Be content with what you have;
rejoice in the way things are.
When you realize there is nothing lacking,
the whole world belongs to you.
Lao Tzu
Page 23 of 49
There’s a video below the lyrics.
Lyrics
SPOKEN:
I remember when I was a very little girl, our house caught on fire.
I’ll never forget the look on my father’s face as he gathered me up
in his arms and raced through the burning building out to the pavement.
I stood there shivering in my pajamas and watched the whole world go up in flames.
And when it was all over I said to myself, “Is that all there is to a fire”SUNG:
Is that all there is, is that all there is
If that’s all there is my friends, then let’s keep dancing
Let’s break out the booze and have a ball
If that’s all there isSPOKEN:
And when I was 12 years old, my father took me to a circus, the greatest show on earth.
There were clowns and elephants and dancing bears.
And a beautiful lady in pink tights flew high above our heads.
And so I sat there watching the marvelous spectacle.
I had the feeling that something was missing.
I don’t know what, but when it was over,
I said to myself, “is that all there is to a circus?SUNG:
Is that all there is, is that all there is
If that’s all there is my friends, then let’s keep dancing
Let’s break out the booze and have a ball
If that’s all there isSPOKEN:
Then I fell in love, head over heels in love, with the most wonderful boy in the world.
We would take long walks by the river or just sit for hours gazing into each other’s eyes.
We were so very much in love.
Then one day he went away and I thought I’d die, but I didn’t,
and when I didn’t I said to myself, “is that all there is to love?”SUNG:
Is that all there is, is that all there is
If that’s all there is my friends, then let’s keep dancingSPOKEN:
I know what you must be saying to yourselves,
if that’s the way she feels about it why doesn’t she just end it all?
Oh, no, not me. I’m in no hurry for that final disappointment,
for I know just as well as I’m standing here talking to you,
when that final moment comes and I’m breathing my lst breath, I’ll be saying to myselfSUNG:
Is that all there is, is that all there is
If that’s all there is my friends, then let’s keep dancing
Let’s break out the booze and have a ball
If that’s all there isWritten by Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller
Video
Watch below or on YouTube Peggy Lee — Is That All There Is? 1969
During the weekend I have read The Shadow Effect – Illuminating the Hidden Power of Your True Self by Deepak Chopra, Debbie Ford and Marianne Williamson. It’s a very interesting book and I recommend it.
The shadow exists within all of us. It is a part of us and yet we spend most of our life running from it. But far from being scary, our dark side holds the promise of a better, more fulfilling life. Our shadow makes itself known every day. It is the reason we get furious over a friend showing up ten minutes late, yell at our parents or kids when they have done nothing wrong, and sabotage our own success at the worst possible time. Until we are able to embrace our dualistic nature, we will continue to hurt ourselves and those closest to us and fall short of our potential.
Combining the wisdom of three experts, The Shadow Effect is a practical and profound guide to discovering the gifts of our shadow.
I saw the book at The Power of Slow, ordered it and then read it as soon as I got it.
The Shadow Effect has an official site. I like the text on the front page, it hits home with me:
Make peace with yourself, others and the world.
Find the courage to let go of all that holds you back.
Reconnect with the life you were meant to live and the person you were meant to be.
The book made me realize that I do kick myself too much. Instead I should focus more on the good things in life, self-love and self-respect is key to progress.
Marianne Williamson is the author of Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate which goes well with this book.
This quote by Mary Anne Radmacher will help me stay in (or bounce back into) the light:
Courage doesn’t always roar. Sometimes courage is the quiet voice at the end of the day saying, “I will try again tomorrow.”
Today I got my new iPhone 3Gs. I wanted a smart phone and a surftool, in the shop they said iPhone is the best and now I have one. I don’t like the way Apple runs its products as a closed territory but we’ll see how that works out.
The iPhone came in the smallest box I’ve yet seen for a mobile phone. No wonder, there’s no real documentation included, just a small folder. The charger is small and well designed, very nice.
The included documentation is a joke, the information at the Apple website is good but I want more and I have bought The iPhone Book.
I will blog more about the iPhone, applications I use and like.
mnmlist has a post about the only thing you can change, a great reminder that even a long journey begins with a small step. Here is what resonates most with me right now:
You can’t change your entire life. You can only change your next action.
You can’t declutter your entire life. You can only choose to get rid of one thing, right now.
You can’t change the past, or control the future. You can only change what you’re doing right now.
You can’t change everything. You can only change one, small thing. And that’s all it takes.
I’m currently decluttering big style, I am leaving an office and storage where I’ve been for 12,5 years. By end of April I’m out of there and have a lot less stuff to care for.
I have my notes in regular textfiles, a file per topic, which is easy to maintain. The downside is that it gets blurry where to put a note and it’s not always easy to quickly find what I’m looking for. What I want is something small and simple (no server, no database) yet powerful enough for my notetaking.
This weekend I came across Wiki on a Stick. The name refers to the fact that you can easily carry some wikis on a USB stick. It’s easy, everything is in one single file, and small and so far I like it a lot.
I’m starting with two wikis, one personal and one business, but might add some more later.
In November 2009 I made a presentation at Øredev. The video of my presentation is now up on the Øredev site: Project success by helping project members realize their full potential. The video is also on Vimeo.
The video is 44 minutes long, first half is my presentation and the second half is Q&A.
Tick Tock Timer is a very nice online timer. It runs in your web browser, if you can live with that it’s a really useful timer.
It’s useful whether you use the Pomodoro Technique or not. Set the Tick Tock Timer and then focus on one thing. Read your email, read news, write a blog post or what else you need to do. The timer will tell you when time is out.
Jenn Shallvey, @JennShallvey posts her Reflect comments at @reflect2see. It’s a great collection of thoughts and things to reflect on. Here are some of them, go check the Twitter profile for more. And while you’re there, follow it so you get the new ones.
Reflect: What pushes your buttons? Ever wonder why?
Reflect: Building a tribe is not about building your ego. If you can’t separate the two then you have false followers.
Reflect: Changing the outside appearance of what is on offer does not change the source. Always go to the source and be true.
Reflect: What you really truly desire in your life will come to you, but not necessarily in the way you think. Pay attention.
Reflect: On what terms are your relationships with others? Conditional or unconditional? Free or at a price?
Reflect: The places you go may be the same but you change each time you go there.
Reflect: How do you get in your own way?
Reflect: How many times do you need a life lesson before you get it?
Reflect: Many wise and wonderful souls may help you on your journey but ultimately the choice to heal is yours.
Reflect: What matters most in your life right now? How much attention and time go to this priority?
The last one goes nicely with the following two quotes that I have in front of me.
What’s the No. 1 thing you KNOW you should be doing that you’re not currently doing? Plant the seeds. Now.
Is the way you’re living your life today a foundation for the future you hope to build?
Jenn runs Reflect 2 See which is reclections with photos, very nice.
Chris Brogan has his 3 Words for 2010, with a second level on some of them. Jonathan Fields lists his 10 driving keywords for 2010 in Oh The Places You Will Go.
I list my three key words in Ready for 2010:
Trust means to trust my inner voice, to build trust and to be trustworthy.
Connect goes outwards (connect to more people in real life and virtually, be visible and valuable) as well as inwards (connect to my inner self).
Grow covers to grow my business and to grow as person. It includes to learn and share. I am a life long learner, sharing knowledge and ideas is fun.
Joanna Young has a different approach and picks A Word to Last the Year. Her single word is rhythm and I really like that choice. Some of what rhythm brings to Joanna’s mind are things I like to do too: Walk, Write, Go outside, Go gently, Go with the flow, Trust in the natural cycle of things, Move between different projects I’m working on.
Juliana Finch at write. play. repeat. posts her choice in If you could choose one word…, it’s nourish. I like that too, nourish goes well with my three words above and with what I want to achieve.
I’ve been thinking about how to deal with my words for 2010, shall I stick with my original three or shall I add rhytm and nourish which gives me a full hand? In the end I decided to go for five, to me they integrate very well with my first three words and help me stay on track.
Adding nourish and rhythm actually helped me decide about leaving Inside the Third Tribe. Staying would have helped me grow my blog faster but I risked loosing my rhythm.
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