Out of My Mind…and Intending to Stay There
Author: Kurt Sussman
Release: October 13, 2018
Tagline: A Battleplan for Life
Publisher: Independently published
Genre: Motivational, Self-Help, Philosophy
ISBN-10: 1723990442
ISBN-13: 978-1723990441
Synopsis: “Irreverent in voice and delivery and lacking the ‘pious pomposity’ of most spiritual self-help methods and guides, ‘Out of My Mind’ shoots straight at the heart of the human condition to provide effective strategies to combat the tragedies and hardships that befall most of us at one time or another… with mathematical precision. ‘Out of My Mind’, born out of the wisdom of the ancient Martial Arts traditions and fused with global philosophical teachings and scientific principles, reveals a strategy designed to produce the perfect weapon for the task of attaining balance and personal happiness by training, revealing, and setting free the modern Warrior…you.”
Declassified by Agent Palmer: Set Free Your Modern Warrior with Out of My Mind…and Intending to Stay There: A Battleplan for Life by Kurt Sussman
Quotes and Lines
Which one is “us”, the one talking or the one listening?
It is important to note that the “real” you, the spirit that is connected to all things, the “ghost in the machine”, if you will, is the one listening to the commentary, not making it.
People and situations don’t make us upset, we make ourselves upset through our interpretation of what is said, what is done, and what we witness. Life doesn’t make us, we make ourselves through our interpretation of life.
…let’s start accepting that the output from this little computer on our shoulders might be flawed…just because you think it, doesn’t make it Truth.
We think our mind is corrupted by the mainstream media; I think our mainstream media is a reflection of the incessant, often mostly, negative, virtual babble that is caught in an endless and magnifying feedback loop.
…courage is not the absence of fear, it is moving forward in the presence of fear.
We are so busy lamenting about the past and worrying about the future that we live anywhere but where we’re supposed to: right here, right now.
It is my intention to show you how to see the evidence of self-defeating thought, how to diagnose it, and how to pull it out from the roots.
Now, there are individuals who have created vocations out of these endeavors, but it is important to note here that involvement in the endeavor is the goal, not creating a lucrative career out of it.
Conflict does not denote a problem. I know it sounds like we’re arguing semantics here, but consider this: when we state that there is a problem, we are saying that what is shouldn’t be.
Problems are a man-made convention.
Certainly, without testing, frailties would go unnoticed, untended, unresolved.
We have fed this monster to the point that most of the civilized world is convinced that the world had to change so that I can be happy. Make no mistake, this is the weakest stance, the stance of the victim.
Our vocation or station in life doesn’t have to be seen as work, or as a job; it’s the creative process of being alive.
If you’re still breathing, you’re in the game.
And sometimes, we all need help from others and should accept help, when we trust the hand that is reaching out to us. THIS IS NOT A SIGN OF WEAKNESS…it’s a sign of strength.
The Mind, though great at solving puzzles and mathematical equations is a fucking four-year-old that is not equipped nor prepared to navigate your life, nor lead you to any kind of lasting happiness.
The best the mind can do, it seems, is to get you to sell the present for a future promise of happiness.
Habits are so strong that even the intellect is rarely able to combat them. Habits can easily be made, and through a process called Neuroplasticity, you can rewire your brain to develop new habits to combat, interrupt or replace destructive habits and if repeated enough, are nearly impossible to break… and that’s a good thing.
Yes…we can be addicted to thinking. In fact, it may be the single biggest threat to our survival.
If we all use the right tool everytime, I wouldn’t be writing this book, and you would not be reading it.
Action, born out of silent awareness in the NOW moment, is the most effective tool.
We never had control over the external event to begin with so we must start with what we DO have control over…our actions.
We think by saying “fuck it” we are choosing to do what WE want. Guess what? It’s just more of the same negative escalation working with the precision of a Fibonacci sequence.
Thought, emotion, and action are a trident that makes your soul resonate to a compatible frequency.
In fact, very few of us question that we are living a duality, even when we say “I said to myself the other day…” that’s a dialog; a conversation between two entities and you’re the only one here. Now you have to wonder which one is real…but I think you probably have an idea, or you wouldn’t be reading this book-this tool for disarming the doomsday device.
But I have to admit that a new idea can open up new fields for growth, but it is an action that does the planting.
It is so funny to me now. In my fifties, I followed society’s norms, and the color just drained from my canvas. I am of the opinion now that those childhood dreams, where miracles DO happen, are more important than I ever knew.
If you spend your time and don’t buy happiness, you’re getting ripped off.
everyone is perfect in their imperfection.
It takes courage to embrace self-reflection. Noone wants to admit to their own flaws, because the human condition throughout history has been that of duality; the haves and the haves-nots, the good and the bad, the pious and the wicked.
I heard it said once that observation is an aggressive act…this is probably true since we all get defensive the minute someone points out our faults. But you have to be willing to look at yourself, honestly, but also with kindness; it is imperative to be our own strongest advocate…we are already our own biggest critic.
You see, perspective is everything. Instead of thinking that your idiosyncrasies are flaws, maybe ask yourself how they might be an advantage. It’s not about knowing the answers, it’s about asking the right questions.
All of the things you need or want to engage you in an activity that you do for only one reason: Because you want to. Not because people will adore you, or pay you, or remember your name. This is for you. Society and it’s “rules” have kidnapped you, and now you’re going to rescue yourself.
…good and bad are interpretations not truisms.
You can’t think your way to sanity, not matter how hard you try.
It is a bit of a conundrum…I am writing down words and plans and practices, telling you that words and thinking and language are the problem. Try to always remember that they are pointers– a call to action– and when you see the message, see the strategy, you won’t need to read this book any longer.
I have to stop myself here a bit and say…don’t believe a word I say. Really… do not. Believe direct experience, and if these words point to an action that produces a positive experience, they will have done their job. Their ONLY job…to be a pointer, little road signs. They point the way, and maybe even give you some distance information, but remember they are only signs.
Only experience can be truth, and words can only point the way, at best. Is it any wonder that the human race is so dysfunctional? Everybody is carrying around their own bag of words, claiming its truth, and everybody is arguing about whose bag of shit is the real truth. None of them are. Everybody has a boat in the marina, puffing their chest and putting down everyone else’s boat, and no one is sailing. The truth is the sun on your face and the wind in your hair.
With all of us, to a greater or lesser degree, we have an inability in discerning if a challenge is real or simply the mind’s maladjusted interpretation of events.
Quite simply, we use our own versions of our pasts and futures to rob us of our present.
By being the silent observer, or listener, you will learn things about yourself that you would never have learned with your mouth open.
Chaos and struggle are a necessary part of our world and not an indicator that something is wrong or that we are tragically flawed.
If nothing else, I have to be consistent with restating things, because ideas and the adoption of them work like osmosis; it takes time for an idea (or water) to soak through a semi-permeable membrane (your awareness).
If you live too much in the past or future, you will rob yourself of the Now, the only time that IS real.
We have been holding on to words for thousands and thousands of year…and how enlightened has our society become because of it? Greed and corruption run as wild as the wildfires and hurricanes of an angry earth, and our trajectory is troublesome at best.
conditions are however we perceive them to be…and that’s important; it’s the meaning we give to the event that matters…and that is always our choice.
All problems emanate from our mind’s concept and position to the past or the future, and in our inability to see that the only thing we have is the choice of our reaction, and that is ALL WE NEED.
While we all agree that it seems sensible to map our life’s trajectories, I think it’s safe to say that most of our destinies haven’t happened as we planned.