#240 It’s not about you. It’s not about me.

ByLukas

Most people are kind at heart and would be happy to help you – and other people – out all the time if only, you know, just like you, they didn’t have a life of their own full of obligations, dreams, passions, and worries. In other words, a life that doesn’t entirely revolve around being at your service.

I don’t know if that always holds for everyone, my friend. And it’s not a free pass for selfishness or treating others poorly.

But I do like to believe it’s mainly a mental bandwidth challenge and that deep down, people always want to help.

Because it makes me more understanding and empathetic. For other people’s behavior and my own.

After all, it’s not about you. It’s not about me. It’s about us all.

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#16 The insights have always been here

ByLukas

Creativity isn’t about inventing new concepts, thoughts, pieces of art or machines out of thin air.

It’s not even making new connections between unrelated concepts.

Creativity is exposing connections that have always been there but nobody has noticed before.

Again: the connections have always been there. The hard part is noticing them.

That requires presence. Slowing down. Taking a step back. Asking “Where have I seen this before?”. Trusting your mind for doing what it does best: recognizing patterns. Paying attention. Sometimes, paying no attention at all and letting the breakout principle work its magic.

This view of creativity can set you free from a lifetime of frustration
because once life becomes one big exploration
where every detour, every diversion, every event
no matter how unimportant or seemingly insignificant
holds the promise of a new insight
a new breakthrough, a connection to stumble upon…

And once the crushing pressure – invent something you must
disappears, turns to dust
replaced by curiosity and wanderlust
then you can slow down, enjoy the present moment, and trust
that everything you ever wanted to know, feel, see, hear
every insight or desire you hold dear
has always been here
hidden in plain view, underneath the world’s veneer.

#20 I’ve never tried that before, so…

ByLukas

In the series of unlikely life advice: a quote ascribed to Astrid Lindgren’s legendary character Pippi Longstocking.

I have never tried that before, so I think I should definitely be able to do that.

https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/6773397-i-have-never-tried-that-before-so-i-think-i

Only after reading this quote I realized how often we all hold the opposite belief: I have never tried that before, so I think I am not (and will never be) able to do that.

What a sad and disempowering belief.

Which begs the question…

Where are you disqualifying yourself before even trying it out first?

What would life be like if your default belief is that things you haven’t tried before are possible for you?

How would that change your decisions?

How much fear and frustration would you leave behind?

Might be worth journaling about.

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#178 You don’t have to master this today

ByLukas

Performance gap: the frustrating gap between the way you know something should be done in an ideal world and the way you currently do it.

I know I should write daily blog posts in advance so I have a buffer in case something comes up and I don’t get to write. Yet here I am, writing this daily insight hours before the publication date.

I know what the perfect downward-facing dog pose in yoga looks like. Yet when I perform it myself, I am far off from that ideal pose.

I know all the ingredients that make up a solid, convincing speech. Yet when I write one myself, I am only able to incorporate a few of those ingredients.

Learning, then, is closing the gap between your intellectual understanding of an ideal product, action, or skill, and your current rendition of it.

Don’t be so hard on yourself for your current performance.

You can’t expect to turn intellectual understanding into mastery and internalized knowledge right away.

You don’t have to master this today.

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#80 Replacing sensations with words

ByLukas

First I feel.

Then I learn to categorize those feelings with words – until at some point, I don’t feel sensations anymore. I feel words.

I say I’m angry – but what does being angry feel like again?

I say I’m happy – but which sensations rush through my body?

I say I’m sad – but does sadness always feel the same?

With sensations comes nuance.

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