Barefoot Doctor Bit: When Should You Decide to Settle for Less?
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Barefoot Doctor: “It’s not that you have to settle for second best at any time. You have to trust that what manifests for you is the best on offer at that time and while it may fall short of long-held dreams, accept it graciously as a step along the way to their fulfillment.
Barefoot Doctor Bit; How Can You Learn to Let Go of Vanity?
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Barefoot Doctor : “Everyone has a narcissistic side – it’s not only intrinsic but essential to the human condition – the look-at-me, look-at-me aspect of the psyche, that part of us that wants to impress. We need it to make a face for ourselves so we can make a contribution to the world.
But as time goes by, you get to realize that what gives your life value and meaning is not how good others think you look, neither in the way you appear nor the way you behave, but from the quality of the love you’re injecting into the collective mix in any given moment. And of course from the quality of the love you’re receiving in return.
Because ultimately, that’s what everybody wants, what everybody needs: love. That’s why everyone wants to look good, and to look like they know what they’re doing. That’s why people want to impress others. They want love.
Barefoot Doctor Bit; How Can You Become More Self-Disciplined?
Barefoot Doc; click for more
Barefoot Doctor: “I started studying martial arts and meditation at 11 – that was 46 years ago, and have practiced every day ever since.
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The benefits are huge and keep growing – physical, mental and emotional strength, flexibility, resilience endurance, equilibrium and confidence to name but a few. I often give thanks for that, as I know it would be hard to acquire the discipline to do so as an adult, once all the pressures of life accrue and you get more calcified in your ways. But it’s possible.
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Eventually the penny drops that if you want to be on as good form all the time as you can possibly be, you have to acquire the self-discipline to do your own version of some sort of benign daily practice. And as soon as you’re clear about this basic equation and make a firm agreement with yourself to uphold it, the willpower to discipline yourself arises naturally from that.
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However I believe the biggest mistake people make is setting their daily goal too high. Far better to commit to doing merely 4 minutes each morning as that’s easy to do and keep up, than committing to an hour or even just 30 minutes a day, which if you’re not used to it, once the novelty wears off, is easy to relegate to the back-burner and let other things get in the way.
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Then you start missing your practice one day, two days, then three, feel secretly ashamed, don’t address it, go into denial and never return to it. Better to just do the bare minimum and leave yourself wanting more each day – that way you keep coming back.
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And with any sort of practice, it’s doing it every day for the rest of your life that provides the cumulative value you’re looking for.
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Once the discipline to do your daily practice – whatever that might be- has been accessed and implemented, it’s then far easier to apply it to stopping yourself engaging in any harmful habits or addictions you may be wanting to relinquish as well.”
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Questions by Skrufff.
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Barefoot Doctor’s new book, THE MESSAGE, vision for a new world, is now available in all formats via www.barefootmessage.com
Barefoot Doctor’s 2012 Message (interview)
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“There is a need to be aware an almighty storm is on the way and so do what you can to lash yourself down as securely as possible until it passes and the rebuild operation gets underway.”
Though Taoist teacher (and regular Skrufff contributor) Barefoot Doctor is more than a little apocalyptic in his new book The Message he’s characteristically optimistic despite his warning.
“We have reached a crisis point in human history,” he continues, “The indication is for collapse rather than destruction – the sort of collapse that leads to the discovery of a necessary jewel that might have otherwise been left undiscovered.”
Introducing new Skrufff contributor Gary Smith
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We’re delighted to welcome top Euro music/ technology journalist and conference guru Gary to the Skrufff team, joining Alisson Gothz, the Barefoot Doctor and Push as a regular contributor. As well as working as consultant/ moderator for Amsterdam Dance Event, Gary’s an expert on architecture, cycling fine wine and all things Marseilles and will be contributing bits and pieces on anything and everything.
Based in Marseilles, he’s also (in his own words) a ‘voracious consumer of historical docs, keen hiker and lover of wild places. http://garygarry.posterous.com and http://mymetier.posterous.com
One of the questions that I presume most tourists ask themselves when arriving in Marseille is ‘how do I find the definitive Bouillabaisse/Soupe de Poisson?’ … to which there are several answers: if you’re in the Vieux Port, the best choice is the Miramar on the Quai du Port.
The restaurant is renowned for the richness and authenticity of its versions of those classic dishes, and is a genuine local institution with a deserved reputation for unfailing quality. But for anyone who wants to get away from the port and try somewhere off the tourist track, there are two options closer to the sea.
Barefoot Doctor Bit: How Do You Toughen Up (against life’s hard knocks?)
Barefoot Doctor: “Nothing serves quite as well as a metaphor as entering a martial arts contest.
When you train in tai chi combat (one of the martial arts I practice), you learn to ‘invest in loss’, which means you lose the identification with the surface aspect of the self, that part of you associated with all things temporal, and instead learn to identify with the imperishable core within, that aspect of you that bears witness as your life unfolds through both the ups and downs with equanimity.
It’s like assuming what you normally think of as you, doesn’t actually exist, as if you’ve already died and hence have no life to lose in battle. Like this you become both fearless, hence hard to beat, and naturally inured to the inevitable occasional knocks.
But rather than this toughen you up, it actually softens you, in a similar way to an iron bar wrapped in cotton-wool lagging. In other words, rather than assuming you have to develop a tough exterior to withstand the knocks, focus on identifying more and more with that imperishable aspect of self at your core and you’ll find you hardly feel the knocks at all.
And paradoxically, once the knockers realize they’re not impacting on who you really are, they tend to get bored and go and bother someone else instead. So you win both ways.
In short, visualize yourself as a tiger, your bones as powerful and indestructible as iron bars but your surface all lovely, soft and furry, and in no time the knocks of life will no longer be much of an issue.”
Questions by Skrufff.
Discover the Taoist super-skills and find out more about the Barefoot Doctor at http://www.barefootdoctorglobal.com/
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