The Sweetness of Life

By Archangel Metatron

Channelled through Natalie Glasson, 24 October 13

How does one describe the sweetness of life? How can you access the sweetness of life and does life have an eternal sweetness to it that is yours to revel in? These are questions that I wish to speak of today and to ask you to contemplate. Is there such an existence as experiencing sweetness in your life with every moment of your reality and are you deserving of the sweetness of life?

As you are aware, your life upon the Earth is a process of learning. You could say that it is no more than a process of learning. Could you allow yourself to accept that your experiences, connections, interactions with your reality, loved ones, animals and yourself are simply processes of learning? Surely this would take away meaning, purpose and authenticity from your reality and existence upon the Earth? As always it is for you to decide how you choose to answer such questions and perspectives put to you but, by accepting that every aspect of your reality and even your existence upon the Earth is a process of learning for you, you allow yourself to detach from your reality seeking the truth within every experience, feeling or thought. In a reality of learning where multiple options, ideas and scenarios are given, you have the purpose of seeking the truth; this is the truth within your being.

Truth can be an unpredictable process of learning and activation within your being because there is no way of validating the truth of the Creator. Even as an Archangel speaking with you now, I can only share with you what I believe to be my truth and yet I have no solid validation from the Creator as I speak. I do however have a feeling of deep absolute and complete love as I share my truth with you now which is all the validation that I need to continue to hold complete faith in the presence of the Creator flowing around and through my being. Seeking truth can ask you to question yourself, your beliefs and your understanding. Seeking truth asks you to be discerning and to clear yourself of false beliefs while raising your energy vibration so that you are open and awake to new inspirations and insights that fill you with love and amazement. Seeking truth asks you to familiarise yourself with your own energies and your thought processes so that you may pinpoint from where within your being your truth is unfolding. If when you access your truth or inspiration within you the ego activates and egotistical reactions occur then you know that you have not yet stimulated your inner truth. Egotistical reactions can be the feeling of wishing to prove another wrong, manipulation, your power being enhanced while taking away the power of others. Even sadness, negativity, lack, bullying, judgement and fear are aspects of the ego which can cloud the truth or divine inspiration from unfolding within your being. The more that you become familiar with the way that you act and react in your daily life the more you will notice when you are speaking, thinking or feeling an illusion and when the truth is emerging from within your being. You may see that seeking to realise your own inner truth which could also be described as your intuition or the voice of the Creator is a powerful process of learning and growth.

Allow yourself to acknowledge every thought, emotion, action, reaction and experience in your life as a process of learning. Then see how you react to this shift in your awareness. Does it make a difference to the way that you view yourself, the way you approach situations and the way that you proceed in your reality? Does it allow you to take a step back and simply observe? This will allow you to rest and release a tremendous amount of pressure that you place upon yourself, reality, others and your spiritual growth.

Accessing and exploring your inner truth is an aspect of the sweetness of life, because once you allow a certain amount of detachment from your reality on the Earth you offer yourself freedom and the ability to experience the sweetness of life. The greatest tool for experiencing the sweetness of life is appreciation; it is not even gratitude but accessing a perceptive appreciation for the flow of life and the physical reality upon the Earth. When you release yourself from the compressing pressure that you place upon yourself daily you begin to realise that everything is joyous, that there is sweetness to life, your life, which you can taste, feel, experience, interact with and see. This sweetness isn’t even the presence of the Creator but is the beauty that is within you and all around you, the ability to love unconditionally, to laugh, to be free, to smile, to feel love, to hold faith, to feel supported, to express yourself and the divine within you fully and to live free from fear. All these things you can give freely to yourself and can experience fully.

The sweetness of life that I speak of is the presence of life itself, the experience of being alive and the experience of the life force energy of the Creator. You have a divine and sacred connection with the Creator and in this life time can experience the Creator fully.

 Practice of Accessing the Sweetness of Life

Take a moment to imagine yourself surrounded by everything that you feel limits you or is a burden upon you, it can be the most mundane aspect of physical life, your emotional life or your mental life.

Imagine that these limitations and burdens have cords connecting to you; know that you chose to create these cords of connection so that you would carry the limitations and burdens with you in your reality. Maybe you have even chosen that once some burdens or limitations have been overcome that you will attach or create another to replace it. Examples of this could be constantly not being able to pay bills, being abused, constantly loosing objects, experiencing fear and so forth.

Then remind yourself that there is sweetness to your reality, there is beauty, freedom, love, truth, bliss and peace for you to experience fully but you only need to allow yourself to. As you allow the love within your heart and soul to manifest and to emanate from within your being, imagine that the love dissolves all bonds of connection and ask that Archangel Michael uses his sword of light to sever your connection with the burdens and limitations eternally. See, sense or acknowledge them flowing away from you.

Now allow yourself to energetically experience yourself, energy and reality free from the burdens and limitations. In this moment you are connecting with the sweetness of your life. You may feel loved, joyous, blissful, peaceful, a sense of freedom and the ability to make changes in your reality.

To exist in this manner externally is your divine right.

By letting go of your attachments to burdens and limitations you are not resolving the issues nor are you ignoring them but you are allowing yourself to enter into a place of personal power and a space within and around you that is attuned and aligned with the Creator. When you are attuned and aligned with the Creator you also access the truth of your being, inspiration, intuition and inner guidance. So the sweetness of life is not only to appreciate all that is within and around you as sacred gifts but to know that you have the guidance within you to move through any situation with ease joy and perfection.

The sweetness of life is to remove yourself from self-inflicted suffering.

By detaching from the burdens and the limitations you are releasing yourself from the experience and feeling of suffering. Whatever you perceive the sweetness of life to be, suffering isn’t present and doesn’t allow you to fully explore yourself and energies. It may allow you to explore negative emotions and energies but are these really a part of your being and truth, meaning is suffering present within the vibrations of the Creator? It may be difficult to accept when you are experiencing suffering of any form, but suffering can be a self-inflicted creation, it is also a lesson created by yourself asking you to love yourself unconditionally.

With your loving power restored, a connection with your intuitions and a feeling of love emanating, you will notice that the burdens and limitations do not hold such power over you and can be resolved by you with tremendous ease. So you are accessing and realising the sweetness of life.

I also wish to bring focus to your emotions and how your emotions are a powerful tool to inflict suffering upon yourself. It is important to observe why you believe you should suffer and why you do not believe yourself to be worthy of experiencing, feeling and acknowledging yourself as love. It is important to realise what suffering is, it can be a fear, a negative thought, a feeling of sadness, it is important to explore aspects of your own suffering especially emotionally.

The sweetness of life is to experience life in a state of bliss, peace and love; this can be achieved and maintained with ease if it is your choosing. Reminding yourself of the love of your being allows you to step away from suffering and realise that your life is sweet already and you are deserving to enjoy every moment of your life and reality upon the Earth.

With appreciation and love,

Archangel Metatron

www.omna.org

There Is Nothing To Fear Except Fear Itself

By Premlatha Rajkumar

I remember one of my teachers explaining fear to me when I was very young. He told me that once two men from his village were travelling through a deep forest to reach another village. This forest was feared by people because it had a lot of poisonous snakes. So these two men were travelling by day time and were planning to reach the other village before night fall. It so happened that a storm brewed up and it became dark very soon. Suddenly one of the men cried aloud that a snake has bitten him, he started foaming in the mouth and fell down in agony. The other man lighted his lantern and tried to see what had happened to his friend.

And to his dismay his friend lost consciousness and died.

With the light of his lantern the man saw that it was not a snake that had bitten his friend. Mangoes are abundant in India in the summer, and people eat the mangoes and throw away the seed, the seeds get dried up in the sun and the hard seed coat splits open on one side like a mouth. The man who died had stepped over one of these mouth opened seeds and it had clung to his heel, he thought that a poisonous snake had bitten him and in heightened emotion of fear he gave this message to the cells of his body. The cells accepted his thought as the truth and they created foaming in the mouth just like it happens in a snake bite and created death of the body.

Fear is the only thing to be feared in life!

The cells of our body are overhearing our thoughts every moment and acting in accordance with it. Are we aware of the thoughts we are feeding the cells every moment? Are we creating death through our thoughts before we have lived?

Our thoughts, feelings, and beliefs create our reality absolutely.

We have the power to create beauty and joy in our life by choosing empowering and resourceful thoughts.

As pure souls our decision to come into these physical bodies is our grandest choice, we signed up for the great things we were going to create in this life time. Every moment of life is meant to be lived fully, in awareness, gratitude, and understanding. When life is lived fully in the present moment, it becomes richer, eternal, and blissful. Through this choice of living life fully we realize the ultimate value of life.

Blessings!

© 2013 P. Rajkumar

Monstaville I. Chapter 36

36

“If someone is rude to you, you give them power and give their behaviour credence if you react (that’s what they want).”

- Sophie Ellis Baxter (regarding what her mother always said).

22 December 2002.

In a way, evil behaviour is only immaturity. Being the opposite of ‘live’ it suggests that someone has not yet learned how to truly live, to turn towards the truth and start to live fully as a being of Light, a ray of divine sunshine, an expression of the One Source. Evil suggests selfish, demanding, disruptive, fearful, aggressive people who are weak and give way to their violent temper when they’re not getting their own way - or to try and get their own way. They’re brats. Destructive. They’re at the mercy of their own vices, paranoia, arrogance, greed, insecurities, jealousy, etc. Thus, they express only negative, or undeveloped qualities and attune to dark forces, satisfied by the power and feeling of security and importance that brings them.

But, when a child shouts and is destructive and violent to get its own way, you cannot simply give in to it. The child tests you until it knows your boundaries. It gets away with whatever it can. It pushes because it feels free to do so and wants all the power it can get, to have its own way all the time.

Pigsy wants to intimidate me so he feels secure, but he can’t get at me. He wants me to move out, but I won’t. Thus, he is learning that I am standing firm and not allowing him to get at me, even though he’d like to believe he is. If such people have weakness like that, surely my will expressed mentally can shift him away from here, relying on the universe, of course, rather than seeking to control him.

"Look with compassion
at the heavy drinkers. Know, that you too
have your weaknesses. If you want to live in peace
and clarity, then look at the poor and the handicapped
carrying the burden of their misery,
and see how fortunate you are!"
- Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam.

22-23 December 2002.

Riding a horse. They’re like children. They know if you’re an idiot or not - if you’re nervous, scared, awkward - they throw you off. Hugely powerful children. That’s the mentality you’ve got to deal with. The same goes for Pigsy! You have to show that you’re more confident and calm, secure and assured than he is. His confidence is external and he feels particularly confident when drunk (with his girlfriend). He’s competing; wants to exhibit his power; wants to feel more powerful than you, to ensure that he will get his own way and not be questioned for anything - probably due to a criminal mentality.

For him, the gauge of one’s power is through physical demonstration. But, you do not have to display power on his level. That’s his domain and you keep away from it since he has power there. Express your power from within. Use spiritual strength and magic and a positive will and mind. Basically, he is weak. He’s only powerful in a fleeting moment and that’s why he confronts people then, because it’s a special occasion for him to feel powerful enough to put others down. He relies on that to make you feel insecure and scared for the rest of the time and he makes loud, intimidating noises and so forth to try and remind you of it. He thinks you’re a coward for not standing up to him, and avoiding him instead, but he also thinks like that because it makes him feel powerful and because he wants to believe you’re a coward. That’s his little ‘proof.’ It satisfies his ego, believing that he is strong and you are weak.

“Silence is the ultimate weapon of power.” - General Charles De Gaulle.

Angel Card: Forgiveness. But the issue is Me having to live here under the threat, and I need him to move away before I can have peace of mind.

But, perhaps you shouldn’t worry about Pigsy at all. You try to avoid him as a practical manoeuvre rather than out of fear. If you meet him, then you meet him, but you pay little attention to the encounter. So what if he attacks you, threatens you? He probably won’t touch you. Try to be calm and centred. It’s a discipline. Even though you’re finding it difficult staying grounded for long. Perhaps living with a viper upstairs is okay, not a problem. You simply ignore him, and avoid him. And you make sure you are mentally stronger than him, and that you’re not afraid, and so he feels more vulnerable or, rather, worried or something. But, then, he’s likely to try and press to wind you up and attempt to make you more afraid.

"Worry never robs tomorrow of its sorrow, it only saps today of its joy." - Leo Buscaglia.

Anyway, don’t allow any of it to work. Yes, but when there’s an ugly, smelly piece of shit on your doorstep you clean it up and get rid of it! How can you live like that, with the stench and always having to remember to step around it when you leave the house and return home? It’s disgusting! Maybe you can point a hose at it and wash it away - that is, direct pure, positive psychic energy at Pigsy to wash him away, but also ensuring there is force and pressure to make him move away, to stay away, to leave. Dog shit that is particularly stubborn has to be forced more intently, and usually to get rid of every trace, one must also scrape it off. Make him feel the pressure of not feeling comfortable here, not belonging here. Push him away so he gets used to being away from here - then finally views keeping the flat as a waste of money and his campaign to expel me a wasted effort. Give up Mr. Pig!

By the way, if you spray dirty water on the shit, you leave dirty water there. Better to use pure, clean water (positive psychic energy) that contains love rather than negative energy.

He psyches you out - like a beast sensing your smell. Either you’re master or not and, if not, he can assert power over you, unless you don’t allow it. Then, you’re either ‘friends’ or not.

Don’t fight fire with fire.

Don’t clean shit with shit.

Don’t react to negativity.

 "The weak can never forgive. Forgiveness is the attribute of the strong.” - Gandhi.

Angel Card: Flexibility. You need to be able to turn your mind to your interests, projects, tai chi, meditation, studies, books, work, Pigsy and a relationship if there is one.

 

Retrospective inserts.

Disciple Ying (Curtis Wong): Master Kan. Which - which one of us has won?

Master Kan (Philip Ahn): Won?

Caine (David Carradine): Must there not be one who is the victor?

Disciple Ying: And one the vanquished.

Master Kan: When you were young, did you not stand by the fountain and watch the bubbles rise?

Caine: They were very beautiful to see.

Master Kan: In a sense, a victory for the gossamer circles of liquid over the insubstantial air they imprison. When you tried to grab them, what became of them?

Disciple Ying:  They were gone.

Caine: They were empty, without substance.

Master Kan: So, too, can victory be.

Caine: And defeat?

Master Kan: Does not the true value lie in what one does with either?

                - Kung Fu (Season 2, Episode 14, ‘A Dream Within A Dream,’ 1974).

For some reason, the few friends with whom I have shared an interest in playing games and engaging in sports have been selfishly competitive. They are wonderful people whom I respect and admire and with whom I have an excellent rapport. Yet, I have never been able to appreciate how they can behave so monstrously during these activities, wanting to win at any cost. When I engage in games and sports, my intention is first to enjoy them, second to do my best and play will and third to win if this is the result of my efforts. I also prefer a relatively equal contest and find it more fulfilling if both players are expressing their potential. These men, however, appear to use such pastimes to indulge in a sense of power as though it is an opportunity to release their males egos into the wild and excuse to behave like savages! They become so single-minded and dominant, channelling their aggression to such an extreme that it seems there lurks a wild, carnivorous animal inside them that regards winning as a matter of life and death. They cannot bear to lose. They do not enjoy the game as much as I do and they do not perform at their best unless they feel secure as a result of being ahead in the score, which they follow religiously. Any encouragement and praise I might provide out of sincere appreciation goes to their heads and helps them to play better! And the more they are winning by, the more ruthless they become, as if even the goal of winning has been superseded by the new one of slaughtering the competition and reigning supreme in a despotic campaign of oppression.

All this they are proud of. It has nothing to do with playing well. That is not their concern. They simply want to win by any means necessary, including playing dirty if they can get away with it. They easily decide themselves that they are doing nothing wrong, that they are not cheating when they consistently talk or even sing each time it is my turn! They are brutal opportunists. If I am not playing well they feel good and if I am under the weather they fix their sights on thrashing me by as many points as possible. If they are feeling ill, even if they just have a cold, they will not play. They are nowhere in sight because it is not the opportunity to enjoy the game that stimulates them; it is winning alone. It is the nature of Will to decide and succeed, to attain goals, to manifest results and express a purpose. To identify with the will as a separate, physical ego is, I suppose, a stage of growth for those souls who have neglected this aspect of consciousness in previous lifetimes. Sports are a safe arena in which to develop this crude level of will that becomes the champion of subconscious insecurities. Instead of a ray of sunshine which emanates from the Higher Self and is accompanied by enjoyment and love, egocentric will resembles a sharp dart that is thrown in attack, that focuses on forcing the opposition down instead of raising themselves to be all they can be. So, anyway, once my own will was activated fully I often found myself applying it just as keenly, although not at the expense of my higher nature, purely because I had had enough of the abuse and gloating when they had not even deserved to win. These occasions have represented a healthy challenge for me even though I remain disgusted with such childish behaviour – which isn’t fabulously mature either, I know!

“I will not play tug o' war. I'd rather play hug o' war.

Where everyone hugs instead of tugs.

Where everyone giggles and rolls on the rug.

Where everyone kisses, and everyone grins,

and everyone cuddles, and everyone wins."

- Shel Silverstein (1932-1999).

It would seem that those men behave so aggressively in sports because their own fathers played to win even when they were young children, not giving them a chance to enjoy games because the onus was on winning. The adult smashed the child and the child grew up living in fear of losing at games because it must be quite a nasty experience when you are young and have no way of competing with your Dad. So games become hard and serious. Or, at least, the fathers were setting an aggressive or egocentric example. My father, by contrast, endeavoured to teach me how to play games by balancing merit and fairness, sometimes playing well to challenge me and sometimes pretending to play to the best of his ability, often giving me chances thus increasing my confidence. I was, therefore, brought up to enjoy games, not to take winning very seriously at all. The reward is always in playing well, in doing one’s best.

When fighting an enemy, it is necessary and wise to deceive and distract. The simple goal is to win. In all other - less extreme - situations things aren’t so black and white. A more civilised and compassionate attitude is required. There are no excuses for taking aggression out on others, actually. The ego needs to be better than others. The ego is nothing more than a spoilt brat and some of us have a harder time growing out of it. As far as I’m concerned, if you cheated by distracting me, you haven’t won. Simple. I don’t care if you’re 100 times better than me at the sport, or even if you played better. You is disqualifide! In addition, while fighting physically or with weapons is about winning, in a civil society you cannot go around fighting duels with people or whatever. There is no conclusion, no fight to the death. You must, therefore, learn the art of strategy in psychological and social terms in order to cope, contain, evade and deter, etc.

They who gloat do so because it is a hollow victory for one who cares only about winning. Such a person attempts to find some feeling of glory and superiority to assure themselves it was worthwhile.

Eckhart Tolle talking to Oprah Winfrey.

A man participating in an archery competition was trying very hard to win but couldn’t: “Somebody asked the Zen Master, ‘What’s he doing wrong?’ And the Zen Master said, ‘His need to win drains him of power. And so his need to win...he wants to have some future moment where he is going to be fulfilled. So his attention is not totally in the now.” Tolle explains that all power resides in the now. Without being in the now, it “cannot flow into what you’re doing...to have mastery in any endeavour, whatever it is, you need to be total in what you do...and then when they enter they call it the ‘zone.’ (Oprah said she had read about Tiger Woods that day and “that’s what he knows - what to do - focus so there’s just him and the ball”).

”Non-violence is hard work. It is willingness to sacrifice. It is the patience to win.” - Cesar Chavez.

Bears prefer to be alone. Brown bears which depend on the river for fish at certain times of the year have to undergo much stress being with other bears - catching fish in the river. Not easy for them.

“Do not forget that you are playing a beautiful game of pretending to be a human and play well together.”- The Group (channelled by Steve Rother, ‘Secret of the Expanding Universe,’ 16 August 2010, www.lightworker.com).

“The ego is not a bad energy essentially it is like a child, it doesn't know any better; it has no one to guide it and therefore enjoys ruling your life by reminding you constantly of your failings and mistakes. Every time you think a negative thought about yourself or another that is your ego asserting its power, playing with you to see what it can manifest. If we imagine a child who has no parents and has fallen into a group of youths who enjoy making mischief then we begin to understand the ego. Children are pure and can be influenced easily. Your ego is the pure energy of the Creator but you have allowed it to adopt negative habits, to play games with your life and to sabotage your truth. If you noticed your child acting in this way you would make efforts to alter their negative habits and teach them what is good and true, but you are perfectly happy to allow your ego to have all the fun at your expense without even a word of complaint or objection. This is something to contemplate, it requires your understanding.

There is a need to love your ego unconditionally, as if it were a child. You are not loving it for the chaos it has caused but for the truth that it is when aligned and guided. It is important not to scold your ego or to hold resentment toward it but to forgive it for its controlling qualities knowing that changes can be made with ease which would bring happiness to your life and to your ego. Your ego thinks it is contented by the power it has but really it is a lost child looking for love, attention and approval. We can see that the ego is not content as it keeps creating fear, unable to receive what it desires.”

- Lady Quan Yin (channelled through Natalie Glasson, ‘Relaxing the Ego,’ 6 December 2010, www.omna.org).             

“Confront the dark parts of yourself, and work to banish them with illumination and forgiveness. Your willingness to wrestle with your demons will cause your angels to sing. Use the pain as fuel, as a reminder of your strength.” - August Wilson (www.quotelady.com/subjects/strength.html).

“The beauty of the world has two edges, one of laughter, one of anguish, cutting the heart asunder.” – Virginia Woolf.

Monstaville I. Chapter 35

35

“He who heeds not the evil report of others vanquishes all.”

- The Mahabarata.

God not recognising negativity includes the Higher Self not recognising the negative in oneself or others; that is, not paying any attention to them or taking any notice of them. That means ‘always addressing the Higher Self in others,’ as Aïvanhov suggests. Not engaging with them on a negative level; not responding to their negative comments; rising above them. Not looking down at the rats in the sewer but seeing the highest good. Even on a cloudy day, the Sun is there; it is all reality, the source of all light. Seek out the light and speak only to that. It is all that exists and all that is eternal. All else is just passing clouds that try to blind you to reality.

“What is hell? I maintain that it is the suffering of being unable to love.” - Fyodor Dostoyevsky, The Brothers Karamazov.

November 2002.

When something bad happens perhaps the best thing to do is relax and forget it totally - do something fun, or meditate, watch a comedy show, socialise. This will prevents you from falling into a state of despair and allow you to get over the initial shock, or negative reaction. Then, you can look at the problem objectively later when you feel more calm and in control emotionally. You can work on a practical level and deal with it as effectively as you can. You can only do your best in life.

December 2002.

There is a monster living upstairs and we must assert our will like Monkey to get him out!! Focus your will and mind to force him out!

‘Use the difficulty to your advantage - there’s always something you can get out of it’ (although also avoid difficulty at all costs! That’s the other side of it). Michael Caine said this.

“You may win, but it’s gonna cost you dear. It’s going to cost you a lot.” - Michael Caine.

“Who dares, wins.”

“Don’t be scared. Be prepared.” (The Fortune Cookie Book. A Little Food for Thought. Running Press Book Publishers, Pennsylvania, U.S.: 2001).

 

Beyond the Known. The Ultimate Goal in Martial Arts by Tri Thong Dang (Charles E. Tuttle Company, Inc., Tokyo, Japan, 1993).

p.78. ‘There is no need to struggle to be free. The absence of struggle is in itself freedom.’

p.79. He came to realise that the moment one’s mind entered a state of absolute freedom from external or internal pressure, once one no longer clung to the conventional, to power games, once one no longer hungered for anything whatsoever, only then could one experience mindful synchronicity with the ordinary activities of daily life. Tai Anh had found a crack in his wall of pain.

                Very slowly Tai Anh began to experience the exquisite internal stillness which enables the experience of being thoroughly aware of one’s embodiment from moment to moment, of being able to sense precisely the body’s movements, feelings, and thoughts which give form and meaning to each and every living moment.

p.80-81. [The students] had been reared in a society oriented to objective understanding, to the rational rather than the emotional or spiritual. Everything for them had to be logical and quickly comprehensible or it could not become part of their reality.

p.88. One of the fundamental principles of martial art is gaining without gladness and losing without sadness.

4 December 2002. Whatever happens, happens. [RE: my financial troubles].

Angel Card: Simplicity. The simplest way of dealing with the situation is to avoid Pigsy. Keep it as simple as possible while you work on will/energy level that should pay off at some point. It is an investment. Don’t complicate the situation further by adding to the conflict. Work on a different plane, an inner plane, a formless plane - ‘penetrating that which allows no entry’ and overcoming the hardest thing].

Angel Cards: Expectancy and Tenderness - after someone rang my doorbell and repeatedly knocked on the letterbox. I ignored it, even though I was sure Pigsy had already left to visit his mother for the week. Like, I’m worried about confrontation over Christmas again! But, perhaps I should focus on peace and gentleness because nothing is going to happen. Also, I’m willing him out of here and I’m not sure it’s supported by Light or even feasible. I don’t feel flexible about it. My memory of that night is stronger than ever.

Playfulness: the otter uses a stick and pretends it’s a salmon. Thus, use the world as it is. Pretend it’s good. Pretend you’ve got what you need. Will - seeing value in second best: ‘this is just as good;’ being content with what’s available. Not perfection. Not too idealistic. But relax and play.

Sunshine: makes everything so much better!

Retrospective inserts.

As Richard Templar reminds us, “The Samurai only makes one cut but that but was an entire lifetime in the making.” (The Rules of Wealth, 2007). We must train ourselves and deepen our understanding and, consequently, our power of will and identity. Then, we stand a much better chance of being able to tackle problems such as confrontations if they arise.

What is courage? “In the beginning there is not much difference between the coward and the courageous person. The only difference is, the coward listens to his fears and follows them, and the courageous person puts them aside and goes ahead. The courageous person goes into the unknown in spite of all the fears.” - Osho.

“Courage is fire, and bullying is smoke.” - Benjamin Disraeli.

I needed to keep this journal both as therapy and a learning process because I was fighting wars on a mental level and it was in my favour that way really. I was not having to fend off gangs of bandits like the Man With No Name or something! The significance of this book rests in the fact that, although we live in a comparatively ‘civilised’ society, the law does not prevent or protect us from every instance of undisciplined behaviour, or savagery. The pros and cons of proliferating CCTV cameras notwithstanding, we would not want the law to encroach on every aspect of our lives. There must be a balance between control and freedom and it is not just individual responsibility that society needs to be able to rely on but also collective wisdom as well as social unity resulting from increased awareness in as many individuals as possible I mean the kind of awareness that is passed on though like-minded people and, potentially, through the media; well, through books like this at least. One might suggest that one’s home is a more feminine battlefield in which emotions are affected more than anything. The tension is more long-term, often with small skirmishes developing into bitter feuds. It is not something one can sort out immediately and, as I have found, short-term resolutions resurface unless selfish people learn something and change. Learning in this way is more subtle and involved. One needs to know, to be aware of, certain things. Perhaps it also prepares one for face-to-face confrontations in terms of how one needs to feel and think. I am suggesting that half of one’s success in such encounters, at least, comes from psychological development and understanding at home and in one’s neighbourhood. This is less visible but may go on for years.

 

Baldrick (Tony Robinson): I have a cunning plan to get us out of getting killed sir.

Blackadder (Rowan Atkinson): Ah yes, what is it?

Baldrick: Cooking.

Blackadder: I see. [Enters the dugout again]

Baldrick: You know staff HQ is always on the lookout for good cooks? Well, we go over there, we cook 'em something, and get out of the trenches that way.

Blackadder: Baldrick, it's a brilliant plan.

Baldrick: Is it?

Blackadder: Yes, it's superb.

Baldrick: [Delighted] Permission to write home immediately sir, this is the first brilliant plan a Baldrick's ever had! For centuries we've tried, and they've always turned out to be total pig-swill. My mother will be as pleased as Punch.

Blackadder: Hm-hm, if only she were as good-looking as Punch. There is however one slight flaw in the plan.

Baldrick: Oh?

Blackadder: You're the worst cook in the entire world.

Baldrick: Oh yeah, that's right.

Blackadder: There are amoeba on Saturn who can boil a better egg than you. Your Filet Mignon in sauce Bernaise look like dog-turds in glue.

Baldrick: That's because they are.

Blackadder: Your plum-duff tastes like it's a molehill decorated with rabbit-droppings.

Baldrick: I thought you wouldn't notice.

Blackadder: Your cream custard has the texture of cat's vomit.

Baldrick: Again it's...

Blackadder: If you were to serve one of your meals in staff HQ you'd be arrested for the greatest mass poisoning since Lucretia Borgia invited 500 of her close friends around for a wine-and-anthrax party. No, we'll have to think of a better plan than that.

Baldrick: Right, how about a nice meal, while you chew it over?

Blackadder: [Suspicious] What's on the menu?

Baldrick: Rat. [Shows him a big black rat] Saute or fricassee.

Blackadder: [Peers at the rat] Oh, the agony of choice. Saute involves...?

Baldrick: Well, you take the freshly shaved rat, and you marinade it in a puddle for a while.

Blackadder: Hmm, for how long?

Baldrick: Until it's drowned. Then you stretch it out under a hot light bulb, then you get within dashing distance of the latrine, and then you scoff it right down.

Blackadder: So that's sauteing, and fricasseeing?

Baldrick: Exactly the same, just a slightly bigger rat.

Blackadder: Well, call me Old Mr. Un-adventurous but I think I'll give it a miss this once.

[George enters, wearing a new hat decorated with barbed-wire].

Baldrick: Fair enough sir, more for the rest of us. [To George] Eh sir?

George (Hugh Laurie): Absolutely, Private. Tally-ho BARF BARF. [The telephone rings, Blackadder picks it up]

Blackadder: Hello, the Savoy Grill. Oh, it's you...yes...yes, I'll be over in 40 minutes.

Baldrick: Who was it then sir?

Blackadder: Strangely enough Baldrick, it was Pope Gregory IX, inviting me for drinks aboard his steam-yacht ‘The Saucy Sue,’ currently wintering in Montego Bay with the England Cricket team and the Balinese goddess of plenty.

Baldrick: Really?

Blackadder: No, not really. I'm ordered to HQ. No doubt that idiot General Melchett is about to offer me some attractive new opportunities to have my brains blown out for Britain.

- Blackadder Goes Forth (Series 4, written by Richard Curtis and Ben Elton, BBC TV, 1989).