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Category: Living Well

Time Waste

Published on August 3, 2024

Thirty minutes spent thinking… sitting… staring at a blank page… as much as it might feel like a time waste… especially when the goal is to fill that blank page with words…

…Isn’t time wasted.

The real time waste happens when we forget what the real goal is.

…Which, at a more fundamental level, isn’t to fill blank pages with words.

…It’s to reconnect with the present moment of life that we have now.

Too easy is it in today’s world to forget that we even exist. Too much time do we spend distracted, selling our attention, consuming the lives of countless others and comparing the countless ways in which we lack.

When really… all we need to do to start feeling better… is cut all that.

…And maybe spend significantly more time thinking… sitting… staring at blank pages… confronting what it is that’s going in our minds… these minds we’ve been gifted… as we trudge forward through the thick and thin of it all… this whole experienced wrapped as a miraculous gift… the gift of life.

Never Apologize For Feeling Joyful

Published on August 1, 2024

“It ain’t no sin to be glad you’re alive.”

Bruce Springsteen

In a world full of hate, violence, poverty, depression, hopelessness… it can be hard, even guilt-inducing, to feel the opposite.

I know I’ve had the thought run through my mind: “How can I feel joy when there are so many awful things happening in the world?”

But you know what? …It ain’t no sin to be glad you’re alive.

To be clear, this is not to say that we should bury our heads in the sand and ignore the hate, violence, poverty, depression, and hopelessness of the world.

…It’s simply to say, sometimes the absolute best thing we can do for the world is find our joy and spread that into the world as an anecdotal, proactive response rather than becoming just another passive, infected part of the ever expanding, depressing problem.

P.s. There is a ton happening in the world that is joy-inducing, too.

Fill Your Head Wisely

Published on July 29, 2024

I played a strategy game yesterday for a few hours as I was intensely recharging.

Last night, I dreamt almost exclusively about the gameplay.

It was an isolated yet stark reminder that what you choose to fill your head with, acts as the raw materials with which your mindset and interpretation of life are formed.

It’s critically important to remember—now more than ever in the history of mankind—to choose what you fill you head up with wisely.

P.s. In case you missed it, you can see the best of what I posted to MoveMe Quotes last week, here.

There’s So Much Already Here

Published on July 27, 2024

The more I learn, the more I also need to remember.

And my memory definitely isn’t all that and a bag of chips.

I can’t tell you how many times I learned something new from something I already read before. Or how many times I resurfaced an idea that I knew, but just hadn’t thought about in a long time.

It’s a mistake to think that once you’ve learned something it’s there forever and you can move on.

The more we learn, the more space we need to create for those new files, and the deeper those other files need to go into storage. We only have so much short-term memory space.

Taking time to resurface those files can be just as valuable, if not more so, than writing new ones.

Be humble in your approach to ongoing education. Never assume you know. Especially in today’s world where there are endless files being written into our brain’s storage every waking moment of every single day. Reread old books. Retake classes & seminars. Listen more carefully to the people you feel you’ve already learned plenty from…

There’s so much to resurface that’s already there.

There’s No Avoiding Dues

Published on July 21, 2024

A guy I was playing basketball with today tore his achilles and has an expected recover time of 6+ months.

In the aftermath, it reminded me of how crucially important it is to have a flexible, limber body.

And because of my increasing interest and time investment in playing ball, I kind of fell out of doing deep stretching on one of the days I used to stretch religiously. And I’ve slowly started to feel the effects of that decision.

No injuries (knock on wood), but just a more noticeable tightness.

And this isn’t a good trajectory.

Today’s reminder is simple: invest in flexibility.

Even though it can feel like eating raw broccoli, it’s precisely that raw broccoli that’s going to keep you out of the hospital one day.

Invest a little bit every day, on your time… or be forced to invest a boat-load of time on your body’s time (when it gives out)—which is never convenient.

The choice in how and when you pay your dues—either a little bit daily or all at once—is yours… but remember: there’s no avoiding dues.

P.s. In case you missed it, you can read the best of what I posted to MoveMe Quotes last week here.

Channel Your Inner Frank the Tank Today

Published on July 18, 2024

Once you have a thought that aligns with your comfort-zone-seeking-self… your ego will immediately go to work justifying it.

“I should skip exercise today.”

…To which your ego will delightingly reinforce like a hormone-raging, insecure-trying-to-look-cool, rebellious-against-all-things-good-for-you teenager—and start peer pressuring that thought into existence.

“For sure, you have a headache… better to skip today.”

“Oh, absolutely… don’t want to aggravate that tweak in your shoulder.”

“Definitely… you have so much other work you could get done instead.”

And so forth.

The real pros at self-discipline know this and are excellent at nipping initial comfort-zone-seeking-self-thoughts in the bud.

“I should skip exercise today.”

…To which you have to channel the infinite wisdom of your deeper self and start rebutting that idea like Will Ferrell—a.k.a. Frank the Tank—when he was pitted against Democratic strategist James Carville for the debate event that would save the brothers’ fraternity in the movie Old School.

“Headache? It’ll be good to do what you can so the rest of the body is cared for. Heck, circulation and sweat might even be good for the headache.”

“Shoulder tweak? There are hundreds of other muscles that could be worked on in its place. It’d be foolish to let one tweak stop you from keeping the hundreds of other muscles healthy and well.”

“Other work? What could be more important than taking care of the one true home we’ll ever really get to live in? Nothing, that’s what. Priorities were set; promises were made; word is law; no skipping today.”

Bottom line? Channel your inner Frank the Tank debating skills today and get it done.

Your Life’s GPS Is At The Bottom Of The Pond

Published on July 14, 2024

The problem with not looking inward and becoming aware of our thoughts is that it’s hard to adjust our life direction fluidly and in accordance with our innermost wisdom if we don’t.

And the problem with most of the thoughts we initially become aware of when we kind-of-try, is that they’re only the superficial layers. They’re the surface-of-the-pond-thoughts that are distorted by the viral videos, click-bait headlines, tabloid storylines, meaningless games, empty entertainment topics, and so on.

It’s as though our life’s GPS is at the bottom of our mind’s pond, facing upward, and we’re trying to read what it says, but we can’t see past the ripples, bubbles, and breaks in the water on the surface caused by the firehose impact of modern media.

We must sit. We must let the pond settle. We must focus our inward gaze on what’s being shown underneath. The answers are there. Our inner GPS is always working. It’s simply a matter of, can we read it? Or, maybe more appropriately, are we willing to do what’s necessary to bring it’s directions into view?

P.s. Looking for specific, actionable ideas that’ll help you understand your life’s direction? My 30-Day guide will help.