When my mind is caught in the past
regretting my errors
with sadness, disappointment, repentance,
I re-focus on the present-moment
leaving behind in the past
the self I was when I committed errors;
And I focus my attention
on evaluating the self I am
in the present-moment,
striving to improve my self
into the wisdom I need
to achieve joy and happiness
in the present-moment.

In my youth
when I was in school
I thought like everybody else
learning was done
by reading textbooks,
and I would have a successful life
if I read
lots of books;
but after many years of book-learning
‘knowledge’
I discovered that book-knowledge
did not enable me
to be joyful and happy;

I discovered that
to be joyful and happy
what I needed was
not knowledge
but wisdom
about how to be
joyful and happy;
and to achieve wisdom
I had to do philosophy:
thinking originally,
learning from my own experiences,
asking questions about
how to achieve my
unique joy and
unique happiness
in my unique situation
using my unique self.

In my youth
I pretended to be
what I thought others’ thought
was prideworthy and praiseworthy,
and I was unjoyful and unhappy
self-annihilating my authentic self.

Now I am older
and I realise
only by being my authentic self
and striving for joy and happiness
using my authentic self
can I be joyful and happy.

I accept
my mistakes
as in the past;
and in the present-moment
I strive to improve my self
so I don’t repeat these mistakes
in the future.

To experience
Joy and Happiness
is the purpose of life,
so don’t
focus on anything else;
Focus only
on striving
to experience
Joy and Happiness.

I just watched a news report:
there’s a heatwave in Europe
over 41 degrees celcius!
Forests are on fire,
people are uncomfortably sweltering,
the old and sick are dying,
climate change is happening!

I wonder
when will society
become desperate enough
about dangerous climate change
to stop using carbon-emitting fuels
and instead use renewable energies
like solar, wind and hydro?

People called him
short, stout, comical-looking,
but I felt compassion for him
and I wondered
what experiences
would give him
joy and happiness?