I have a question on this LL9.. this lab seems very easy to me as i never watch listen or even read the news either then sports.. not sure if it is cause of my mental laziness to even watch such crappy stuff ... anyways i would assume i can just move on to the next LL without really doing this LL9?

thanks

No, please don't assume that. The point of this LifeLab is to PAY ATTENTION to how things are while you are CONSCIOUSLY letting go of this particular form of external stimulation.

You say you watch the sports news. Well, let go of THAT for a week and watch what happens. If you resist the idea of not reading, watching, or listening to sports, then you might want to look inside and see why the resistance.

Also, I notice that you just signed up for the course 9 days ago, so please read this post:
Please Slow Down.

wow normally when the supreme boss replies it's a honour!!... thank you for your advice. I was trying to do the LL one day at a time.. guess it's still too fast?

quote:

I was trying to do the LL one day at a time.. guess it's still too fast?

Haha, not to offer you any reference, but just some ideas, I signed up in January 2009 (aound that time I think), and I am on LL9 now.

That doesn't mean I don't do LL on daily basis. I spend time reading old posts, and listening to recordings numerous times before I move on.

In Chapter 5, Wallace says, "Read these creed statements over and over again; fix every word upon your memory..." the fix-upon work can't be done unless you slow done.

One day at a time can work but for some lessons, I needed way more than a day. And I was happy that instructions told me to take as much time as I needed.

God bless you,

Caroline
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Oh JOY!

Learning Lab 9 is an easy one for us.
We learned a long time ago that news is a waste of time.

Really ... it's true that it does nobody any good knowing of bad things that you can't influence.

Okay, so if a passenger jet crashes in some other part of the world, it is not a good thing ... but you knowing about it is NOT going to bring anyone back and ultimately it does not effect you or your daily life.

I've always said that if they printed two newspapers, one with all the bad news and one with all the good news, my bet is that the bad news would outsell the good news paper everyday.

People are drawn to disaster. The most spectacular part of motor racing often is (sadly) when something goes wrong. We need to look for the good in all things and stop dwelling on and being often morbidly obsessed by the bad.

I used to listen daily to the Alex Jones show. For those that do not know what it is, it is a show highlighting a lot of the conspiracy that is going on. My daily listening ended up turning into depression and a hatred for people. Yes, my mind was awoken to many of the things that MIGHT be going on, but really what can I do about them? I found myself angry with people that were walking around blissfully ignorant of all the bad things that were happening.

So I have found that it is true ... NEWS is BAD!

Turn it off!

One of the things I noticed when I gave up watching TV and news and reading the newspaper - is that the media is NOT the only source of bad news. I started seeing it everywhere.

And we now know that the more you focus on something the more you get... I find that (while it takes effort) I need to actively look for the good. One of my sisters can listen to a (my opinion) negative toxic conversation - and while I can barely breathe - she says "wow, he has such a big heart..." or something like that. We were in the same conversation but she listens for something else. I am learning how to do that.

Another thing I noticed in conversations with others - the vast majority include talking about things that are so-called bad or wrong. It's almost like we have nothing to talk about unless it includes "there is something wrong here"... weather, politics, finances, relationships...

I USED to think that people who only talked about good things were shallow and (gasp) boring. This forum, for me, is proof that that isn't true at all. I read your posts and am not at all bored with all the new thinking and ideas. I love reading about our striving to to become rich and lead rich lives - and the changing of our thinking (and conversations) that cause this.

Well, now, to me news isn't bad at all. It's just not always useful. Sometimes, though, it's EXTREMELY useful. When I'm on my boat I'm very happy to get news of a hurricane on the way, for example.

My experience shows me it's just better to take control of how I consume it instead of just letting myself be constantly bombarded by default or reading newspapers and such just by habit or just because they're there or just because it's what other people do. ("Normal" -- ack!)

I have a degree in journalism, btw, so letting go of reading three newspapers a day was pretty big for me. For about a minute. I feel immensely better when I don't marinate myself in all that. It's not a lack of compassion. When I do hear about something where I can be of use -- usually by a donation to the Red Cross or the like -- I do it. But then I turn my thoughts to something where I can have some influence and feel good as I do so.

Now, if by saying LifeLab 8 was easy for you, you're saying you're just skipping over it and going on to Session 9, hold on.

Are you watching TV of any kind? Listening to the radio? Sports? If so, then let go of all that for the week and notice what happens.

This talk about all the things in the world we can't do anything about reminds me of something an elderly man I once knew used to say:

"If you can't do anything about it, why worry? If you CAN do something about it, why worry?"

A little off our point, but really: Why worry? Either let it go or take some inspired action. Done.

I've been a news junkie and doing LL9 is hsowing me how much I used news as a distraction which lead me to not doing much as I was watching other people do. Since I've been working on this lesson I've learned how wonderful blogging is and been able to spend time actually doing and exploring things that I enjoy doing.(I still miss my NYT though)