Since I am sitting here freed of the concern of how to clear my name with my employer, and I have found a new confidence that I will find a way to get my foot back in the door at USPS in order to help to make a better place to work for others (while receiving an income again), I have felt inspired.

 

I’d also like to take advantage of this freedom to know that I can share what I wish without it being confused as property of my business, or property of the government under USPS control.  I’m sure we will have to come to some future agreements as to what I might and might not share publicly as a member of the Employee Engagement Team. Nonetheless, today I feel the freedom to share as I wish.

 

The key to discovering your greatest Self, is to start taking control of your mind.  Many will argue and defend themselves instinctually, and insist that they have full control of their minds.  I used to. Until I started to pay attention. This defensive reaction is normal, and is part of the brilliant design of our evolution.  But becoming to know the greatest part of what makes you, you, requires you to actually notice what you are doing, and the choices that you are making.

 

Mindfulness is simply the act of “noticing what you are noticing”, as Mary Morrissey would say.  There have been many teachers of the act of mindfulness (even the Art of War by Sun Tzu was an example), but I think over time their messages have become confused.

 

I believe that the teachings of Buddha help explain things in a way that our simple minds are able to comprehend.  Jesus showed us how to treat each other, and how we were able to behave when we lived a life without fear and judgement of another.  Taking control of our thoughts is the way to remove fear and judgement. Mindfulness is the practice of noticing your thoughts, so that the bad ones can be removed.  You can’t fix a problem until you identify it. If your thoughts were not a problem, then why are you not living like Jesus showed us? Why are you not achieving your goals?

 

We all know the difference between right and wrong.  We all have our different truths to support those ideas.  Part of our problem though, is that we have become confused as a society as to what is important and what is not.  As a result of this confusion, we make choices that are not helping.

 

I think it was Einstein who said that you can’t solve a problem using the same type of thinking that created it.  Today I was inspired with the thought, We need to stop focusing on trying to fix what is, and focus on creating what could be.  These are saying the same things. Damnit, I’m brilliant.

 

I won’t go into my historical understandings of the battles between Good and Evil, however, the key to success and change is simply the acceptance of what is, and the choice to change it.

Mindfulness is the key to making choices.  Are you making the choices that you support, or the choices that our screwed up society wants you to make?

 

We know that there is corruption in our world society in Finance, Education, Healthcare, Pharmaceuticals, Food in both GMO and Meat/Dairy, our journalism and Media, and of course in the Military Industrial Complex.  Why do we allow it?

 

It’s because we are individually making choices that support these things.  We justify the reasons in our own ways, or we don’t think about the consequences of our decisions.  We need to start paying attention.

 

What if we were tricked into eating beef, or suckling the milk from the teat of a cow’s mother instead of its own baby, just because the Hindus used to show such reverence towards it?  What if killing animals for consumption was just a trick because it presents the idea that killing animals is okay, and that is just a step closer to believing that it is okay to kill each other?  Hinduism is one of the oldest religions and the cow was revered as an example of the generosity that Is what created us (as I understand it).

 

Do you recognize that every time you go through a drive through to order your burger and shake, there is a cow or animal that did not choose to die?  Some other human being had to murder it? We used food, water and energy to raise food for that animal rather than use it towards feeding other humans?  Every milk product is a result of a calf being taken from its mother? Are you consciously making these choices? Are these choices in line with your value system?

 

We support a capitalist society, yet we continue to support a market that thrives on death and war and destruction, yet argue about how much it costs to take care of our damaged.  We judge each other based upon our earning potentials, yet want to fault women who try to keep their societal value by making choices to protect their ability to earn.  We have jobs that hurt our environment, cover up truths, and sell each other garbage just for the purposes of having jobs.  I know that we don’t believe that stuff should be necessary.

 

I didn’t question my thoughts until I started to pay attention to them.  Our thoughts create our actions, our actions create our results, and our results become our reality.  If we want to have different results, the simplest way is to start thinking different thoughts. We don’t start to change them until we can notice them.

 

Meditation is a great practice for getting control of one’s thoughts.  It is also the best way to get to know whatever created us. Start to give some thought to what it means to exist.  Start to give some thought to what it means to have consciousness, and life. The knowing that is revealed through these understandings can provide incredible peace and joy within your hearts.  Finding those moments, and creating memories of the overwhelming love and gratitude can help you get through the tougher parts of your day.

 

Start by setting a timer throughout the day- just use it to check into your head, and see what types of thoughts you are having; are you thinking about positivity, or are you still carrying an argument from earlier or stressing about a future problem.  Start thinking about where your food came from; if when you go back in time in its journey, it stops at folks in a lab coat, or someone murdering an innocent animal, maybe think twice about if your body should have it. Our bodies thrive on natural, whole food.  I went vegan, and don’t regret it in the slightest. As a matter of fact, I can honestly say “It feels so good to be alive, baby!” (Ralph Smart on youtube), and absolutely mean it! Check out his 7 day vegan challenge.

 

Set goals for yourself and then take steps towards achieving them (I recommend that everyone work towards the goals that I laid out in my other blog).  My advice is to start by getting control of the thoughts in your head. Make sure that the thoughts that you are making are because of what you desire, and not what you have been told that you have to.

 

For me, anger and impatience were big problems.  I would set daily and even hourly goals that I would be “generous with my time, and curious before responding”.  Constant effort towards improvement is not only possible, but becomes easier as does everything in life.

 

Life can be simple, if we let it be.  Convincing the mind that it is simple can be difficult.  However, I believe that I have found a number of very easy steps and practices to help our minds become convinced.  As time goes on (and I’m sure with agreement with USPS), I will be sharing this stuff so we can uncover the greatest versions of ourselves, and together we can work towards changing this world into what it can become.

 

Greatness starts with choices.  I have made my choices, and it’s time for action.  As I improve me, I become better for you, and as you improve you, you become better for us.  Join me, as we start building a better tomorrow.

 

Living Without Fear, and searching for Your truth are the keys!

 

Namaste, and God Bless~

 

Jack Talcott