31 Monday Aug 2020
Posted in Workout Routine
Hey there! I hope your weekend was terrific! Mine was outstanding!
This week’s workout routine will continue with cardio.
Monday – Saturday: Cardio, Supine Bicycle
I’m sticking with cardio, because I’ve been feeling a little lethargic, and the cardio will help improve my oxygen uptake, which may be a little down, because of a lack of access to the cardio equipment at the gym I’m accustomed to.
Have a great week, everyone!
See you at the finish line!
Dave
31 Monday Aug 2020
Posted in Motivation Monday
Well, folks, we’re in the last week of August 2020. How is your year turning out? I realize this question may seem a bit sarcastic, but what I want to know is how are you doing with achieving your goals. I know some of them had to be put on hold or cancelled. A bunch of my goals were put on hold because the library, coffee shops, and other places I wanted to go for writing sites are still closed. The rest of my goals are on track.
As we approach the end of the third quarter (end of September), continue to make adjustments to your plans for the goals you have. You can still achieve them, but if you’re a little behind, you’re going to have to kick into high gear to get over the finish line.
Here is my schedule for the week:
Have a great week, folks!
Until next time…
Dave
30 Sunday Aug 2020
Posted in Spread Your Wings
Tags
Challenges, family, Lockdown, Reading, Relaxation, Spread Your Wings, Sunday, Writing
Challenge: This week’s challenge involves some exploration. I’m going to offer another challenge below in case some of your lockdown conditions are just too hard to pull this off. The challenge is to take a walk in the woods, a beach, or a park. The challenge doesn’t require a certain distance, just that you go to one of these locations and take a stroll.
Challenge (alternate): Some of you live in areas where the lockdown is tough to overcome. One of my friends in Melbourne, Australia appears to be in an area that is suffering from a resurgence of the virus and is back under lockdown condition. This challenge is for you. This week, read about, look at pictures, or attend a virtual tour of one of your country’s or state’s national parks.
If you participate, tell me how you feel when you return from your little excursion.
Until next time…
Dave
29 Saturday Aug 2020
Posted in Spiritual Saturday
Tags
Courage, forgive, Forgiveness, Humility, Integrity, let go, Victim, victim mentality
Happy Saturday!
Today, I’m going to talk about forgiveness.
Forgiveness takes courage and humility. Forgiving someone for past deeds can be difficult because it requires us to let go of past wrongs. If someone betrayed you, it is tough to forgive them because their betrayal is not just about their act of betrayal, but also involves your ignorance in choosing to trust them. This causes pain because you can’t trust them again, and because of that lack of trust, that person can no longer be a friend. You lose a friend, and you lose confidence in your ability to trust yourself or others.
Forgiveness does not equate to forgetting. It is merely acknowledging that you and the person who hurt you are human. We all make mistakes. Each of us is capable of betrayal. When we forgive, we humble ourselves and our personal hurt and subordinate ourselves to a greater truth—grudges are not healthy. We forgive because we would like others to forgive us for anything we may have done to them. We forgive because we want to let go of the past hurts and move on.
Many times we hurt ourselves. We choose an unhealthy option. We violate a core belief or value. We break a promise we make to ourselves. It takes courage to acknowledge these transgressions. Admitting we are weak or undisciplined is a hard pill to swallow—but swallow it we must if we want to transcend this and begin again.
It takes courage to look oneself in the mirror and admit that you are not living up to your own internal principles. The weak blame others. The weak play the victim. The weak cannot take responsibility. How can you improve anything in your life if it is always someone or something else’s fault?
It takes humility to admit you are wrong. It takes humility to apologize for your wrongdoing. It takes humility to bear your soul to another person and ask for their forgiveness. It also takes humility to learn from other people. None of us are saints. We hurt other people purposely or accidentally. Apologize and ask for forgiveness. Admit you were wrong. Learn from other people. Forgive yourself.
Have a great Saturday, folks!
Until next time…
Dave
27 Thursday Aug 2020
Posted in Thankful Thursdays
Tags
Gratitude, heavy metal, Meditation, memories, Movies, Music, Reading, Soundscapes, Thanks, Writing
I have always enjoyed music. It seems that we are all wired to music, in light of how popular it has been throughout history. Music entertains. Music reminds. Music inspires.
I like to listen to music when I read. I can’t listen to music with words, because it is too hard to concentrate, but instrumental music is a common partner when I read. I also enjoy listening to music when I write.
Again, I have to refrain from listening to music with words while I write because it is too hard to concentrate on what I’m doing when I listen to the words. Interestingly, I have found that listening to certain types of music invoke emotions that are helpful when I am writing an action scene or an emotional scene. I can’t listen while I write, but I do listen before I write.
Another type of music I like listening to is trance while I do cardio or heavy metal while I lift weights. Trance helps me deal with the monotony of cardio, while heavy metal helps me achieve the aggression I need when I’m trying to push myself to my limits.
I like listening to Asian music, sound scapes, and other cerebral music when I meditate. It helps my mind calm down, while I concentrate on the breath.
I even enjoy listening to movie soundtracks. When I listen to the music of Pirates of the Caribbean, Gladiator, Star Wars, or even the Godfather, I can see the various scenes play out in my mind. It is amazing how much the music impacts a scene in a movie.
Think about the dark music in the original Halloween movie or The Exorcist. When you hear these songs, you automatically think about these movies. It is fascinating.
So today, I am grateful for music that helps me write, workout, relax, and visualize my favorite movies.
Happy Thursday!
Until next time…
Dave
26 Wednesday Aug 2020
Posted in Uncategorized, Wisdom Wednesday
A diplomat is a man who always remembers a woman’s birthday but never remembers her age.
In three words I can sum up everything I’ve learned about life: it goes on.
Hell is a half-filled auditorium.
Education is the ability to listen to almost anything without losing your temper or your self-confidence.
By working faithfully eight hours a day you may eventually get to be boss and work twelve hours a day.
I hope you enjoy Frost’s humor. Have a great Wednesday!
Until next time…
Dave
25 Tuesday Aug 2020
Posted in Ted Talk
I watched a 5-part documentary of WWI on Curiosity.com and wanted to pass along a little knowledge. Here’s a short documentary for you.
Until next time…
Dave
24 Monday Aug 2020
Posted in Workout Routine
Tags
Bicycle, Dedication, dig in, Discipline, Exercise, HIIT, in-house, Push, workout
This week I’m going to hit some cardio again. I’ll be doing HIIT on my in-house supine bicycle.
Monday – Thursday, Saturday-Sunday: One-minute work, Two-minutes rest (5 sets)
Friday – Off
Have a great week, folks!
See you at the finish line!
Dave
24 Monday Aug 2020
Posted in Motivation Monday
Tags
Coding, Exercising, journaling, K.M. Allan, Learning, motivation, Reading, Spiritual, Writing
I hope everyone’s weekend was outstanding! I got my work done and took some time to watch a few Marvel movies. I re-watched Iron Man, Iron Man 2, and Iron Man 3. These are all great stories, and the special effects are over the top. I also got in some entertainment reading. I’m reading K.M. Allan’s second book in her Blackbirch series, which is really entertaining. I don’t read a lot of fiction, because non-fiction is more up my alley, but the Blackbirch series is awesome. I highly recommend you buy it, if you enjoy a good story. Here’s the link: https://amzn.to/2QlKrmR
Anyway, I hope all of you have a great week! Here’s my daily schedule:
Journaling daily (Personal, Dream, and Spiritual)
Coding daily (Data Science Path Codecademy)
Writing daily (Book, Blog, Classwork)
Exercise daily (See Workout Routine)
Reading daily (multiple books, articles)
Learning daily (Codecademy, Masterclass, Study.com)
Spiritual daily (Contemplation, Spiritual Reading)
That’s it folks! Have a great week!
Until next time…
Dave
23 Sunday Aug 2020
Posted in Spread Your Wings
Tags
Adventure, challenge, change of pace, Do Something Different, documentary, Learn something, Spread Your Wings, Weekly
Challenge: Watch one documentary this week to learn something new. I posted about The Bit Player yesterday in my Bonus Content.
In the comments, leave a message about the documentary (short) and what you learned.
Have a great week, everybody!
Until next time…
Dave
