DW's Blog

The Source of Your Anxiety

by DW Green — January 26, 2022

Why are my insides twisted into knots?

The anxious father, worried about his children. What does he want? A word that is always safe? A frenzied traveler—what does she want? For the weather to hold and for traffic to part so she can make her flight. A nervous investor? That the market will turn around and an investment will pay off.All of these scenarios hold the same thing in common. It’s wanting something outside our control. Getting worked up, getting excited, nervously pacing—these intense, pained, and anxious moments show us at our most futile and servile. Staring at the clock, at the ticker, at the next checkout lane over, at the sky—it’s as if we all belong to a religious cult that believes the gods of fate will only give us what we want if we sacrifice our peace of mind.Today, when you find yourself getting anxious, ask yourself: Why are my insides twisted into knots? Am I in control here or is my anxiety? And most important: Is my anxiety doing me any good?

by DW Green — January 19, 2022

You don’t control the situation, but you control what you think about it.

Today you won’t control the external events that happen.Is that scary? A little, but it’s balanced when we see that we can control our opinion about those events. You decide whether they’re good or bad, whether they’re fair or unfair. You don’t control the situation, but you control what you think about it.See how that works? Every single thing that is outside your control—the outside world, other people, luck, karma, whatever—still presents a corresponding area that is in your control. This alone gives us plenty to manage, plenty of power.Best of all, an honest understanding of what is within our control provides real clarity about the world: all we have is our own mind. Remember that today when you try to extend your reach outward—that it’s much better and more appropriately directed inward.

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Taking The Bite Out Of It

by DW Green — January 5, 2022

Their sense of equilibrium, their orderly discipline.

The people you admire, the ones who seem to be able to successfully handle and deal with adversity and difficulty, what do they have in common? Their sense of equilibrium, their orderly discipline. On the one-yard line, in the midst of criticism, after a heartbreaking tragedy, during a stressful period, they keep going.Not because they’re better than you. Not because they’re smarter. But because they have learned a little secret. You can take the bite out of any tough situation by bringing a calm mind to it. By considering it and meditating on it in advance.And this is not just for our day-to-day adversities but for the greatest and most unavoidable trial of all: our own eventual death. It could come tomorrow, it could come in forty years. It could be quick and painless, or it could be excruciating. Our greatest asset in that ordeal will not be religion, it will not even be the wise words of the philosophers. It will be, simply, our relationship with Source, with God.

Read More – It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year?

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by DW Green — December 14, 2021

One day our hours begin to run out.

How long have you been alive? Take the years, multiple them by 365, and then by 24. How many hours have you lived (me-613,200 hours)? What do you have to show for all of them?The answer for many people is not enough. We had so many hours that we took them for granted. All we have to show for our time on this planet are rounds of golf, years spent at the office, time spent watching mediocre movies, a stack of mindless books we hardly remember reading, and maybe a garage full of toys. We’re like the character in Raymond Chandler’s The Long Goodbye: “Mostly, I just kill time,” he says, “and it dies hard.”One day our hours begin to run out. It would be nice to be able to say: “Hey, I really made the most of it.” Not in the form of achievements, not money, not status, but in wisdom, insight, and real progress in the things that all humans struggle against.What if you could say that you really made something of this time that you had? What if you could prove ...

by DW Green — December 8, 2021

If you were suddenly told you had but a week to live, what changes would you make?

We have an irrational fear of acknowledging our own mortality. We avoid thinking about it because we think it will be depressing. In fact, reflecting on mortality often has the opposite effect—invigorating us more than saddening us. Why? Because it gives us clarity.If you were suddenly told you had but a week to live, what changes would you make? If you died but were resuscitated, how different would your perspective be? When as Shakespeare’s Prospero puts it, “every third thought shall be my grave,” there’s no risk of getting caught up in petty matters or distractions. Instead of denying our fear of death, let’s let it make us the best people we can be.Today.