Previous Notes
Living in your mind is like living in a sand castle. When the wind blows or the ocean roars, you become homeless - Grasshopper
Talking to yourself inside your head is a major part of the human condition. Some call it thinking. We come out from this seemingly private fortress to interact with others or to give our attention to something like the material in a book, the music being played, or to the content of a movie or TV show. Then we go right back inside to this noisy nest.
Fair is a Fairy Tale - Grasshopper
Did you ever notice that Reality doesn’t ask your opinion before taking action?
Reality does what it does and we have a reaction. We may be elated if
Reality has us win the Grasshopper High Jump Sweepstakes or deflated if
we have the losing ticket.
A person filled with anger focuses on whose fault it is rather than seeking a solution - Grasshopper
Blame is a universal dysfunction of the human mind. The underlying notion of blame is that a set of circumstances has to be someone’s fault. The natural offshoot of that idea is that someone has to pay. And one of the built in protection mechanisms we have determines that the person paying the tab will not be me.
Revenge is always a sugar high - Grasshopper
When can you ever remember the "sweetness" of revenge lasting for more than a moment? Just how quickly does satisfaction disappear after you tell your boss to stuff it where the sun doesn't shine? I can tell you from personal experience that it feels great to speak your mind that way. Then you are immediately faced with no job and no paycheck.
Some people would rather be right than happy. And preferring to be right, they are left out - Grasshopper
Many states in the USA have traffic circles. I've driven around most of them. By law, the driver whose car is in the circle has the right of way. If there is a huge truck approaching the circle on one of the feeder roads, the driver in the circle still has the right of way. The oncoming truck is required to yield to the car in the circle.
Unwinding is simply unbinding yourself from your thoughts - Grasshopper
How do you unwind? Is it with a glass of wine, a shower, a chat with a friend or spouse? Do you take a nap, read something, meditate, or do you take a walk or jog? These are some of the things people do to relax.
Reality is what happens. Perceived reality is what goes on between your ears - Grasshopper
We spend the majority of our lives steeped in illusion. Illusion is the offspring of an encounter between Reality and perceived reality.
Surrender takes you to a peaceful place of transformation - Grasshopper
Suppose you are afraid of needles and are compelled to get one because of necessary travel to a country that requires inoculation. Four Sumo Wrestlers appear out of nowhere and hold you down so you don't run away in fear. Do you struggle against these giants? Most people do. Does that make any sense?
Mistakes are for Math - Grasshopper
Who doesn't make mistakes? - dead people, rocks, and my father (to hear him tell it). Also, God doesn't make mistakes. And guess what, neither do you - except in Algebra.
If your only nourishment comes from the Caldron of Culture, you will always have a soup stain on your shirt - Grasshopper
It looks like a fancy restaurant, but it's only a soup kitchen. That's culture. Culture never invents anything; it reflects the mostly superficial wants and desires of its club members. We all have membership in culture – even hermits.
Your strongest asset is your Achilles Heel - Grasshopper
This seems like backwards logic. It is! Sometimes you have to look at something from a different vantage point to get a deeper meaning.
If you set mouse traps, you always get mice - Grasshopper
Have you ever caught sight of yourself in a mirror and said something like, "I look just like my father/mother"? Have you ever caught yourself in the middle of a mannerism and said the exact same thing? It happens all the time.
Know Less, Discover More - Grasshopper
Whatever you're holding on to for dear life is an impediment to learning something new. Something knew is better than something known. If you allow your knowing to become past tense and short-lived, then new discoveries will thrive.
When you say, "I'll never get over it" or "used to it," you're referring to the thought, not the event - Grasshopper
Those thoughts come from your ego, not you. Thoughts from the real you will never keep you stuck. Additionally, you will never fully appreciate life until you discover that it's not your life to begin with. Just this subtle shift of awareness will have you making less attempts at getting used to things, and open you to inspiration that gets you unstuck - moving you forward in life.
No Sin is Harder to Forgive than Another - Grasshopper
Is it possible that The Grasshopper has ruffled some feathers with this pronouncement? I immediately had objections to this gift from G-force, so I just sat with it for a moment. Then the truth behind the words became clear.
Stones weren't created; they became separated - Grasshopper
Everytime you see a rock or a stone, you are seeing a piece of the whole. It looks like it has always been a separate entity but that's never the case. We think of other people as separate from us, but that also is never the case.
If You Have No Thoughts in Your Head, You Have No Problems - Grasshopper
That may be a foreign thought to many, but the simplicity of The Grasshopper's message bears further investigation. Problems are interpretations of reality. Problems are mind made manifestations. And problems get in the way of solutions.
If You Can’t Love Everybody, You’ll Never Completely Love Yourself - Grasshopper
Everybody??? Yes, everybody. It's not as improbable as it appears, and it's easier than you think. The benefit is far greater than you may imagine.
Success is less dependent on your goal and more determined by what you believe you can have - Grasshopper
Goal setting is the global preoccupation. There was a cartoon that Eckhart Tolle referred to recently that read something like this:
"The reason you set goals is so you can keep track of all the things you have failed at."
A True Apology Comes Without Justification - Grasshopper
The closest life comes to having an undo button is an apology. It shows respect, mends wounds, and opens a door for forgiveness to walk through. We rarely apologize effectively, causing our offense to be even more offensive.
You'll Be Stuck With That Thought Until You Aren't - Grasshopper
There is no debate that thoughts are the glue that keep us stuck. The question is, "who has the glue remover?" The answer may surprise you.
After Knowing Me, You'll Never Be Able To Be You Again - Grasshopper
There are certain experiences in life that open you to new vistas, that once seen and experienced, will change how you think about yourself forever. One of those experiences is presence.
When You Get The Answer, You Stop Wrestling With The Question - Grasshopper
How much clock time do we spend in our lives looking for answers? If thinking is the number one preoccupation of humans, then looking for answers has to be next.
The Winding Path is the Closest Distance Between You and Revelation - Grasshopper
Did you ever wonder why the path of life is not a straight line? It's designed to wind so that you get to meet more of God's creations.
Sorry Only Works Once - Grasshopper
An apology contains power. The wind leaves its sail when it's repeatedly used for the same transgression.
The Surest Way to Miss Your Life is to Take the Detour to Illusion - Grasshopper
"The American Dream" is a marketing mantra that leads us to a detour where we chase the horizon and never arrive.
Patience is the Ability to Wait the Time it Takes - Grasshopper
Impatience is a conscious effort to speed up the timetable of the Universe. This activity is folly and extreme hubris wrapped together and brandished as a weapon – one that even windmills aren't afraid of.
The Thumb That’s Holding You Down Contains Your Fingerprint - Grasshopper
And speaking of digits, finger pointing is a global game whose sole aim is to assess blame.
“The Devil Made Me Do It” Is More Than A Comedian’s Legacy - Grasshopper
The late comedian, Flip Wilson popularized the above phrase during a recurring skit on his TV show. It comically connoted that something else was the cause for your shenanigans. This concept has more truth than meets the "take responsibility for your own actions" eye.
Sometimes it Has to Get Totally Dark for Someone to See the Light - Grasshopper
There is an upside to the dark side. It's a pathway to find out who you truly are.
Everything Is As It Should Be Because Everything Is As It Is - Grasshopper
The first part of the quote comes from The Buddha and the second part of the quote came to me via The Grasshopper. Who is The Grasshopper and what does this combination quote mean?
Between Marbles and Marble There’s Room to Find Life - Grasshopper
From the time we discover our humanness to the time when our name is inscribed on polished stone, there is an ever present opportunity to wipe the sleep out of our eyes and see what's always been there – life.
Thinking it Over has Less Odds than Wishing on a 4 Leaf Clover - Grasshopper
A conversation in your head is an impotent reaction to reality that cannot effectuate change, anymore than a gelding can be a proud papa.
Nothing Grows in a Field That Won’t Yield - Grasshopper
Resistance keeps you like hardened soil where nothing grows making your crops barren and your field overrun with tumbleweeds.
No One is Good or Evil – Just Patterned - Grasshopper
People who are judged Right or Wrong, Good or Bad, Sinner or Saint, all come from the same family tree. The behavioral differences they display are determined by the conditioning they collect.
Anger is a Bodyguard that Keeps You Isolated - Grasshopper
When you are aware enough to interrupt your anger, you find a connection that's always been there.
Here But For The Space Of God Am I - Grasshopper
Did you ever notice that everything occupies a space? A space has been made for everything. There is room at the Inn for you and me.
My Ego’s Bigger Than Your Ego - Grasshopper
Ever been in a conversation with someone where you wanted to one-up them, have the last word, appear smarter, win at all costs? Welcome to the world class game, Who's Got The Bigger Ego?
Nature Doesn’t Think; It Just Creates - Grasshopper
When nature flows into your thinking, you will create great things. Great things require less thinking.
If It Could Only Be Like It Never Was - Grasshopper
Memories are deceiving. They are colored by predispositions and faded by time and edited of their flaws before we watch the rerun in our mind's eye.
Then Isn’t Happening Now - Grasshopper
Did you ever notice that "then" can be past or future? Then can never be now but we live our whole life in then and wonder why it's not happening now.
The Largest Mistake You Can Make with Another is to Communicate Their Lack of Importance to You - Grasshopper
"I couldn't care less" is the message of relationship death and it is sent out more often than you can imagine.
Tomorrow’s Difference is Based on the Consciousness You Have Now - Grasshopper
My friend, Hali recently saw this saying on a church billboard: "Today is the tomorrow you were worried about yesterday." How much time can we afford to be absent absorbed in future worry or past woe?
The Vibration of Your Bell can be Heaven or Hell - Grasshopper
Did you ever notice how short the sound associated with the ringing of a bell actually is? The sound comes out of silence and returns to silence, and what is in between is our existence.
The Real “Catch 22” is Your Criticism of You - Grasshopper
Self criticism keeps alive any unwanted condition in you by giving it more energy with every blow you strike.
A Mistake is Renaming a Part of Reality We Don’t Like - Grasshopper
We truly make a mistake when we deny the outcome of reality by saying, "It shouldn't have happened."
Suckle This: The Bosom of Being - Grasshopper
How much of our lives are spent on the receiving end of a dried up, cultural teat?
When Looking For A Sign, You May Miss The Exit - Grasshopper
Countless, unsuccessful attempts at seeking a sign to show up have not prevented us from continuing a practice that doesn't work.
You Have to Let Go of What Was in Order to Get to What Is - Grasshopper
"What was" intentions put too much of our attention on the past. The ego loves this because it has succeeded in convincing us that we can change the past and control the uncontrollable. We can't. "What is" puts our intention and attention on our present reality and what's possible.
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