kyle barnett

Yeah. One insight I had was that my minds state has an impact on the story it tells.

Nice! I gave up smoking with mindfulness. I mean our government overly taxed cigarettes to the point they are ridiculously priced. But I loved the practice of pulling a cigarette out and just sitting with and then putting it back in the carton and each time it got longer and longer. But I was never a heavy smoker.

Yeah. I feel for me it can be a habit. Always going for walks. I end up contemplating all the drama in my life instead of watching videos or reading.

Is this hindering me spiritually by keeping my ego and all my problems more alive? I feel like it is but at the same time I feel it helps me contemplate. Yet ai do it and end up more frantic in life. I always go for solo walks and do this. Is there a way to keep it at bay without going over board? Note. I'm currently unemployed at the moment so have a lot of free time. But struggle to get the develop to find videos to study or read without getting into distractions. However I always feel even if I wander outside and get lost in my head. I also manage to refrain from a lot of distractions so I take that as a win. What are your guys thoughts?

Yes since 2021. It's complicated but it took a long time for me to be diagnosed

Ever since I got out of highschool I worked really hard on trying to drive and get my license. I got turned down by jobs for not having a full license and legally it takes over 3 years in my country to get a full but at the same time, I got diagnosed with epile in 2021 (beforehand I had symptoms but they were considered not real seizures it's complicated.) so I was driving but if I had a full seizure I'd have to wait a year again to drive. But I felt like If I couldn't drive I was screwed in life. I'm starting to undo that belief more and more

Hey guys I've been following Leo since highschool. I'm now 26. I've been meditating for many years and following spiritual practices but also I consider myself someone who wants to be somewhat successful in life. While I've had great benefits on my spiritual practice in life. I've had a lot of struggles in my productivity and what I want to do career wise in life. I also struggle to get myself to study basic self help now and continue my meditation practice because of this. I am married and live with my wife who also has a health condition. She is quite happy on her own but we're both unemployed and can't drive however we live with her mother/my mother in law. I wanted to work full time and drive. I hate not being able to drive. It really puts me off life in general. I feel stuck because of it. I've been chasing the ability to drive for years only to keep failing due to my epilepsy.

Thanks heaps for your input guys. Appreciate it alot.

Hey guys. Just started to come back to these forums after some time so pardon me if I haven't seen this posted already. But I love with my wife and I am always telling her that I am going out for walks, during the day and during the night. I love the night sky, I love to get exercise, but at the same time I also do most of my obsessive thinking. For years I've had a half hour meditation morning practice but been stuck in alot of situations where I am not working. Been dealing with some personal issues so been unemployed for a while, But at the same time, I get into ruts where I stop watching videos and instead try to think my way around every problem in my life. Am I normal? The problems in my life is my negative views of the world and I had a realisation that all thought is essentially problem solving (or trying to leave the current moment you're in for some other experience) ... Hence if you're thinking all the time. You're inevitably looking for problems or escaping reality by default. I have recently started doing the odd hours long meditation... And I've realised that meditation can change your perspective on time. For example a boring job is only suffering because with an unstable restless mind, time drags on. But having a more concentrated mind, situations that are unpleasant you are able to tolerate and even embrace. Sometimes I follow spiritual teachers and get a vibe that they key to enlightenment is to just give up thinking. But I also noticed that me contemplating so much. I find more problems with the world, that even my associates who would smoke weed, watching tv and play videogames all day long are more positive then me since they're less stuck in thoughts. Love to hear your guys thoughts. Cheers.

I see. Il check out more of on the forum. Thanks for the input

Just beat rellana. But may have overspent my time trying to beat her. Talking 3 days straight fighter her lol

Hey guys. I've been vegan (with exceptions) for about 7 years now. For ethical reasons predominantly. But, veganism gets a bad wrap, and for a lot of good reasons. I used to be with a partner who was vegan and their family was vegan, I did a bit of vegan activism and while I was on board with supporting activism. I also do not like ideology and fundamentalism. I am no longer with that partner and have a new partner in which we are married. But now I'm practically the only vegan. I still support the idea of moving towards veganism or reducing animal suffering as much as possible. I believe that we do have the potential to move towards a vegan world in the sense of moving away from factory farming and animal exploitation. Of course nothing set in stone. There's always going to be exploitation. I see veganism similar to other areas of life such as politics where one end, people are defending of older values and sceptical of moving on and the other end of the spectrum people are ignorant and dismissive of older values that worked for generations. Vegans using terms such as "animal holocaust, slavery" etc. But this is seen as extreme. I assume... That slavery or black rights, immigration etc. in the times had similar issues. Because those systems were dependant on conserving one group over another hence survival. Both in terms of self and community. You had this polarising effect of left and right. But as time goes on society evolves and it becomes easier to be more independent and in turn provide more for the outside world. Eg. Countries working in conjunction, cultures coming together, traditional standards lowered. I think veganism is a great example of spiral dynamics green and how on one hand it's moving past human race as important and animals as inferior to animals being just as important as humans... It's also a matter of dismissing older traditions that have kept the human race functioning . Those older traditions in the sense of lower stage colours red, blue and orange etc. are what the vegan extremists so to speak would dismiss or not consider as much. Of course evolving through green can appear in many ways, not just humans vs animals. Now for me. I agree with alot of the science to veganism environmentally, nutritionally, ethically etc. Hence I am vegan and also feel if someone can't fully be vegan that doing their best to work towards it is an important value. I know there is the argument that "everyone's body is different" but as far as I am personally aware (feel free to point out some objections, I'm open minded) ... If you're getting a blood test, aside from B12, it should be pretty simple to find a plant alternative for any nutrient or energy source. So part of me agrees with promoting it and consider that veganism is something we should strive towards as a society, but it's always a question of "where do you draw the line?" What are your guys thoughts?

I understand your point of view and I agree to an extent. To me it's more moving in the right direction instead of doing nothing. I am vegan but even I think it's excessive to push everyone to go vegan. But it is a direction I believe humanity should be working towards it. The argument that we may aswell not bother is coming from a place of ignorance. I know in new zealand it was seen as the dummest thing ever to move plastic bags to paper and cotton at grocery stores. But times have changed and we have adapted. People say it's the circle of life. That breeding billions of animals in factory farms and brutally killing them for production is life is a cop out. We find it highly disturbing what happened to the jews but reaply what's the difference? The nazis considered the jews inferior and we consider animals the same. I'm not saying we have to let insects infest our houses because they have the same rights as us in that sense. But factory farming is a result of culture and sense pleasure rather than that of necessity. Before disagreeing though. Being open minded the possibility that maybe we don't need to do this is the right thing to do. Even if I am wrong and for some reason we NEED to do it. Nobody wants to consider alternatives. I see a disconnect there. My fundamental question. What makes a distinction in regards to rights to live between humans and animals. Key... Its not intelligence

Hey guys. Just a quick note. This is a topic I feel should be explored. If what people are saying is true about veganism in regards to the environment and health aswell as the cruelty in regards to animal agriculture... Shouldn't we open our compassion towards animals aswel as humans? Why are humans so inclined on helping humanity but putting animals as secondary? It sounds silly, but what makes a human different or have superiority over animals? Why should we help humans but not animals? Are animals less sentient than humans? Want to hear your guys thoughts? Note. This is a topic I want to explore in this post, I am not here to push my views on anyone else, but to investigate. Personally (and this is just me) it never made sense how we consider it okay to exploit animals but not humans.

Good point. I feel ethics is a big compenent though. I find our views on animals vs out views on all humans from an equality stand point are untenable.