Look Backwards, To Move Forward

30 Dec 2014 Leave a comment

by Anupadin in Buddhism Tags: , , , , , , ,

Looking Backwards, To Move ForwardThere are situations and challenges in life, when the almost overwhelming tendency is to look inwards, to examine repeatedly, the reasons and causes that have brought us to this point in time.

We may have certain regrets about things we did, or indeed didn’t do, but the fact of the matter is that the past is set in stone.

Of course, making sense of situations, and the events that brought them about, can be very useful if we are to avoid making repeated mistakes or errors of judgement. But a continuous process of navel gazing is never going to get us back out into the big wide world. Imagine what you would miss, if you were to sit and stare at your hands, neatly folded in your lap, every time you went on a train, a plane, or a car journey.

So whilst we must take care to learn from the lessons in life. We must also look forward to using those lessons as we move forward towards a brighter and happier future, buoyed by the knowledge that we are better prepared to meet whatever we might encounter around the next exciting corner.

Taking A Little More Responsibility

15 Nov 2014 1 Comment

by Anupadin in Buddhism Tags: , , ,

Be ResponsibleResponsibility, they say, can weigh heavy on the shoulders of some people. But that need not be the case if we all accept that each and every action we take comes with automatic responsibility.

We all make mistakes from time to time, we are only human after all and mistakes are an all too human trait. The mistakes themselves are, quite often, easily forgiven, if we take the simple, and honest action of owning up.

Owning up is a bit of a strange saying, don’t you think? Owning means responsible for, owning a dog means being responsible for that animal, owning a house means being responsible for the upkeep of that building. So owning up to a mistake really means accepting that you are responsible for that mistake.

The big problem comes, it seems to me, when we refuse to be responsible for making, or refuse to accept that there is, any mistake we have made. Being a fully paid up member of the human race, I’ve made more than my fair share of mistakes. The problems have always come along when I’ve failed to own up.

So there are two simple ways to help with our mistakes. Think before you think, say or do anything, and if it transpires at a later time that it was a mistake, take responsibility for that mistake before it causes any more problems.

Looking Back, To Move Forward

30 Dec 2013 Leave a comment

by Anupadin in Buddhism Tags: , , , , , , ,

Looking Backwards, To Move ForwardThere are situations and challenges in life, when the almost overwhelming tendency is to look inwards, to examine repeatedly, the reasons and causes that have brought us to this point in time.

We may have certain regrets about things we did, or indeed didn’t do, but the fact of the matter is that the past is set in stone.

Of course, making sense of situations, and the events that brought them about, can be very useful if we are to avoid making repeated mistakes or errors of judgement. But a continuous process of navel gazing is never going to get us back out into the big wide world. Imagine what you would miss, if you were to sit and stare at your hands, neatly folded in your lap, every time you went on a train, a plane, or a car journey.

So whilst we must take care to learn from the lessons in life. We must also look forward to using those lessons as we move forward towards a brighter and happier future, buoyed by the knowledge that we are better prepared to meet whatever we might encounter around the next exciting corner.

In Other People’s Shoes

06 Dec 2013 5 Comments

by Anupadin in Buddhism Tags: , , , , , , , ,

In Other People’s ShoesSo the HCRV diet is going rather well. I’m hoping to get over to Thailand next summer for the inaugural Thai Fruit Festival, but situations may not conspire to make that possible. Never the less, I am trying to make the causes to see it through to fruition.

I have to be careful, however, not to evangelise about the diet too much, even though the benefits are incredible.

It’s easy to sit here, in the quiet of my living room, and pontificate about eating a vegan diet, when I only have myself to consider. Being able to do so real life family situations is so different from the theory, but it does give you a really good measure of how much you want to make the change.

When you read some of the topics on my blog, and think ‘I could never be like that’ or ‘I would like to give that a try, but I just can’t see it working for me’ remember that I’m only human too, and that even though I do try my very hardest to practice what I preach, it doesn’t work all the time.

The trick, if that’s what you would like to call it, is not to give up completely just because you have a slip up. Learn from the slip, in this case seeing things from another’s viewpoint, and be determined to try harder next time. You will get there in the end.

Mixed Emotions

22 May 2012 Leave a comment

by Anupadin in Buddhism Tags: , , , ,

Mixed EmotionsWhat a weird day, a proper rollercoaster of emotions. Being treated like an idiot is not the most fun, even though I may deserve it after the events of last week. Knowing that Bumble has safely arrived in the silly Scilly Isles made me feel better, having had a terrible night, waking up every half hour and wondering whether she was still safe, sleeping in the Yaris, in the middle of the ferry car park.

As we have discussed before, we can learn from the challenges of each and every day. The more taxing the day, the greater the opportunity we have to learn, but don’t expect it to be easy. Maintaining a pleasant demeanour whilst trying not to think evil thoughts was pretty tough, but I’m sure the protagonists have enhanced their karma, in one way or another.

Having had a good chant, a lovely video call to Bumble on Skype, and plenty of time to think about the day, I’m in a much better place now. Trying to reach enlightenment can be very challenging, though nobody ever said that perfection came easy. I’ve still got a long way to go, but days like today make the journey much more interesting.

Techno Trouble

20 Mar 2012 2 Comments

by Anupadin in Buddhism Tags: , , ,

My Blue Truth HeadcaseIt’s lunchtime, I need to pop into the town to shop and get cash, I jump in the car and head off. I decide to try to give B a ring. She’s probably busy, but I try anyway. I double click the call button on my Bluetooth headset, last number redial and I hear the ringtone.

‘You’ve been forwarded to the voicemail box for 07********, please leave a message at the tone’ says the lady on the other end. I was right, B’s busy and can’t take the call. Shall I hang up, or shall I leave her a message. I decide to do the latter, so in my huskiest voice I say …

‘Hi Bumble, it’s only me. I just called to tell you I love you, but you knew that already. Have a lovely afternoon and we’ll speak later. Love you, bye’

By now I’ve found my parking spot and I trundle off round town, pick up a few groceries and ask for cash-back so I don’t have to join the ruck at the bank. I stop to buy a Big Issue from the lady who always sits outside Sainsbury’s, then back to the car and the office.

No response from B, but that’s not unusual, she has precious little time to call or even text during the day. But then Guy, my boss says ‘I had a missed call from you at 1:05, was it important?’

‘Missed call? I don’t think so’ I say, and I check my phone. Sure enough, there’s a record of a call at 1:05, to Guy, and I wonder why. Then the penny drops. I had called him on my way to work, the traffic was bad and I thought I was going to be late, so he was my last call, and he was the unwitting recipient of my message to B !!!

I confess to the crime, praying that we won’t play the message in the office, he does. Well he starts to, and then decides that discretion is the better part of valour and deletes it. So another lesson learned. Don’t trust technology in matters of the heart, it can go horribly wrong and could get you into a lot of hot water. It was pretty funny though and it’s no secret anyway.