Category: The Senior Side of Life

All about living the third stage of life which lies between 70 and 100

KICKING THE TIRES OF JUNE 12, 2012

S R Janssen

Shifting the experience of reality

This morning, I spent a while in bed savoring the flood of early morning sunlight through the window. Gradually, I began feeling the validity of the Neville Goddard book I read yesterday.  That state that I term “the fourth dimension” is feeling more real to me.  I am feeling my way into the validity of creating an experience by feeling my way into ownership of the desire. Now I believe, I can call into existence that which I own through the strength of my feelings. Metaphorically speaking, the game is to keep my attention focused on what I want instead of lending any attention to problems.

Accomplishing this state of imagination requires relaxation; in my experience, effort is inimical to creation through imagination and feeling. Shifting from dependence on physical senses to dependence on my feelings requires attention and lots of practice. Then this lesson from Don Juan[1]: the warrior’s pause that gives the world that one beat that allows conscious choice.

I have to laugh at the ways I operated from resistance and self-righteousness for so much of the time. So, every day, I spend a few moments of appreciation for my sense of humor, my ability to see the funny side of things and laugh.  I also appreciate the wonderful books in my life that fed me words of wonder, magic, beauty and faith in the basic well-being of the world.

[1] The sorcerer Don Juan, Carlos Castenada’s mentor

KICKING THE TIRES OF JUNE 5, 2020

S R Janssen

Great joy in the morning! The sky is blue and the sun shines in it without pushing the thermometer over 100 C⁰.   A gale-force wind provides air conditioning as it whips treetops and hurls small objects around the street.

Today I am practicing expectation.  Instead of whinging as I roll out of bed and head for coffee, I ask myself with as much verve as I can muster “what gifts will I find in this day?”  Those words are too saccharine for my family and friends, yet safe to publish on the internet because that world is totally disinterested.

I start my day with saccharine phrases because my mind has ossified to the point that I catch myself thinking the exact same thoughts at the exact same time every day. I also catch myself engaging in habitual bouts of bad temper and petty meanness that drain the colors out of my day and leave me with an adrenaline hangover.  There is not enough time left in my bucket to waste it on recovering from my own foolishness.

Oh! by the way, I should mention for the sake of posterity, the world around me is wrestling with a pandemic of a coronavirus labeled COVID-19. Truthfully, I feel unconcerned because I am basically unaffected. I live comfortably as my Social Security sustains me just above the poverty line. I am healthy; therefore not overly concerned about contracting this virus. Of course, I take precautions: I wash my hands frequently, I wear a face mask in public and observe the six-foot-distance rule as well.