I do this thing where I’ll purposely leave a dish or two unwashed in the sink after washing the rest.
It reminds me that the dishes will never be done. And to be okay with that. And to just keep showing up to do them at the designated time each day.
No surprises. No frustrations. Just an expected chore.
Might sound stupid, but it works for me.
…To illustrate this, watch this video of a guy interact with his dogs at a low vibration and then at a high vibration.
The dogs have no idea what he’s saying (and neither do we)… but there’s definitely a version that both the dogs and I (and maybe you) would prefer to be around… who we’d prefer to give back to… who we’d prefer to help out and present opportunities to…
Two questions to consider: what helps you raise your vibration better than just about anything else? How can you increase the frequency of this in your life?
It’s very hard to give what you don’t have.
This is obvious from a material standpoint, but maybe less so from an emotional one.
If I want my children to have money, but I don’t have any money to give them, the money I want them to get won’t be coming from me—and I have to figure out another way.
The same is true for joy. If I want the people around me to feel joyous, but I don’t have any joy to give them… the joy I want them to exhibit isn’t going to come from me… and I have to figure out another way.
And maybe “another way” is to ask someone else to give it to them… or teach them how to make/create it themself… or hire someone else to teach them how…
…Or, of course, you could figure out how to get joy / money yourself so that you can give it to them after all.
And instead of trying to use (whether consciously or unconsciously) broke to create money or misery to create joy or hate to create love… you can turn the focus of your attention around and back to the source. Back to the place you can control. Back to you, your life, and your own inner workings so that what you most want for others can (finally) start coming from you.
It’s easier than ever to eat food the instant you’re hungry. With drive-thrus, microwaves, and processing—taking short cuts to calories has become the modern day norm. But, this only leads to problems later on (typically) because much of the above is crap. And when you eat crap that has little to no nutritional value, you’ll end up paying in health what you tried to save in dollars and minutes. And the cost of health is worth far more than whatever you think you saved in dollars and minutes.
But, you probably already knew this.
…As did I.
And yet, I still took short cuts for years without any immediate remorse. I would eat microwaved food daily. Default almost immediately to highly processed pretzels and dips whenever hungry. And stock up on frozen meals for my “heartier” options. And it was all just crap, crap, crap.
…Eventually, I started feeling bad enough to actually do something about it.
And so I started cutting things like donuts, pop/soda, and dairy. I started intermittent fasting. I started making fruit and protein packed smoothies…
The part I’m focused on now is cutting the microwave meals. Because even though I buy stuff that’s got vegetables and good protein counts in it, it’s still mostly crap. So I joined a food delivery service that gives me 10ish-minute meal recipes and all the fresh ingredients needed. All ready to go.
My point is this: short-cuts are the modern day norm; but not all short-cuts are created equal.
The ROI of the slightly longer routes can yield a disproportionately large return.
…If you’re not ready to take the long route… At least take the slightly longer one.
During a martial arts class I took this morning, the master teaching commented on how important it is to do the hard things in training.
He said, firstly, it keeps you humble. People who skip the hard parts and build skills via short cuts or lazy tactics become arrogant. Their technique never fully tested and not completely earned… leaving them prone to thinking things (I.e. real life application of techniques) are easier than they actually are; than they’ve ever experienced them to be.
And secondly, he said easy doesn’t train the person in full… it maybe only hits one aspect of the mind, body, spirit connection. The example he gave was running on a treadmill while watching TV… it works the body but completely disengages the development of the mind… and the spirit can only be developed when both the mind and body are being challenged together.
The goal, however, isn’t to make exercise and/or training as difficult as possible. This wouldn’t be a good strategy either. It’s simply a reminder to find the medium between these two extremes. Don’t opt for easy+distracted and don’t push to the other extreme of hard+miserable… aim for balanced+mindful.
Focus on the strategy of fully utilizing your mind… to activate your body in an appropriately challenged way… so that the two of them ignite with energy and vibrate the spirit to life and development as well.
Never underestimate the power of a simple, “Hey—we’re going to a Meadery after this if you’d like to join.”
Whether that’s you giving the open invitation or even you accepting the open invitation.
It’s a powerful path-altering moment that can turn “know-of-you” people into “now-we-have-nicknames-and-inside-jokes-with-each-other” people.
It’s a single line that can be easily modified and make a world of difference in a person’s life.
This weekend I’m participating in a 15+ hour martial arts training camp honoring the legacy of the late, great Professor Remy Amador Presas.
And in the martial arts world, this is how you honor another martial artist’s legacy: by training… by resurfacing their teachings… by sharing the art they helped create with the next generations…
…By actively bringing back to life the “fruits” of their life’s work.
And for those of you out there who have lost someone… maybe use this as a means of mediation: what was the “fruit” of that person’s life? And how can you actively care for those fruits so as to keep them alive? Who might you share these fruits with?