Vanity--all is vanity (caution: spiritual fixation post)

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"This is the highest wisdom: to despise the world and to aspire to the

kingdom of Heaven.

   It is vanity, therefore, to seek riches which must perish, and to trust

in them.

   It is vanity also to be ambitious of honors, and to raise oneself up to

a high station.

   It is vanity to follow the desires of the flesh, and to desire that for

which you must afterward be grievously punished.

   It is vanity to wish for a long life, and to take little care of

leading a good life.

   It is vanity also to attend only to this present life, and not to

look forward to those things which are to come.

And so on."

On the right side of this blog you will see that I highly recommend Thomas A Kempis's "The Inner Life." I have posted about this book a few times including this one from 2007 and this one from 2013.  Time and again I would realize my vanity. Vain anxiety. Argh. Think happy thoughts. Rainbows, butterflies, Sharpies, post-its, chocolate, refillable coffee, free pastries, strawberries and champagne---goodness, I seriously need a break from thinking. How do you do that? Assisted transcendental hypnosis? Ack.