I'm just getting this in under the wire. Yay!

I am working out of town again. Things are going pretty good; I'm just tired. This bed looks really, really good right now.

I'm re-reading How to Practice: The Way to a Meaningful Life by H.H. The Dalai Lama (Translated and edited by Jeffery Hopkins, Ph.D.) and it's just blowing my mind. In Part II (Practicing Morality), Chapter 5 (Extending Help), he writes:

Put others first; you yourself come next. This works even from a selfish viewpoint. Let me explain how this is possible. You want happiness and do not want suffering, and if you show other people kindness, love, and respect, they will respond in kind; this way your happiness will increase. If you show other people anger and hatred, they will show you the same, and you will lose your own happiness. So I say, if you are selfish, you should be wisely selfish. Ordinary selfishness focuses only on your own needs, but if you are wisely selfish, you will treat others just as well as you treat those close to you. Ultimately, this strategy will produce more satisfaction, more happiness. So, even from a selfish viewpoint, you get better results by respecting others, serving others, and reducing self-centeredness.

I love his perspective. This is not the best excerpt I've read today, but this was the first page I flipped to so I figured this must be the right one. Honestly, I do need to work on this. Just today I was upset with my brother and I lashed out at him, just because that is what I selfishly felt like doing in that moment. It accomplished nothing of course. I imagine I'd be feeling much better about the situation if I had just been kinder.

Something to think about for sure.

Random six:

Bryan Ferry - Slave to Love
Surprise - Synchronicity
Junior Wells - Come On in This House
Van Morrison - I Believe to My Soul
The Pretenders - Message of Love
Willie Dixon with Memphis Slim - Sittin' and Cryin' the Blues