SUNDAY 9th JUNE 2013 07:55 BST

AVAILABLE FOR KINDLE DOWNLOAD, DOCUMENT DOWNLOAD AND AUDIOBOOK - EMOTIONAL MANAGEMENT FOR ORDINARY FOLK

FOR MORE WISDOM CHECK OUT MY TUMBLR PAGE

FOR PERSONAL ISSUES, OR TO FIND OUT WHAT I DO, WHY NOT CHECK OUT MY WEBSITE

1. THIS DAY IN WORLD WAR 2 (9th June 1943)
On the Russian Front...
In the Ukraine, Soviet 3rd Guards Army launch an attack along the Mius River.

In Yugoslavia...
Partisan leader Tito is wounded by a Luftwaffe raid

In France...
General Delestraint, leader of Gaullist Secret Army movement, is arrested by the Gestapo

In China...
Battle of Western Hupei (South Yangtze Operation): 85th Infantry Division and 121st Infantry Division of Chinese 6th War Area recover Chihchiang

Today's Air Raids...
Yaroslavl, Russia by the Luftwaffe
Kursk Sector, Russia on Luftwaffe airfields by Soviet aircraft
Catania and Gerbini, Sicily by US 9th Air Force
Pantelleria Island on the Italian garrison by USAAF
Munda, New Georgia Island by US 13th Air Force
Vila, Kolombangara Island by US 13th Air Force

2. TODAY IN MY LIFE
Blogging
The Milk Run
Me Time
Lunch with Missus
Long Meditation
Missus Time thereafter

3. TODAY'S SELF-OBSERVATION
I'm wise enough to know that I am NOT, contrary to popular belief, the sum of my memories. That said, memory has a fundamental effect on behaviour. On the positive side, the accumulated wisdom enables me to act positively. This positive behaviour can however be sabotaged by unhelpful responses to bad memories.

In my case, I have lost my fear of death, injury and personal consequences. Couple this with decades of hurt turned to anger, and this makes me capable of anything. Fortunately, the dark and destructive energies within me are kept restrained by a combination of learned mind-management, the love of nearest and dearest, and a clear positive intention.

I am wise enough to know that I am robust but not invincible. Were I to neglect the regular disciplines I practice, my Dark Side could easily be unleashed upon the innocent as well as the guilty. The wrath and hatred within me is capable of the most savage destruction. However the love within me is equally powerful, capable of saving and changing lives.

Like anyone, I am at the mercy of events beyond my control. I can be broken or liberated by adversity or fortune. It serves no purpose to waste mental energy on these possibilities beyond my control. What I CAN control is thought. My own thought, left unmanaged, orientates naturally to dark memories. This means that with very little or even no provocation, I am capable of boundless fury. I have learned to avoid people and circumstances that particularly upset me and to where not needed, to turn off thought completely, although not yet perfectly.

And yet I do not resent the existence of my Dark Side. It is fundamental to who I am. Furthermore it has a highly important beneficial role as a defence and deterrent. I cannot make a positive difference if I am exploited to serve other's agendas. I therefore have no issues with defending myself robustly, and I am fully prepared to unleash my wrath and hatred on those who attempt to exploit me. Since I've started doing this, unhelpful people have backed-off, and in my personal life have been completely expelled. I consequently have a happier and easier life.

Where I differ from many of my spiritually-orientated peers is that I do NOT believe that love is the natural state of the universe and darkness is a disease. I believe that existence requires creation and destruction in balance. For me, the fundamental unit of existence is consciousness, which can only know itself by the contrast of opposites. Fulfilment in life does not require the complete triumph of love, but rather simply knowing how it is and who you are. Being and knowing brings with it a joy that unlike anything else has no opposite.

4. TODAY'S QUESTION FOR YOU
Is life happening to you or are you making life happen?

5. TODAY'S WEATHER IN BRADFORD
Cloudy start.
The cloud will thin and evaporate by mid-morning
However, cloud will build again from mid-afternoon.
Cloudy overnight.
A light easterly breeze will blow throughout.
Max Temp = 16 degC
Min Temp = 9 degC
Sunrise at 04:37
Sunset at 21:35

6. TODAY'S ONELINER
I believe in personal growth, mainly by too many biscuits : D

7. NOW THAT'S FUNNY!
Mock The Week - best gags

8. TRIVIA
The Barbary Macaque of southern Spain is the only species of wild monkey in Europe.

9. THE WISDOM I'VE LEARNED FROM OTHERS
"If you think education is expensive - try ignorance." - Derek Bok