Avoid the Trap

I am often surprised by the number of people I know who, at the mere mention of the name "Steve Jobs," immediately have a negative comment to make. Whew! How much energy it must take to hold on to the psychic energetic of judgement.

What I find is that the man, the human we all knew and loved or hated as the case may be, was brilliant.

This quote struck me full in the face following on the heels of last weekend's Death:OK event. Like monkey-bread, it fell into three distinct yet related pieces. Unlike monkey-bread, it was by no means sugar-coated.

The first piece was the very start, "Remembering that you are going to die...." Who wants to remember that? Our culture is so intensely death-averse that the mention of remembering and my own personal death in the same phrasing shocks my system. Yet I certainly have more years behind me than before me. Friends and loved ones have died, some at ages younger than mine currently.

The final piece that struck me was "You are already naked." Huh? I'm sitting in a public coffee shop, drinking a cuppa ~~ so I know he's not talking about my physical being. Yet coupled with the first piece of remembering my own mortality, I must admit that I am already undone, exposed, uncomfortably visible. Like everyone around me, I am going to die one day. Is my pretense of physical immortality fooling anyone? I seriously doubt it.

It's the middle part, "avoid the trap of thinking that you have something to lose" that hit like a sucker punch to the solar plexus and left me breathless. Here's one of the most creative minds of our time, who'd already been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and survived it once, giving a commencement speech at Stanford University and talking about death.

"Avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose." I consider the number of times I stopped myself from doing something, going somewhere, facing a challenge, because I thought I might lose something ~ prestige or power or appearing knowledgeable or a person's caring. In the end, at some point, all those things washed out to sea anyway and returned different on the next tide.

I'm grateful for my life, my health, my family and friends as well as an entire host of other things. Right now, I'm grateful for the words of a creative genius who died too young yet left an incredible legacy to the world.

What strikes you most strongly in the quote? Why? Do you resist remembering that you are going to die? Why or why not? How does talking about death and mortality affect you? What might you consider doing if you avoided the trap and threw caution to the wind?

Listening Power, part 2

Besides taking the time and focus to listen to others, we need to learn to take time to pay attention to that quiet voice within.

I don't mean the voice that scolds you or diminishes you. That one usually resides in your mind, often sounding like someone from your past. The voice that gives you directions, encourages you, reassures you is the one that should be heard.

This quote is from Steve Jobs, one of the most creative voices and forces in the technology arena to date. His life was an amazing combination of influence and intuition.

Listening to your inner voice, to my inner voice, is not always a simple task. Quieting the mind enough to pay attention, taking the time to breathe and relax, trusting what is heard ~~ all of these are part of the process of listening. Why do we find it easier to listen to others? What is it about the voice inside our minds that we hear it more clearly than the intuitive voice that comes from our gut or our heart?

If we are lucky enough, dedicated enough, accountable enough, we open ourselves to the inner voice and act on the directions and advice it provides. That kind of listening requires us to take time to listen.

My own listening fluctuates from intense to la-di-la not paying attention. I identify with things pulling me inward and outward. I know that when I listen, when I put down the media, that quiet intuitive voice directs me to a place of greater connection ~ and onward to greater joy as well.

How do you listen to your inner voice? Is it important to you that you do? How do the two types of listening (to others and to self) work in your life? What happens when you don't listen?