Steps to Staying Happy and Sane in a Pretty Difficult World Sometimes/ I Know Everyone Knows, But I Like to Remind Myself

     First and foremost, feelings are not facts.  All suffering is caused by lies we tell ourselves, or lies we hear, that we believe.  While intuition is good, one needs to draw the line between good intuition and just plain paranoia.  I think we all know who and what is good for us, and healthy, and what is not, in the long run.
     Here are things, which I think are important to remember, 1) do not think too much.  Rely more on your gut instincts.  Thinking too much can turn into a mind f- if you know what I mean, 2) never compare yourself, your circumstances, or your possessions, to those of others, it is a nonproductive thing to do, 3) remember that no one on earth, is always completely happy, that no matter what the deal is, it could be worse or better, but it just is what it is, and 4) do not worry about what other people think of you.  They will think what they will, beyond your control.  They will talk behind your back, and to your face, but it does not even have to effect you.  Just ignore it, them, and move on.  There are always other friends to be found, and there are always places you will fit in, even if your friends are fickle, two faced, and stab you in the back.  Feel sorry for them.  People only put you down, to make themselves feel superior.    
     If people make you less, they think it somehow makes them more, but it does not work that way.  You are a child of God, and they cannot touch you.  I guess when I say you, I mean me.  I have come to see this kind of behavior as nothing but lame.  People only put people down out of jealousy or judgment, which is stupid, because one needs to walk in another's moccasins before judging them, and another's experience is no one else's business.  Why someone would want to tear another down, beats me.  I have no idea, except that it validates them somehow, in their own imagination.  It is just that I have experienced  much contempt from people, at different times, whether or not my own fault.  I think if it were my fault, I at least tried to make it right, or make an amends.  If someone cannot accept that, then they were looking for a reason to part from you, and perhaps it was mutual.  It is not a reason for hate, although sometimes it feels that way.  It can feel like hate coming your way, but the best way to deal with that, is to tune it out.  Send out loving vibes, no matter how you feel, to the world in general.  It is like reiki, just sending good energy, and protecting one's own center of well being, at the same time.  And, most of all, just let go.  If patient, things can become clear, less abrasive, over time, and it will no longer be an issue.  It is only painful if one allows it to be.  
     Like the song, Who Knows Where the Time Goes, the lyrics say, 'sad deserted shores, your fickle friends are leaving, ah but then you know, it's time for them to go, but I will still be here, I have no thought of leaving, I do not count the time...'   Sandy Denny, covered by singers such as Judy Collins
     The thing is that people just grow apart sometimes.  Of course, sometimes nothing can bring you together again, but that is only because it is no longer meant to be.  People who truly love you, will stay in your life.  It is called unconditional love, and it goes both ways.  Perhaps, I am naive to speak of unconditional love.  I know I do not know everything.  Also, everyone has a right to their opinions.  I just put mine out there all the time, with my blogging.  But, I do know I need to stop being wimpy and apologetic all the time, just for being me.  It is one thing to try to avoid hurting people's feelings, which has been my goal, to stop hurting people's feelings, with some of my strong opinions.  I guess what I mean is that there must be a way to have sensitivity to others, and at the same time, be true to your beliefs.  Perhaps, one can be quiet about them at times, until the time comes up, when you are actually asked, or have a chance to have a voice, if that makes sense.   
     Another aspect, 5) is to stay in today, not tomorrow, or yesterday.  Stay in the power of now.  Be mindful, whether it be at work, folding laundry, taking an infant to the park, making a cup of tea, or cooking and eating a meal, alone or with company.
     Lastly, but not least, perhaps most, 6) forgive yourself and forgive others.  In a Course in Miracles, this is the meaning of atonement, but on a lighter, more layman way, simple forgiveness, especially for oneself, makes a lot of difference.  It is like finally being able to breath again.  Breath in self-forgiveness, breath out gratitude, or vise verse.  I just made that up, but it makes sense.
     Resentment, which is really the same as not being able to forgive another, or others, is like drinking poison, waiting for another to die.  It is a number one offender.  Breath in forgiveness, and let resentment go with every breath going back out.  Meditate on forgiveness, self and others, and letting go.  The most important to forgive, of all, is oneself, because to be happy, loving oneself is absolutely necessary.  It is absolutely important to be compassionate, without being an enabler, but it is fundamental to be compassionate to oneself.  Self recrimination, deprecation, and self judgment, are a destructive path, to say the very least.  I have gone that route.  I know first hand.
     Every tortured soul has thought at one time or another, 'why am I even alive?'  The thing is that no one has a choice in the matter.  You just are, and that is how it is.  
     Life on life's terms, an AA expression, and a good one, is one of the best slogans ever presented by any group of any kind.  What other way is there to live?
     No matter what religion, it is all pretty much the same.  To be a Christian, is to be Christlike, not to judge, asking one's Father in heaven to forgive others, just like Jesus did on the cross.
     In Buddhism, it is a wheel of life, a wheel of suffering, in a sense.  No one escapes the suffering, one way or the other.
     In Hinduism, it is karma, the law of attraction, do onto others, as you would have done on to yourself, just like Christianity.
     A Course in Miracles, is if I attack my brother, I attack my own self.  I am but crying for love.  When my brother attacks me, he or she is crying for love as well.  It just does not seem that way at the time.
     In Judaism, it is just basically, be a good person.  You will rise up on judgment day and be judged, sort of like what Jehovah Witnesses believe, but not as radical.
     Meher Baba said, "love those you cannot love."
     The I Ching says to come from a place of gentle integrity, never striking out at anyone, but taking action, only when the time is right, but to be a superior person, not indulging in inferior influences.  "Once you put your toe in it, you are swimming in it."  Also, "the hysterics of the ego, only bring downfall and humiliation."  There are times for retreat, times to withdraw, and times to glide like a "fox on thin ice."  There are times when there is stagnation, times of increase, and times when rain comes down like waterfalls, cleansing everything, and there is a time of the sun coming out, time to make haste.  
     What I am saying is that all these philosophies are good, one and the same.  They are all paths to God, good paths, which lead to the same place, unity, oneness, peace of mind, serenity, heaven, love, and the Holy Spirit thought system, rather than the ego-mind.  The big mind, the higher self, the true self, the infinite mind, oneness again.  Namaste.