Daily Ramblings – Daily Quote

Tags

Dimensions of Life, Joseph Addison, Reading

Hello, Readers!

I want to do something different with my Daily Quotes. I want to minimize the quotes and actually put more of a slant to them. This allows me to communicate with you in my own words and also makes this more personal for me.

As some of you already know, I love a good quote. I find them inspiring, funny, and eye-opening. More importantly, I find they spur me to look around inside and gauge my response, almost like a person who walks through a museum and sees that one picture that really impacts them. This is what a good quote does for me.

So, going forward, you’re going to get one quote and the thoughts this quote pulls from me. Feel free to comment with any quotes you enjoy or your take on the Daily Quote I post here going forward.

Have a terrific Friday!!

Quote

“Reading is to the mind what exercise is to the body.” – Joseph Addison

My Thoughts

I am a huge advocate for physical exercise in all its forms. I am also huge on diet, supplementation, and finding new ways to improve myself physically. If you’ve been following along, I have written articles on what are called the four dimensions of life. This quote spurred me to think about these dimensions and how important it is for us to maintain each one of them so we can live a balanced and happy life.

If you are unfamiliar with the four dimensions of life, they are not mine. They were introduced by late Dr. Steven Covey, author of “The 7 habits of highly effective people.” They are the physical dimension, the spiritual dimension, the intellectual dimension, and the social dimension.

Reading is one of the great ways to learn, explore new ideas, and ultimately, get in the head of the author. Paul Twitchell, one of my favorite authors, suggests that when you read a book, a poem, or listen to music, to imagine the author writing the words of the book or imagine the artist create the painting. This is a really interesting technique because it really adds to the experience of reading.

Another thing Covey suggests is to read broadly. In other words, try a new genre, or read poetry if you haven’t read it before, or even try to read nonfiction, perhaps to learn something new.

Reading is also important because it exercises our ability to visualize. When I read a great book, my skills of visualization are tested because each story is introducing us to a new world, a world born from an author’s imagination. The better we visualize the better the experience of the book becomes.

Reading could be used to improve the spiritual dimension, the physical dimension, the social dimension, or the intellectual dimension. It all depends on what you read, right?

Part of my daily routine is to read at least 1 chapter of a book each day. I typically read more than that, but even if I’m really busy, it is not difficult to knock out one chapter. To establish this habit, start small. Read a page a day or a set number of paragraphs. Pick a time you’ll read each day, whether it’s in the morning or in the evening. I enjoy reading when I get home from the gym and have had my post workout meals, taken my vitamins, and have cleaned up. I find I’m perfectly relaxed and more than ready to explore a new world (start a new book) or continue to visit the world I’m learning about (reading a current book).

What times of day do you prefer to read? Are there any particular genres you gravitate to? What genre of book would you like to read that you haven’t picked up yet?

Have a great Friday all.

Until tomorrow…

Daily Ramblings – Visualization

Tags

creation, creativity, inner vision, Meditation, Visualization

“Be great in act, as you have been in thought.” – Jean Paul

In this posting, I want to discuss visualization. Visualization is a really handy tool to solve problems, create something new, or simply to contemplate new ideas. I realize that many people cannot visualize. Hopefully the steps I provide below will help you build your ability to visualize. Once you know how to make visualization a part of your life there are all kinds of benefits you can use to improve it.

We all possess the ability to visualize what we want. When we create something, we always visualize it in our minds first, even if it is a subconscious process. Steven Covey (author of the 7 habits) discusses this as the first and second creations. At first, we “see” in our minds what we need and how it is put together. Then we build from our visualized blueprint. This occurs whether we are creating a plan of action, writing a blog post or book, giving a speech, or building a machine, a home, or a piece of art.

Visualization is not hard, but if you have never consciously done it, it can be a little daunting. Like any skill, it takes practice to build from where you are currently. Here are a few ways for you to improve your ability to visualize.

Steps to build visualization into your life:

• Step 1: Imagine you are sitting in the sand on a beach. As you sit there, visualize the blue-green water and your feet in the white sand. The picture is the first step in visualizing. Keep the picture simple. Only visualize your feet in the sand and the picture of the ocean in front of you.
• Step 2: Add sound. Now hear the ocean surf washing up on the shore 20 feet in front of where you are sitting. Only add the visual and the sound.
• Step 3: Add feeling. How does the sand feel? How does the breeze feel coming off of the ocean? How does the sun feel beaming down on you? Only add the visual, sound, and feeling.
• Step 4: Add taste. Visualize drinking from a water bottle. Feel the condensation and temperature of the bottle. Feel the gritty sand under your feet. Feel the sun on your legs. Taste the crisp water coming out of your water bottle. Only add the visual, sound, feeling, and taste.
• Step 5: Add more complexity. Add Seagulls to your picture. Add a porpoise diving out of the water. Add a person (man or female) running down the beach in the distance with their dog.
• Step 6: Ad infinitum. Add whatever you wish to your visualization. When you come back to the present, write down any notes on your experience when you’re completed. Typically I try to visualize things daily for about 5-10 minutes as part of my meditation practice. Revisit this place when you are stressed out or just want a respite from the day.

This is a simple exercise that you can practice every day. Once you’ve mastered this scene. You can make your own scenes and practice on adding complexity to them. The really interesting part of this exercise is when you begin adding complexity unconsciously and your creation takes off on its own (this takes a lot of practice).

Here are some prompts for other visualizations you can do:

Visualize a trip you would like to take. What sounds do you hear? What do you feel internally and externally? What unique smells do you encounter? (If you are having difficulty, go online and search for images of the place you want to go. This helps a lot when you are first starting out)

Visualize your body in good shape. What do you look like? How does your body feel?

Visualize a place you can go to relax and reduce stress? What does your safe place look like? Is it a garden? Is it a monastery to meditate in? Is it a mountain top allowing you to hear the wind and take in a breath-taking panorama?

As you can see, your creativity will allow you to go anywhere and do anything. It’s how we take the basics of visualization to create what we want and really experience it. You have unlimited freedom in your inner worlds and all of it will be uniquely tailored to you. I hope you have a good time doing this and enjoy yourself.

If you try these techniques and something works for you, reply to this posting. I’d love to hear about your inner adventures.

Until next time…