Taking Good Care of Yourself

Treat Yourself Like a Genius Worthy of Adoration

Below are three questions for you.

Question 1. Who laid a curse on you in the past? Who said you would never accomplish your dreams? Who discouraged you, foiled your plans, or hoped to prevent you from fulfilling your soul's code?

Whoever those subverters and detractors were, whether they were relatives or enemies, teachers or bosses, I invite you to diminish the grip they have had on you.

Push hard. Be a rowdy warrior as you shrink, shred, and dismantle their influence. Be a fierce defender of your integrity and self-respect as you banish their power over you.

What actions can you take to ensure you won't be inhibited or limited by their negative expectations in the future? How can you triumph over their ignorant cruelty? What can you do to build the strength you need to diminish their influence?

To read a story about how I did these things, GO HERE.

Question 2. How can you use your enemies and adversaries as teachers? What healing transformations might you unleash by responding to the influences of people who don't like you, want to prevent you from succeeding, or have beliefs that are opposed to yours?

One useful lesson to learn is how to detach from your hatred and fear of them—not let them poison your mood. Another teaching to learn from your antagonists is how to keep from buying into their opinions about you.

If you work towards your dreams even when you know there's someone who expects you to fail, you hone your willpower. You build up your courage and stamina in ways that aren't possible when everyone loves you and approves of you.

I will go so far as to advise you to identify your own reverse mentor. This might be a person who is working in the same field as you or who has skills similar to yours, but who is making different choices than you.

While reflecting on this person's life and work, formulate a clear and vigorous picture of what you don't want to become.

Question 3. Say the following aloud: "No. No. No. Nonononononono."

Again. Say, "No. No. No. Nonononononono."

Take it further. Speak the following aloud:  "No. No. No. Nonononononono. I can't go along with you on that. No. No. No. I won't take on more responsibilities. No. No. No. No. I don't agree with your views, and I won't let you invade my space or violate my boundaries. No. No. No. Nonononononono."

Now compose five similar affirmations sculpted for your specific needs. Practice them until you can chant them in your sleep. That way, you can say "no" in your dreams, too.

For extra credit: While practicing your refusals, maintain a cheery, blithe, or ebullient tone of voice, stripped of defensiveness and malice.

STRANGE BLESSINGS

Here’s a story from my life about reversing a curse.

When I was 19 years old, a stranger shot me with a gun. The attack happened on Duke University's East Campus in Durham, North Carolina. It was 1:30 a.m. on a night in May. I was walking from my friend's home near the campus to the Greyhound bus station downtown, where I planned to hop a bus to Philadelphia at 2:30.

Too bad I couldn't afford a taxi. My backpack was heavy, I was already sleepy, and the trek would take 40 minutes.

I had passed Baldwin Auditorium at the north end of the campus. As I looped behind Brown Residence Hall, two prowlers stepped out from behind a tree. They were both holding shotguns and stood less than 20 feet away. One spoke to me: "Do you know where the auditorium is?" I was petrified and confused.

A few moments later, I heard a bang, then felt a whoosh of tiny missiles piercing the right side of my buttocks.

I knew I was in trouble. Would they fire again? My questionable strategy was to fall on the ground and pretend I was dead. I hoped they would think they had killed me. There'd be no need to bombard me with more rounds.

Unfortunately, I collapsed in a way that I could not see them. I lay there in a heap, not knowing their next move. Were they creeping closer to pull the trigger again, or were they fleeing the scene of the crime? I worked hard to act like a dead man, trying to betray no motion. It was almost impossible to keep from shivering and avoid taking deep breaths.

After a few minutes, I couldn't bear the agonizing suspense. Were they still nearby? I pulled up my head and upper body to look around. To my relief, they were nowhere in sight.

I struggled to rise, feeling the stings in my flesh grow more excruciating and watching the blood drip from the holes in my jeans. To my surprise, despite the pain, I was able to move. I hobbled to the front door of Brown Residence Hall and entered. Behind a desk, a security guard was on 24-hour duty.

"I hate to alarm you," I told her, "but I've just been shot."

TO READ THE REST OF THIS STORY, go here: https://tinyurl.com/StrangeBlessings

LOVE EVERYTHING ABOUT LIFE?

I dream I love everything about life. I dream that each event I have ever experienced or will ever experience is cherished and sublime—even the painful and puzzling interludes.  

I dream I have personal possession of the universe’s most splendid creation: consciousness. 

I dream torrents of praise and gratitude for the mercurial flashes and shimmers that whirl inside my head. I dream amused amazements that I can think thoughts any time I want to—soaring, luminescent, flamboyant thoughts or shriveled, rusty, burrowing thoughts, thoughts that can invent or destroy, corrupt or redeem, bless or curse.  

I dream I wallow and revel in rolling flows of feelings. Are they poignant or intoxicating? Salty or like nectar? Condensed or capacious? Akin to thunderbolts or labyrinths? I adore them all. I welcome every one. I relish the privilege of harboring such blessed intensity. I exult in commanding such extravagant life force. 

I dream of an even more lustrous and luxurious stroke of luck, too. I dream of owning and operating an imagination—a prodigious tool I use to shape the way my astonishments unfurl. It’s a resplendent and sumptuous instrument that sanctions me to find eternity in every blade of green weed, every whispered blue word, every touch of electric flesh. 

I would love for you to dream dreams as exhilarating as those I’ve just described.

Charles Du Bos wrote the words in the above meme.

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FREE WILL ASTROLOGY

For the Week of October 24

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): As a teenager, I loved the music of Jefferson Airplane. I recall sitting on the couch in my New Jersey home and listening to their albums over and over again. Years later, I was performing on stage at a San Francisco nightclub with my band, World Entertainment War. In the audience was Paul Kantner, a founding member of Jefferson Airplane. After the show, he came backstage and introduced himself. He said he wanted his current band, Jefferson Starship, to cover two of my band’s songs on his future album. Which he did. I suspect you will soon experience a comparable version of my story, Scorpio. Your past will show up bearing a gift for your future. A seed planted long ago will finally blossom.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): My horoscopes are directed toward individuals, not groups. Yet it's impossible to provide oracles about your personal destiny without considering the collective influences that affect you. Every day, you are impacted by the culture you live in. For instance, you encounter news media that present propaganda as information and regard cynicism as a sign of intellectual vigor. You live on a planet where the climate is rapidly changing, endangering your stability and security. You are not a narrow-minded bigot who doles out hatred toward those who are unlike you, but you may have to deal with such people. I bring this to your attention, Sagittarius, because now is an excellent time to take an inventory of the world's negative influences—and initiate aggressive measures to protect yourself from them. Even further, I hope you will cultivate and embody positive alternatives.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): I suspect you will be extra attractive, appealing, and engaging in the coming weeks. You may also be especially convincing, influential, and inspirational. What do you plan to do with all this potency? How will you wield your flair? Here's what I hope: You will dispense blessings everywhere you go. You will nurture the collective health and highest good of groups and communities you are part of. PS: In unexpected ways, being unselfish will generate wonderful selfish benefits.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): Do you fantasize about being a masterful manager of your world? Have you imagined the joy of being the supreme sovereign of your holy destiny? Do you love the idea of rebelling against anyone who imagines they have the right to tell you what you should do and who you are? If you answered yes to those questions, I have excellent news, Aquarius: You are now primed to take exciting steps to further the goals I described. Here’s a helpful tip: Re-dedicate yourself to the fulfillment of your two deepest desires. Swear an oath to that intention.

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): The Liberation Season is here. How can you take maximum advantage of the emancipatory energies? Here are suggestions: 1. Plan adventures to frontier zones. 2. Sing and dance in the wilderness. 3. Experiment with fun and pleasure that are outside your usual repertoire. 4. Investigate what it would mean for you to be on the vanguard of your field. 5. Expand your understandings of sexuality. 6. Venture out on a pilgrimage. 7. Give yourself permission to fantasize extravagantly. 8. Consider engaging in a smart gamble. 8. Ramble, wander, and explore.

ARIES (March 21-April 19): Secrets and hidden agendas have been preventing you from getting an accurate picture of what’s actually happening. But you now have the power to uncover them. I hope you will also consider the following bold moves: 1. Seek insights that could be the key to your future sexiness. 2. Change an aspect of your life you've always wanted to change but have never been able to. 3. Find out how far you can safely go in exploring the undersides of things. 4. Help your allies in ways that will ultimately inspire them to help you.

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TAURUS (April 20-May 20): From the early 1910s to the late 1920s, silent films were the only kind of films that were made. The proper technology wasn’t available to pair sounds with images. “Talking pictures,” or “talkies,” finally came into prominence in the 1930s. Sadly, the majority of silent films, some of which were fine works of art, were poorly preserved or only exist now in second- or third-generation copies. I’m meditating on this situation as a metaphor for your life, Taurus. Are there parts of your history that seem lost, erased, or unavailable? The coming weeks will be an excellent time to try to recover them. Remembering and reviving your past can be a potent healing agent.

GEMINI (May 21-June 20): An old proverb tells us, “You must run toward the future and catch it. It is not coming to meet you, but is fleeing from you, escaping into the unknown.” This adage isn’t true for you at all right now, Gemini. In fact, the future is dashing toward you from all directions. It is not shy or evasive, but is eager to embrace you and is full of welcoming energy. How should you respond? I recommend you make yourself very grounded. Root yourself firmly in an understanding of who you are and what you want. Show the future clearly which parts of it you really want and which parts are uninteresting to you.

CANCER (June 21-July 22): Early in his musical career, Cancerian innovator Harry Partch played traditional instruments and composed a regular string quartet. But by age 29, he was inventing and building novel instruments that had never before been used. Among the materials he used in constructing his Zymo-Xyl, Eucal Blossom, and Chromelodeon were tree branches, light bulbs, and wine bottles. I'm inviting you to enter into a Harry Partch phase of your cycle, Cancerian. The coming weeks will be an excellent time to express your unique genius—whether that's in your art, your business, your personal life, or any other sphere where you love to express your authentic self.

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): Life's unpredictable flow will bring you interesting new blessings if you revamp your fundamentals. Listen closely, Leo, because this is a subtle turn of events: A whole slew of good fortune will arrive if you joyfully initiate creative shifts in your approaches to talking, walking, exercising, eating, sleeping, meditating, and having fun. These aren't necessarily earth-shaking transformations. They may be as delicate and nuanced as the following: 1. adding amusing words to your vocabulary; 2. playfully hopping and skipping as you stroll along; 3. sampling new cuisines; 4. keeping a notebook or recorder by your bed to capture your dreams; 5. trying novel ways to open your mind and heart; 6. seeking fresh pleasures that surprise you.

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): In an old Irish folk tale, the fairies give a queen a crystal cauldron with special properties. If anyone speaks three falsehoods in its presence, it cracks into three fragments. If someone utters three hearty truths while standing near it, the three pieces unite again. According to my metaphorical reading of your current destiny, Virgo, you are now in the vicinity of the broken cauldron. You have expressed one restorative truth, and need to proclaim two more. Be gently brave and bold as you provide the healing words.

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): Let’s review the highlights of the recent months. First, you expanded your perspective, blew your mind, and raised your consciousness. That was fabulous! Next, you wandered around half-dazed and thoroughly enchanted, pleased with your new freedom and spaciousness. That, too, was fantastic! Then, you luxuriously indulged in the sheer enjoyment of your whimsical explorations and experimentations. Again, that was marvelous! Now you’re ready to spend time integrating all the teachings and epiphanies that have surged into your life in recent months. This might be less exciting, but it’s equally important.

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