Slices of Time

         The Fireplace Records, Chapter 39

 Slices of Time

The Arrows of Time
    never rest,
moving forward unrelenting
    irreversible
from hot towards cold
from organized to disorganized
from past to future
from moving towards stillness
from life towards death.
Or,
so it seems,
    to us,
    with our little particulars,
    with our homebrew views,
    with our social habits a must.

The Spiderwebs of Time
    are legion
multitudes of nows and thens;
Uncountable heres and theres
    unhitched
from any eternal present
everywhere.

The Moments of Time
    are a matrix of memories,
colored by fondness,
vaguer and vaguer by the day,
fading, cropped, mixed,
deleted, falling away.

The Times of Your Life
    from birth to death,
    can't be denied.
How did you live?
Where, when, why?
What did it mean?
Was a little a lie?

    running out of time
for catching up
    with the future
now

        my mind grinds
        my times
into memories

To dance at the still point
Of the Time beyond time,
Beyond pasts, within futures,
this Moment
Now and forever, beyond minds.

Comments, Sources, Observations, Koans, Poems, Quips:

Time

 

Riddles (200+ Riddles, with No Ads.)

Refer to my Cloud Hands Blog Posts on the topic of Koans/Stories. 

Subject Index to 1,975 Zen Buddhist Koans

Zen Buddhist Koans: Indexes, Bibliography, Commentary, Information

The Daodejing by Laozi

Pulling Onions  Over 1,043 One-line Sayings, Quips, Maxims, Humor

Chinese Chan Buddhist and Taoist Stories and Koans

The Fireplace Records (Blog Version) By Michael P. Garofalo

On Not Resisting Temptations

Test, try, experiment - within reason.
Manage your pleasures and desires.
Be open to thinking and feeling in new ways.
Sometimes ignore what other people tell you to do or not to do.
Old values are not necessarily better values.
What is "bad" in one generation may be "good" in later times.
Enjoy the pleasure of eating apples.
When someone tells you not to ask, sometimes ask and ask again.
With only one life to live - be bolder.
Don't resist the temptation to improve, to change, to grow.
Like water, enjoy going downhill in new directions.
Embrace intellectual pleasures.
Be suspicious of people who talk too much about guilt and punishment.
Some failures are inevitable, just get up and move on.
Thinking and doing are often more advantageous than believing.
Many people associate sexual pleasure with 'sinfulness': nonsense.
Succumb to temptations to laugh more often.
If you can't take advantage of temptations then you are not free.
Remember what works for you.
When your tempted to be compassionate, act on the impulse.
- Mike Garofalo, Pulling Onions


"Do you really think it is weakness that yields to temptation? I tell you that there are terrible temptations which it requires strength, strength and courage to yield to."
- Oscar Wilde

"The trouble with resisting temptation is it may never come your way again."
- Korman's Law

"For every man there exists a bait which he cannot resist swallowing."
- Friedrich Nietzsche

"If we resist our passions, it is more because of their weakness than because of our strength."
- François, duc de La Rochefoucauld

"Most people want to be delivered from temptation but would like it to keep in touch."
- Robert Orben

"What makes resisting temptation difficult for many people is they don't want to discourage it completely."
- Franklin P. Jones

"The difficulty lies not so much in developing new ideas as in escaping from old ones."
- John Maynard Keynes

"If you have made mistakes, even serious ones, there is always another chance for you. What we call failure is not the falling down, but the staying down."
- Mary Pickford

"The most useless are those who never change through the years."
- James Barrie




Willpower, Resolve, Determination, Progress

Senses

Epicureans and Hedonists

One Old Philosopher's Notebooks

Pleasures

Rivers of Change

"We need to learn to see our physical form as a river.  Our body is not a static thing─it changes all the time.  It is very important to see our physical form as something impermanent, as a river that is constantly changing.  Every cell in our body is a drop of water in that river.  Birth and death are happening continuously, in every moment of our daily lives.  We must live every moment with death and life present at the same time.  Both death and life are happening at every instant in the river of our physical body.  We should train ourselves in this vision of impermanence." 
-  Thich Nhat Hanh, You Are Here, 2001, p. 27

In many ways Changes, cycles of birth and death, being a living-moving-acting being ... is what creates endurance, persistence, homeostasis, staying alive.  When Change stops, then we die.  Impermanence is indicative of being alive, existing, being real. 

Process Philosophy

Tick-Tock Tractatus by Mike Garofalo

Time Research

Daodejing, Chapter 36

Tao Te Ching by Lao Tzu
Chapter 36

"Shrink to extend
exercise in order to weaken
stabilize for revolt
give in order to receive
die to live.
This is the balance of nature
soft overcomes hard,
weak overcomes strong.

Like a fish below the surface,
power should remain hidden."
-  Translated by Tom Kunesh, Chapter 36  


"That which is about to contract has surely been expanded. 
That which is about to weaken has surely been strengthened.
That which is about to fall has surely been raised.
That which is about to be despoiled has surely been endowed.  
This is an explanation of the secret that the tender and the weak conquer the hard and the strong.  
As the fish should not escape from the deep, so with the country's sharp tools the people should not become acquainted."
-  Translated by Daisetsu Teitaro Suzuki and Paul Carus, 1913, Chapter 36    


"In order to contract a thing, one should surely expand it first.
In order to weaken, one will surely strengthen first.
In order to overthrow, one will surely exalt first.
'In order to take, one will surely give first.'
This is called subtle wisdom.
The soft and the weak can overcome the hard and the strong.
As the fish should not leave the deep
So should the sharp implements of a nation not be shown to anyone."
-  Translated by Ch'u Ta-Kao, 1904, Chapter 36 


   將欲歙之, 必固張之.
將欲弱之, 必固強之.
將欲廢之, 必固興之.
將欲奪之, 必固與之. 
是謂微明. 
柔弱勝剛強. 
魚不可脫於淵.
國之利器不可以示人. 
-  Chinese characters, Tao Te Ching, Chapter 36


chiang yü hsi chih, pi ku chang chih.
chiang yü jo chih, pi ku ch'iang chih.
chiang yü fei chih, pi ku hsing chih.
chiang yü to chih, pi ku yü chih.
shih wei wei ming.
jou jo shêng kang ch'iang.
yü pu k'o t'o yü yüan.
kuo chih li ch'i, pu k'o yi shih jên.
-  Wade-Giles Romanization, Tao Te Ching, Chapter 36 

"What is in the end to be shrunken,
Begins by being first stretched out.
What is in the end to be weakened,
Begins by being first made strong.
What is in the end to be thrown down,
Begins by being first set on high.
What is in the end to be despoiled,
Begins by being first richly endowed.

Herein is the subtle wisdom of life:
The soft and weak overcomes the hard and strong.

Just as the fish must not leave the deeps,
So the ruler must not display his weapons."
-  Translated by John C. H. Wu, 1961, Chapter 36  

"In order to draw breath, first empty the lungs.
To weaken another, first strengthen him.
To overthrow another, first exalt him.
To despoil another, first load him with gifts; this is called the Occult Regimen.
The soft conquereth the hard; the weak pulleth down the strong.
The fish that leaveth ocean is lost; the method of government must be
concealed from the people."

-  Translated by Aleister Crowley, 1918, Chapter 36 


"Whatever shrinks
Must first have expanded.
Whatever becomes weak
Must first have been strong.
That which is to be destroyed
Must first have flourished.
In order to receive,
One must first give.

This is called seeing the nature of things.
The soft overcomes the hard, and the weak overcomes the strong.

As fish cannot be taken from the water,
So a ruler should not reveal to the people his means of government."
-  Translated by Keith H. Seddon, Chapter 36 


"Para que algo sea contraído,
antes debe ser expandido.
Para que algo sea debilitado,
antes debe ser fortalecido.
Para que algo sea destruido,
antes debe ser levantado.
Para que alguien obtenga algo,
antes alguien debe haberlo dado.
Este es el Misterio Oculto.
Lo tierno y lo débil
vencen lo duro y fuerte.
Los peces no deben salir de las profundidades de las aguas,
al igual que el reino no debe exhibir sus armas."
-  Translation from Wikisource, 2013, Capítulo 36 


"When about to inhale it is certainly necessary to open the mouth;
when about to weaken it is certainly necessary to strengthen;
when about to discard it is certainly necessary to promote;
when about to take away it is certainly necessary to impart – this is atomic perception.
The weak overcome the strong.
Fish cannot leave the deeps.
The innerness of the government cannot be shown to the people."
-  Translated by C. Spurgeon Medhurst, 1905, Chapter 36


"What is to be reduced,
Must first be expanded.
What is to be weakened,
Must first be made strong (ch'iang).
What is to be abolished,
Must first be established.
What is to be taken away,
Must first be given.
This is called the subtle illumination (wei ming).
The soft and weak overcome the hard and strong.
Fish must not leave the stream.
Sharp weapons (ch'i) of a state,
Must not be displayed."
-  Translated by Ellen Marie Chen, 2000, Chapter 36 

Chapter 36, Tao Te Ching by Lao Tzu

Chapter and Thematic Index (Concordance) to the Tao Te Ching by Lao Tzu

English Language Daodejing Translators' Source Index

Spanish Language Daodejing Translators' Source Index

Ripening Peaches: Taoist Studies and Practices

Taoism: A Selected Reading List



A Philosopher's Notebooks 

Rivers of Change

 "We need to learn to see our physical form as a river. Our body is not a static thing; it changes all the time. It is very important to see our physical form as something impermanent, as a river that is constantly changing. Every cell in our body is a drop of water in that river. Birth and death are happening continuously, in every moment of our daily lives. We must live every moment with death and life present at the same time. Both death and life are happening at every instant in the river of our physical body. We should train ourselves in this vision of impermanence." 

-  Thich Nhat Hanh, You Are Here, 2001, p. 27

In many ways, Changes, cycles of birth and death, being a living-moving-acting being ... is what creates endurance, persistence, homeostasis, staying alive. When Change stops, then we die. Impermanence is indicative of being alive, existing, being real.

Process Philosophy

Tao Te Ching, Chapter 21

Daodejing, Laozi, Chapter 21

"A virtuous person comes into being only according to the Tao.
Tao is something which is obscure and indistinct.
Indistinct and obscure —
yet there is an appearance.
Obscure and indistinct —
yet there is a substance.
Vague and dim —
yet there is an essence within it.
This essence is genuine.
There is truth within it.
Since ancient times until now, its name never forsaken,
it stands there to guard all the good deeds.
How do I know all the good deeds are guarded by this Tao?
I know.
-  Translated by Chao-Hsiu Chen, 2004, Chapter 21  

"The grandest aspects of producing force
Find Tao their energizing way and source;
In Tao things move unseen, impalpable,
Yet in it form and semblance brood and dwell;
Impalpable, invisible, yet things
Float forth within on transcendental wings;
Dark and profound, yet lo! within it there,
Are the pure essences which aeons bear;
It holds the truth, it keeps its ancient name,
And watches all that from the beginning came;
From the Beginning! How know I this is so?
By this, it is the Tao, by this I know!"
-  Translated by Isaac Winter Heysinger, 1903, Chapter 21

"The impression made by magnificent Te comes only from Tao.
Tao is a something but elusive, but evasive.
Evasive, elusive, inside it lies the mind's true form.
Elusive, evasive, inside it lies something substantial.
Shadowy, dim.
Inside it lies vital energy.
This energy is very strong inside it lies true genuineness.
From ancient times until today
Its name has not been forgotten allowing us to see the beginnings of everything.
How do I recognize the form of the beginnings of everything?
By this low in the cycle of Change, which is Love and Beauty.
How do I know this?
By my comprehension of the Dao."
-  Translated by Michael LaFargue, 1992, Chapter 21  

"The complete manifestation of things visible proceeds only from Life.
In its nature Life is always coming into activity, yet in itself it eludes our sight and tough.
Eluding sight! eluding touch!
Within it are hid the plane of created things.
Eluding touch! eluding sight!
Within it are hid all created beings.
It is profound! It is obscure!
Within it is hid pure Spirit.
It is pure Spirit, enfolding Truth!
Within it is hid an infallible witness.
Free of Old until Now
Its Name remains unchanged.
Through its Doorway comes the Universe into existence.
How do I know that the Universe is coming to full perfection through Life?
The witness is in Life itself."
-  Translated by Isabella Mears, 1916, Chapter 21 

孔德之容, 唯道是從.
道之為物, 唯恍唯惚.
惚兮恍兮, 其中有象.
恍兮忽兮, 其中有物.
窈兮冥兮, 其中有精.
其精甚,  其中有信.
自古及今其名不去.
以閱衆甫.
吾何以知衆甫之狀哉.
以此.
-  Chinese characters, Tao Te Ching, Chapter 21



k'ung tê chih jung, wei tao shih ts'ung.
tao chih wei wu, wei huang wei hu.
hu hsi huang hsi, ch'i chung yu hsiang.
huang hsi hu hsi, ch'i chung yu wu.
yao hsi ming hsi, ch'i chung yu ching.
ch'i ching shên, chên ch'i chung yu hsin. 
tzu ku chi chin ch'i ming pu ch'ü.
yi yüeh chung fu.
wu ho yi chih chung fu chih jan tsai.
yi tz'u.
-  Wade-Giles Romanization, Tao Te Ching, Chapter 21



"The great virtue as manifested is but following the Tao.
Tao is a thing that is both invisible and intangible.
Intangible and invisible, yet there are forms in it;
Invisible and intangible, yet there is substance to it;
Subtle and obscure, there is essence in it;
This essence being invariably true, there is faith in it.
From of old till now, it has never lost its nameless name,
Through which the origin of all things has passed.
How do I know it is so with the origin of all things?
By this Tao."
-  Translated by Ch'u Ta-Kao, 1904, Chapter 21 


"One of deep virtue cherishes the subtle essence of the universe.
 The subtle essence of the universe is elusive and evasive.
 Though it is elusive and evasive,
 it unveils itself as images and forms.
 Evasive and elusive,
 it discloses itself as indefinable substance.
 Shadowy and indistinct,
 it reveals itself as impalpable subtle essence.
 This essence is so subtle, and yet so real.
 It is the subtle origin of the whole of creation and non-creation.
 It existed prior to the beginning of time as the single deep and subtle reality of the universe.
 It brings all into being."
 -  Translated by Ni Hua Ching, 1995, Chapter 21


"La virtud se expresa siguiendo al Tao.

Tao es evasivo e intengible
Pero expresa toda forma y sustancia;
Tao es oscuro y sútil
Pero expresa toda la Naturaleza;
La Naturaleza no cambia,
Pero expresa toda sensación.
Desde antes del conocimiento
El Tao ha expresado todas las cosas.
¿Cómo puedo saber?
Confiando en mis sentidos."
-  Translated by Antonio Rivas, 1998, Chapter 21 

"In his every movement a man of great virtue
Follows the way and the way only.
As a thing the way is
Shadowy and indistinct.
Indistinct and shadowy,
Yet within it is an image;
Shadowy and indistinct,
Yet within it is a substance.
Dim and dark,
Yet within it is an essence.
This essence is quite genuine
And within it is something that can be tested.
From the present back to antiquity,
Its name never deserted it.
It serves as a means for inspecting the fathers of the multitude.
How do I know that the fathers of the multitude are like that?
By means of this."
-  Translated by D. C. Lau, 1963, Chapter 21  

"The mightiest manifestations of active force flow solely from Tao.
Tao in itself is vague, impalpable, how impalpable, how vague!
Yet within it there is Form.
How vague, how impalpable!
Yet within it there is Substance.
How profound, how obscure!
Yet within it there is a Vital Principle.
This principle is the Quintessence of Reality, and out of it comes Truth.
From of old until now, its name has never passed away.
It watches over the beginning of all things.
How do I know this about the beginning of things?
Through Tao."
-  Translated by Lionel Giles, 1905, Chapter 21 


"The features (yung) of the vast (k'ung) Te,
Follows entirely (wei) from Tao.
Tao as a thing,
Is entirely illusive (huang) and evasive (hu).
Evasive and illusive,
In it there is image (hsiang).
Illusive and evasive,
In it there is thinghood (wu).
Dark and dim,
In it there is life seed (ching).
Its life seed being very genuine (chen),
In it there is growth power (hsin).
As it is today, so it was in the days of old (ku),
Its name goes not away (ch'ü),
So that we may survey (yüeh) the origins of the many (chung fu).
How do I know that the origins of the many are such?
Because of this."
-  Translated by Ellen Marie Chen, 1989, Chapter 21

"For effective contrast, this chapter is best read together with chapter 14.  Both chapters call Tao, the illusive and evasive (hu-huang), i.e., the primal Chaos or Hun-tun described in chapter 25.  In chapter 14, Tao recedes and becomes the nothing; here in chapter 21 the same illusive and evasive Tao moves forward to become the realm of beings.  There Tao is nameless; here Tao is the name that never goes away.  There Tao is the formless form, the image of nothing; here Tao contains the seeds and images of all beings that are to be.  The dominant character of Tao in chapter 14 is wu, nothing; in this chapter it is yu, being or having.  The conclusion of chapter 14 traces Tao to the beginning of old; this chapter arrives at the realm of the many in the now."
-  Ellen M. Chen, The Tao Te Ching: A New Translation with Commentary, 1989, p.107

A typical webpage created by Mike Garofalo for each one of the 81 Chapters (Verses, Sections) of the Tao Te Ching (Daodejing) by Lao Tzu (Laozi) includes up to 25 different English language translations or interpolations for that Chapter, 5 Spanish language translations for that Chapter, the Chinese characters for that Chapter, the Wade-Giles and Hanyu Pinyin transliterations (Romanization) of the Mandarin Chinese words for that Chapter, and 2 German and 1 French translation of that Chapter.  Each webpage for each one of the 81 Chapters of the Tao Te Ching includes extensive indexing by key words, phrases, and terms for that Chapter in English, Spanish, and the Wade-Giles Romanization.  Each webpage on a Chapter of the Daodejing includes recommended reading in books and websites, a detailed bibliography, some commentary, research leads, translation sources, a Google Translate drop down menu, and other resources for that Chapter.   

Chapter 21, Tao Te Ching by Lao Tzu

Chapter and Thematic Index (Concordance) to the Tao Te Ching by Lao Tzu

English Language Daodejing Translators' Source Index

Spanish Language Daodejing Translators' Source Index

Ripening Peaches: Taoist Studies and Practices

Taoism: A Selected Reading List

One Old Daoist Druid's Final Journey  

Do You Wanna To Be Normal?

 "See that nine to five

She's alive but she'll never see
She's lost in what she does
Just because of what she has to be
Time just passes by
She don't try
She just carries on
Her dreams are only dreams in the night
Come the light, they're gone

Trapped into spaces where we no longer breathe
Pushed into places that we really don't wanna be
We only got a short time to grab a little glory
I wanna have a good life, not a sad story
To stay within the boundaries, seems so formal
If that's what life is, I don't wanna be normal
No...

Chances that we take become mistakes that I could rather flee
I don't see how I could live my life any other way
The best and the worst of us often times stumble and fall
We're trapped by the choices that we make
We just can't know it all

We only got a short time to grab a little glory
I wanna have a good life, not a sad story
To stay within the boundaries, seems so formal
If that's what life is, I don't wanna be normal
I don't wanna be...I don't wanna be normal"

- Randy Crawford, 1986, Don't Wanna Be Normal

On Not Resisting Temptations
By Mike Garofalo

Test, try, experiment - within reason.
Manage your pleasures and desires.
Be open to thinking and feeling in new ways.
Sometimes ignore what other people tell you to do or not to do.
Old values are not necessarily better values.
What is "bad" in one generation may be "good" in later times.
Enjoy the pleasure of eating apples.
When someone tells you not to ask, sometimes ask and ask again.
With only one life to live - be bolder.
Don't resist the temptation to improve, to change, to grow.
Like water, enjoy going downhill in new directions.
Embrace intellectual pleasures.
Be suspicious of people who talk too much about guilt and punishment.
Some failures are inevitable, just get up and move on.
Thinking and doing are often more advantageous than believing.
Many people associate sexual pleasure with 'sinfulness': nonsense.
Succumb to temptations to laugh more often.
If you can't take advantage of temptations then you are not free.
Remember what works for you.
When your tempted to be compassionate, act on the impulse.
- Mike Garofalo, Pulling Onions


"Do you really think it is weakness that yields to temptation? I tell you that there are terrible temptations which it requires strength, strength and courage to yield to."
- Oscar Wilde

"The trouble with resisting temptation is it may never come your way again."
- Korman's Law

"For every man there exists a bait which he cannot resist swallowing."
- Friedrich Nietzsche

"If we resist our passions, it is more because of their weakness than because of our strength."
- François, duc de La Rochefoucauld

"Most people want to be delivered from temptation but would like it to keep in touch."
- Robert Orben

"What makes resisting temptation difficult for many people is they don't want to discourage it completely."
- Franklin P. Jones

"The difficulty lies not so much in developing new ideas as in escaping from old ones."
- John Maynard Keynes

"If you have made mistakes, even serious ones, there is always another chance for you. What we call failure is not the falling down, but the staying down."
- Mary Pickford

"The most useless are those who never change through the years."
- James Barrie




Willpower, Resolve, Determination, Progress

Senses

Epicureans and Hedonists

One Old Philosopher's Notebooks

Pleasures

Try to Build It

"The only sensible goal, then, is to try to build a reality-tunnel for next week that is bigger, funnier, sexier, more optimistic and generally less boring that any previous reality-tunnel.  And once you have built that bigger, funnier, happier universe of thought, build a bigger and better one, for next month."
-  Robert Anton Wilson,  Prometheus Rising,  p. 226, 1983

Backyard Details

All photographs, from yesterday and today,
were taken by Karen Garofalo in 2021
at our home in Vancouver, Washington.

"We cannot seek or attain health, wealth, learning, justice, or kindness in general.  Action is always specific, concrete, individualized, and unique."
-  Benjamin Jowett

"Science and psychoanalysis apart, the most profound development in thought since Nietzsche, as far as we are concerned, is the phenomenological approach to the world.  Mallarmé sought "words without wrinkles," Baudelaire cherished his minutes heureuses and Valéry his "small worlds of order," as we have seen: Checkhov concentrated on the "concrete individual" and preferred "small scale and practical answers," Gide though the "systematizing is denaturing, distorting and impoverishing."  For Oliver Wendell Holmes, "all the pleasure of life is in general ideas, but all the use of life is in specific solutions."  Wallace Stevens considered that we are "better satisfied in particulars."  Thomas Nagel put it in this way: "Particulars things can have a noncompetitive completeness which is transparent to all aspects of the self.  This also helps to explain what the experience of great beauty tends to unify the self: the object engages us immediately and totally in a way that makes distinctions among points of view irrelevant."  Or, as Robert Nozick, who counseled us to make ourselves "vehicles" for beauty, said: "this is what poets and artists bring us―the immense and unsuspected reality of a small thing.  Everything has its own patient entityhood."  George Levine call for "a profound attention to the details of this world."  
-  Peter Watson, "The Age of Atheists: How We Have Sought to Live Since the Death of God," p.536

"The idea of one overbearing truth is exhausted."  
- Thomas Mann, translated by James Wood  

"My religion consists of a humble admiration of the illimitable superior spirit who reveals himself in the slight details we are able to perceive with our frail and feeble mind."
-  Albert Einstein

"To study the self is to forget the self.  To forget the self is to be enlightened by the ten thousand things."
-  Zen Master Dogen

"The more we understand individual things, the more we understand God."
-  Benedict De Spinoza

"God is in the details."
-  Mies Van Der Rohe

"After appreciating and understanding thousands of the details, a common variety God is really superfluous."
-  Mike Garofalo

"Caress the detail, the divine detail." 
-  Vladimir Nabokov

"Details are all there are."
-  Maezumi Roshi

"We think in generalities, but we live in details."
-  W.H. Auden

Gardening and Spirituality

Gardening and Religion

A Philosopher's Notebooks

Today: Where It Takes Place

“This nondescript, never-to-be defined daytime is
The secret of where it takes place
And we can no longer return to the various
Conflicting statements gathered, lapses of memory
Of the principal witness.  All we know
Is that we are a little early, that
Today has that special, lapidary
Todayness that the sunlight reproduces
Faithfully in casting twig-shadows on blithe
Sidewalks.  No previous day would have been like this.
I used to think they were all alike,
That the present always looked the same to everybody
But this confusion drains away as one
Is always cresting into one’s present."
-  John Ashbery, Self-Portrait in a Convex Mirror, 1975

I have enjoyed reading poetry in the month of April.  I have read poems from these two books every day in April, 2022:

The Penguin Anthology of Twentieth Century American Poetry.  Edited by Rita Dove.  Penguin, 2011, 599 pages.

The Oxford Book of American Poetry.  Edited by David Lehman.  Oxford, 2006, 1132 pages.

One objective of mine, from April 20 to May 20, 2022, is to write each and every day.  

My objectives must be under my control, measurable, realistic, specific, accomplished on time, positive, and reported daily. |
The daily measurement and reporting on objectives helps to keep me on track towards accomplishment.

Measurements are recorded in writing so results can be evaluated accurately and properly over weeks and months.
Changing a habit requires at least 90 days of consistent accomplishment of the specific remedial objectives.
“Objectives” are also referred to as plans, aims, goals, resolutions, targets, projects, daily actions, specific tasks, etc.  
Daily steady improvements accumulate over time towards success. 
Belief and confidence in your goals is essential to success in making improvements. 
Norcorss Principles:  Psych, Prep, Perspire, Persevere, Persist.   

Changing Habits – Bibliotherapy

Changeology: 5 Steps to Realizing Your Goals and Resolutions.  By John C. Norcorss. 

Atomic Habits.  By James Clear. 

 

On Becoming Who You Are

 

"As it turns out, to "become who you are: is not about finding a "who" you have always been looking for.  It is not about separating "you" off from everybody else.  And it not about existing as you truly "are" for all time.  The self does not lie passively in wait for us to discover it.  Selfhood is made in the active, ongoing process, in the German verb werden, "to become."  The enduring nature of being human is to turn into something else.  This may come as a great disappointment to one who goes in search of the self.  What one is, essentially, is this active transformation, nothing more, nothing less.  This is not a grand wisdom quest or hero's journey and it doesn't require one to escape to the mountains.  No mountain is high enough.  Just a bit of cheese and any fast moving river will suffice." 
-  By John Kaag, Hiking with Nietzsche: On Becoming Who You Are, 2018, p.220

“Research has shown that it takes 31 days of conscious effort to make or break a habit.  That means, if one practices something consistently for 31 days, on the 32nd day it does become a habit.  Information has been internalized into behavioral change, which is called transformation.”
 –  Shiv Khera

"Really changing might make you dissatisfied with yourself and many others also dissatisfied with you.  Changing can be risky, can be dangerous, can be disastrous; not changing might be the same.  Transformation tests the mettle of free will."
-   Mike Garofalo, Pulling Onions

Transformation: Quotes, Sayings

Searching for Chimeras

"We really can be happier if we think about our lives, if we work on ourselves, if we learn to make more sensible decisions, or indeed if we alter our thoughts, our beliefs, or the way we imagine ourselves in the world.  The great paradox of happiness is that it can be tamed while still remaining essentially beyond our control.  Happiness is a matter of fate and chance; but it can also stem from a rational, deliberate approach."
-  Frederic Lenoir, Happiness 

Happiness: A Philosopher's Guide.  By Frederic Lenoir.  Melville House, 2015.  208 pages.

Happiness: Quotes, Sayings, Bibliography by Mike Garofalo

What Will Your Verse Be?

"O me, O life of the questions of these recurring. 
Of the endless trains of the faithless.  
Of cities filled with the foolish.
What good amid these, O me, O life?

Answer: that you are here.
That life exists and identity.
That the powerful play goes on,
and you may contribute a verse.

What will your verse be."

Attributed to Walt Whitman in Zen Camera

A young family of four enjoying the winter day at
Cape Lookout State Park creek and beach.
What verses will they contribute to the living poem
of just two generations?
Telephoto intimacy.

Impediments to Changing Your Behavior

Impediments to Changing Your Behavior

"1.  "Relying on willpower for long-term change
2.  Attempting big leaps instead of baby steps
3.  Ignoring how environment shapes behavior
4.  Trying to stop old behaviors instead of creating new ones
5.  Blaming failures on lack of motivation
6.  Underestimating the power of triggers 
7.  Believing that information leads to action 
8.  Focusing on abstract goals instead of concrete behaviors
9.  Seeking to change a behavior forever, not for a short time
10. Assuming that behavior change is difficult.”
-  Stanford University, Persuasive Tech Lab, 2019

Persistence and Determination
 

“1) Psych: Getting Ready
2) Prep: Planning Before Leaping
3) Perspire: Taking Action;
4) Persevere: Managing Slips;
5) Persist: Maintaining Change.”
-  John Norcross, Changelology, 2012

How to Live a Good Life: Advice from Wise and Respected Persons

Atomic Habits: An Easy and Proven Way to Build Good Habits and Break Bad Ones.  By James Clear.  Avery, 2018, 320 pages.  A excellent best seller. 
Clear writing style, positive, informative, practical, and inspiring. VSCL. 

Procrastination: Why You Do It, What to Do About it Now.  By Jane B. Burka and Lenora M. Yuen.  25th Anniversary Edition.  De Capo Lifelong, 2008, index, 322 pages.  VSCL. 

Stick With It: Changing Your Life

A Process for Changing Your Life

1.  Stepladders
2.  Community
3.  Important
4.  Easy
5.  Neurohacks
6.  Captivating
7.  Engrained


-  Sean Young, PhD.  Stick with It: A Scientifically Proven Process for Changing Your Life - For Good.  New York, Harper Collins, 2017.  289 pages, index, notes.  

How to Live a Good Life: Advice From Wise Persons

1. Stepladders

Stepladders are specific tasks, deeds, or actions done during one week.  Steps can also involve not doing some task, behavior, or action.  Goals are accomplishments or achievements made in one month from actualizing the specific stepladders.  Dreams are possible accomplishments occurring in three months after accomplishing goals from doing specific stepladder tasks.  Attention and action should be focused on specific steps each week, and far less emphasis on longer term goals or dreams. 

The stepladders must be specific, time fixed, easy, doable, concrete, and measurable.  The stepladders must not be too steep, too high, unrealistic, or way to hard.  Start small and slowly build up. 

Stepladders, at first, must be realistic and expectations must be lower so success is more certain.  

You must track, monitor, evaluate, and reflect on your weekly progress up the stepladder to success.

2. Community

Many people find that working together with other people with the same objective and goals is very beneficial to them.  Many join actual groups or classes, and many use Internet applications to communicate and work with others on shared goals.  The author gives many good examples of online groups and applications for this purpose of interpersonal support, education, and encouragement.  Telling family and friends may also provide support and encouragement.  A spouse or good friend might join you in your new weekly objectives on the stepladder.  Libraries offer many good books to help you learn and get motivated.  Sometimes, however, rely only on yourself and get started anyway. 

3.  Important

If the change desired is not really important to you, then you will not implement the stepladders.  Your goals must be a high priority or be of critical importance to your health, success, or happiness.  Goals of declining interest or low importance will not be realized.

Tao Te Ching, Chapter 23

Daodejing, Laozi
Chapter 23


"To be always talking is against nature.
For the same reason a hurricane never lasts a whole morning,
Nor a rainstorm all day.
Who is it that makes the wind and rain?
It is Heaven-and Earth.
And if even Heaven-and Earth cannot blow or pour for long,
How much less in his utterance should man?
Truly, if one uses the Way as one's instrument,
The results will be like the Way;
If one uses the “power” as instrument,
The results will be like the “power”.
If one uses what is the reverse of the “power”,
The results will be the reverse of the “power”.
For to those who have conformed themselves to the Way,
The Way readily lends its power.
To those who have conformed themselves to the power,
The power readily, lends more power.
While to those who conform themselves to inefficacy,
Inefficacy readily lends its ineffectiveness.
“It is by not believing in people that you turn them into liars.”"
-  Translated by Arthur Waley, 1934, Chapter 23 


"Nature does not have to insist,
Can blow for only half a morning,
Rain for only half a day,
And what are these winds and these rains but natural?
If nature does not have to insist,
Why should man?
It is natural too
That whoever follows the way of life feels alive,
That whoever uses it properly feels well used,
Whereas he who loses the way of life feels lost,
That whoever keeps to the way of life
Feels at home,
Whoever uses it properly
Feels welcome,
Whereas he who uses it improperly
Feels improperly used:
'Fail to honor people,
They fail to honor you."
-  Translated by Witter Bynner, 1944, Chapter 23

"With few words affirm the Self.
A great wind does not blow all the morning,
A heavy wind does not continue all day.
Why is this so?
It is because of the inter-relations of Heaven and Earth.
If Heaven and Earth cannot make things last long.
How much less can man?
Therefore he who follows the service of Tao is one with Tao,
He who is virtuous is one with Teh,
He who fails is one with failure.
He who is one with Tao,
Tao shall also claim him.
He who is one with Teh
Teh shall also claim him.
He who is one with failure,
Failure shall also claim him.
Faith that is not complete is not faith."
-  Translated by Isabella Mears, 1916, Chapter 23

"To be sparing of words is natural.
A violent wind cannot last a whole morning; pelting rain cannot last a whole day.
Who have made these things but heaven and earth?
Inasmuch as heaven and earth cannot last forever, how can man?
He who engages himself in Tao is identified with Tao.
He who engages himself in virtue is identified with virtue.
He who engages himself in abandonment is identified with abandonment.
Identified by Tao, he will be well received by Tao.
Identified with virtue, he will be well received by virtue.
Identified with abandonment, he will be well received by abandonment."
-  Translated by Ch'u Ta-Kao, 1904, Chapter 23 

希言自然.
故飄風不終朝.
驟雨不終日.
孰為此者, 天地.
天地尚不能久.
而況於人乎.
故從事於道者.
道者同於道.
德者同於德.
失者同於失.
同於道者, 道亦樂得之.
同於德者, 德亦樂得之.
同於失者, 失亦樂得之.
信不足焉, 有不信焉. -  Chinese characters, Tao Te Ching, Chapter 23

xi yan zi ran.
gu piao feng bu zhong zhao.
zhou yu bu zhong ri.
shu wei ci zhe, tian di.
tian di shang bu neng jiu.
er kuang yu ren hu.
gu cong shi yu dao zhe.
dao zhe tong yu dao.
de zhe tong yu de.
shi zhe tong yu shi.
tong yu dao zhe, dao yi le de zhi.
tong yu de zhe, de yi le de zhi.
tong yu shi zhe, shi yi le de zhi.
xin bu zu yan, you bu xin yan!
-  Pinyin Romanization, Daodejing, Chapter 23 

"Sparing indeed is the Nature of its Talk ...
Sparing indeed is nature of its talk:
The whirlwind will not last the morning out;
The cloudburst ends before the day is done.
What is it that behaves itself like this?
The earth and sky! And if it be that these
Cut short their speech, how much more yet should man!
If you work by the Way,
You will be of the Way;
If you work through its virtue
you will be given the virtue;
Abandon either one
And both abandon you.
Gladly then the Way receives
Those who choose to walk in it;
Gladly too its power upholds
Those who choose to use it well;
Gladly will abandon greet
Those who to abandon drift.
Little faith is put in them
Whose faith is small."
-  Translated by Raymond Blackney, 1955, Chapter 23

"Hablar poco es lo natural.
Un huracán no dura toda la mañana.
Un aguacero no dura todo el día.
¿Quién hace estas cosas?
El cielo y la tierra.
Sí las cosas del cielo y la tierra
no pueden durar eternamente,
¿cómo pretende el hombre que sus cosas sí lo hagan?
Así, quien acepta al Tao
se une al Tao.
Quien acepta la virtud,
se une a la virtud.
Quien acepta la pérdida,
se une a esa pérdida.
Quien se identifica con una de estas cosas,
por ella es acogido y podrá avanzar plenamente.
Ábrete al Tao,
después confía en tus respuestas naturales
y todo encajará en su sitio."
-  Translation from Wikisource, 2013, Capitulo 23  

"To speak little is natural.
Therefore a gale does not blow a whole morning
Nor does a downpour last a whole day.
Who does these things? Heaven and Earth.
If even Heaven and Earth cannot force perfect continuity
How can people expect to?
Therefore there is such a thing as aligning one's actions with the Tao.
If you accord with the Tao you become one with it.
If you accord with virtue you become one with it.
If you accord with loss you become one with it.
The Tao accepts this accordance gladly.
Virtue accepts this accordance gladly.
Loss also accepts accordance gladly.
If you are untrustworthy, people will not trust you."
-  Translated by Charles Muller, 1891, Chapter 23

A typical webpage created by Mike Garofalo for each one of the 81 Chapters (Verses, Sections) of the Tao Te Ching (Daodejing) by Lao Tzu (Laozi) includes up to 25 different English language translations or interpolations for that Chapter, 5 Spanish language translations for that Chapter, the Chinese characters for that Chapter, the Wade-Giles and Hanyu Pinyin transliterations (Romanization) of the Mandarin Chinese words for that Chapter, and 2 German and 1 French translation of that Chapter.  Each webpage for each one of the 81 Chapters of the Tao Te Ching includes extensive indexing by key words, phrases, and terms for that Chapter in English, Spanish, and the Wade-Giles Romanization.  Each webpage on a Chapter of the Daodejing includes recommended reading in books and websites, a detailed bibliography, some commentary, research leads, translation sources, a Google Translate drop down menu, and other resources for that Chapter.   

Chapter 23, Tao Te Ching by Lao Tzu

Chapter and Thematic Index (Concordance) to the Tao Te Ching by Lao Tzu

English Language Daodejing Translators' Source Index

Spanish Language Daodejing Translators' Source Index

Ripening Peaches: Taoist Studies and Practices

Taoism: A Selected Reading List

One Old Daoist Druid's Final Journey