By Sally Kempton — 2021
For most of us, real transformation happens in recognizable stages, as the dance between Being and Becoming moves from one pole to another.
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CLEAR ALL
Learning any new skill involves relatively brief spurts of progress, each of which is followed by a slight decline to a plateau somewhat higher in most cases than that which preceded it . . . the upward spurts vary; the plateaus have their own dips and rises along the way. . . .
What we call ‘mastery’ can be defined as that mysterious process through which what is at first difficult or even impossible becomes easy and pleasurable through diligent, patient, long-term practice.
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Indecision leads to inaction, which leads to low energy, depression, despair.
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Ultimately, nothing in this life is ‘commonplace,’ nothing is ‘in between.’ The threads that join your every act, your every thought, are infinite. All paths of mastery eventually merge. [Each person has a] vantage point that offers a truth of its own.
Resolve to do the things you find to be difficult. That’s what confident people do. They tackle those things that are scary and they get addicted to doing it.
As my sufferings mounted I soon realized that there were two ways in which I could respond to my situation — either to react with bitterness or seek to transform the suffering into a creative force. I decided to follow the latter course.
Wim Hof first caught the attention of scientists when he proved he was able to use meditation to stay submerged in ice for 1 hour and 53 minutes without his core body temperature changing.
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It is the rise from falling that Brown takes as her subject in Rising Strong.
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Mega-viral poet and activist Yung Pueblo gives an inspiring “Tam Talk.”
The Stoics bring forth the theme of self-control on a regular basis. Epictetus, for example, spoke about abstaining from talking about vulgar things, and Marcus Aurelius points out that we should set limits to comfort and consumption.