Category: writing

Greed Blinds Us

Every religion or philosophy warns humanity of the destructive qualities of greed. While I’m not religious myself, I honour the ancient wisdom found in each of them. Why does greed blind us? When we focus only on more money, we often sacrifice our own happiness, health, and relationships to achieve it. It blinds us from seeing the bigger picture of life. There is always a trade off.

We crave more money thinking it will satisfy us but it often leaves us craving more. A good friend once told me that “it is like drinking poison because you’re thirsty.” There is nothing wrong or immoral about money. We need it to survive and even thrive. But how much is really necessary for happiness? Well that depends on your time, place and circumstances. According to me, it’s a lot less than we are told by movies, commercials, and western society.

I fall into this trap many times & have to relearn this ancient wisdom of “less is more”. Greed has blinded me many times. My spiritual journey has always been more about unlearning self destructive habits & thoughts that I picked up along my way in my childhood & early adulthood.

With aloha,

Johnny

Lost in Self Doubt

Life comes with challenges for us to learn from. I have had many challenges come my way from my many experiences in college, breakups, moving to Hawaii, New Zealand and Australia. I always had a great attitude about it because you learn so much about yourself by experiences; good & bad. You can always make a new decision today that can better your life.

I never doubted my decisions until this year. Early in this year I kept making decisions out of fear that put me in living situations that compromised my health & happiness. In February, I started feeling hopeless & lost. I lost faith in my own intuition. I felt like I lost my own ability to make decisions for me thrive physically, mentally, and spiritually. It’s a feeling that’s hard to describe. It’s like you’re lost in a maze and you keep questioning every decision. This can lead to feelings of hopelessness, fear, and despair. Eventually you question yourself so much that you just stop trying & depression sets in. You start living your life paralyzed by fear & self doubt.

I know this situation will end eventually, all is impermanent. A huge part of me wants to move back to Australia & start making decisions out of love instead of fear of failure or not having enough money. A part of me wants to move back to the central coast of California and a part of me wants to stay in Colorado Springs with family. I keep bouncing back n forth in my decision. Thank you to my family & friends for your patience & love while I try to figure out the next step in my life. 🙏🏻

With aloha,

Johnny

Attitude Adjustment

Entitled, bitter, and upset

I cause my own suffering

What’s the antidote for this mental condition?

Gratitude

How could I lose sight of all the things I could be grateful for?

Grateful for my job

Grateful for friends and family

Grateful for life & it’s infinite possibilities

The conditions of happiness are always available at any moment

Even through the darkest times we can cultivate joy through gratitude

We can bring our breath back to this exact moment

Peace & joy can only be found in the here and now

With aloha,

Johnny

Attachment: The Root of Our Suffering

Attachment is at the root of all suffering

Attachment to youth

Attachment to wealth

Attachment to our spouse, family & friends

Attachment to life itself

If attachment is the root of all suffering..

What is the root of joy?

Freedom is the root of joy

Freedom not to hurt ourself or others but freedom from fear, anger, and hatred running and ruining our lives

Liberation from old ways of thinking & doing that make us miserable

Today is the day to start changing, even small changes can lead to huge results in time

When we look at nature, we see that everything is impermanent.

Even our own sun has a shelf life

So why do live as if relationships, wealth, family members, and our own life will last forever?

If we live a full life, one life is enough.

With aloha,

Johnny

Outdated Identity

We spend our life building our identity.

From a very early age; the music, tv, & friend group shape our identity. What we consume, becomes part of us.

But we often struggle with letting go of this identity, even when this identity is responsible for the destruction of our own joy.

We fear that if we let go of this outdated idea of who we are that we lose ourself in the process.

But the truth is that old identity was never truly us.
It was shaped by our family, culture, religion and media

So who do we truly want to become?
Do we want to self destruct our own lives clinging to the past?
Or do we want to liberate ourself & embrace a new life that is inline with our values & vision?
The first step is to release that you are worth taking care of.
Your life & happiness does matter.

The chose is ours, even minute of each day.
We can always change at any moment
Even the smallest shifts can snowball into a radically different life.

If not now, then when?

With aloha,

Johnny

Flow

What comes

Let it come

What goes

Let it go

Embrace the impermanence of each moment

Stop clinging

Stop controlling

Start allowing

Start releasing

The world does not revolve around us

Flow with it & you will know peace

Fight it & you will know suffering

With aloha,

Johnny

Open Heart

I almost got married in my mid 20s

But I was not ready for such commitment

It ended in disaster

I caused much suffering to myself & her

I vowed to be better

But I did not realise until recently that I had closed my heart

Maybe this was needed for me to become who I am today

7 years later

7 years single

The life of a nomadic backpacker doesn’t lend to serious relationships

But I know this is a chapter in my life, not the entire book

At 32 years old I have realised I truly would appreciate having a girlfriend again; someone to share my life with

Some things in life we can not learn outside of a deep relationship with another

When the time is right, I will choose to be in a relationship out of love, not fear of being alone 🙏🏻

With aloha,

Johnny

What’s Good Or Bad?

What’s truly good or bad?

Thanks to impermanence everything changes.

My darkest times have led to moments of liberation, joy, and enlightenment

So I don’t know if it was bad or good when I have self destructed in previous relationships or with my gambling addiction.

When things appeared to be falling apart they were really falling in place.

In the dark, there is some light

In the wrong, there is some right

Every storms runs out of power, the trick is to not run from it

Embrace the darkness & allow it to transform you into someone you couldn’t of imagined

As my teacher Thich Nhat Hanh said..
No mud, no lotus

Through deep suffering there is joy

With aloha,

Johnny

True Success

True success isn’t found on a business card

It isn’t found on a bank statement

Not on a fancy diploma hanging on the wall

Or a sports car, Rolex, mansion

Success (to me) is happiness

A life full of joy & adventure

Both inside & out

Success is found in kindness & compassion

It’s found in the smile of a baby

And the wisdom of an elder

In the end, we define what a truly successful life is

In my experience, success is not found in the material world but a kind, compassionate and happy life

With aloha,

Johnny

Lost at Sea

At times we can feel so lost

Lost in an emotion

Lost in the worries of the path unknown ahead

Lost in the past mistakes & regrets

I know what it feels to be lost

Not knowing what is up or down

My life falling in pieces

What I thought was the end was actually the beginning of something much more beautiful

For every storm runs out of energy

The trick is to not run from it but embrace it

Life doesn’t give us what we want

It gives us what we need

To grow, adapt and eventually move on from

So if you’re feeling lost just know everything is temporary

That each day can be a start of something fresh and beautiful

With aloha,

Johnny