“The greatest gift you can give another is the purity of your attention.” Richard Moss
Follow this link to the Harvard Business Review for an insightful article by Peter Bregman about how (and why) to stop multi-tasking: http://bit.ly/cXbKzI
Doing several things at once is a trick we play on ourselves, thinking we’re getting more done. In reality, our productivity goes down by as much as 40%. We don’t actually multitask. We switch-task, rapidly shifting from one thing to another, interrupting ourselves unproductively, and losing time in the process.
Here’s a summary of Peter’s findings:
1. It was ‘delightful’ – the power of focused attention
2. He made significant progress on challenging projects
3. His stress levels dropped dramatically
4. He lost patience for time-wasting
5. Increased patience for activities that were useful and enjoyable
6. There was no downside!
And, personally, this just confirms my own personal experience. What is your experience? Please do share!
I recently came across this article on the BBC website about exercising in nature and its effects on mental health.
Researchers from the University of Essex have proved that Just five minutes of exercise in a “green space” such as a park can boost mental health. Apparently the biggest effect was seen within just five minutes.
Incidentally, the article came to my attention via Daily Good which is “an inspiring quote, a related good-news story, and a simple action — delivered to your inbox for free by volunteers every day. Just a ripple a day, simply to spread the good.” I thoroughly recommend subscribing to the email newsletter as it really is ray of light in your busy week.
Who made the world?
Who made the swan, and the black bear?
Who made the grasshopper?
This grasshopper, I mean-
the one who has flung herself out of the grass,
the one who is eating sugar out of my hand,
who is moving her jaws back and forth instead of up and down-
who is gazing around with her enormous and complicated eyes.
Now she lifts her pale forearms and thoroughly washes her face.
Now she snaps her wings open, and floats away.
I don’t know exactly what a prayer is.
I do know how to pay attention, how to fall down
into the grass, how to kneel down in the grass,
how to be idle and blessed, how to stroll through the fields,
which is what I have been doing all day.
Tell me, what else should I have done?
Doesn’t everything die at last, and too soon?
Tell me, what is it you plan to do
with your one wild and precious life?
Tags: acceptance, summer, who am I?
The Synthesis Centre has an extensive collection of writings available for download as PDFs.
The Association for the Advancement of Psychosynthesis has a very good resources page. And here can be found the writings of Roberto Assagioli, also available for download.
A search for the keyword ‘psychosynthesis’ on OpenPDF search has a number of links. Definitely worth a look.
Psychosynthesis Online has links to a number of valuable psychosynthesis resources, including quotes, forums and an online store.
Psychosynthesis Resources is a great site, with a good number of PDFs available to download. Plans for this website came from the Professional Development Committee of the Association for the Advancement of Psychosynthesis. These plans were implemented by Vincent Dummer who continues to maintain this website. Of particular interest are their collection of videos of psychosynthesis presentations which explore some of the core contructs of psychosynthesis, alongside keynote presentations and introductory workshops.
Will Parfitt has recommended the excellent psychosynthesis resources of the PS home page run by Dirk Kelder.
If you know of any other good resources, please share them in the comments below and we will add them to this page.
Tags: PDF, psychosynthesis, roberto assagioli, writings
Ricochet was a puppy prodigy. From the moment she was born, she was training to become a service dog for a person with a disability. As she grew, it was clear her talents were undeniable; but her free, youthful spirit could not be contained – Ricochet would give in to her instincts to run playfully and chase birds and small animals. A definite no-no for a service dog. Rather than push harder to make Ricochet something she was not or give up on her entirely, her trainer had the heart and vision to see that Ricochet’s special talents and energy could be used to help in other ways. Turns out Ricochet’s unique gift is surfing! Watch the story of how Ricochet became a SURFice dog helping charitable foundations and people with disabilities. Woof!
This post came via KarmaTube. KarmaTube is a collection of short, “do something” videos coupled with simple actions that every viewer can take. Their mission is to spread the good.
Tags: acceptance, inspiration, joy
God
Disguised
As a myriad things and
Playing a game
Of tag
Has kissed you and said,
“You’re it–
I mean, you’re Really IT!”
Now
It does not matter
What you believe or feel
For something wonderful,
Major-league Wonderful
Is someday going
To
Happen.
~ Hafiz
A boat docked in a tiny Mexican fishing village.
A tourist complimented the local fishermen
on the quality of their fish and asked
how long it took them to catch them.
“Not very long.” they answered in unison.
“Why didn’t you stay out longer and catch more?”
The fishermen explained that their small catches were
sufficient to meet their needs and those of their families.
“But what do you do with the rest of your time?”
“We sleep late, fish a little, play with our children,
and take siestas with our wives.
In the evenings, we go into the village to see our friends,
have a few drinks, play the guitar, and sing a few songs.
We have a full life.”
The tourist interrupted,
“I have an MBA from Harvard and I can help you!
You should start by fishing longer every day.
You can then sell the extra fish you catch.
With the extra revenue, you can buy a bigger boat.”
“And after that?”
“With the extra money the larger boat will bring,
you can buy a second one and a third one
and so on until you have an entire fleet of trawlers.
Instead of selling your fish to a middle man,
you can then negotiate directly with the processing plants
and maybe even open your own plant.
You can then leave this little village and move to Mexico City ,
Los Angeles , or even New York City !
From there you can direct your huge new enterprise.”
“How long would that take?”
“Twenty, perhaps twenty-five years.” replied the tourist.
“And after that?”
“Afterwards? Well my friend, that’s when it gets really interesting, “
answered the tourist, laughing. “When your business gets really big,
you can start buying and selling stocks and make millions!”
“Millions? Really? And after that?” asked the fishermen.
“After that you’ll be able to retire,
live in a tiny village near the coast,
sleep late, play with your children,
catch a few fish, take a siesta with your wife
and spend your evenings drinking and enjoying your friends.”
And the moral of this story is:
Know where you’re going in life…you may already be there!!
Try watching this video without smiling – you can’t!!
Look again at that dot. That’s here. That’s home. That’s us. On it everyone you love, everyone you know, everyone you ever heard of, every human being who ever was, lived out their lives. The aggregate of our joy and suffering, thousands of confident religions, ideologies, and economic doctrines, every hunter and forager, every hero and coward, every creator and destroyer of civilization, every king and peasant, every young couple in love, every mother and father, hopeful child, inventor and explorer, every teacher of morals, every corrupt politician, every “superstar,” every “supreme leader,” every saint and sinner in the history of our species lived there — on a mote of dust suspended in a sunbeam.
The Earth is a very small stage in a vast cosmic arena. Think of the rivers of blood spilled by all those generals and emperors so that, in glory and triumph, they could become the momentary masters of a fraction of a dot. Think of the endless cruelties visited by the inhabitants of one corner of this pixel on the scarcely distinguishable inhabitants of some other corner, how frequent their misunderstandings, how eager they are to kill one another, how fervent their hatreds.
Our posturings, our imagined self-importance, the delusion that we have some privileged position in the Universe, are challenged by this point of pale light. Our planet is a lonely speck in the great enveloping cosmic dark. In our obscurity, in all this vastness, there is no hint that help will come from elsewhere to save us from ourselves.
The Earth is the only world known so far to harbor life. There is nowhere else, at least in the near future, to which our species could migrate. Visit, yes. Settle, not yet. Like it or not, for the moment the Earth is where we make our stand.
It has been said that astronomy is a humbling and character-building experience. There is perhaps no better demonstration of the folly of human conceits than this distant image of our tiny world. To me, it underscores our responsibility to deal more kindly with one another, and to preserve and cherish the pale blue dot, the only home we’ve ever known.
–Carl Sagan, Pale Blue Dot, 1994
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