Daily Ramblings – Reading, Watching, and Learning – Living a Balanced Life

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Balance, Goals, Mental, Physical, Sharpening the Saw, Social, Spiritual, Stephen Covey

Many of you may be wondering why I post this each week. It’s to keep me honest with myself about the things I agreed to do this year. If you recall, I plan out my life using one of the ideas in Stephen Covey’s 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. In this book, he discusses a balanced life. He has multiple examples, but the one I gravitated to was the four categories he lists out as: Physical, Mental, Social, and Spiritual. These tasks I assign myself involve the mental side of things. I like to learn new things. Some of them are pure trivia, but many things have a purpose. I am anxious to learn EXCEL, because it helps me with the non-profit position I currently hold. I like learning about history because I have always been fascinated by it. I like reading fiction books because it helps my writing, and it helps me keep my visualization skills strong.

So, there you have it. I also do physical things, like exercise to keep this body in shape. Socially, I use this medium, and many others to stay in contact with my friends and make new ones. I’ve made quite a few friends here on this blog and enjoy the interactions with other bloggers. Spiritually, I work through a set of disciplines from spiritual readings, spiritual activities like sharing what I’ve learned on my religious journey and writing for our newsletter. I also monitor the data we receive from our Facebook page, website, and Meetup sites.

Each of us have unique interests and activities we enjoy. You can use Covey’s stuff like I do, or you may have another way of planning out your life. Whatever that is, pick a particular mechanism that works for you. This one works for me, but there are many other ways to achieve a balance in your life, so your body, relationships, creative side, and anything else you value can be taken care of. The key is to balance the things you do so that no category of your life is neglected.

Well, that’s all I have for today, folks. Have a great Thursday!

Until next time…

Dave

Daily Ramblings – Motivation Monday – Hobbies

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Balance, Fishing, Fun, Happy, Hobby, Joy, Music, Reading, Relaxation, Relish, Video Games, Writing, Xbox

My sister has been “over-focused” on work for as long as I have known her. There is nothing wrong with that, provided you take time to do other things to balance it out. Balance is key to a happy life, in my opinion, so that you can do your work, have some fun, and not miss anything important. Important things like regular checkups for you and your pets, paying your bills, exercising, learning something new, and enjoying something that you do, because you enjoy doing it.

Hobbies could be coin collecting, antiquing, drawing/sketching, playing an instrument, or playing video games. It doesn’t matter what your hobby is, as long as it gives you a break from the things you have to to do. Another requirement: You have to look forward to it.

I love playing video games of all kinds. Whether these are on my pc, my iPad, or my Xbox. They are challenging, entertaining, and even educational. I look forward to my daily session, and laugh, yell, and have a heck of a good time. It is even more fun when I can link up with my brother and play together.

This is what I’m talking about. The passion for your hobby has to be there. You have to enjoy it, think about it, and relish the time you get to do it.

Think about people who enjoy fishing. These people can’t wait to get back out on their boats and fish again.

Think about those people who enjoy golf. They can’t wait to get out to the course. They even plan their vacations around it. Does that resort have a golf course?

I hope you get my point. The quote, “All work and no play make Jack a dull boy” rings true here. Spice up your life a bit with a hobby. It provides a great retreat from your daily routine of work, chores, bill paying, and errands.

In the meantime, I’m about ready to head down and fire up my Xbox.

Have a great Monday, folks!

Until next time…

Dave

Daily Ramblings – Ted Talk Tuesday – 4 Lessons

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Balance, Changes, Lessons learned, Life, Pandemic, Patty McCord, vaccination, Work

All of us experienced lockdowns in one way or another in 2020. The COVID-19 pandemic touched everyone across the globe. In this video, Patty McCord discusses what the pandemic taught us over the last year. I wanted to share this today, because I am getting the COVID vaccination today. My folks and I need to get this thing because they both have underlying conditions and since I live with them, need to get vaccinated as well. I hope you enjoy this video as much as I did.

Have a great Tuesday, folks!

Until next time…

Dave

Daily Ramblings – Spiritual Saturday – Self-discipline

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Balance, Harold Klemp, Holy Spirit, Key Areas, Love, passion, Self-discipline, spirituality

Self-discipline is an absolute necessity if one is to have a productive spiritual life. Replace old tastes and preferences with new, better ones. But do it in the name of the Holy Spirit, with love and a sincere heart, or nothing will come of this experiment.

—Harold Klemp The Language of Soul

Self-discipline is nothing more than doing what you agree to do. These agreements can be about your exercise routine, your diet, planning your day, and any other topic you can think of that requires effort. A person who can evaluate themselves and come up with a game plan to improve weaknesses or bolster their strengths are powerful people. They can do anything because they are willing to commit and stick with it.

Change is difficult. Evaluating yourself is difficult. Holding yourself to a new standard is also difficult. Self-discipline enables these and more.

So many people just ramble through life. They occupy their time with meaningless activities with no forethought. Think about all the people who literally live on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat, or Pinterest. What are they accomplishing?

Are you happy with your life? If so, change nothing. Keep doing what you are doing. It’s your life. If you’re happy and fulfilled, why change anything. This article is for the rest of us that are not happy with our current circumstances. We want to lose weight, get in better shape, eat better, and build skills that will garner us the ability to make an income throughout our lives.

Where do you start? This is probably the hardest thing to do—decide. We only have so many hours in the day. What will you spend your time on? Do you want to write a book, start a blog, or create poetry? Do you want to learn a new language? Do you want to start an exercise program? Do you want to start a business? What other things can you do each day that will contribute and build?

I started my search online. I wanted to know what I could do to improve my life, make lasting change, and build skills that would provide me with an income as I pursue a third career. I chose specific areas of my life to look at. These areas are Physical (eating right, getting enough sleep, and exercise), Mental (reading and learning every day), Social (staying connected with friends and family and make new friends and connections), and Spiritual (daily meditation, religious readings, attending spiritual events and retreats).

The areas I want to learn are two-fold. Write books (nonfiction and fiction) and learn how to write computer programs. Once I began my investigation into these areas, I found all kinds of resources to help me on my quest. These are now daily habits that I dedicate my time to. I write every day for this blog and work on my books. I also code every day. I have made great strides in both areas because I do a little each day to add to my abilities.

I need a little discipline in these areas because I love both. I love writing and I love coding. They are closely related because a programming language has rules and a whole new language to learn to enable my code to work. Book writing is a combination of actual writing every day and learning the craft. I try to read a writing book daily and find courses online that can teach me the various aspects of writing whether these classes are on grammar, style, or the specifics of writing a book. There are books on plot development, world building, and character development. The learning never ceases.

What are your passions? What would you like to do with the rest of your life when you retire? Do you want to keep working? Do you want multiple streams of income? Take time on a weekend and think about some of these things. Once you have discovered what you’d like to do, add that to your day. Do a little on these areas each day. How long does exercise need to be to be a benefit? How much writing do you want to do each day? What can you fit into your schedule after your workday is done and you’ve attended to your home responsibilities?

When you start out, put in a half-hour or so to each thing you’d like to try. I would recommend grabbing one item you’d like to add to your day. Then, once you’ve solidified your newfound habit, add another and another, until you are hitting all the things you want to pursue. You’ll be amazed how many things you can do by chipping away a little at a time.

Well, folks. I hope you are having a great Saturday! Enjoy your weekend. If anyone is interested, comment on this thread. I am more than happy to give you some ideas to help you move forward.

Until next time…

Dave

Daily Ramblings – Wisdom Wednesday -How We React is What Matters

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Awareness, Balance, Detachment, Filters, Internal Maps, Negativity, Positivity, Reaction, reality

“It’s not what happens to you, but how you react to it that matters.”—Epictetus

There are so many things that happen to us that are out of our control. We get sick. We suffer during national disasters. The people in our lives betray us.

I’ve been doing a lot of research on the mind and have learned a great deal. Each of us has an internal filter. This filter causes us to miss, alter, or even delete the inputs we receive from our environment. This filtering is both unconscious and automatic. If our filter is healthy, there are no problems. If our filter is unhealthy, there are all kinds of problems.

Some people can look at a situation and see the good in it, regardless of the circumstances. Others could look at the same situation and see the worst. All of us do this. We test our environments and make judgements. These judgements affect the way we interpret our lives.

Have you ever noticed how some people are always experiencing one disaster after another? Everything seems to go wrong. Their health is bad, their outlook is mainly negative, and they expect the worst. The people in their lives cause problems, their decisions cause problems. All of this occurs because of their internal wiring. Because their perceptions and filters are on automatic, they cannot change what they see. Their lives perpetuate a vicious cycle because that’s all they can see.

The opposite of this person is someone who walks through life in bliss. Everything they touch turns to gold. Anything they try to do yields results. Their relationships are healthy. They are healthy. Their outlook is positive. Like their counterpart above, they automatically look for the good and this is what they get.

Most of us fall in between these two individuals. Some things that happen to us we feel bad about while other things happen that we feel good about. All of us have that weakness or outlook that plague us.

Regardless of our internal filters or maps, we all deal with reality. Reality is. Things happen to us. Our reaction to this reality dictates our mood. Some will look at a bad situation and see the good in it. Some will look at a bad situation and only see the bad. Some will rail against this reality and try to change it. They fail, become frustrated, and continue to complain about reality, which will not change.

What’s the solution to this problem? Acceptance and detachment. If we accept reality for what it is, we adapt to it. Detachment eases suffering. We expect nothing; we accept everything as it is. We can still set goals, pursue our interests, and strive for what we want, but remain in a detached state about our results. This detachment allows us to continue to strive and accept the results we have attained. Then we adjust and push forward again. We don’t get pissed; we don’t get ecstatic. We accept things for what they are, make the changes we can, and live with the rest in peace. We are in peace because our detachment allows us to be happy with what we have without expectation.

If you react to something in an inefficient or unhelpful manner, stop. Examine your internal processes. What triggers your reaction? If you can sit back and observe yourself being triggered, you can locate how you create this feeling. Once you understand how you create these inefficient feelings, you can change them. In most cases, once you realize something inside you that does not serve you, it will fade away. Your awareness is key.

I hope all of you have a terrific day!

Until next time…

Dave

Daily Ramblings – Ted Talk Tuesday

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Balance, Conservative, Improving our World, Jonathan Haidt, Liberal, Stepping out of the Matrix, Ted Talk

If you have not read any of Jonathan Haidt’s work, you should look into this. This Ted Talk discusses the primary differences between Conservative and Liberal thought and demonstrates the need for both ideologies to move our world forward. This is really fascinating stuff.

Have a great Tuesday folks!

Until next time…

Dave

Daily Ramblings – Spiritual Saturday

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Assessment, Balance, Goal Setting, New Year, Planning, Review, Well-roundedness

Over the next few days I’m going to be reviewing 2018. I’m also going to be formulating what I want to do with my 2019. If you’ve never done this kind of exercise, I’d highly recommend it. The first challenge I ran across when I began my annual habit of re-reading good books I’ve found, was what areas to focus on?

Here are the areas I use to formulate a New Year:

Physical

• Diet Goals
• Weight-loss goals
• Exercise Goals
• Nutrition Goals

Mental

• What do I want to learn?
• How many books do I want to read?
• What podcasts do I want to watch/stop watching?
• What courses do I want to take?

Spiritual

• What spiritual practices do I want to continue?
• What do I want to do to contribute to my fellow man?
• What kindness can I spread to the world?
• What types of spiritual questions do I want to pursue an answer to?
• What spiritual books and courses do I want to take?

Social

• Where can I go to meet new people (physically)?
• Where can I go to meet new people (virtually)?
• What activities can I do to engage with people?
• How can I improve or maintain current relationships?
• How can I gain more followers to my blog?

These are just some thoughts you may be able to think about for your own review and goal setting. I like to work through exercises like this because they help me to capture what really worked previously, what didn’t work, and what I can do to keep moving forward in my life. I think the most important aspect of this exercise, along with others, that bring some semblance of order and meaning to my life.

We all want to wake up energized and anxious to get to work. As a retiree, this has become a really important thing for me. I want my retired life to be profitable, meaningful, contributing, and fulfilling. These things represent different things to different people. I would challenge you to really assess what you value. What you want to achieve. What you want to do with yourself in the next year.

As promised, I’ll be posting my finalized plan for 2019 on the 31^st of December. This was a good year. Next year will be better because I’ve built a solid foundation of writing, exercise, spiritual pursuits, and social activities. This year will be better because I am better. I have learned a great deal over the last year and look forward to begin applying all I have learned/re-learned.

I hope all of you have a terrific New Year’s Day! Take some time over the next few days and really think about all of your experiences in the last year. What did you learn? What do you want to apply to your future?

I’m excited to begin the new year and begin executing all of the things I am contemplating. I hope you have some time to figure out what you want and institute a plan that will bring all of your goals to fruition.

Until next time…

Dave

Daily Ramblings – Spiritual Saturday

Tags

Balance, change, Connection, Nature, Technology Benefits, Technology Pitfalls

“Intelligence is the ability to adapt to change.” – Stephen Hawking

Read more at https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/stephen_hawking_378304?src=t_adapt

The world is constantly evolving. The job market is changing constantly. Despite increases in employment recently, there will always be a risk of becoming obsolete. Technology is transforming how we communicate, how we work, how we conduct business. The changes we have seen since the dawn of the personal computer have been staggering and these changes that are coming in the future will dwarf the last two decades because with each technical breakthrough, the more capability we have to make more changes.

How do we remain viable? How do we keep up?

Think about your life today. Could you imagine going somewhere without your cell phone? How would you navigate from point A to point B without your trust map app?

Could you imagine a day without Facebook? Twitter? Instagram? Snapchat? Google? All these technology companies have provided us with greater capability to gather information, interact with friends and loved ones, take pictures, listen to music, and read books. Your mobile phone and the connection to the Internet give you access to all the books, all the music, and all the movies and TV shows that are available.

Some of these changes have benefits, but like anything, there are also disadvantages. ID theft, bullying on social networks, revenge porn, and all the rest are the insidious side-effects of a wired world. There’s also the increase in “screen-time” that is causing more and more of us to become less active, less social (in-person), and more hermit-like. Think about the stereotypical video game junkie, living in squalor, overweight, with one driving motivation—that next game. A sad state of consciousness indeed.

Take advantage of the technology, stay adept at the changes that are coming, but remain unchanging when it comes to human interaction, exercise, eating right, and taking a walk in nature from time-to-time. The FOMO affects everyone that is susceptible to it. Instead of worrying about who posted what, call them on the phone, go out to a movie, head to the gym, eat out at a nice restaurant, go to the library, or catch a concert. There is so much out there that cannot be replaced by technology. Holding your granddaughter or grandson, eating a meal with your family (without devices), or taking your wife or significant other out on a date night is much more fulfilling than staring at a Twitter or Facebook stream.

With all the technology that is prevalent in our life we must adapt to survive. Letting that technology circumvent our ability to truly interact with others, get out of the house, or pursue healthy activities is truly a bane on our society. A bane that has already been determined to be harmful if we continue the path we are on. Technology is good, technology helps us become more efficient, technology offers us the entertainment that occupies our time and the ability to connect with people in new and different ways, let’s just keep everything in balance.

Until next time…

Dave

Daily Ramblings – Daily Quote – The Struggle

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Balance, Persistence, Planning, Pursuing, Stagnating, Struggle, Ups and downs

“If there is no struggle, there is no progress.” – Frederick Douglass

What motivates you to move forward?

This is an important question to ask if you feel stuck, goalless, or just feeling like your spinning your wheels. I have found that two things happen that can cause us to lose track of where we are and what we want—good things and bad things.

Good things are the things that make us feel like we’ve made it. We’re exuberant, we’re calm and collected, we get a sense of confidence. People also tend to slack off during these periods, at least I do. Bad things are those things that cause us to feel bad, feel worthless, feel like all we are doing is a waste of time, and so on. These things tend to make us feel like all we are doing is an absolute waste of time.

When we are progressing through life, we will have good times and bad times. How can we continue moving forward despite the good and bad things that are inevitable? Stay balanced. Realize that good and bad are defined by us. Realize that both good times and bad times have a time limit. They will fluctuate between one another. At other times we will be in a balanced state, sort of like an equilibrium between these two extremes. When we are balanced, we tend to stay on track. We have goals. We pursue them. We follow our plans. We aren’t thrown off course.

This is all part of life. We struggle, we make mistakes, we win, and the cycle continues. These are natural rhythms to the ebb and flow of our existence.

When you take on something new, you will make mistakes. You will struggle. You will fight against yourself and reality to achieve what you want.

The mind is designed to work automatically. You do something enough and your mind will automate it. This is good when you are doing positive things that provide value to you. It is not so great when those habits are harmful. Habits are the automatic things your mind will adapt itself to.

The key to building good habits, pursuing meaningful goals, and changing yourself and your environment for the better all require effort, introspection, and asking for help from time to time. The struggle is all part of pursuing the things that are hard, yet good.

“If there is no struggle, there is no progress.”

Until next time…

Dave

Daily Ramblings – Workout Diary

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Balance, Day Off, Eating a Nutritious Meal, Meditation, Reading, Rest, Sleeping

Today is a day off, folks. We have friends coming over and then we’re all heading to dinner later. I hope all of you that are exercising in my reading audience take a day off from time to time. The body needs to recover. Your long-term exercise goals should take a balanced approach. Activity and then rest.

When you take a day off, you give the body time to recover and rejuvenate itself. Rest is just as important as the activity you put in. On your rest days, relax. Drink lots of water, settle down with a good book, really take the time to allow yourself body, mind, and spirit to relax.

Nothing relaxes me like a good book, a cup of tea, writing in my journal, and meditating. Sleep in. Enjoy a good movie. Have a nutritious meal. Pamper yourself.

Tomorrow you’ll be back and you’ll be stronger mentally and physically.

See you tomorrow!

Dave