THE DECIDER

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THE DECIDER

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How do we decide

What to wear today, or eat next, or choose a movie to watch?

How do we decide

What to say, what to buy, where to go next?

How do we decide

Where our boundaries are, the desires of our hearts, what brings us joy?

The Decider decides

It is our inner judge who evaluates the benefits or drawbacks

To each decision

But who is this Decider?

What system do they use to sort out all the variables?

Who controls the Decider?

What program is the Decider running?

We can talk with our Decider

Give it feedback on past decisions

Instruct it on future decisions we hope to make

And those we hope to avoid

A well-informed Decider can improve the quality of life

Tremendously

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MORNING ORIENTATION

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MORNING ORIENTATION

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Good morning everyone

It's good to see you all here today

Grab a cup of what you like

There is fresh fruit in the bowl over there

Then let's get down to business

You can see by this chart that things

Are gradually improving

Our profitable thoughts are up

While our overthinking costs are down

Due to the vigilant efforts

Of our Mindfulness Department

We have had to cut back on the Ego Department

Because we are going in a different direction

And the Lovingkindness Department is going to present

Some ways we can bring more customer satisfaction

To everyone we encounter

This is, as always, a group effort

And we highly value your input and suggestions

For Improvement and Peace of Mind, our most profitable products.

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NO EMPTY HEARTS

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NO EMPTY HEARTS

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Our hearts will not stay empty

They will always fill

With our current emotions

It is nothing that we will

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If we feel anger

Our hearts might fill with fury

When we have an angry heart

The "Do Not Cross" line gets blurry

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The rage-filled heart is volatile

Vulnerable to explode

In angry words and actions

But kept inside, it might implode

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The heart can fill with sadness

It can fill with regret and fear

To get free of all this pain

The contents must be cleared

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The empty heart can fill with love

It can fill with joy and ease

Breathe out the pain, breathe out the fear

Breathe in inner peace

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NOSTRABLESSUS

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NOSTRA-BLESS-US

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If I could return in a thousand years

I have so many hopes, and so many fears

I hope we will have learned from the war-torn past

That only peace and love can help us last

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PRESTO CHANGO

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PRESTO CHANGO

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When we start to grow

It may not be fast

But the New You should know

Your future won't be just like your past

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When we make mistakes

The effects can drag on for years

But the Sleeper who Awakes

Will not be controlled by their fears

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When we start to grow

We are pleasantly surprised

To see the same old troubled life

Improve right before our own eyes

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I'M SORRY, PLEASE AND THANK YOU

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I'M SORRY, PLEASE AND THANK YOU

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There seems to be a new attitude

That I have named "combatitude"

When someone is primed for a fight

Think they are always right

And never show an ounce of gratitude

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LYING EYES

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MY LYING EYES

AI is driving me crazy

It makes my grasp of reality hazy

Things that look real are not

So how can I tell what is what?

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PLANE TO SEE

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Poem I wrote 

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PLANE TO SEE

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None of the parts of an airplane can fly

But all put together they take to the sky

None of the parts of society is all

Not working together might be our downfall

Respect and an open mind always work wonders

All points of view lets us look out for blunders

Wholeness and good will can bring us together

So we can fly on in foul or fair weather

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DARWINNER

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DARWINNER

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When I have an idea

It is shiny and new

I step back and admire it

Think "That's just what I'll do"

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Then the first glitch appears

My idea must change

I must factor in factors

Regroup and rearrange

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I still like my idea

Though it shines not as bright

But as I plow forward

Nothing goes right

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It is then that I see

The huge fatal flaw

My idea blows up

Though I fought tooth and claw

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It is then I need Darwin

With his big proven fact

My surviving and thriving

Depends on how I adapt

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AFFIRMATIONS #2

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Second part of Poem I wrote:

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Affirmations #2

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I balance the spontaneous and the rational

I feel good about who I am

I am attentive and resourceful

I am alive

This moment is all there is

I live every moment to the fullest

I move ahead

I believe in my own success

I embrace health and wholeness

I view things with optimism

I take positive constructive action

I listen to the wisdom of my inner voice

I honor my ability to make good decisions

I learn from other people

I explore the textures of the world

I am lovable

I respect my feelings

I love and respect myself

My inner voice is warm reassuring words

I am lighthearted and spontaneous

I feel the release of tension

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IN THE GROOVE

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IN THE GROOVE

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When suspicion is the mood of the day

And we can't believe anything they say

The photos are altered or fake

Even voices, for heaven's sake!

Then who can you rely on and trust?

There is only one person you must

That person would be you

You and yourself are true blue

Look for the wear on wisdom's rock

It's the one sure path you can walk

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MOTE, MOTE, WHO HAS THE MOTE?

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MOTE, MOTE, WHO HAS THE MOTE?

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When someone can't admit faults in themselves

Then they must find, or invent

Faults in others

Which is most unfortunate

Because we can't go into someone else's head

Tinker around, fix their malfunctions

While are own minds are right there

Hood up, diagnostic lights flashing

Ready to be repaired, the broken parts replaced

Maybe even some detailing

So we look as spiffy on the outside

As we have become on the inside

Once proper maintenance and repairs are done.

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LOST AND FOUND

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LOST AND FOUND

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Imposing order on chaos

Is in the human mind

Because when we live in chaos

Things are hard to find

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Order requires mindfulness

Every single day

It requires planning and effort

Or else chaos has its way

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Habit backs up order

Together they cut the cost

Of our time and limited resources

Searching for what we once had and lost

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TO MOVE IS TO EXIST

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TO MOVE IS TO EXIST

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Once I gave up the notion

Of ever, ever being a finished product

My nucleus is much more

Interesting, humorous, and challenging.

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PROTECT AND DEFEND

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PROTECT AND DEFEND

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Nature gives young animals built in defenses

To protect them from predators

Human children have built in defenses too

They can pretend to be asleep

So a predator thinks the child did not see or hear anything

Therefore posing no threat

The child can hide, sometimes in very small places

So a predator can not find them

They can cry and scream with eardrum shattering loudness

To bring protective adults on the run

To drive off predators they can pitch a fit

Throwing themselves on the ground in a tantrum

Making it more difficult for a predator to carry them off

They can lie convincingly 

Telling the predator whatever they want to hear

They can fight back, biting and hitting 

To try and drive the predator off on their own

They can stubbornly refuse to go along

Saying NO forcefully to a predator

They can tiptoe and sneak around

Peeking and eavesdropping to get vital information

About the mood of the predator

Their location and plans

So as to better devise a strategy to defend themselves

So when you see a child lying, biting, pretending to be asleep

Sneaking around, hiding, having a tantrum, shrieking

Or stubbornly refusing to cooperate

Be aware that these behaviors are nature's gifts to the child

To defend themselves from predators

In this big, dangerous, often confusing world

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SEE-SAW

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SEE-SAW

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When we have Big Doings

We have a mighty sense of purpose

Which carries us along

Like a tide

When we have no pressing purpose

We have the unstressed leisure

To observe ourselves

And the workings of our mind

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DNA

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DNA

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Chronic dissatisfaction

Is the gift of fire from the gods

We are filled with burning ambitions

No matter how bad the odds

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We invent something useful and clever

Then immediately we see

How this thing could be made even better

Driven by vision and curiosity

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From cave fire to the computer

We advanced from walking to cars

Once we are all androids

We'll be ready to head for the stars.

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CLAYMATION

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CLAYMATION

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If you want to find fault

There's a lot of fault to find

It's a form of self-protection

Sorting out facts in our minds

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We always need to observe

Then evaluate

This process of assessment

Lets us influence the hand of fate

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How do we react to human faults?

Need it result in a scrimmage?

Do we wrestle with the imperfect

And mold them to fit our image?

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WE WILL KNOW WHEN WE KNOW

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WE WILL KNOW WHEN WE KNOW

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Negative speculation

Is a form of emotional abuse

Because all those gloomy predictions

Creates hopelessness, which has no use

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JUDGE NOT

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JUDGE NOT

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Good judgement is necessary

To know what is right and good for ourselves

But judging others is unnecessary

To proclaim that their personal choices are wrong and bad

When it does not concern us at all

For the grey areas, where others decisions

Impact our own, directly or indirectly

There is law, and the process of making law

(Which never includes name calling and fist fights)

Plus the process of electing those who make law

Those we think will improve society

This is extremely hopeful

Because society HAS improved

Slavery is abolished, women can vote

Animals have laws to protect them

Yes, there is still much to do, and we will do it

Not by judging and attacking those whose behavior we disagree with

But by carefully selecting the law makers

Writing to our representatives

While here, on our tiny personal level of society

We can agree with those we agree with

Yet not be disagreeable with those we disagree with 

Harmony and peace are both a grass roots movement

And a titanic undertaking for all of humanity

And it starts right now, right here

With me honoring your personhood

And you honoring mine

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INDUSTRIOUS

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INDUSTRIOUS

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I am a me factory

I take in raw materials

And manufacture my life

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FANTASTIC SEARCH ENGINE

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FANTASTIC SEARCH ENGINE

Some things I can imagine quite easily

Some things are harder to imagine

Some things are impossible to imagine

Or I recoil at imagining them

My imagination has limits and boundaries

Perhaps these limits could be expanded

By a prompt, like a powerful movie or engaging book

However, the same things I cringe fantisizing about

I shudder to imagine watching or reading about too

There is no need to confront my sensibilities with horrors

My imagination works just fine

Even offering up suggestions on its own

Like Google or Pinterest in my head.

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FE FI FO FUM

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FE FI FO FUM

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We do not want to be ground up into fine flour

By the wicked wheels of commerce

The massive mills of conformity

The great grinding stones of the law

These titanic forces gnash away tirelessly

Waiting for the unwary adventurer to fall into the hopper

Or be tossed in by the fickle hand of fate

As so many others are

To be pulverized into a product

Squeezed into a uniform mold

Bullied into compliance until we are reformed

Into good little shoppers and customers

Redefined by commerce, conformity, and law 

From a free and wild Homo Sapiens

To being baked in the twin fires of big business - greed and corruption

Until we are golden, fully compliant consumers

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