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Welcome to the Buddhist Boot Camp Podcast. Our intention is to awaken, enlighten, enrich,

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and inspire a simple and uncomplicated life.

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Discover the benefits of mindful living with your host, Timber Hawkeye. 

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I often hear people say they're trying to find balance in their lives,

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whether it be a balance between work and play, between excitement and relaxation,

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or between companionship and solitude. But, a healthy balance isn't something we "find" 

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one day like loose change between the couch cushions. nor do we "find" balance and

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then maintain it forever. Balance actually requires constant adjustment, 

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flexible shifting, and sharp awareness. We understand this concept when it applies

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to a balanced diet or balancing a checkbook, right? You don't eat a salad one day

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and then your diet is magically balanced; we've got to stick to a regular routine

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of MAINTAINING balance, not of constantly losing it and then looking for it all over again.

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The most common question I get about this, is how to balance a spiritual life

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in this fast-paced and technology-driven world? Well, making sure that 

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you are in control of the technology in your life instead of it being in control of you

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requires discipline and creative time management skills.

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We, after all, are the ones responsible for the imbalances in our lives, so it's up to us

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to adjust the scales. From turning off your cell phone when you go to bed at night,

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to limiting yourself to one hour on Facebook each day, for example.

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The list of suggested boundaries is not only endless, but it varies greatly depending

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on your digital drug of choice. Be it Instagram, the news, YouTube,

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Netflix, Twitter, and so on. A few years ago, I saw a bumper sticker that said "If you're not 

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"outraged then you're not paying attention." Does this mean we must stop paying attention

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if we want to remain calm? Initially, that's exactly what I thought it meant,

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 which is why I blocked all of my exposure to media for many years.

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I don't think we need to completely unplug from television, Internet, and cellular phones,

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but we DO need to safeguard ourselves from getting swept away, submerged,

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and finally drowned in the insistent ocean of information that we consume 

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with our eyes, our ears, and our energy.

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So, where do we draw the line? How much television is too much television?

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How little news is too little news? We need to limit how much negativity we are exposed to,

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and then balance it with some positive. The same way we filter out harmful germs

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and chemicals from our drinking water, we need to install some sort of filter in our lives

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to keep out harmful information that is found in our media. We can pay attention

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without being outraged, because rage has never made any situation better.

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In fact, everything you're currently angry about is stopping you from being happy.

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And the moment you decide to let go of your anger, you'll find that happiness was patiently

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waiting for you to rediscover it all along. There's no need to react to everything we see,

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hear, or read. We can act, by all means, don't get me wrong; certain things in the world 

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will continue to upset us, at which point we can make decisions in line with our values,

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but we don't need to do it with anger.

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Compassion is an equally good motivator without the negative side effects.

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So, I say promote what you love instead of bashing what you hate;

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that's how you create and maintain balance. Struggle is NOT a requirement.

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These podcast episodes are available without commercials thanks to listeners just like you,

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who donate only one dollar a month through Patreon.com/BuddhistBootCamp. You can link

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to our Patreon page from the bottom of BuddhistBootCamp.com, where you can also 

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find links to subscribe to our YouTube channel, with new, Mindful Kitchen episodes,

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sharing plant-based recipes for a balanced life and planet. Remember: balance is

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something we create, not find. By not being part of the pollution, we are automatically

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part of the the solution. Namaste.

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Timber Hawkeye is the bestselling author of Faithfully Religionless 

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and Buddhist Boot Camp.

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For additional information, please visit BuddhistBootCamp.com,

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where you can order autographed books to support the Prison Library Project,

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watch Timber's inspiring TED Talk, and join our monthly mailing list.

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We hope you have enjoyed this episode

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and invite you to subscribe for more thought-provoking discussions.

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Thank you for being a Soldier of Peace in the Army of Love. 🙏