Robin Williams was a stand up comedian, turned actor. He sadly took his own life in August of 2014. I grew up with Robin Williams and I laughed with the rest of America as he entertained us with his quirky eccentricities and hilarious insights. He came a long way from his prior drug addiction but in the end his humorous outlook didn’t save him from the horrors of his own insight. His death shocked the world and reminded us that EVERYONE needs support and love, no matter how ‘strong’ or ‘cheery’ they may seem. He said and did a lot of crazy stuff in his day, but what made his high energy observations so funny was the insight he afforded. He was anything but a dunce. Here are some of his more memorable quotes to cheer you up, think, and stop taking life too seriously.

“You’re only given a little spark of madness. You mustn’t lose it.”

He would know this better than most, but its true. What makes a ‘normal’ person? I don’t even want to try to quantify it but I bet it’s boring and devoid of creativity. Embrace yourself and all that makes you the beautiful and distinct person you are!

“No matter what people tell you, words and ideas can change the world.”

The pen is mightier than the sword has been proven time after time, but this modern age solidifies it. Ideas and the words that give them life and definition are a vital part of our technological age. A well chosen word can bring emotional relief to thousands of suffering people.

“Tweets? That stuff kills conversation. And people taking pictures with their phone or recording you, sometimes surreptitiously, is creepy. They come up and just start talking to you, and you can see the red light on their phone.”

This is not only a remark on how social media is an entirely overrated phenomena but how people are always trying to get something from you. Social media has its time and place but it should only ever be an aspect of your communication, not the sum. Go out and make a new friend in a coffee shop or gather your friends for a walk!

So often people are trying to get something from us. A reaction, a phone number, a friend or even a dollar. Be wary as you walk through life.

“I used to think that the worst thing in life was to end up alone. It’s not. The worst thing in life is to end up with people who make you feel alone.”

At least when you are alone you have room for someone new once you find them. Being trapped in a damaging or negative relationship can consume you if you aren’t careful. Remember that being alone and happy is better than having emotional hyenas at your dinner table.

“I do believe in love; it’s wonderful – especially love (the) third time around, it’s even more precious; it’s kind of amazing.”

Hahahaha! For anyone losing faith in love this one’s for you! Love comes in all forms and sizes, though it always has similar themes. These similarities doesn’t mean you are experiencing the same thing as you did in the past. Give love a chance!

“Reality: What a concept!”

Pure Williams. We all live in different realities, and sometimes we forget that we can change ours with a thought. Even better pull your head out your cloud and visit Earth every so often! It’s gotten a lot better than you remember, I promise.

“I’m sorry, if you were right, I’d agree with you.”

Sticking to your guns is an important characteristic for personal growth. Have faith in your decisions and when that isn’t enough have faith in your ability to roll with the punches. Life is about sustainable forward momentum, not crying over split milk or walking on eggshells.

“Sometimes over things that I did, movies that didn’t turn out very well – you go, ‘Why did you do that?’ But in the end, I can’t regret them because I met amazing people. There was always something that was worth it.”

Regret will try to creep into your life and mess up your day no matter what you do. The only defense we have to remain focused on the present, do our best and remember all the good that occurs in every scenario.

“The essential truth is that sometimes you’re worried that they’ll find out it’s a fluke, that you don’t really have it. You’ve lost the muse or – the worst dread – you never had it at all. I went through all that madness early on.”

Having faith in yourself is crucial. Keeping this faith is made easier when you don’t listen to the expectations of others. Do what is right by you and trust your gut in times of need. Even if a form of success in your life was a fluke, enjoy it while you got it and have gratitude you got to try something new.

“Please, don’t worry so much. Because in the end, none of us have very long on this Earth. Life is fleeting.”

The Buddha said that the problem is, that everyone thinks they have time. We have our whole lives in front of us until we don’t. Our ‘whole life’ is a series of moments. Don’t waste this finite number on the small stuff, you still have so much to experience!

“You will have bad times, but they will always wake you up to the stuff you weren’t paying attention to.”

You can interpret this a couple of ways. I choose to see this as, even amidst your darkest day, if you pay attention outside of your suffering you’ll see so much to be grateful for.

“Medicine, law, business, engineering, these are noble pursuits and necessary to sustain life. But poetry, beauty, romance, love: these are what we stay alive for.”

We get so wrapped up in the concepts of life, that sometimes we loose sight of whats important. Do what you feel is right to make your life long and productive but don’t forget the basic spice of life, love. Have fun, cry with friends, go skinny dipping in a lake! A life well lived is pockmarked with friendships and acts of compassion and fun.

“See, the problem is that God gives men a brain and a penis, and only enough blood to run one at a time.”

This one is too fun. Don’t ever forget your desires but don’t let your sexuality become the sum of your personality.

Meditation is a practice of discipline to regain control of the mind and build formations that are productive to us and others. This may seem like a vague description but meditation it is a general concept. That generality has run away from practitioners around the world. These misconceptions are intended to be malevolent, but in a way they are. They confuse and detract resources from a system that works. There won’t be any mention of specialized meditation. We’ll stay with basic meditative precepts, such as breath counting and mantras. Below is a list of myths and the explanation right below them.

Meditation Is Relaxation

I’ve heard people say ‘think only positive thoughts’ or ‘let your mind go limp’. These statements come from the stress management seminars that may have twisted certain ideas to reach their goals. Stress reduction, momentary happiness and relaxation are not the be-all and end-all for meditation. Some of  these things will happen to you but the goals of meditation are  more far reaching. The beginning stages are about learning to let go and simply ‘be’. This is just the first steps though.

Meditation Is Just Self-Hypnosis

There are some overlapping themes in therapeutic hypnosis and meditation. Both practices start by inducing a state of relaxation then there is ‘inner’ work that must be done. Hypnosis and some forms of meditation  utilizes visualization techniques and/or the use of repetitious phrases to change internal formations. But many forms of meditation (Zen “just sitting” or Theravadin mindfulness meditation) make no use of such tools. The overlap between hypnosis and meditation is only partial.

There are Technological Shortcuts

In the urge to have instant gratification a terrible and clever market has jumped to the fore front of the Internet to ‘give you the ability to meditate like a Zen monk, with the click of a button,’ and other similar claims for speed and perfection. ‘All you need to do is pay, put you headphones in for one hour for the next week and you’ll feel better in no time!’ If you take an hour out of your day to relax of course you will have a better perspective at the end of the week. This isn’t real meditation. some musical gimmick can not hold a flame to the compassion and love gained from hours of dutifully watching your breath.

You Must Sit In Lotus Position

That you can meditate while doing anything, in any position, baffles most people. True there are perks to the seated, passive forms of meditation, there are also perks to active meditation styles. Mobility is an issue that every can relate to. If you enjoy seated meditation but the versions of lotus hurt your joints, you can sit on a chair, or even lying down. As long as the focus is on your breath, you are doing well.

While Meditating You Have To Say ‘Ohm’

‘Ohm’ is a single part of a mantra. Many kinds of meditation have repetitious speech to focus the mind and will. Just as many do not, it’s all preference.

Meditation A Religious Activity

Meditation has been used by numerous religious groups as far as we remember. This doesn’t mean it is a religious activity. It is simply a highly diverse way expanding your mind, heart, and perceptions. I also hear people say meditation is an eastern thing. While many religious and spiritual activities include meditation in the East, meditation is found around the world practiced on some level or another by every group on the planet.

Meditation Is Escapist

Meditation is considered to be a mental escapism by some. They say meditation is “running away from problems,” “navel gazing,” “lotus eating,” or “disregarding the world.” I don’t understand this. To me living your life with no rest, no strong inner thoughts and never taking the time to focus on an event or experience is escapism. In a meditative state, you are face to face with many unsavory aspects of yourself and the world like, anger, pain, selfishness, suffering, war, craving, desire and delusional thoughts. The idea is not to run from aspects of ourselves and others, it is to stay and heal.

Meditation Is About Letting Your Mind Go Blank

This is the trump card of meditation myths. A part of meditation is build the character and efficiency of our mental voice. How does one do that when you don’t allow your voice to speak up? What does happen is the nonstop mental babbling begins to slow down and we observe mindfulness. This mindfulness becomes the moment we are experiencing, and that is what we see, feel, hear: the entirety of the moment.