#224 What a burden

ByLukas

The other day, I talked about changing your focus to change how you feel about the events in your day.

But something strange happened when I first had that realization.

It didn’t feel like a relief.

Do I even want that responsibility? To choose how events affect me?

After all, that would take away my right to complain about how poorly life treats me.
I couldn’t ascribe any successes or achievements to “sheer luck” anymore.
And wouldn’t it be silly to say I don’t deserve happiness, luck, or anything good if I knew I could change my focus and be lucky this very moment?

What a burden.

I’m still deciding if I am strong enough to carry it.

But one thing’s for sure: the days I have the presence of mind to direct my focus are the days I feel best.

I wonder if it’d be like that for you, too.

Maybe you could try it out? Even if it’s to indulge me.

See how it feels.

And let me know how it goes. I’m curious about you.

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    #146 Shadow Artistry

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    Shadow writer – someone who holds a secret desire, maybe even an irresistible urge to write but is afraid of being criticized – so their words never even make it on the page.

    Shadow runner – someone who’d love to run a marathon but doesn’t believe they could train consistently enough to make it happen – so their legs never even take them on a single run.

    Shadow singer – someone who loves singing but believes nobody will like their voice anyway – so their song never even reaches past the shower cabin.

    Shadow entrepreneur – someone who has a big life-changing vision, but keeps it hidden out of fear of being ridiculed, dismissed, or ignored – so their ideas never even make it out of hiding.

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    It’s time.

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    #45 The tragedy of the spoken word

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    Language helps us describe the world we perceive. Yet in doing so, it closes our eyes, our ears, our touch, and our heart to the parts of the world we don’t have words for.

    Every language is a lens on a felt reality within and around us – both clarifying and categorizing the world, and limiting it by the words it has available.

    Learning more languages gives you new lenses – and a richer sense of reality.

    But just like the structure of our ears limit the sounds we can hear, and the structure of our eyes limit colors we can see, the structure of any language somehow limits our felt experience of the world.

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    there’s an eternal song
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    Lukas Van Vyve
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    #96 Massive addiction, minimal value

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    Nobody chooses to get addicted to social media.

    We chose to get something of value: stay connected with friends. Stay up-to-date. Discover interesting voices.

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    #119 Make anything a fulfilling skill

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    Doing the same thing, this time precisely – then doing it again, not precisely at all.

    Doing the same thing, this time deliberately, carefully thinking about every step – then doing it again, not thinking about any steps at all.

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    When you stay curious, you learn to be deliberate until you can be intuitive.

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