Daily Ramblings – Thinking Thursday

Tags

Accomplishment, Choices, Decay, Productivity, Slovenliness, Waste

“The condition of health that we suffer is actually a tool to raise us another degree in our state of consciousness.”—Harold Klemp The Language of Soul

Anytime we have an issue with our health, God is trying to teach us something. Maybe it’s something we are eating. Maybe it’s something we are not eating. Maybe it’s something to do with the amount of exercise we are doing or not doing.

Each of us is a unique being. My mother has all kinds of food allergies. So, does my brother and sister. I am one of the few in the family that can eat what I want. Each member of my family that has an issue with some type of food deals with it. That’s the way life is. We are hit with a problem. We either learn to solve the problem or live with it.

I find it interesting when I run across people who complain about their life but do nothing to change it. This tells me they are either happy with their situation and just complain because it has become a habit, or they are too lazy to get off their butt and do something about it. This leads us back to the previous sentence—they are content with the way their life is, despite their complaints.

Each of us is on a trajectory in our lives. This trajectory offers a full life with rich experiences, adventures, and accomplishment or it offers a life of mediocrity, slovenliness, and decay. Life never stays in one place—it moves forward, or it moves backward.

I am beginning to learn a terrific lesson. A lesson about people. Some people enjoy their suffering. Some people enjoy living a life of waste, a life of accomplishing little to nothing, a life composed of laziness, a life of inaction. These same people complain, are bitter, and have lost any ability to improve themselves, expressing jealousy when they discover someone who is better at milking the system than themselves.

We all have a choice. We can choose to fight for our goals, set our sights high and strive for them, step out of our zones of comfort and take risks to do more, be more, and achieve more. It is all our choice.

I choose to live a life of accomplishment. I choose to live a life that strives for better. I choose to live a life that exposes me to new challenges, new skills, and wonderful experiences. I choose.

Here’s what I’ve done this week:

Exercise Program:

Jim Stoppani’s Shortcut to Size – (www.bodybuilding.com) – I’ve done this workout before and returning to it because it is just a good all-around weight routine. It’s 8 weeks in length, a 4-day split with 3 rest/cardio days mixed in.

Books:

Armor, Steakley – Recommended by an Army Buddy. A terrific book so far.

The Shariyat Ki Sugmad, Paul Twitchell – This is my bible. I finished it and will re-read again. This book is a permanent fixture on my reading list.

Uncle Tom’s Cabin, Harriet Beecher Stowe – This was a terrific book. Now I know much more about the abolitionist movement during the 1800s. HBS really digs hard into the evils of slavery by depicting the horrors of slavery in this book. The separation of families, particularly for the women were absolutely heartbreaking. I highly recommend this book.

Classes:

Web Development Path – Codecademy – Currently learning HTML, CSS, JavaScript, and REACT. – Completed the HTML course. Now, I’m working through the CSS tutorials and projects.

De-mystifying Mindfulness Course – Coursera – I’ve completed all the coursework so far and waiting until Nov 4, 2018, for the course to continue. One drawback of Coursera is the scheduling. Udemy allows you to buy the whole course, complete the whole course on your schedule and provide a certificate at the end.

Documentaries:

Movies:

Fun:

Ozark – Netflix (in the cue) – Re-watching Season 1 to remind me what’s going on. I’ll kick into Season 2 when I’m back on track with this one.

House of Cards – Netflix – Final Season. I can’t wait to dig into this one. It just started today!

Interesting Apps:

Codecademy – This app is a companion app to the Codecademy website. For $19.99/month you can learn quite a few languages, work on projects, and a whole bunch more. It is terrific! This app has daily quick lessons (<10 minutes) followed by practice quizzes to test your knowledge. It’s a great app. I highly recommend this app and the companion website for anyone looking to learn how to code.

I hope all of you are having a terrific week! See you tomorrow for Funny Friday!!

Until next time…

Dave

 

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Daily Ramblings – Motivation Monday

Tags

Choices, Focus, Goals, My Schedule, Paying the price, Visualizing your Perfect Self, Your "why"

“All wish to possess knowledge, but few, comparatively speaking, are willing to pay the price.” – Juvenal

Read more at https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/juvenal_122569

Choices

Are there things you want to do with your life? Do you have goals that you’d like to achieve? Do you have a bucket list? What is the one thing you’d like to do before you leave this Earth?

The main problem with setting goals is choosing. We can only do so much in a day. We have only so much time on this Earth. We cannot do everything we want because it is impossible to achieve mastery in all the areas we contemplate doing well in. If you spread your efforts across too many things you will fail to achieve the mastery you desire.

Focus

To truly achieve what we set out to, we must first choose what we want to dedicate our time towards. Then, we need to understand where we are. What level of proficiency do we have currently? What do we need to do next to achieve the next level of mastery? When will be finished?

If you know where you are you can set up a process or plan to get where we want to go. By understanding the field of endeavor, we are pursuing, we know the next steps. Once we have an action plan it is nothing more than focusing on each discreet step to achieve what we set out to do.

Paying the Price

To achieve anything, we must pay a price. That price will your time, your energy, and your commitment to seeing what you start to your designated end. If you are willing to dedicate your time, energy, and commitment to this thing, you will achieve it at some point, if your goals are realistic. Setting a goal to be an Olympic swimmer or professional athlete in your late-sixties may be a stretch, but you could set a goal to be in the best shape you are capable of.

Your “why”

Your willingness to pay the price depends on the reasons you are pursuing the goal in the first place. Are you truly looking to lose weight, write a book, learn a new language, learn to play an instrument, or gain some other skill or talent because you want it or someone else wants it? Are you willing to do what is necessary to achieve your goal? If not, rethink your “why”.

The reason you embark on a personal journey must be compelling. You must be motivated, interested, and hunger for the goal(s) you set for yourself. Your “why” will be the one thing that drives you to get up and go to the gym, open your word processor and crank out some writing, go to your studio and pick up the brushes, or set down at the piano and practice.

No Goals

Maybe you do not have any goals. Maybe you are not motivated to pursue anything. Maybe life has just beat you up so badly that it is hard to even get out of bed, let alone set a goal to achieve anything. What’s the bother, right? What difference will any of this make?

Imagine a life where you could do anything you wanted. Money is no issue, time is no issue, and your inherent talents are no issue. You literally can do anything you want to. Now, pick something you’d do if this were the case. Seriously. Pick one thing you’d do if you had the money, time, and ability to do it. What would you do?

In my case, I looked at myself and visualized a more perfect me—a prototype of a better self if you will. Once I visualized that me, I began to think about where I was at the time and what I would have to do to get to that improved self. Then, I wrote down all the things I would have to do to get there. These are now my goals.

Maybe you want to become an artist or musician, a writer, a computer programmer, a weightlifter. Perhaps you want to travel the world, learn a new language, or explore ancient ruins. Maybe you want to become a film, restaurant, or music critic. Maybe you want to start your own non-profit, get more involved in politics, or get involved with charitable organizations.

Brainstorm the things your perfect self would do if you could. Feels liberating doesn’t it? Believe it or not, the great successes in our history made choices, wrote down their goals, and focused on what they wanted. They decided to pay the price and did it. Whether you are a Mahatma Gandhi, Thomas Edison, Henry Ford, Theodore Roosevelt, Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, or any number of high-achievers—they all decided what they wanted, agreed to pay a price, and stayed focused on achieving that vision of their more perfect selves.

Here are the things I’m working on this week:

I am in the middle of week 3 of the Jim Stoppani Shortcut to Size program;

I am working through a couple of books;

I am taking courses on mini-habits, cascading style sheets (CSS) programming, and mindfulness;

I am writing a section of my non-fiction book a day (around 500 words);

I am building articles for my blog pages;

I am meditating daily to achieve more calm in my life and improving my focus;

I am watching some shows on Netflix and Amazon prime (after work hours);

Well, that’s it for today folks. I hope all of you have a great week!

Until next time…

Dave

Daily Ramblings – Daily Quote – Attitudes

Tags

Attitudes, Choices, Contentment, Gratitude, Happiness, Obstacles, Tools

“We can throw stones, complain about them, stumble on them, climb over them, or build with them.” – William Arthur Ward

What obstacles are in your way? What challenges are you experiencing? Are they really challenges/obstacles?

This quote deals with our attitude. Everything we deal with in our reality and the way we react to these things render our lives happy and content or unhappy and discontent. It is interesting when you can really take account of what is going on in your life and simply say “It’s all good.”

I think the biggest challenge we face is accepting reality for what it is. There are certain things that are just out of our control. You can be angry about them, sad about them, or happy and content. It really is a choice.

It took me a very long time to figure this out. Like many, if I wasn’t making the money I wanted, had the gal I wanted, lived in the place I wanted, etc. life sucked. Then I began to realize that the endless pursuit of “things” was fruitless. That certain part of me that had a hunger for this nonsense would never be satisfied. It would always want more. It would always be demanding and unsatisfied.

Then, one day I came to the realization that we have all we need. I began minimalizing my life. Why did I need a computer, laptop, tablet, and phone, when I only needed one computer and a phone? Why did I need all the clothes I had, when I could only wear one outfit a day? Slowly, but surely, I donated, sold, and got rid of a lot of stuff. Now, I could literally move at a moment’s notice without too much fuss. I don’t have a lot of things to take care of, because I don’t own a lot of things. Life became simpler. Life became easier. I was happier. I was calmer.

I think much of our wants, our needs, our goals, are driven by society and our social relationships. We compete silently to get the same car or nicer one, the same house or bigger one, the same computer or a faster one, not realizing that the companies selling these products influenced us into this never-ending race of purchasing and needing and desiring.

When I decided to “make my own rules”. I began to realize how simple life is and how happy we can be with very little. I have a roof over my head. I have enough food. I have a place to sleep. My health is good. I also realized that the goals I was pursuing were not mine, but society’s.

I don’t need a lot of money. I don’t need a snappy new car or a lot of clothes. I only need the basics to survive and thrive. Now, I wake up each day fresh and ready to go. I reflect on what I am grateful for—and I am grateful for everything. But you know, I could live with even less if I needed to and still be happy. I am happy because I choose to be.

When you wake up and come at life with happiness and gratitude in your heart, nothing can throw you off course. The rocks in your path really do become the tools you use to build the road with.

You have a choice.

Until next time…

Dave

Daily Ramblings – Daily Quote

Tags

Anger, Choices, Contentment, Gratitude, Happiness, Quotes, Sydney Harris, Ungrateful, Unhappiness

Today’s Quote:

“When I hear somebody sigh, ‘Life is hard,’ I am always tempted to ask, ‘Compared to what?'” – Sydney Harris

Boy, what a great quote!

This quote really alerts us to our own attitudes. I post and discuss happiness and gratitude quite a bit because these states of mind are nothing more than an attitude. If you are happy, you are grateful for all that is going on. If you are not happy or require a certain fictional condition to be happy, then you will chase that for the rest of your life. I can almost guarantee if you are not happy–you are also not grateful.

Folks that are unhappy are that way because they choose to be. For some, being unhappy is their “happy” state. It’s weird to think of it this way, but it’s true. People choose to be or feel the way they do. It is not an involuntary act. If you are sad, you choose to be. If you are angry, you choose to be. If you are unhappy, you choose to be. The same goes for happiness, contented, and grateful. They are literally nothing more than a conscious choice.

Some folks are unconscious about their attitude, mood, or general outlook on life. This is also a choice. They choose to be unaware. They are an automaton simply moving through life like an unconscious machine. This state is a hell all by itself.

Be cognizant of your attitude. If you are unhappy, it is nothing more than taking a few moments and realizing how great life is to turn that unhappiness into happiness. Everything in life involves choosing something. Choose happiness, contentment, and gratefulness. It is a great way to live a life.

Until next time…

Dave