Daily Ramblings – Thankful/Thinking Thursday – Consistent Reading, Writing, and Learning

Tags

Consistency, Exercise, huge results, Learning, Reading, small actions, Udemy, Writing

Photo credit: CallofDuty.com

Over the last few years, as more of my schedule has come under my control, I have found that doing a little each day compounds into huge results. A little exercise, a little reading, a little writing, and a few minutes watching, listening, or reading some educational material can go a long way.

Some of you are working from home. The beauty of working from home is you can get a lot of things done in a more efficient way. You are not forced to work only for your boss and then look at that pile of laundry, dirty dishes, or snow-filled driveway on your own time. Now you can work on both sets of priorities simultaneously, other than those ZOOM conference calls that eat up a good portion of the workday. Why not take an hour a day and knock out a little in each area: reading, writing, exercise, and learning? It doesn’t take long.

The average length of a session on Udemy is roughly 5-6 minutes long. If you take a few courses, you’re looking at 20-30 minutes each day. You’ll get your graduation certificates in no time, and if you take the right courses, you’ll be adding some critical skills to your toolbox. If you select the 4+ star-rated courses on Udemy, you’ll also be entertained by popular instructors that make the material fun and interesting. 30 minutes a day for 6 days (assuming you subscribe to my “do nothing day” policy) is 3 hours of learning!

If you take the time to analyze what you do each day, I think you’ll be amazed at how much time you spend watching television or streaming videos, and other activities, that although entertaining, don’t build anything. I’m a huge video game fan. My current favorite is Call of Duty, Black Ops, Cold War. It’s a great game and very popular (over 100 million players worldwide). I could play that game for 10+hours a day and still have more energy to play even more. Balance is the key. We all need our downtime to relax, recharge, and rejuvenate. Watch those shows, play those games, get some of that “me” time, but balance this out with some productive activities that will keep your mind working. It is really exciting to me when I pick up some new skill that I can apply immediately to what I do every day.

That’s all I got today, folks. Have a great Thursday!

Until next time…

Dave

Daily Ramblings – Thankful Thursdays – Winter

Tags

cocoa, Coffee, December, Exercise, family, Reading, reflecting, tea, Winter, Writing

Many people cringe when the snow comes. Not me. I love the cold, the snow, and the comfort of looking at all of that while I drink a cup of coffee. The winter in Michigan is a long one. We typically do not get moderate weather until late April.

What do I do? Pretty much the same thing I do every day — Read, Write, Learn, Socialize on this site and others, stick with my religious disciplines, exercise, and squeeze in some leisure time. My favorite things to do for fun are to read a good fiction book, non-fiction book, watch a show or a series, and play video games. Now that most games are networked, my brother and I can play in and around his work schedule. It’s great fun.

So today, I’m thankful for the Winter season. The holidays are terrific, the in-house time is relaxing and rejuvenating, and it’s a great time to reflect on the past year, and get ready for the next.

I hope each of you has a terrific Thursday!

Until next time…

Dave

Daily Ramblings – Motivation Monday – Week of October 12, 2020.

Tags

Action, Ambition, Dedication, Discipline, Drive, Exercising, Learning, motivation, Reading, Writing

After a relaxing week off, I’m back at it.

Here’s my schedule for the week:

Writing/Blogging Daily

Exercise Daily

Spiritual Exercise/Reading Daily

Learning/Coding Daily

Reading Daily

I hope each of you has a great week!

Until next time…

Dave

Daily Ramblings – Wisdom Wednesday – Words

Tags

Adventure, Books, heartache, ideas, Journals, Love, stories, Storytelling, Travels, Writing

Today’s wisdom is about writing. When we write, we bring what is in our head to the page. For some, this is a difficult process. It is difficult because our minds can be so jumbled at times. We have thoughts. But until we write those thoughts down, read through them, think about them, edit them, and then complete what we have written into an intelligible collection of words, sentences, and paragraphs, they remain in the same form they are in our minds. Writing clarifies our thinking. It solidifies our thoughts. It changes a wisp of thought to a concrete idea. 

This is why I love writing. I love capturing what is in my mind and bringing these thoughts and ideas into reality. It is really magical. When you read a book written by an author, you realize that this world you are exploring was in someone else’s head. That is magic. 

You, my reading audience, are also involved with this process each time you write a post for your blog and submit it to the WordPress servers. You tell your story. You expose yourself for others to see. You talk about what bothers you. You talk about what excites you. You tell your stories. 

Your words teach, inspire, and impact everyone that reads them. You allow your readers to see a little piece of you, expressed in your words. The stories of adventure, heartbreak, mystery, war, love, and every emotion we experience as human beings. Words do that. Words!

Write. Write every day. Journal. Capture your thoughts. Tell your stories. Your travels, your experiences, your recipes. They all bring a richness to our existence. Your words matter. Your words impact others. Your words tell your story.

Until next time…

Dave

Daily Ramblings – Motivation Monday – Labor Day

Tags

Consistency, Determination, Discipline, Exercise, Labor Day, motivation, Reading, Social, Spiritual, Writing

Today, I’m relaxing and enjoying Labor Day! So today’s posts will be shorter than normal. Here’s my week!

• Writing (Journaling, Book Writing, Blogging) daily
• Learning (History of Maths on Curiosity.com, Codecademy, Sociology on Study.com, Writing Class on Master Class) daily
• Exercise (20 minutes cardio, exercise bands) daily
• Spiritual (Reading Bible, Spiritual Exercise) daily
• Reading (Fiction, Non-fiction) daily
• Social (posting helpful quotes, connecting with friends, supporting people with pleasant things to say) daily

Have a great week, folks!

Until next time…

Dave

Daily Ramblings – Spread Your Wings Sunday – Weekly Challenge

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

Daily Ramblings – Thankful Thursday – Music

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

Daily Ramblings – Motivation Monday – Week of Aug 24, 2020.

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

Daily Ramblings – Spiritual Saturday – Journaling

Tags

blog, Book, Communicating, crystallize, Dream Journal, Imagination, journal, Story, Writing

Some days I open up this window of my life and have absolutely nothing to say. I’m a blank slate. I stare at the whiteness of the background, waiting for something to come and it doesn’t. Some would call this “writer’s block.” Perhaps it is.

There is always something to write about, however. Some writers I’ve learned from suggest that you just free-write about anything. Others recommend working on a different writing project. Still others recommend a walk or some other activity.

If you’re a fiction writer, you know that stories unfold. It is rare that you will write out something as complicated as a novel without taking breaks or working on different aspects of a plot. It is the same for any writing project. The work begins as an idea, translated to the page, then alters itself as the author refines the story and crystallizes the pictures to the page.

The dream journal is a writing project. It brings your dreams to the page. Unlike other writing projects, your dream journal or personal journal is “for your eyes only”. Subsequently, you just write in it. Grammar doesn’t matter, spelling doesn’t matter, nothing matters but getting the things in your head onto paper or a digital document.

The more you journal, the more you can get out of your head. You can settle things with yourself. You can iron out past mistakes, relationships that didn’t work, failures, successes. Whatever you bring to your journal is something you needed to get out of your head.

Journaling is a way to talk to future generations. When you’ve left this life, your journal will be left behind. Can you imagine what wisdom is embedded in those pages for future generations. Do you think Marcus Aurelius ever thought someone would publish his journals? What about Seneca, Epictetus, Virginia Wolfe?

Writing is your way to communicate. It is a way of making the imagination come alive and join our world. Have a great Saturday!

Until next time…

Dave

Daily Ramblings – Motivation Monday – Week of August 3, 2020.

Tags

Consistency, Dedication, Drive, Exercise, K.M. Allan, motivation, Reading, rituals, social media, spiritual efforts, Writing

Here’s my schedule for the week:

I’ll be conducting some research on Afghanistan for my book. I’ll be taking three courses (Sociology on Study.com, Sociology course at Grand Canyon University, and Malcolm Gladwell’s writing course on Masterclass). I’ll also continue pushing through my Computer Science course. I’m currently working on a Python project that reinforces the algorithms surrounding various search strategies.

I’ll also continue reading my books. One of them is on politics by Ben Shapiro, the other is a book on Afghanistan for my book research, and the third is a book by one of my favorite new authors (K.M. Allan) who just released book two of her Blackbirch series.

I’ll be jounaling daily, blogging daily, doing my spiritual exercises, spiritual reading, physical exercises (see my workout routine posting), and posting meaningful quotes and other uplifting content to my social media feeds.

Well, that’s it folks. Keep pushing on whatever goals you set for the year. I realize that some of them have probably gotten nixed due to COVID, but do the best you can. I’m rootin’ for ya!

Have a great Monday!

Until next time…

Dave