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Happiness
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Way
of the Peaceful Warrior: A Book That Changes Lives
by Dan
Millman
rating: 2 of 5 stars
This review is for my personal journal not for you to
read so feel free not to read this : These are more
rambling notes and observations for me to reflect on
in the future.
As far as the writing , dialogue , character development
and interaction , this book is lacking. It was very
difficult for me to get through what should`ve been
a very quick read. I didn`t really enjoy the characters
at all and rarely empathized with them even when confronted
with obvious universal "situations" we all have been
in. I blame the authors lack of skill at this moment
in his life ....he apparently wrote 9 more books , and
I must assume he got better.
This book did have a few moments of clear thought ,
fair philosophy , and profound statements. They seemed
to be interspersed just enough to make me continue reading.
These documentations of insight were surrounded by trite
, new-age pseudo-philosophy. I also get the feeling
that the few parts of the book that had impactful messages
were not written by the author but copied out of an
eastern philosophy didactic. I could be wrong.
I did find myself HOPING that some aspect of enlightenment
or simple truth would be revealed to me , reminding
me of my general unhappiness.
Some good things to come out of the book and to add
to my strivings for happiness...
Paradoxically related to the above statement is that
happiness is not something you obtain or search or strive
for but something that you feel in the here and now
- Be happy , don`t resist life . --Even this is weak
as I reread what i just wrote. I feel jipped , I had
HOPE that some wisdom was going to be related and I
don`t think there was enough , especially considering
the story one had to suffer thru to recieve this weak
wisdom.
There was a lot in this book that I just don`t see working
for me at the extreme he reccomended. Also , some aspects
that I feel are poor philosophy in a world of doers.
He seemed to put down his education and reading and
put more faith in the physical.. his vegetarian diet
, meditation , tai chi , gymnastics and running ...
I agree a good diet and good exercise is essential to
a happy body/mind but there was just too much emphasis
on it. The old man , almost died trying to duplicate
the phsicality of his young student.
I think working out the brain and expanding your education
and understanding of the world has as much import as
the physical , esp; the majority of us won`t be able
to live a lifelong physically fit life such as this
author envisions , and I don`t believe those people
are necessarily doomed to unhappiness.
The author also poopoos attaining goals , belittles
business acumen as unimportant , calls out monetary
accumulation as unnecessary etc; this combined with
the confusion of , one moment concentrating on the self
, and the next advocating altruism and the sacrifice
of self. Ayn Rand would spin in her grave and screech
about the dangers of such a philosophy in the "real
world" we all live in. The spiritual silliness about
dying and being in the trees and the birds and the wind
, blah blah silliness is just spiritual fluff to mask
the fact that death holds no answers. I must say he
makes a compelling argument that it should have no sway
either.
Some of the negativity in here aside, I haven`t written
this much of a review on a book in a while so there
must be something to it. I would call it hope ...I have
hope that one day I will find contentment.
I think I do want to read some more self help books
to see if I may glean some bits of wisdom that may help
me in my goal.
other positive thoughts - Happiness = satisfaction/desires
- a simpler life and less expensive desires is one easy
way to enjoy what you have
Pg 133 - an attack on the Aristotelian philosphy of
Moderation - compelling
Stoicism - seems to be an influence
Concentration - harped upon thruought the book- clear
your mind of distractions and the silliness of everyday
doubts , worries , etc; In the grand scheme , unimportant
trivialities.
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Happiness is something we always strive for yet most
of us find it difficult to obtain. We tend to find
ourselves frustrated , short tempered , difficult
to deal with , depressed , fall into fits of laziness
etc , irritated at minor conveniences , always in
a hurry , harried about all the millions things that
need doing , everything is an emergency etc;
I am extremely guilty of all of the above , over
the last few years (probably most of my life actually)
I find myself intensely frustrated with everything
and anything. I rarely feel Happy and always seem
to be on the verge of deep depression.
Well , I have found many of my issues , really just
a state of mind. Yes , I and We , all deal with some
real crappy situations on occasion , but most of us
find our state of unhappiness because of overreactions
by our own mind. This list remains true for most of
us. This list is not necessarily for someone that
has experienced Tragedy (seek professional help or
groups for the serious stuff that life can hand us)
but is for the day to day difficulties , irritations
, fears , confrontations etc; We are not alone , all
humanity has experienced trials , We can get through
it with positive thinking and training of the mind.
3/4/05 More to come in future but here is a quick
list to refer to on occasion when you find yourself
unnecessarily angry , frustrated or depressed.
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- Don`t
Sweat the small stuff , Its all small stuff
- Make
peace with imperfection
- Be
aware of the snowball effect of your thinking and
catch yourself and Let it Go
- When
U Die , there will still be things and stuff that
needs doing
- Don`t
interrupt or finish sentences , Practice Listening
- Do
something nice - selflessly - Don`t tell anyone
- Present
Moment Awareness
- Don`t
need to be right - Let others be right on occasion
- Practice
Patience
- Love-
Show love - Feel Love - Give Love
- Life
isn`t fair ...so what ...Move on
- Remember
how Good you really have it , Not everyone is as
lucky
- Allow
yourself to be bored
- Mind
your business , Someone elses stress , gossip ,
or deal is not your problem
- Excercise
, Meditate , Stretch , Gym , Pilates , Yoga , Walk
- Become
an early riser - Instead of rushing around like
a maniac as soon as you get up to zip to work -
Get up a little earlier ; Create :MY TIME
- This
too shall pass- Will it matter in a year ? Will
it matter in a hundred
- Be
Grateful when feeling Good , and Graceful when feeling
down
- Volunteer
- Do good for others - Be good and Loving
- See the extraordinary in the ordinary - see the
wonder of life
- Look for the positive , ignore the negative
- Life is not an emergency
- Don`t always need to catch the ball - There is
always someone trying to get you to catch their
ball - its o.k not to have to on occasion , be helpful
when you want to - You`ll be more effective
- Don`t judge others or keep score - Accept people
for who they are , and what they do or don`t do
- Stop complaining , it will come true - If you
practice unhappiness it will become habit
- Write a heartfelt letters to a friend , lover
, family member - or simply drop a line
- Remember , any pain you feel has been felt before
by a fellow human , its not just yours
- Money is not Happiness , the lack of it is not
Unhappiness- Want what you have and Be grateful
for it
- Organize - I`m a big believer of lists as long
as you know the list Will Never End , there will
always be something to do , don`t let it stress
you , let it energize you
- List all the To-do`s , Want to-do`s , goals ,
objectives etc; and Start Nailin em
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Bibliography
Don`t sweat the small stuff ...Its all small stuff - Richard
Carlson
The Art of Happiness - Dalai Lama
The Great Ideas - Syntopicon
I wrote this in my Kasualkb`log
a few summers ago.. I`m hoping by taking my own advice my
end of summer message for 2005 will be much different .
We`ll wait and see
August 5th -Summer of 2003
- This season began as all others , dreams and hopes
of a full , active , adventure filled summer that will surpass
all others. As the daylight creeps closer to the edge of
the workday , I see that hope fading for the summer of 2003.
Why is it that as we get older , the summer gets shorter
? When did I become this serious , cautious individual ,
that finds day to day life so encompassing that I forgot
how to have fun. I spent this summer alienating my friends
thru neglect or outright cantakerousness , demoralizing
my previously consumately upbeat fiance , and wallowing
in self-originated depression. Was I always like this ?
Have I only deluded myself , romanticizing the past as all
of us do ,eventually. I think I`m really depressed.
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