Quick to believe in forever
Slow to enter the here and now
Faith in some day in the future
Fill today with delay, delay, delay
Plenty of time for hopes, dreams, and wishes
Let action get eaten by screens
Want to look back and smile?
Make today feel heard and seen.
In the modern age, many people work remotely. And common advice for people who do is to create a space that’s for work only. This way, the brain starts to associate the work with the space and eventually, just stepping into the space can trigger work mode.
In self-defense, the opposite practice is needed. In many cases, self-defense is practiced in martial arts schools, in very specific rooms, that often have a sacred element to them. But, much like how our mind starts to associate work mode with our designated work space, our mind can make a similar association with self-defense mode and our martial arts training space.
And we’ll rarely ever have to use our self-defense skills for real when we’re there… it’s precisely when we’re NOT there that we’ll have to use them. Which means we won’t be mentally primed and may get caught off guard.
If we can do careful visualization, serious role play, or reality based training, however… our mindset will start to expand outside of the martial arts school and into the rest of the world… which is an excellent strategy since that’s where it’ll be needed.
And this isn’t the only example of a skillset that’s required to be used in reality versus a classroom or computer screen… the question I have for you today is… which skill(s) are those for you?
I might say… spontaneous joy being expressed by the body.
…Which isn’t the only way to express spontaneous joy.
But if you want to dance and you don’t… for whatever reason… does the spontaneous joy ever get expressed?
…Be strong.
The secret to not having FOMO (Fear Of Missing Out) is to bring all of your presence into the moment you’re already in.
Lean into courage. Find the curiosity. Fill yourself up with everything already around you. Create and emit the energy you find yourself looking elsewhere for. Get others to jump on board. Become the FOMO others think about—not to make them feel bad, but because that thought will guide you forward towards the time you most want to have. You’re only missing out if your mind is elsewhere of your body. Keep the two together and suddenly, your spirit will start to shine unconditionally bright.
I went on a 6-hour roadtrip with my mom and grandmother today—neither of whom I get to spend too much time with on a regular basis.
This was not the time to be in a hurry to arrive… or to bring an anxious energy into the space… or to cycle through thoughts in my own head…
This was the time to slow roll… to bring a relaxed energy into the space… to ask interesting questions…
The point of a trip isn’t to quickly get where you’re going and then back (otherwise, why go at all?). The point of the trip is to uniquely experience as much as you can while you’re gone.
And nothing blocks experience like rushing and trying to arrive elsewhere quick.
…And it’d more than probably be a drag.
…Put me at a music festival with banging dance song after banging dance song after banging dance song and friends who match big dance energy?
…And at the end of a 45k step night, you may just find me wanting more. Like it wasn’t enough. Like all I wanted to do was go back and do the 45k steps all over again.
…Something you’d more than probably not catch me saying if I just walked the 45k steps straight up.
Alignment makes everything exponentially easier.
