Now that we’ve been through this year together, what’s next? More reading? More studying? More contemplations? 

No. 

Now is the time for doing. The time for reading is done. 

The answers aren’t found in another text… 

… they’re found in each decision and choice we make. 

When Death comes for me, I don’t want Her to catch me reading. I want her to catch me doing. 

(An end has come… and so has a beginning.) 

​Dear readers, 

I’ll be making one final post within the next week or so, after I’ve had some time to sit with finishing this past year of introspective learning. I’ll be sure to post links to the final entry on Facebook and Twitter. 

When I make that final post, I’ll express my gratitude for y’all then. 

Myriad blessings, 
Rev. Wm. E. Ashton, ADF

​We can take the sting out of painful and stressful situations by bringing to those situations a calm, disciplined mind. 

What would our deaths look like if we approached then with that same calm and disciplined mind? That powerful mind, in those times of trouble, will bring more comfort than any amount of religiosity or philosophical phrases. 

The prepared mind is prepared to die, too. 

(See y’all tomorrow)

​Gratitude is one of the most contagious human feelings we have at our disposal. We can apply it to anything and anyone. 

Even if this were the day we were going to die, we have ample opportunity to express that gratitude in each moment. 

Well… since we don’t know if today is or isn’t our last, what’s stopping us? 

(See y’all tomorrow)

​If our actions are motivated because we want to be remembered, then our egos have won, and we miss the opportunity to live in the present. 

When we’re motivated to simply do good in the world, without thought to being remembered, we can truly live in the present… 

… the very place where our best is needed. 

The best we can count on is to be remembered for a day. The rest of those days, and the fantastic story surrounding those days, we just have to release. Let them go. 

Take comfort in the good works in front of us in each moment for the fantasy of being remembered is a waste of our time, and only serves our ego… and none of that will make any difference when we’re dead. 

(See y’all tomorrow)

The signs of a soul that’s given up are over-abundant anger, ever-present bitterness, and mouths full of only complaints and reason why failure is a foregone conclusion. These souls have constant grievances with life, and see every challenge as a personal attack and crisis. These souls have lost sight of the world-at-large because they’re too busy rummaging about in the land of ego. 

What about the signs of souls that haven’t given up? Kindness and compassion in action, and potential and possibility in speech. Success is boundless, and as such, can always be found. Life is a blessing and wonder, and meant to be understood. Ego, while present, is meant to be avoided… why? 

Because it’s what causes an otherwise healthy soul to surrender. 

(See y’all tomorrow) 

​There’s not a single one among us, including the greatest of seers, fortune tellers, psychics, and soothsayers, who knows how long we have to live. We can’t guarantee any certain number of hours of days or years. There is, however, one thing in which we can offer ourselves as guarantee: 

We will, most certainly, waste a lot more time than we thought we did, or wanted to in the first place. 

The wild things is that most of us won’t even notice how much of our lives we’re allowing to waste away. So, the next time we say we “don’t have the time”, let’s commit to taking a pause to examine how much of our time is taken up by unnecessary things. 

Properly used time makes life abundant. Wasted time is so… quotidian. Don’t you agree? 

(See y’all tomorrow) 

As someone on sabbatical, i really resonated with today’s quote from wise Seneca from his work, On Tranquility of Mind (17.5): 

​Seneca is talking about what we now call work-life balance. The mind, like our muscles, must be given both chances to work AND changes to rest. Too much of either is detrimental. 

With that said, I’m going to get back to my family. 

Y’all have a merry day, filled with as many blessings as you can find! 

(See y’all tomorrow)

​At the end of things, it doesn’t make an ounce of difference if we lived extravagantly. At the end of things, just like wise Seneca says, we’re merely filters. Not only do food and drink “pass through” us, but so too legendary experiences, interesting stories, meaningful memories, and fancy stuff. 

The “particles” that get stuck in our filter are what comes to define our egos, which is why cleaning out one’s filter (oneself) is imperative for health-conscious living… 

… as well as a healthy-spirited death. 

(See y’all tomorrow)

​Most people, in varying degrees, are afraid of death and dying. 

Why? What are afraid of losing? Hours of television watching? Eating excessively? Gossiping about others? Reporting daily to a job that holds no meaning? Wasting potential over and over again? 

Is that what we’re afraid of losing? Is all that really worth the fear, or anxiety, or anguish we put ourselves through when it comes to death? 

Doesn’t sound like it to me. 

(See y’all tomorrow)

Recently, I had the pleasure of talking with a friend who I’ve not spoken to in nearly twenty years. She originally reached out to me for some pagan information for her kiddo about the recent Solstice, but as it goes, we ended up talking about where she was at with some ongoing life struggles her and her family have been facing.

See, my friend, a person of high Integrity, has a hard time holding down long time work because she’s a strong, justice-oriented, opinionated person who isn't afraid to share what she sees as systemically broken in the systems within which she works. Needless to say, people in power don’t like hearing such unabridged truth, as their egos won’t allow it.

By the end of our chat, we came to the realization that she has a lifetime (literally) of insights into education and recreation systems, and that unless she “stakes her own claim” and takes matters into her own hands (aka - starting a consulting business or a not-for-profit that aims to identify and repair systemic issues within educational and recreational systems) she’ll continue to try and apply the rules by which she works to someone else’s claim… and keep getting fired. Cheapening her integrity isn’t an option. While some people want her to diminish her fire and fury to squeeze herself into a conforming box, she and I (and her immediate family) know that if she did that she wouldn’t be the person we’ve all come to love and respect over a lifetime.

She needs to stake her own claim.

Venturing out on one's own is definitely more difficult, and a lot more frightening than walking a road not your own, and parroting the thoughts and intentions of others. But, we must remember that our experiences and life lessons have their own undeniable value, not to mention a ton of their own unique Wisdom.

In closing, my friend shared with me why she models her own Integrity like she does: so her kiddo can see what Integrity looks like, and to inspire that child to be their own adamantine rock of virtue… just like their mom.

Summum Bonum - the greater good. When we live for the greatest good, we cannot compromise virtue and integrity for that life. If we do, we’d be living a lie. Doing what’s right, no matter the situation or cost, is paramount…

… and right-doing rarely happens until we can stake claim on our own inherent power, wisdom, and virtue.

May we all have the wherewithal to do what must be done before life’s end.

(See y’all tomorrow)