Tag Archives: Choosing thoughts

The path of presence

Get on your feet, OUR BEST POSTS, Thursday posts, ,

Thursday, May 1, 2014.  For several days, I’ve sought a sign as to whether presence is, indeed, the way to go.  No answer could be clearer than my experience this afternoon.  I’ve gone through exactly the transition described in “Chaos overwhelms the poor.”  I have power and competence to deal with my current circumstances, with the resources at hand.  I perceive the universe as a well-ordered place.  This cosmic harmony provides the foundation for hope.  I may soon be able to face with confidence the unknown, uncertain future.

That I did all this on my own raises the question of whether there exists, in the end, the unseen world.  I have that answer already; I’ve been in this place before.

———— ♦ ————

From “Chaos overwhelms the poor:”

Jesus and others have taught an approach to life that enables one to learn to care for oneself and begin to establish harmony in one’s immediate situation.
Continue reading The path of presence →

Job search status: Pep talk

Career goals, Get on your feet, Job search/Job prospects, Motivations, Thursday posts, , , , , , , ,

(Originally posted 12/26/12 at Trojan Horse Productions.  Reblogged 05/07/14.)

A week ago today I had a highly successful interview at a dollar store. There may be one obstacle that, if it’s there, cannot be overcome; but if it’s not there, I’ll have to take a drug test and go for a second interview at which the actual job offer will be made. In the days since, there have been some communications glitches. Meanwhile, time goes on.

This morning in my last five minutes at Lenny’s, I prayed about this, reflecting on (1) my disappointment to have had no word so far and (2) the path by which I got here.

I just completed a two-month “job readiness” program … not as if I needed any program to make me “ready” for a job, but this one is unique in that while one is taking classes, they have scouts hunting down specific job opportunities that well match each candidate. That is the big factor I see missing for most people in the big picture.

Was the class a waste of time? Continue reading Job search status: Pep talk →

Attitude …

Get on your feet, Homelessness, The Way of Peace, Thursday posts, , , , ,

… can make a hard situation easy, or make an easy situation hard.

To enter the shelter, you walk across this parking lot to an iron gate, and then down these steps to the “smoke pit,” an 8 x 20′ area with benches where we sit until they call us in, in groups of six, to register for this night. One does this every day.

Continue reading Attitude … →

The wrongest verse in the Bible

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Proverbs 3:5-6:

5Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.
6In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.

Continue reading The wrongest verse in the Bible →

Keep the feeling, change the thought

Get on your feet, Job search/Job prospects, The Way of Peace, , , , ,

A basic tenet I’ve maintained here, is that one’s feelings are largely independent of one’s circumstances; and that one can typically choose how to feel, no matter what one’s circumstances are.

Well, maybe not always.

But for sure, feelings come on that one will not like, that have no relationship to anything that’s happened in the real world.  How to deal with them?

Continue reading Keep the feeling, change the thought →

Conservation of energy

Homelessness, The Way of Peace, , , , ,

Presence makes it easier
– to be aware of one’s feelings;
– to choose or change them at will;
– to choose to be happy, since seldom is anything actually happening “here and now” to be upset about.

We got called into the shower, and this guy cut in front of me to get to the clothes window, and he was taking a long, long time.  An eternity.  Now, me?  I finish at the clothes window in an instant.  (Related:  Practical advantages of being a nice guy.) So it made it easier for me to grouse that this ay-ho was taking so damn long.

Continue reading Conservation of energy →

* Changing what I want

Get on your feet, Homelessness, Job search/Job prospects, Motivations, OUR BEST POSTS, The Way of Peace, , , , , , , ,

Tuesday, November 8, 2016

Last week I was turned away from the shelter three times:  Sunday night, Wednesday night and Thursday night.

Under current conditions, to be sure I get a bunk, I must show up no later than 14:15.  It’s not just a matter of being on time, but of getting near the front of the line.  And that’s iffy in itself, given that there’s always a bum rush when the gate opens at 14:30.

Accordingly, I must wrap up my activities at church at 13:30 and leave out no later than 13:45.  But the way my day goes, it’s normally 13:00 before I have opportunity to do anything for job search.  That leaves me half an hour.  Can’t do much in half an hour.  It’s been a daily disappointment that I don’t even get off the e-mail to J___ M___, my contact at S&K.

What I want ain’t getting done.  May be time to change what I want — Continue reading * Changing what I want →

* Take things in stride

Get on your feet, Homelessness, Job search/Job prospects, The Way of Peace, , , , , , , ,

16:03 Thursday 2016-09-08

A case on point.

Today as I walked toward the shelter, I contemplated that I am likely to have no smokes during the day tomorrow. How will I handle this; how will I feel about it? Factors:

• How important is it, compared to other things I may attend to?
• Can I take things in stride?
• (There was a third one, that escapes me just now.)

Then I arrived at the shelter. It was 15:25, and the gate was locked. In the end, I got turned away.

For the second time in two days.

Continue reading * Take things in stride →