Kickin’ it old school with a journal.

PAYCE.

That was an interesting experience.

Let’s see how the next 8 weeks go.

It initially felt like today was going to be less-than-average. But it wasn’t. In fact, it was a great day.

Correction: every day is a great day.

I’m already wishing this term away and thinking about my summer.

Actually, I don’t care that I’m in classes. I just want some sun is all.

“I also respect myself, and I don’t allow anybody to write my story. My story is my responsibility; it’s my creation. I am the artist, and I respect my own art. I can compare my art with other people’s art, But I make my own choices, and I take responsibility for my creation. When I first had the awareness that I didn’t like my story, I thought, “Okay, I am the author, I will change my story.” And I tried and I failed. And I tried again and I failed again many times because I was trying to change all the secondary characters in my story. I thought that if I changed the secondary characters, I was changing my story, and it was not true at all!

The problem is not with the secondary characters in our story. What we see in them is just a projection of what we believe, and that’s a secondary problem. Our main problem is with the main character of the story. If we don’t like our story, it’s because we don’t like what we believe about the main character. There is only one way to change our story, and that is by changing what we believe about ourselves.

You are the only one who can change your story, and you do this by changing your relationship with yourself. Every time you change the main character in your story, just like magic the whole story starts to change in order to adapt to the new main character.”

I:

We tend to get caught up in the negatives of our dream (or reality). This could concern any number of things. Friends, family, the world, ourselves. But why do we do this? Why do we have the incessant need to constantly look at the negative energy in our lives? Why is it at the forefront of our minds? Is it easier to be pessimistic, or is it harder to be optimistic?

When we’re children, we’re born into a free world. We’re born into a world where we only want to play, to explore, and be happy. We are authentic. Absolutely authentic in every sense of the word. What changes from then to now? We learn. We apply meaning to words: what’s right and wrong, impressive and embarrassing, boastful and humble. When we learn these associations, we begin to filter every thought and decide which to showcase to the world. “Is this okay to say? How do I look?” etc. etc. Remember when you were a kid, and you used to just walk around naked? No big deal. You had no comprehension of that action being “wrong” or “weird” as you do now. That’s because you were authentic. You were real. You were you. You showed the world your junk and you didn’t care because you were living your life through your integrity.

We can get to the point again. A point where you’re 100% honest with yourself and those around you - and still maintain the self-awareness that you have now (maybe even increasing that self-awareness). How do we get there? How do we become “naked” again? This may be different for every individual, and I’m beginning to learn about myself enough to know how I can reach that point again. For me, it’s come down to love towards myself and anyone I ever meet.

I’m practicing self-love. I’m practicing to love every aspect of myself. I’m learning to love my personality, my body, and my spirit. I’m not all the way there, but I’m getting closer every day. Every day my love for myself grows, and one day I’ll look around and notice that everything is different. I will love myself, causing me to share my love with others and they will want to share their love with me. People will be attracted to me because of my positive energy. I will be attracted to those who also have positive energy. I will be a positive influence in others lives and they will be a positive influence in mine.

I believe we can all be naked again. We can bear it all and truly not care - not in an act of purposeful indifference, but in a way that promotes love. If we break skepticism, if we break disbelief, if we break doubt, we can find strength in ourselves we never knew existed.

II:

Quote from The Voice of Knowledge:

“You know, most people around the world believe that there is a great conflict in the universe, a conflict between good and evil. Well, this is not true. It’s true that there is a conflict, but the conflict only exists in the human mind, not in the universe. It’s not true for the plants or the animals. It’s not true for the stars or the trees, or the rest of nature…The universe is as simple as it is or it is not, but humans complicate everything.”

Just an interesting quote. That is all.

III:

I stopped fishing a few years ago. I stopped because it was something I did with my father.

I want to fish again. So I’m going this weekend.

C’mon Tiger!