunity to do other things

Decide to use this winter unlike any other

Be appreciative of life

Use your time in new ways

End of summer approaches

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Enjoy each minute and welcome the changes

Pleasantness

Being pleasant brings so many subtle rewards it is surprising how few people embrace it as their life strategy

A pleasant mindset causes us to see things differently

To experience life through positive eyes

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Smiling eyes

While this might sound trite to hardened modern life warriors

One point escapes them

Being pleasant creates an invisible attraction of niceness around one

One that attracts others of a like mind

One that repels nasty people

They do not feel comfortable in this energy space

So even more reason to practice being pleasant it keeps the shites away!

A subtle but effective defence against the many aggressive and unpleasant people around

Choose to be pleasant.

More on thoughts

Thoughts are primary acts secondary

This is not a made up idea this is a law of the universe

It has been known from ancient times up until today by those who understand the perennial wisdom

The perennial wisdom being the true history of the human race and not the stories currently in vogue from religion to science and beyond

So returning to thoughts a simple exercise

The thoughts you have now determine your karma in the future

In other words your thoughts determine your future

Clean up your thoughts, change your future

All thoughts which are negative, angry, violent, vicious or just plain unpleasant will bring the same or more unpleasantness into your life in the future

Clean up your thoughts

Pleasant thoughts are more agreeable anyway

Learn to monitor your negative thoughts and push them away

Thoughts are critical to our well being

Make yours worthy of you.

My way

And everyone has one

For this 'n that

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Just check that they are still valid

Meaning?

Making copies and back up files on your computer and not leaving it until the next crash or virus invasion

Actually backing up your telephone numbers on your mobile phone

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With having spare sets of keys in places where you can get to them

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With photo copies of all cards and plastic

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Putting birthday dates in a place where you will actually find them

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Having the discipline to follow through on things

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And most important of all letting go of "my way" and allowing yourself to be wrong

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Take the time to think whether or not "my way" is the best way?

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is it?

Food shopping

Is something most of us do in supermarkets or hypermarkets today

Convenience of parking and shopping

All under one roof

Question

Do you ever change brands?

Hope so because there are some products where it is helpful to do so

Like shampoo, because our hair benefits from a change once in a while

Bread, moving from whole grain or brown to German or Scandinavian is no bad thing once in a while.

Most serious though is the amount of sugar, salt and soya in so many products

Try if you can to avoid genetically modified soya because no one yet knows the long term effects

Pseudo science might argue that it is safe however no one can say this yet

No one knows

So try to reduce your salt, sugar and soya intakes

Notice how hard it is to read labels when so many ingredients hide under numbers and letters.

Not a bad exercise to read about what you are eating

Inform yourself if you can

Like life

Help others

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Want to feel good?

Then do things for others without thought for yourself

Get in the habit of doing things that bring pleasure to others

Not for the reward

Not for the acclaim

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But because you know this to be right

Morality sounds old fashioned in a greedy, selfish, material world

Wrong let those who are greedy be

Let your selfish friends be

Let everyone get on with their own thing

You live inside yourself 24/7

Respect yourself

Live by moral values

Yes morality is important

Don't believe me?

Look at older greedy people

Alone with their riches but oh so poor

Their faces tell what a life of greed brings

Plastic surgery cannot hide the empty eyes

As John Lennon said "you cannot hide when you are crippled inside"

Determine to live your life with respect for yourself and others

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Like life

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Like yourself

Thoughts

Are more important than actions

In creating karma

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And karma is what rules in our solar system

The thoughts we have create our karma

Your karma determines how you experience life

So your thoughts are more important than you thought

And who can say that they do not have negative thoughts?

Angry thoughts perhaps, greedy thoughts, unworthy thoughts

All of us need to be clear that our thoughts create our future

So presuming that you would like more peace of mind rather than less in the future

Time to clean up your thoughts

Start by noticing how little you control your thoughts

Notice how thoughts come in and out of your head all day long

Most are random, unsolicited uncalled for

Start monitoring them become more aware how your thoughts are

Then start the the very difficult job of stopping the unworthy, unpleasant ones

This will keep you busy for the rest of this life and maybe some others too

Unpleasant thoughts indicate that you need to look at your ideas about life

Your understanding of yourself, your values, your sense of right and wrong

If you have fair values then less unpleasant thoughts will come your way

If however you are jealous, envious, greedy, self pitying then watch out karma will test you over and over

No one beats karma it is the ultimate law in this Universe, the source, origin, fount of all other laws

Accept we are here to grow to learn

Time to start sorting your thoughts

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Time to start controlling your thoughts

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Thoughts are so much more important than most realise

Moments

In ones life that just stay forever

The first kiss when falling in love

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That timeless moment

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Even when the relationship fades that memory lingers on

Something about it defies most other experiences

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It changed our life

What else stays in your memory?

An illness, a birthday, some special day

And this out of your whole life

We often think we have lots and lots of memories

Really?

Name twenty good and bad ones now quickly without effort

Did you?

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Bet you could not!

So out of a whole life of x years you have limited memories

Is this good or bad

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Probably neither

It does though help you see that the memories per se are not the important thing

The important thing is that the sum total of all the moments in your life has brought you to where you are today

Without any single one of them you would not be the same person

For good or bad you are the sum total of all your experiences

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So the real point is that moments add to who and what we are

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They shape our lives, inform our choices, influence our thoughts

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So be open to moments they are more important in many ways than our memories.

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The moment shapes while the memory reminds