THE DAILY SPARK

IMPROVING LIFE

Money is not the only way to improve life.  Instead of widening your margin of profit, widen your margin of leisure.  Instead of optimizing for money, optimize for time.  Instead of seeking efficiency, seek recovery.

Quote by James Clear

James Clear is the author of  Atomic Habits and creator of the Habit Journal​

REFLECTION:

  • What drives your daily schedule … Money? Being seen (ego)? Relationships? Play?
  • When was the last time you experienced joy… wonder… amazement?
  • Reflecting on this time, how can you have more of those “real moments” in your life?
  • Are your priorities in the right place?
  • Does anything need to shift?
  • Examine and adjust as needed.

ABSOLUTE and RELATIVE

It doesn’t matter that it’s not the Super Bowl or the World Cup.  For this twelve-year old, tomorrow’s game is the big game, the biggest ever, and the emotional stakes are just as high. 

It doesn’t matter that this illness isn’t going to be life or death in the next few days.  For this patient it feels that way. 

Most of what we encounter is driven by emotions, and our emotions are always relative.  When we’re shopping for a car or an avocado, we’re buying the way it makes us feel, not how it would make someone else feel. 

FROM:  Seth Godin’s Daily Blog

https://www.sethgodin.com/

REFLECTION:

  • What emotions are driving you now?
  • What feeling are you trying to buy?
  • Are you judging someone else questioning their need for something to make them feel a certain way (more alive? joyous?)
  • Are you judging yourself – questioning your need for something to make you feel a certain way (more alive? joyous?)
  • Explore this… maybe it’s time to go for it!

EMBER OF RESENTMENT

When we hold onto an ember of resentment, we are the ones getting burned.

Quote by The BUDDA

Gautama Buddha was an ascetic and spiritual teacher of South Asia who lived during the latter half of the first millennium BCE. He was the founder of Buddhism and is revered by Buddhists as a fully enlightened being who taught a path to Nirvana, freedom from ignorance, craving, rebirth and suffering. Source:  Wikipedia

REFLECTION:

  • Do you hold resentment toward another?
  • Do you understand you are the one who is actually getting burned?
  • What do you need to do to set yourself free of resentment?
  • What will you do today to drop the ember?