LastThursday

It's ok to not finish things sometimes, no need to pressure yourself that way. You will finish things if they're important enough. But also commitment and discipline are skills you can learn over time. The only way to learn those skills is to start doing things.

If happiness is our natural set point, then you should be looking to reduce sources of unhappiness. Literally, ascending Maslow's hierarchy is to do with this, and so is Buddhism. There's the physical, biological and the psychological. Western self-help culture has it the wrong way round.

You can't beat 70's and 80's series intros I could go on, but I won't.

If You Think, you wanna 'escape' this forum.. Chances are, you are addicted.. from what I know.. the thing you're addicted to satisfies, 3 or more of your Needs.. So Identify those Needs.. and Let them Go, or Fix them. Thank you taking on my question so earnestly.

There is form and structure, that much is apparent. Why? Because awareness itself is formed and structured. Awareness is precisely that which it is aware of. Your body is awareness itself. There's no link, they are both one and the same. If you like, awareness is modulated by God to have the persistent form of a body thinking it has a point of view. For no particular reason. Awareness can divide itself in an infinitude of ways, and reform again at will. You both have a body and not. Your body is contiguous with the rest of existence, there are no gaps. The air in your lungs is both you and not you. All this is one flow, and an infinite number of flows at once.

No. Not as long as you have something to learn about yourself, let her be your unwitting teacher. And maybe she can learn from you too.

Could you teach me how to escape this forum, there seems to be no way out?

God I haven't heard this since it came out in 1990, boy that's a long time ago.

Red: I will threaten you with violence Blue: Swearing and blaspheming is intolerable Orange: I must win the argument Green: You must show compassion and see the other person's viewpoint Yellow: The structure of the forum makes people behave in a certain way It really is just having a bigger picture view of things. It's the ability to constantly go meta and zoom out, and also to understand what makes things tick, and how things fit together. It takes a certain mindset. That's my interpretation anyway.

My gift to the Dating section

That is definitely a more mature way of approaching discipline. It's also worth noting that sometimes it is appropriate to take a temporary break from discipline. Knowing when to do this is also critical for the process of discipline. I think many people approach discipline as this fixed "thing" you do to get what you want. Say I want to learn to run a 5K race. Most would say, start with a short distance, run several times a week and increase your distance each time. That is a fixed formula for discipline. But it's fairly unconscious and robotic. But if you're consciously aware of what discipline is, you realise it's a dynamic flexible system. You know some days you can run further than others, some days not at all (and that's ok). You know that maybe reaching your goal doesn't have a deadline. You also understand why you're being disciplined at all (to reach a goal soon), but you also understand why you want that goal (maybe to get fit, or impress others). You also realise you can go meta, and maybe run with others or join a club to keep you motivated. Maybe you also track your progress over time. Being conscious about discipline and understanding what it actually is, makes it more powerful.

I concur. That's the only way I've improved. But also be critical of your own writing. Always try finding the "best" way you can to get your point across. Another option is to use ChatGPT to improve your style and grammar, not to be lazy, but to see where you can improve.

God is uncountable. There is neither one nor many. Many and one are appearances, not the nature of God. You are confused because you believe in a "you" and "others", but they are also appearances within God.

You got it. You're creating it consciously (i.e. in awareness). You think there's a duality, but it's a mirage.

There is only consciousness. Or, to put it another way, you are aware of what you're aware of. There is no unconsciousness, because you're not aware of it.

You have to be super vigilant not to just get lost in words, definitions of words, and relationships between words. Words are NEVER the thing they represent. The correct way to use words is to use them as anchors or starting points for self-exploration. Don't assume you just "know" what consciousness is. You don't. Consciousness is just a word, not the thing it points to. Your enquiry needs to be done outside the realm of words and knowledge - otherwise you just get lost and confused.

If the GF needs something to do to keep her from distracting you, then just delegate some of your work to her. Two birds, one stone. Seriously though, either find a work space away from home, or work differently, maybe in one hour spurts or at night. Tell GF you are only distractable exactly on the hour. Or find her a day job.

I'd say discipline is an emotional process as well as a mechanical process. There's a feeling of it being somewhat robotic and potentially never ending. But we feel differently at different times, and being a robot goes against this freedom. To make discipline more palatable, there has to be a clearly defined payoff. If I lift weights, the payoff is clear: bigger muscles and better fitness. Sometimes the payoff is a long way away, so you have to build a good strong emotional narrative, to keep going. But discipline is also about habit. If practised enough, then a habit becomes unconcious. The point being that you stop consciously resisting the anti-emotional aspect of discipline. For example, I walk every day came rain or shine, even if I don't want to. But it's a habit, and all I have to do is put my shoes on and leave my flat. The payoff is also clear for me: baseline fitness and good circadian rhythm and better mental health. Conscious discipline is then being aware of the process of being disciplined. The most important thing however, is what are you being disciplined about? Are you trying to master something, improve yourself, doing it for it's own sake? Is the payoff worth it and can it be made into a habit?

Welcome. Thirty is young, you have many many years to get what you want. I would work on two fronts: 1. Work out how to meet as many women as possible. Don't put all your hopes in one thing. Are there any activities you like doing? Join a club doing that activity. Regular contact is the easiest way to meet someone. Be more sociable, go out as much as possible. Talk to as many people as possible (men and women). Learn how to have social energy. 2. Work on yourself. Improve your appearance, improve your diet, improve your fitness, sleep better, raise your consciousness, master something, work out your life purpose, learn empathy, give love. Actualize! Doing these things will make you 1000x more attractive, as well as improve your life. BTW your English is excellent.

Which is it? I listed companionship as a freedom, because you mentioned it as a consequence of restriction. When you're in a relationship the dynamic changes from when you're single. You're not free to see other people (unless you explicitly agree it upfront). But there are compensating freedoms, such as having someone care about you, financial stability, sense of purpose; I could go on. So if you cheat, then you could potentially forfeit those relationship freedoms. Freedom is never absolute, there's always strings attached, even if you're single, even if you're in an open relationship.

Insights and opinions are always about something. So there's always some background you need first to generate insights. For example if I wanted insights into spirituality, I should probably practise spirituality first or at least have enough knowledge about it. Sometimes the best way to get that background is to learn what other people have already said about it. I'm sure you've all learnt from Leo and and then had your own insights?

I relate to this in that I'm single basically because I like my particular type of freedom. Despite that, I think calling a relationship a restriction of freedom is not quite right. Realistically, you're exchanging one set of freedoms for another set of freedoms. There are certain freedoms I don't have because I'm single (for example companionship and intimacy). Another reason cheating hurts, is because when you're in a relationship the relationship itself behaves as a single entitity with its own identity. Cheating directly threatens that identity. The relationship itself wants to survive (as an entity unto itself).