You cannot see what isn’t working when you are still working in it. I believe that most people only get a complete fresh start a handful of times in their life. For some it is forced upon them by their parents; hardship, divorce, a natural disaster or a health scare. For others it is a conscious choice to make a clean break. Regardless of why, I define a complete reset as a letting go and cutting off of the old in order to embrace something completely new. It is an opportunity that comes rarely and one that if used wisely can forever change the course of your life, allowing you a new awareness of self that does not come any other way. I am currently experiencing a complete reset. I have chosen this because on multiple levels the life I was living was no longer serving me. Patterns of behaviour, thought, and emotion were deeply embedded, and try as I might I was unable to shift them. For eleven years I have been going around in circles repeating the same cyclical motion, stuck in an orbit, a gravitational pull that would not allow me to significantly change course.
It was the awareness that if I could not break this pattern I would end up stuck in it for the rest of my life that finally gave me the impetus to get free. I’m two months into my new reality and the self awareness is returning. Initially all the old behaviours, thoughts and emotions remained. “Wherever you go there you are” and simply changing environment does not guarantee changes in yourself. As the saying goes, moving to a cave in the mountains will not make you a guru. However, there’s a higher chance of gaining self awareness if you do something radically different for a time, and self awareness when combined with new behaviours is the only way to create a new person. At this point I can get defensive. I defend my old patterns of destructive behaviour - my ego does not like to grow up. At points when my wife speaks truth to me about the pain I am causing myself and others I react and respond in the old ways. Like a snake shedding its skin or a hermit crab outgrowing its shell things get very uncomfortable, and I cling to the old. Move through this painful transition and suddenly the old is repulsive, dead, clinging like a scab over the shiny new skin beneath.
I want to let it go. Making it to this point of self awareness, being willing to face it, and then let it go takes time, introspection, honest conversation, and a completely new environment. At least this is the case for me. Too busy, too short, not a complete break, it doesn’t work. A holiday cannot provide me this, nor can a long weekend. The knowledge that I will shortly return to my life blocks me from facing the reality of what isn’t working. I’m too embedded. The only option is a full reset. In this case it was the desire for materialistic success that was holding me back. Clinging to my stuff and my old identity I became bound by it, by the belief that I must build up material goods and prove myself as a man to those who know me best. Letting go of it all was stressful, challenging and liberating. Now with only a bag of clothes, some basic tech, and my loved ones, the sense of self is returning. My nervous system has relaxed and I can see that what my family really need from me is my love, time, presence and support. I could not see this because I was stuck.
How many others are also stuck, chasing the things that make them unhappy, repeating the same behaviours, thoughts and emotional outbursts without the awareness to understand why it’s not working? How many people could do with a complete reset, a Jubilee, a fresh start? It’s not easy, and you have to sacrifice a lot in the short term to pull it off, but what you gain is priceless.
Especially when it catches you and you shit yourself. Takes you back to toddler quick smart.
Out of chaos the Phoenix rises, Fire red blood drips from its wings. A cry of sorrow the baby releases, The anguished heart of new life sings. Harsh is the journey of finding your way, Masked faces, a complex array.
Here and now, there and then. Wishful wanting, painful loss, Each of us must carry our cross. Emergent reality comes with age, Buried the heart of the ancient sage. Timeless wisdom reborn from the past, Life and its lessons have not been precast.
Find your own path. Walk it, taste it, feel and embrace it. You are the artist, create your own piece, Sing loudly, dance wildly, feast. Pick your direction, hold it fast, Climb up the rigging, sway from the mast. Let go of the fear that gnaws at your soul, Let the wild wind blow, the billows roll.
A tiny fresh shoot packaged with power, Grows into a tree, soaks up the storm showers. Embrace the light, root down deep in the soil, Ask the tough questions, be willing to toil. For truth, freedom, awareness, reason, Kindness, goodness, liberty, love. Cast off from the branch and soar like a dove.
Fine lines are for walking, a balancing game, Stand upright, cast off your shame. Step into the is-ness that's all that you are, Release limitations, aim for the stars. Be an example of lightness and fun, Laugh like a child, hug, jump and run. Your heart alone knows what's best for you, The rise of the Phoenix is pure and true.
Yes, sometimes a little disobedience could be exactly what’s needed to free ourselves.
Doesn’t have to be violent or angry but it must be strong.
Ignorance is not bliss,
Simplicity on the other hand can come pretty close.
It’s no accident that as you decrease your lists of wants it’s easier to find happiness.
Ten thousands years of chasing materialism, power, and control, and finding no lasting contentment in it should officially classify humanity as insane.
The rare moments of bliss we experience are usually at the times we slow down and simplify enough to feel what’s already all around us.
There have been some sane humans along the way. They all stand out for their simple living and simple truths.
To their example we should start looking again. Before our lives become so busy, complicated and competitive there is no space left for the joy of being alive.
Pura Vida
If you don’t learn to fail you fail to learn.
I’m deep in learning mode.
Sounds about right. Conviction can take you too far into something. All good learning.
I guess my perspective is greatly influenced by USD price because price is where I’m having to live. Food, accommodation and transport are all priced in dollars and so when dollar value drops in my world I’m feeling the losses.
Certainly don’t expect it to follow my whims. I think it just makes me realise if I’m finding it hard, and I have conviction. Others with less conviction will find it even harder to manage.
It’s a good test. I can still smile about it 😀
The volatility of Bitcoin price becomes an actual issue when you spend it. It’s fine for the long term hodling, but spending it (in my case for travelling with my family) can be a roller coaster.
Smaller amounts isn’t such a issue but larger spends you can notice a major loss of purchasing power over a short window.
I have no doubt that this factor is affecting the medium of exchange adoption.
There are no mistakes
What’s the best application out there for converting Bitcoin to dollars and spending via debit card?
I’m travelling and need an option that will do this seamlessly for me across multiple currencies.
This hits home for me.
Carve your own path.
Sometimes life pats you gently and other times it hits like a spiritual shockwave into your conscious.
When the shockwave hits it pays to move fast.
It is impossible to gain new perspectives without changing your mindset.
You cannot change your mindset without new experiences.
You cannot have new experiences without doing something differently.
You cannot do things differently without placing yourself into new environments.
You cannot be in new environments without letting go of the old ways of being.
You cannot let go of the old ways of being without acknowledging that they are no longer serving you.
Change begins with the acknowledgment that you are stuck. That growth has stopped and stagnancy has set in.
Change is the necessary fuel for new mindsets and behaviours.
The more radical the change the more powerful the shift in perspective.
We are suffering from a spiritual crisis. A crisis of deeper meaning and loss of the vibrancy of The Spirit.
Not for the first time a spiritual darkness has fallen on the West. We have lost touch with the subtle life force we call God and have exchanged connection with it for an obsession with our own image.
Much as in the story of Lucifers fall from heaven it is pride in ourselves that has become our great delusion. We gaze into the virtual world for meaning and acceptance, forever looking outwards for approval rather than within ourselves for the purpose our souls seek.
We cannot evolve beyond the continuous cycle of suffering and pain if we remain obsessed with gaining social approval and material abundance.
It has become more important to be liked than to be real.
Whenever I try to make money for moneys sake I fail.
When I seek to add value to others, to create, and to live in alignment with my principles I make money organically.
Chasing money only works if your values are aligned with that process.
If your values are deeper then it’s likely that chasing money will not work for you as when we go against our values and principles we work against our own spiritual impulses.
A house divided against itself is bound to fall.
Long gone are the days of the 5 cent lunch.
Perhaps a time will come when 5 Sats will buy us a hot dog.
Bring on a deflationary Bitcoin future.
If they are yelling it’s emotional. The idea of an echo chamber within community is very real. I’ve been exposed to many of them and though they are indeed community they commonly end up with the lot of agreement over the same ideas. Not a bad thing but certainly off putting to those coming in with contrary points of view. All religion tends to end up in such a place. Small discrepancies of view over minor issues but the core tenets are all agreed upon. To be in the community it requires this agreement. It’s neither good or bad, it’s simply insular.
Yes, exactly the conclusion I came to and hence I’m here now. Can’t sit on the sidelines, have to inject the diversity through participation in the conversation.
I could not agree more. This is the reason I avoided Nostr till this point. Concerns over concentration of similar ideas.
Without the diversity of opinion we end up with a little echo chamber of back slapping that looks like a cult to anyone coming in from the outside.
For Nostr to thrive it must be embraced by a wide demographic.