Agreed! Your kids are very lucky to have you as their father Kevin! @anon86726034. I’m grateful to know there are Dad’s out there like yourself, who have patience and TIME for children, Dads/parents who care deeply enough to even think about these things! I really love and resonate a lot with everything you’ve said above, especially as a teacher. In the classroom it is my top priority to be present for the children and to instill a sense of safety, kindness and belonging in our little classroom community. The kids know I have their back and I will ALWAYS have time for them 
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Nooo i haven’t, but I definitely putting it in my list! Thanks Fran
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Life is so simple and beautiful when you get back to such basic truths
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Oh great be interested to chat it through with you, have you read a course in miracles?
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Aww wow 
And what a lovely thing to do together. Watched this before, here he takes about the awesomeness some more, and tells a few jokes too, he does make me chuckle…
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“Before Abraham was, I am”
Open question: Can you give me your understanding of this quote by Jesus as mentioned in The Power of Now.
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Wow! That’s awesome @anon30771928 I love spending time with young children as they often show me the true meaning of presence and joy 
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I haven’t but I am going to! I have learnt a lot about it and have an idea of its contents etc from other literature, especially the book by Maria Felipe I mentioned. It’s funny cause I was in a lovely lil shop today that had a copy, I really wanted to buy it, but had to hold off as I was shopping for others not myself! haha
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I’ve been doing the work book lessons (videos on youtube) the actual book looks a bit daunting for me, its huge, and written in a Shakespearean style 
My copy of live your happy arrived last week so that will be my next read 
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Oh wow! That’s a great idea Fran, I’m going to do the same, never thought to look up on YouTube! Thank you
Yay! That’s exciting that your book arrived! Have you started reading it yet? Tell me what you think when you do, I’d love to talk about it some more with someone else who’s reading it
Merry Christmas lovely Fran 
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There are a few differant people who interpret the lessons (1 a day for 365 days) I found this lady the easiest to understand, though if I have time I listen to a couple to get better understanding.so far im really enjoying them and I’m totally intrigued as to where is heading 
I’ll let you know when I start the book, still finishing off my last book, looking forward to it.
Have a very merry Christmas sweet beautiful lady 
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Seems about right. My pain was/is the fear of not being “good enough”. Worrying about what other ppl think and the needing to be liked or trying to be “perfect”. Perfectionism is hard disorder to live with. Being present and more conscious of it helps.
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Hey Mel 
yeah it really is, isn’t it! perhaps it’s the deeper sense of knowing that the addiction was never truly working but rather masking. And that to find that deep reverence for life and for ourselves, we know that we must love ourselves enough to be vulnerable and therefore brave; to give life a chance, for the addiction, we come to realise, is taking our life away. This reverence in itself though requires facing so much fear that it can become overwhelming and therefore leave us trapped. For me, the fear of failure is enough to always stop me in my tracks and prevents me from braving the journey that I know will lead to love, worth and joy. Its the disease of perfectionism. Nowdays, I try to be aware and do what I can to overcome it, and that helps me overcome my addictions.
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Reading back through this thread, gaining more insight.
For me, much of my addiction and suffering is mostly due to perfectionism. This dis-ease is one I’ve struggled with for as long as I can remember. My ego is constantly telling me “I’m not good enough.” I fear failure, I fear this deep notion of not being good enough. The ego is cunning. Sometimes I don’t even realise what is actually happening…who is in charge. It has only been through awareness (brought about through practicing mindfulness and meditation and lots of reading around it), that I am slowly recognising/noticing when ego is taking charge… being loud and critical. Perfectionism is directly linked to ego. Perfectionism stops me in my tracks, it makes me want to hide…hide away in a little cave, where my sense of self-worth can remain un-attacked by my own fear. Fear of not meeting my own (ridiculous) expectations; of trying to be one of the things my ego says I “should be”.
Here’s some things I learnt & read about perfectionism & ego…
Contrary to popular belief, perfectionism is not a trait that engenders success; rather it is a spiritual sickness and the persecutor to many serious mental illnesses.
"Perfectionism refers, in psychological terms, to the organizing principle that unless one is perfect, one is worthless as a person”. The perfectionist’s main objective is to serve their ego. They’re motivated by the desire to be valued, accepted and loved by virtue of their accomplishments. The entire purpose of the their striving is to prove themselves worthy to themselves and to others. This is the spiritual disease the perfectionist is burdened with, which stems from the unawareness that God has already created them worthy.
Since their self-worth depends on success, perfectionists often have impossibly high standards and are excessively self-critical.
It is no surprise that perfectionism, characterized by conditional self-acceptance, holding impossibly high standards and excessive self-criticism confer various types of mental illnesses to those with the trait.
As a culture we need to understand what perfectionism is so that we stop propagating the myth that it is healthy trait that leads to success. In our accomplishment oriented society the pressure to be “perfect” can be overwhelming.
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Eckhart Tolle was a guest on Russell Brands podcast Under the Skin this week! I haven’t listened yet, but will be sometime in the next few days looking forward to hearing these two speak. I have learnt so much from both of them during my recovery journey
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Hey @anon86726034, Kevin! Are you still around? Haven’t “seen” you in a while. I hope you’re well I must’ve missed your last post (above) somehow as I only just read it now… I will look into Midnight Gospel, it sounds interesting!
Any new thoughts/revelations of late on the spiritual growth and awakening side of things? I’ve just started to read a book called The Courage to be disliked by Ichiro Kishimi and Fumitake Koga. It’s a book that been now translated into English on the Japanese phenomenon that explains how we can free ourselves, change our lives and achieve some sense of real peace and happiness. It’s based in philosophy and psychology. Adlerian psychology to be more precise. It very interesting and enlightening. Has anyone else here read it?
I feel like it is one of those ‘life-changing’ books 
it illuminates an understanding of our fears which lead to our addictions, which is interesting.
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Oh my gosh it’s THE BEST!!! watch it all asap. Best cartoon I’ve watched in years besides big mouth lol 
… I forgot about midnight gospel Coz I watched it all in one sitting as soon as it came out… Can’t wait to hear what you think!! 
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I have a ton of life changing books I can recommend for you,
… I will msg them to you when I get a chance soon
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Ahh awesome! How can I watch it, Netflix, YouTube?
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