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    The View from the Hill
    The View from the Hill
    The View from the Hill
    Ebook117 pages1 hour

    The View from the Hill

    By Terrence Aubrey

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    The View from the Hill

    The view from the hill is a collection of articles and observations of life. I have tried to take a far from the madding crowd perspective. It is, if you like a view from afar, an appraisal, a stock take.
    These observations whilst covering a wide spectrum of modern day woes are not in truth modern. They are, I would suggest, timeless and cut through many of our concepts of life in the new millennium. Are they valid, worthy of sharing and considering? Obviously I think yes, but you the reader must draw your own conclusions.
    The road we have followed is a dangerous one, why, because we have evolved in a very unbalanced way. We have either presumed, or assumed that our actions are independent of the very World we share.
    Why that should be forms the basis of my observations. Whilst I accept that many will disagree, I hope that at the least the alternative perspective I present here is worthy of your consideration.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherTerrence Aubrey
    Release dateFeb 27, 2013
    ISBN9781301511570
    The View from the Hill
    Author

    Terrence Aubrey

    Terrence Aubrey was born in Bristol, England, the only son of a Ballet dancer mother and composer father. Rebellious of nature and from an early age, he abandoned his education at the earliest possible moment, fifteen. He showed no inclination of following in the artistic footsteps of his parents during his formative years. Preferring a self enlightening process, he set off upon an adventure that led him to experiment with understanding the mind and the development of self awareness. During that period he enjoyed extensive World travel across the countries of Europe, the America’s, north and south and the FSU. He found those travels, enriching, mind opening and educational and in equal measure. He discovered both a passion and love of writing by chance, while establishing a website. It was a website than required a lot of varied content. That ultimately led him to the writing of many articles upon diverse subjects. That in turn led to him creating a blog. The leap from blogging to writing full length novels was a gradual process. Many of his novels reflect his environmental concern for the way we, the human race have evolved and the consequences that path has led us towards. Whilst many of his novels are dramatic, even apocalyptic, they also show a way forward. Whether you believe that way to be better or worse than the current status quo is for you to decide. Terrence Aubrey currently lives on a farm in southern Spain and cultivates Avocados. He has four sons, three dogs and writes. He has now published several works of fiction and they can be found on Smashwords.

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      Book preview

      The View from the Hill - Terrence Aubrey

      Do you want to be happy?

      What do Mother Teresa, Mahatma Ghandi, Adolf Hitler and Muammar Gaddafi have in common? They were all sweet and innocent babies at birth. So what happened, why did these babies these little bundles of joy and innocence evolve into such diverse personalities in later life? For the purpose of this Article we will set aside the possibility of re-incarnation, or karmic forces, another issue altogether. So how do we become what we? What are the determining forces that shape or form our personalities and the way we utilise our short time here on planet earth? Could it be that we actually get that which we want, could the answer be that simple? In truth there is no way of knowing, or proving the case. Could it be that often what we think we want, strive so hard to achieve, proves hollow, worthless, or worse, a burden?

      How for example how would you describe and Mother Teresa, have you seen photos of either? Did they seem to be people that were at peace with themselves and with open, kind and happy faces? In comparison, using the two extreme examples, they would seem to have evolved in completely opposite directions. I have never yet seen a photo of Mother Teresa looking anything other than blissfully happy. We should remember, that through choice, she spent her life surrounded by abject poverty and suffering. Now the other extreme do you get the impression that Adolf Hitler, or Muammar Gaddafi are, or were happy, contented individuals at peace with themselves? Alternatively, would you consider these two examples of Homo Sapiens as individuals being pursued by their own demons, paranoid to extremis and each in their own way delusional and self tormented? Perhaps we should remember that each of these individuals wielded huge power and in Muammar Gaddafi’s case, enormous wealth.

      Now the examples presented above are extremes and for good, or bad, unusual individuals, but what about us, us the normal, run of the mill everyday individuals that make up the bulk of the Human Race. Where do we fit in against the two extremes presented above? In truth that is totally dependent upon us, our motivation, our ambitions and desires. The process of our evolution is a very gradual, moment by moment process. It starts from our very early and formative years and is in many ways determined by our overall world view.

      Would you for example describe yourself as a negative or positive person and does either point of view materially change the reality of your situation, or your status? The answer I suspect is no, just as the physical reality of a half full glass of water and a half empty glass of water, is in truth identical. But, and this is a huge but, your perception of your situation can critically determine your feelings of self worth and personal contentment. What did Mother Teresa, for example, have to give her seemingly constant joy? From my understanding, she spent her life surrounded by abject poverty and much human suffering Alternatively Muammar Gaddafi possessed wealth, influence and power in the extreme. From the photos I have seen it brought him not one drop of happiness, of fulfilment.

      Most, if not all people want to feel and experience happiness within their life, but does that sentiment guarantee happiness, no our destiny is not so simple. Happiness is something that exists for us within the moment; it is if you like a combination of contentment, feeling good about yourself about feeling good about where you are right now. Perhaps more importantly and as the two extremes I have used above make clear, it is independent of our material and worldly situation.

      Ok, the million dollar question, how can these feelings of happiness and contentment be achieved, or realised? Remember that half glass of water, it is unchanging, it is quite simply a half glass of water, but our perception of the glass of water is a reflection of our very state of being right now and at this very moment in time, as we each travel our own special and very individual journey through life.

      The half full glass of water represents gratitude for what we have been given, it represents hope and the knowledge that we can become fulfilled, we can quench our thirst. It also represents an appreciation of the gift of life and the opportunities presented by such an opportunity. Alternatively the half empty glass of water represents despair, the feelings of hopelessness. Everyone is happier than me, has more luck, or more opportunities than me. In comparison with the perception of the half full glass it represents a complete lack of gratitude, for what we have, a chance. Sadly it also reflects a total loss of thankfulness of what actually we have been given.

      Let’s go back to our two extremes from above. Superficially Muammar Gaddafi had, had, on a worldly level, everything. In contrast, Mother Teresa had only her trust, faith and from that, her innate goodness. Which of these two examples choose to focus attention upon what we he did not have?

      Of the four extreme examples I gave at the beginning of this article whom would you prefer to emulate? Ok, these are extreme examples, but we all fit in somewhere between these extremes and we each have the power to determine quite where we will be, we have been given and have with us at every moment of our life that power of choice. Happiness can be ours, but only if we dwell upon the beautiful opportunity being alive can be.

      How to be happy, Part two

      Of all of the articles I have submitted here one stands out from the rest in terms of interest and comments received and within the hundreds of comments received are many requests to expound upon this subject, so here it is How to be Happy. Part two. As I stated in the original blog I do not in all honesty consider myself to be an expert on the subject of how to be happy, but conversely I do have some good idea of what will in fact not make you happy. Through a process of subtraction perhaps we can arrive at the truth. Will being the richest man in the world make you happy almost certainly not. Will being with the most beautiful woman or man in the world make you happy? Again it is not very likely. Will having a really interesting job, a very beautiful house of that pair of shoes that you have been lusting after for so long make you happy? Sorry to seem negative, but again most probably not. Ironically the answer to the question lies within the question, but more of that later.

      Now it may seem to you that I have started this topic with a bunch of negative analysis, not really, only I am trying to strip away the illusion the mirage and the dream that your personal happiness can be derived from something outside of you, be it a possession, another person, a circumstance or a situation. Let me try to clarify the point that I am trying to express. Take a stroll down memory lane, or if you like take a stock take of your life to date. Do you remember the highlights of joy and happiness within your life and I include anyone and everyone here. Come on; brush away the cobwebs and your feelings of negativity or failure. I bet every one of you, with a little effort can conjure up those moments however fleeting of feeling just right, content and happy. Now try to remember the circumstances. The joy and perfectness of that moment was yours and yours alone irrespective of where you were and who you were with, that moment actually came from within you, not without.

      Let me try to be even clearer. It is very possible that you will associate those happy moments that you remember with a particular place, a particular person a shared experience or a particular situation, but, and this the important thing to understand, that happiness came from within you, and from your very being. Why am I repeating myself, simply because within the examples given above lies the secret of how to be happy! If you return to that particular place that you experienced happiness will you again feel happy? Possibly yes, but more probably not, it was not the place that was happy, it was you.

      I hope that

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