Day 392 - A World where Growing Old is Embraced and Supported

This topic opened op when I was contemplating how some individuals do manage to grow quite old in this world. This struck me, because I somehow do not expect myself to get that old. And I wondered why? 

I then looked at the center point: which is that everyone fears ageing. But why do we fear it so much? Is it simply because we fear death? Maybe, but there seems to be quite a lot more to it. When I looked at it the answer was rather simple: it is that with ageing comes more insecurity. We basically do not expect that the world will be of much support when and as we grow old. That is quite rough.

As I write this I can sense a pain that is difficult to describe. 

In Europe a lot of this insecurity is tied in with the discourse being held by the governments: they already warn of the precarity of the future pensions. Make sure that somehow you have money to survive because if you do not... you need to provide for your own pension, your own plan B. This reminds me of the situation in Greece in 2014 (when the economy collapsed), when it was reported that an elderly man, when reading the amount of his montly pension allowance, walked down the river and hung himself from a tree. 

Where does 'change' begin? Does it begin on the streets? Does it begin in Parliament? Does it begin on Television? Does it begin in school? Where... what... how... 

It begins within self:

I forgive myself that I have accepted and allowed myself to see ageing as something that is 'undesireable' and 'ugly'.

I forgive myself that I have accepted and allowed myself to not realise that we locked down the economy to apparently protect the elderly, but the truth is we do not care about the elderly as we will not even guarantee their right to exist and live a meaningfull life. 

I forgive myself that I have accepted and allowed myself to simpy 'accept' that this is how we treat elderly, which means that this is how we are willing to treat ourselves.

I forgive myself that I have not accepted and allowed myself to realise that our society punishes the elderly - which is the reflection of a society hating itself. 

I forgive myself that I have accepted and allowed myself to hate myself and consequently accept that it is ok that I should fear for my own survival as an elderly - as if that somehow is what I actually deserved all along: to die like a rat.

I forgive myself that I have accepted and allowed myself to have no understanding of what it means to care for myself as life and to care for another as life. 

I forgive myself that I have accepted and allowed myself to prove myself unable to have a long term vision for humanity and for myself and for the existence of humanity in this world.

A World where Growing Old is Embraced and Supported. What would that look like? In the beginning was the Word. 

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For more information about writing, self-forgiveness and applying self-change, visit: http://desteni.org

For the Free online self-forgiveness course, visit: http://lite.desteniiprocess.com

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Day 391 - A Practical Approach to Making Decisions

In the early years of my process I often made the mistake of using my feelings to make a decision. I would try to listen to what my body says and I would interpret that experience with my mind. If right after I made a decision I would suddenly experience a negative feeling such as fear, I might get swayed and think that I made a wrong decision.

In recent years I have learned to make decisions more effectively. First of all I do not use feelings to guide me. First of all I ask myself what it is that I want and I also look at what is realistically possible. This might involve having to do research and doing some math. Sometimes the research will show that the thing I would like is not lucrative and I will then already have my answer. Other times the research will show that it is possible and then it is really up to me.

What I have learned is that sometimes a decision will be rather clear and easy to make – and sometimes it is not so clear and not so easy to make, despite all the research I did. I will off course also talk to people if I am really unclear as to what to do to get a form of external feedback. But in the end the decision will remain up to me. Here is a practical tool that I have found to be useful when making decisions: usually a decision is only really made by taking a certain action. For instance, you make your decision known to someone, or you click on a button to confirm a deal, or you post a message on a platform. 

I found that in this moment, I am able to completely slow myself down. I take a deep breath and I remain silent inside. Then, I place my awareness in my whole body and I ask myself if I am cool with this or not. If I am cool with this, then I act. If I am not cool with this, then that means that there is perhaps something that I have not yet considered. This 'being cool' with the decision then immediately translates into a physical movement: it almost happens sumultaneously: I know that I am cool with it and consequently I am doing it. I act my decision. Sometimes there will still be 'fear' in this phase, but it is like I will sit with myself and 'hold myself' and see if I am able to 'push' myself softly to walk into that descision and then there will arrive a point where suddenly I am 'ready' - an inner movement and then I act. 

This then also gives me a solid foundation to later on not ‘question‘ a decision I made. Because I know that I have made that decision in ful awareness and deliberateness. Therefore it was a specific decision and I know I can stand by it. In other words, I can trust myself.

I forgive myself that I have accepted and allowed myself to in moments still allow 'external' feedback to guide me in my decisions – such as 'coincidences' and 'synchronicities'.

I realise and understand that coincidences and syncronicities might occur due to the nature of the system that we exist in but I cannot limit myself nor define myself according to a coincidence or synchronicity – which means I am still seeking 'the guiding hand of God', instead of me accepting and embracing my own expression and responsibility as life and what i am willing to stand by.

I forgive myself that I have accepted and allowed myself to seek for outward signals in moments when I am still in doubt, where I abdicate my authority to an external system to which I then become enslaved.

I realise and understand that I cannot fear my own descisions. I realise and understand that I cannot fear the consequences of my descisions. I realise and understand that I am the beginning and the end-point of my own descisions.

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For more information about writing, self-forgiveness and applying self-change, visit: http://desteni.org

For the Free online self-forgiveness course, visit: http://lite.desteniiprocess.com

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Day 390 - On the nature of Assumptions

Today I write about this point that is very relevant to my process : assumptions and how I make assumptions within communication. When I wrote about this and I looked at the point at first glance it seemed like the assumption is made in an 'automatic' way and I then respond to the assumption - but that is not true. In reality I am already aware that I do not have all the facts but DESPITE that awareness I still decide to impose an assumption on the situation. In my case I will often assume a 'worst case' meaning onto what was said. Simply because I do not understand why someone said something - I will assume they had an underlying selfish reason. I insert my (secret) interpretation into the conversation and instead of working with what was said I start responding to my interpretation which is in a way a form of desperation. I am desperate, because I am too shit scared to simply ask for clarifications on what was said so as to help me understand and in fact stand equal to the person I am communicating with. Now, I fear inequality, because I am assuming that the other person cannot be trusted, and so to turn the tables in my favor I will now respond to that perceived injustice : there is no better way to make an ass out of yourself. 

I forgive myself that I have accepted and allowed myself to when I am not clear why someone is saying something, immediatley assume that they are secretly trying to deceive me. 

I forgive myself that I have accepted and allowed myself to have made a habit out of following my assumptions which is a form of cowardice - rather than to check back with the person and clarify what it is they said. 

I forgive myself that I have accepted and allowed myself to not realise the extent of the turmoil I am willing to create by allowing myself to act and speak on an assumption - instead of simply admitting that I do not know: I do not know what was said. 

I forgive myself that I have accepted and allowed myself to expect others to communicate 'perfectly' so as to always be immediately clear to me - when in reality my own communication is not at that level at all and I m not even standing as an exemple of what I expect. 

I forgive myself that I have accepted and allowed myself to not realise that by choosing for assumptions I am actually choosing for the probability of conflict and seperation.

I commit myself to when and as I see myself being unsure as to what was said, to simply be real about it and ask for clarifications. 

I commit myself to be sensitive to the energy that I experience when I want to make an assumption and I take a breath. I breathe and I check myself and I check with the person: ok what do you mean by that? 

I commit myself to practice my communication and be vulnerable with myself and the other in being open about what it is I understood and if this is correct? 

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For more information about writing, self-forgiveness and applying self-change, visit: http://desteni.org

For the Free online self-forgiveness course, visit: http://lite.desteniiprocess.com

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The Valhalla Murders (2019) Review

This is one of the best crime series I have seen in years and I simply recommend it. Interesting with this particular series is that there is no underlying 'lovestory' mixed in the plot. The story follows two police officers. They investigate murders that are taking place as a result of systematic abuse that happened 30 years ago to a group of children. 

Through the sequence of murders the investigators get to reconstrue what had happened in the past and they realise that there were many loose ends that were never investigated. So this series heavily uses the topics of child abuse, broken families, pedophile rings, and government corruption. Even the lives of the policeofficers themselves are tainted by trauma and severe abuse in the past. Consequently, the story is about 'human nature' and what it means to grow up in this world as a child. 

The plot is vey believable I would say, up until the point where a seperate investigation request into a high ranking official is being filed but then very quickly shut down. A copy of a set of compromising documents is however also sent to a journalist and it is the journalist who confronts the official in a live TV interview. This I found to be a gullible twist of the plot because it banks on 'hope' and the belief that the press is actually here to 'expose' deception. 

From my perspective the mainstream press is fully complicit to the deception in this world because as with any organisation and institution they rely on money for their survival and existence. I do not believe that free journalism actually exists within todays corporate media landscape. Journalists simply do their 'job' and they have families to feed and morgages to pay. It is as simple as that. Very few people are actually willing to rock the boat. This is why in todays world we have reached a stage of perfect censorship. 

This is why real 'standing up' and 'self-education' - for now - must come from alternative media and news sources such as small independent newspapers, blogs and podcasts. This is also why it was so easy to brush all the questions regarding 9/11 under the carpet so quickly, as the mainstream media stand as 'one voice' that only follow 'one story'.

First Man (2018) Movie Review

I finished watching the film 'First Man' (2018) and would like to share some observations regarding this film. Initially I was not very interested to see it, because I was no longer interested in the topic of 'space travel' and 'astronauts', believing I had already seen enough movies on the subject. But, I found the approach towards the topic very original and in moments actualy breath-taking. 

In this film you follow Neil Armstrong in his career and the process he walked to become an astronaut at NASA. After he has been selected to take part in the moonlanding project, something interesting unfolds and becomes clear in the film: this project is actually a life-endangering mission. Even the tests and preparations they have to participate in on earth, are already life-threatening, because that is the level of risk the astronauts will be exposed to once they are in space. On one occasion, 3 atronauts simply die while waiting in the cockpit of a ship, as they sit and wait for a racket to be launched. But instead of the rocket launching, the cockpit exploded due to a malfunctioning. 

Because of this and other events, you realise that the astronauts were actually used as 'canon fodder' by the government, because it was known that each one of them could die, but the project was pushed anyways, due to the political urgency to establish superiority by landing on the moon.  When placing all these elements together, in a way I lost respect for this whole endeavour. I do not see the value in working on a project that actually disregards it's participants. A project with an outcome of value should bring value to all of its contributors and not deliberately sacrifice some of them so that a few may benefit. That sounds more like a cult. For this reason, projects that involve deliberate harm being done and beings being put at risk for no justifiable reason, should simply not exist. 

There is enough value that can be created in this world through projects that actually support human beings, animals and nature, and with much greater effect  - without requiring us to blow ourselves up. Being a 'hero' does not always mean that you MUST PUT YOUR LIFE AT RISK. There are ways to be of support to yourself and your environment that are respectful towards yourself and towards others. Look for instance at what my friend Gian Robberts is doing with his 'Earth Haven' community: slowly but surely, building a nest of support in Panama for people who are willing to come and 'learn' what it means to live together and 'reconnect' with the tissue of life. 

Day 387 - Dark Thoughts of a Dark Knight

What I enjoy these days is that we go out for a bikeride every evening after work. This is not something I would normally push myself to do especially with the days being so short and the dark setting in very early and the temperatures being close to zero. But every evening I am being asked (and pushed) to join for the evening bikeride and it does have a beneficial effect on how I experience myself in what is still a semi-lockdown. We put on warm clothes and just venture out on our bikes. There have been evenings where I have been more reluctant because I could feel how cold it was outside, and there was a natural tendency to just want to stay inside and 'be warm' but the reality is that I had been inside already all day, working in front of a computer and that bikeride just creates a real break from that living between four walls, as if one is only existing in a cave. 

I can see how it would be so easy to just sink into some kind of 'depression' given the context of lock-down and just become 'demoralised' with the days being so monotonous. This is why I realise that I need to push myself to go out every evening if I can for that bikeride as it is the one thing we do together in that day that we really enjoy. So it is funny that despite all this evidence, I would still be able to come up with 'doubt' and 'second guessing' as to whether I really want to go for a bikeride on a given day - why not just embrace the LEAP wand WALK the point unconditionally, giving of myself to myself and the other. That would make it even more enjoyable and strengthening of myself and my ability to move myself.

I forgive myself that I have accepted and allowed myself to like to get attention within being 'reluctant' and 'needing proof' that a bikeride would be good for us.

I forgive myself that I have accepted and allowed myself to think I cannot make a simple decision without going through doubt and getting attention first. 

I forgive myself that I have accepted and allowed myself to play a game within pretending that I am reluctant to go outside when in reality I am not reluctant at all and I can clearly see that this would be best for both of us. 

I commit myself to when and as I see myself playing a game with myself and another, I stop and breathe - and look at what it is that I in self-honesty want in this moment without beating around the bush.

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For more information about writing, self-forgiveness and applying self-change, visit: http://desteni.org

For the Free online self-forgiveness course, visit: http://lite.desteniiprocess.com

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Day 386 - Humanity's Comfort Zone

A point that I am working with is the repeated pattern of resisting and trying to avoid to explore certain area's of reality when they come into my world in a way that I did not plan for. 

For instance this evening my partner brought up the issue regarding the squeecking doorhandles and that we could use this time to fix that: I immediately started to lament that this is not what I had planned for my evening and I even did not believe that we would be able to accomplish resuslts in working on this problem. Hence in my approach towards myself and the situation I was not even giving us a chance. 

But lo and behold, in doing some brief research online my partner figured out how to take off the door handles and even how to take out the entire mechanism of the inner lock. We looked at it, discussed it, lubricated the parts, cleaned everything, put the parts back on the door and there was no more squeeking sound... I was indeed proud in the end that we had spend our evening in solving this problem rather then letting the opportunity go by. 

But underneath the pride was also shame that I had not simply seen the opportunity for what it was and that I had fought for my limitation. Why must I default into arguing for my limitations? What is the point of simply existing in this pattern and not changing? It is funny because in the moment of 'not wanting to' and 'giving reasons why' I already know deep down that I am just postponing to change myself - it is as if I am stating to myself and the world: not right now, I am not ready yet right now -- I will change 'later'. 

The point I need to change in myself is the moment where the 'dread' comes up towards doing something unplanned and out of my comfort zone - I need to unconditionally let go and breathe.

I forgive myself that I have accepted and allowed myself to try and fool myself into believing that I am not ready for a point or a change, because in me being able to see the potential of change per definition means that I am already ready and that I am just wasting my own time.

I forgive myself that I have accepted and allowed myself to live and hide inside a comfort zone.

I forgive myself that I have accepted and allowed myself to not question my comfort zones.

I forgive myself that I have accepted and allowed myself to need to be pushed outside of my comfort zones.

I forgive myself that I have accepted and allowed myself to think that my comfort zones protect me and make me feel good - when in reality they leave me with shame and regret towards missed opportunities where I could grow and expand and reach my full potential.

I forgive myself that I have accepted and allowed myself to trust a mushy feeling inside myself intstead of breathing and using common sense to decide on an opportunity and a course of action.

I realise and understand that the feeling that says 'no, I don't want to' is actually fear and limitation and unecessary for me to go into. 

I forgive myself that I have accepted and allowed myself to make my decisions based on how I feel instead of what I can actually see and sense would be a good opportunity for me to 'change' and step outside of a self-confined comfort-zone.

I commit myself to walk in clarity of this point and actually slow down and breathe when looking at a decision that 'throws me off' or 'puts me out of my comfort zone' -- I breathe and remain practical, I look at what is actually possible and what it is I can do.  

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For more information about writing, self-forgiveness and applying self-change, visit: http://desteni.org

For the Free online self-forgiveness course, visit: http://lite.desteniiprocess.com

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