I Can See Clearly Now is more than a title. It becomes a mantra in Wayne Dyer’s most recent book, a sort of autobiography. Over and over, he describes clearly seeing how events shaped his life and his career. He describes his progression from self-help author to spiritual author. He describes how creating programs for PBS allowed him to take his message to a larger audience. He also describes his forays into promoting new authors, acting, and leading tours.
I Can See Clearly Now helps us better understand the man who is perhaps one of the most influential self-help authors of our time. The book reveals a man with tenacity, whose sheer pluck made his first book, Your Erroneous Zones, a success. He demonstrated that same determination in promoting his PBS specials. The book also clearly shows a man determined to not follow the crowd, to be his own person.
I wouldn’t necessarily call myself a fan of Dyer’s. He is such an intrinsic part of the self-help movement that I just automatically read his books as soon as I become aware of them. I listened to I Can See Clearly Now on audiobook. The experience made me step back and look at the man behind the books. I would love to say that it helped me to see clearly how the events in my own life shaped me; it did not. But, what it did do is start me pondering the influences in Dyer’s life and considering whether they had any relevance to my own life.
Showing posts with label Commitment. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Commitment. Show all posts
Thursday, July 3, 2014
Monday, April 25, 2011
2011 Hugo Award Nominees Announced
- Blackout/All Clear by Connie Willis
- Cryoburn by Lois McMaster Bujold
- The Dervish House by Ian McDonald
- Feed by Mira Grant
- The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms by N.K. Jemisin
I am not sure whether I am obsessed or merely passionate. Yesterday, the Hugo Award nominees were to be announced after 2pm PDT. I went on-line around 2:15 and checked the list of nominated novels against the books in our county library system. I found we didn’t have The Dervish House. By 2:30, I already had e-mailed the library requesting it buy the book. I have not read any of these books yet.
Blackout is also nominated for a Nebula Award. Blackout and All Clear is/are essentially one novel divided into two books. I enjoyed Willis’ previous two Hugo Award winning time-travel books and am looking forward to reading this/these one/two.
Cryoburn is the fourteenth book in the Vorkosigan Saga. I left off at the ninth. I guess I will be busy reading this series for awhile.
The Dervish House recently won The British Science Fiction Award and is nominated for the Clarke award.
Feed is written by Seanan McGuire under the pen name Mira Grant. I am not familiar with the author. This looks likes it is the first in a series.
The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms is also nominated for a Nebula Award. This is the first book in a trilogy.
I still have six—some very long—books to go before I have finished reading the Hugo Award winning novels from 1958 to the present. Hopefully I will begin to read the 2011 nominees late in May.
Saturday, February 5, 2011
Fifth Tai Chi Class of the Season
Did you ever go through one of those periods where you were feeling blah, absolutely blah? Space aliens could land and proclaim that you were their long lost queen, and you would just roll your eyes and say, “Whatever.” I managed to eat, shower, and get to class without much incident. Before class started, I went into the Ladies Room and noticed that my ponytail was unsalvageable: a bad, bad hair day. While we initially did the Tai Chi form, Bob played a CD that he had recorded which describes what Tai Chi is and its benefits. It mildly irritated me; I couldn’t focus on the form and listen to it at the same time. I did like the section where he said that Tai Chi improves the ability to visualize.
As in previous weeks, for the rest of the class we focused on different things as we did the form. An old one, that we first focused on when we originally learned the form, was imagining that our heads were suspended from above, almost like a puppet. Conversely, we focused on sinking our weight; perhaps the most important concept in Tai Chi. This is what helps generate power. We next focused on all the big and little circles our bodies made as we moved through the different postures, working to make the circles smooth and complete. This was one of my favorite exercises of the day. We moved on to focusing on whether we were pivoting on the balls or heels of our feet and how that affected the energy in our bodies. Lastly, we paid attention to how expanded or contracted our hands were—the closeness of our fingers—in different parts of the form. I never thought about that before, and I think I might have had some of my hand positions reversed from how they were supposed to be.
We are not perky, eager students every day. We do the best we can, and forgive ourselves for not being what we wish we were. It is part of committing to a practice. Focusing and refocusing, despite any negativity, is how we grow. This is true of Tai Chi, Yoga, meditation, and, I would imagine, a lot of other practices. Sometimes it helps to admit it.
As in previous weeks, for the rest of the class we focused on different things as we did the form. An old one, that we first focused on when we originally learned the form, was imagining that our heads were suspended from above, almost like a puppet. Conversely, we focused on sinking our weight; perhaps the most important concept in Tai Chi. This is what helps generate power. We next focused on all the big and little circles our bodies made as we moved through the different postures, working to make the circles smooth and complete. This was one of my favorite exercises of the day. We moved on to focusing on whether we were pivoting on the balls or heels of our feet and how that affected the energy in our bodies. Lastly, we paid attention to how expanded or contracted our hands were—the closeness of our fingers—in different parts of the form. I never thought about that before, and I think I might have had some of my hand positions reversed from how they were supposed to be.
We are not perky, eager students every day. We do the best we can, and forgive ourselves for not being what we wish we were. It is part of committing to a practice. Focusing and refocusing, despite any negativity, is how we grow. This is true of Tai Chi, Yoga, meditation, and, I would imagine, a lot of other practices. Sometimes it helps to admit it.
Sunday, January 9, 2011
Neuromancer (book)
Disturbing. Brilliant. Trail-blazing. I won’t even pretend the 1985 Hugo and 1984 Nebula Award winning novel Neuromancer by William Gibson was my cup of tea. It is filled with violence, drug use, disturbing images, and perverse sexual references. The pages also are woven with invented slang that left me lost at times. On the other hand, Case, the antihero cyber-hacker, has enough redeeming qualities that I wanted to know what happened to him. I also admired Gibson’s ability to create an original, vivid world.
Neuromancer is a classic, a must-read for anyone who wants to understand the larger genre of Science Fiction. It helped to popularize cyberpunk and is reputed to be the inspiration for the direction of the Internet and Web. Gibson coined the term “cyberspace,” and Neuromancer was the vehicle for exposing the term to millions of people.
My commitment to reading all the Hugo Award winning novels between 1959 and the present has been an interesting path. Neuromancer was another one of those novels that took me outside of my comfort zone. What it rewarded me with was a sense of history, an example of brilliant writing and an example of a human being’s capacity to imagine.
Neuromancer is a classic, a must-read for anyone who wants to understand the larger genre of Science Fiction. It helped to popularize cyberpunk and is reputed to be the inspiration for the direction of the Internet and Web. Gibson coined the term “cyberspace,” and Neuromancer was the vehicle for exposing the term to millions of people.
My commitment to reading all the Hugo Award winning novels between 1959 and the present has been an interesting path. Neuromancer was another one of those novels that took me outside of my comfort zone. What it rewarded me with was a sense of history, an example of brilliant writing and an example of a human being’s capacity to imagine.
Saturday, January 8, 2011
First Tai Chi Class of the Semester
Like Coming Home. I had to take two buses this morning with a wind chill in the single digits to get to class. I am not sure how to explain the experience to people who don’t have a similar point of reference. Yes, I could have been doing Tai Chi at home, maybe even trying something new from a book, but it wouldn't have been the same thing. After class Mary was kind enough to drop me off at a bus stop, so that I didn’t have to make a transfer on my way home, and she referred to the group as her “Tai Chi Sisters.” Many in the group have been together for over ten years.
On our first pass through the Tai Chi form this morning Bob, our Tai Chi Instructor, had us focus on how we felt. I am sure he had something different in mind when he gave the instructions than what I noticed. First, I became aware of what was stiff and hurt. I then became aware of how different it was practicing with a group than by myself, having to pay attention to the pace of the other women—and one man—around me. I became aware of a certain vulnerability welling up inside of me as I realized how tentative and fragile the experience of being together as a little community is.—Earlier this week, after I received news that a once close friend had passed away, I had spent time thinking about the close knit groups I had been involved with in another state.— Lastly, I became aware of a global body energy: a circle around me, the farthest reach of my hands and my knees, and of my feet when I kicked.
Bob talked about going into the void, into the unknowing. This seems to be a theme in my life lately, including some of the books I have been reading. New ideas and learning come up from that void. So, as the class progressed and we did parts of the form, we were instructed to focus on specific parts of our bodies and just pay attention without thinking about them conceptually, without any preconceived notions, being open to what came up. Our last time through, we were instructed to focus on foot, ankle, knee, and hip. I started running into a paradox, because I needed to have some way of homing into those parts. I tried to imagine dots on each part, which created a layer between my attention and my direct awareness. I am beginning to feel much more camaraderie with all those old Zen masters and their convoluted sentences.
As we left class, Mary echoed my sentiments. This year's classes has been some of the most challenging and most rewarding.
On our first pass through the Tai Chi form this morning Bob, our Tai Chi Instructor, had us focus on how we felt. I am sure he had something different in mind when he gave the instructions than what I noticed. First, I became aware of what was stiff and hurt. I then became aware of how different it was practicing with a group than by myself, having to pay attention to the pace of the other women—and one man—around me. I became aware of a certain vulnerability welling up inside of me as I realized how tentative and fragile the experience of being together as a little community is.—Earlier this week, after I received news that a once close friend had passed away, I had spent time thinking about the close knit groups I had been involved with in another state.— Lastly, I became aware of a global body energy: a circle around me, the farthest reach of my hands and my knees, and of my feet when I kicked.
Bob talked about going into the void, into the unknowing. This seems to be a theme in my life lately, including some of the books I have been reading. New ideas and learning come up from that void. So, as the class progressed and we did parts of the form, we were instructed to focus on specific parts of our bodies and just pay attention without thinking about them conceptually, without any preconceived notions, being open to what came up. Our last time through, we were instructed to focus on foot, ankle, knee, and hip. I started running into a paradox, because I needed to have some way of homing into those parts. I tried to imagine dots on each part, which created a layer between my attention and my direct awareness. I am beginning to feel much more camaraderie with all those old Zen masters and their convoluted sentences.
As we left class, Mary echoed my sentiments. This year's classes has been some of the most challenging and most rewarding.
Friday, December 31, 2010
Kata’s 2010 Reflections
2010 was one of the most interesting years of my life, not the best or most successful or happiest, but one of the most interesting. For me interesting is a positive thing, a reason for getting up in the morning, a reason for putting one foot in front of the other and living each day. Almost everything that happened was unexpected. Maybe I just put the interesting vibration out into the universe.
In early spring I sent my cousin a very emotional e-mail about all the things that were going wrong in my life. One of my last sentences was asking whether I could do work for him, any work, just to try to stay sane. Coincidentally, he was in the process of submitting a proposal for a self-paced training course. I’ve been writing training materials for a long time, but I didn’t know anything about federal laws and how industrial air pollution is controlled. In addition, much to my cousin’s chagrin, I managed to earn a master’s degree without every taking a physics course. So, I immersed myself in the content I received from my cousin as well as practically everything I could find on the Internet. Because I love to learn, this was sheer happiness.
In late spring, I was an enumerator for the 2010 Census, not particularly successful financially, but a great way to meet fascinating people. One of my favorites was an 80+ year old owner of a massive apartment complex, who told me her secrets for keeping young. Because the apartments were close to a medical college, I was also able to chat with young adults from various countries.
In June, bored with what I was reading, I decided to begin to read Hugo award winning novels, 50 years worth of novels, a goal that is going to take me well into the middle of 2011. Each novel makes me think, some more than others. Each novel enlarges my view of the world and of how writers express themselves through words. In addition, I have been exposed to more science. Those concepts I learned while working on the air pollution course have reappeared in a number of the novels.
My blogs have been a source of fascination for me. At the beginning of the year, I set out to write 50 entries in Kata Chimes In and 100 entries in Kata’s Cadence. Little did I know that I would have a small religious crisis and have almost no motivation to write in the second blog, which I associated with my participation in a particular church. In autumn I noticed someone had accessed my New Year’s Resolution post, so I reread it. I am not a person who takes goals lightly. For the last three months of the year, I wrote a poem, blessing, prayer or affirmation almost every morning. Who could ask for a better education? I learned about myself, about writing, and about my readers.
In fall, I went back to taking Tai Chi classes after a two year break. This was one of the hardest and most rewarding semesters for me. Because this was an advanced class, the emphasis was on internal awareness, an area that most of us have little training in. Sure, I could do the form, but do the form while trying to feel my heart beat?
Throughout the year, my thoughts about how I perceive people have changed. Enumerating for the Census forced me outside my comfort zone. Books like The Cow In The Parking Lot by Leonard Scheff and Susan Edmiston, Yoga for Anxiety by Mary NurrieStearns and Rick NurrieStearns, The Miracle of Right Thinking by Orison Swett Marden and The Learning to Love Yourself Workbook by Gay Hendricks helped change the way I look at myself and the world.
For Christmas, I decided to make some Christmas ornaments based on a design in the book Diane Fitzgerald's Shaped Beadwork. I loved how my brain twisted in little knots when I tried to think three-dimensionally. Last night I tried a different pattern in preparation for making a gift for myself (and maybe next year’s Christmas presents). I just didn’t get it, and then all of a sudden, later in the evening, it clicked.
The year contained hundreds of other fascinating things, including farmers’ markets I didn’t know about, new recipes, things from my parents and my childhood that I still am finding as I clean out the house. Today my neighbor-sister took me to a Hispanic grocery store, and I didn’t want to leave. This year, I have been like a little kid, filled with wonder.
I am afraid of 2011. I realized that as I debated whether to try my hand at writing a New Year’s blessing. I like small changes, but don’t like major upheavals. This coming year has a high probability for major upheavals. The New Thought writers talk a lot about faith, and I think the coming year will require me to depend upon it more than in recent years.
In early spring I sent my cousin a very emotional e-mail about all the things that were going wrong in my life. One of my last sentences was asking whether I could do work for him, any work, just to try to stay sane. Coincidentally, he was in the process of submitting a proposal for a self-paced training course. I’ve been writing training materials for a long time, but I didn’t know anything about federal laws and how industrial air pollution is controlled. In addition, much to my cousin’s chagrin, I managed to earn a master’s degree without every taking a physics course. So, I immersed myself in the content I received from my cousin as well as practically everything I could find on the Internet. Because I love to learn, this was sheer happiness.
In late spring, I was an enumerator for the 2010 Census, not particularly successful financially, but a great way to meet fascinating people. One of my favorites was an 80+ year old owner of a massive apartment complex, who told me her secrets for keeping young. Because the apartments were close to a medical college, I was also able to chat with young adults from various countries.
In June, bored with what I was reading, I decided to begin to read Hugo award winning novels, 50 years worth of novels, a goal that is going to take me well into the middle of 2011. Each novel makes me think, some more than others. Each novel enlarges my view of the world and of how writers express themselves through words. In addition, I have been exposed to more science. Those concepts I learned while working on the air pollution course have reappeared in a number of the novels.
My blogs have been a source of fascination for me. At the beginning of the year, I set out to write 50 entries in Kata Chimes In and 100 entries in Kata’s Cadence. Little did I know that I would have a small religious crisis and have almost no motivation to write in the second blog, which I associated with my participation in a particular church. In autumn I noticed someone had accessed my New Year’s Resolution post, so I reread it. I am not a person who takes goals lightly. For the last three months of the year, I wrote a poem, blessing, prayer or affirmation almost every morning. Who could ask for a better education? I learned about myself, about writing, and about my readers.
In fall, I went back to taking Tai Chi classes after a two year break. This was one of the hardest and most rewarding semesters for me. Because this was an advanced class, the emphasis was on internal awareness, an area that most of us have little training in. Sure, I could do the form, but do the form while trying to feel my heart beat?
Throughout the year, my thoughts about how I perceive people have changed. Enumerating for the Census forced me outside my comfort zone. Books like The Cow In The Parking Lot by Leonard Scheff and Susan Edmiston, Yoga for Anxiety by Mary NurrieStearns and Rick NurrieStearns, The Miracle of Right Thinking by Orison Swett Marden and The Learning to Love Yourself Workbook by Gay Hendricks helped change the way I look at myself and the world.
For Christmas, I decided to make some Christmas ornaments based on a design in the book Diane Fitzgerald's Shaped Beadwork. I loved how my brain twisted in little knots when I tried to think three-dimensionally. Last night I tried a different pattern in preparation for making a gift for myself (and maybe next year’s Christmas presents). I just didn’t get it, and then all of a sudden, later in the evening, it clicked.
The year contained hundreds of other fascinating things, including farmers’ markets I didn’t know about, new recipes, things from my parents and my childhood that I still am finding as I clean out the house. Today my neighbor-sister took me to a Hispanic grocery store, and I didn’t want to leave. This year, I have been like a little kid, filled with wonder.
I am afraid of 2011. I realized that as I debated whether to try my hand at writing a New Year’s blessing. I like small changes, but don’t like major upheavals. This coming year has a high probability for major upheavals. The New Thought writers talk a lot about faith, and I think the coming year will require me to depend upon it more than in recent years.
Monday, November 22, 2010
A Journey into Hugo’s World—Background
Journeying. Journaling. Exploring. Attempting to find a path through a wild country. These are some of the words that describe my experience of reading Hugo winning novels the last few months.
Since my return to reading fiction a few years ago, I have turned into a bookworm. I read when most people are watching TV. On Sunday afternoons, I literally feel disoriented if I am not in the middle of a compelling book. In June I felt restless. I had read mainly silly mystery series in the beginning of the year. Suddenly nothing seemed interesting. I searched the internet to find suggestions. As I was walking back from the library one day a thought popped into my head, “I could read Hugo winners this summer.” In retrospect, this must be a lot like deciding to move to another city for a summer or to take a gap year. I didn’t realize the ramifications of what it would mean to me.
Books, books, and more books. Even as I type, new books are being written, published, put on library and bookstore shelves. Choosing to read the Hugo winners has given me a sense of structure—a path through the wilderness of titles, but it has also required commitment. Friends don’t quite get it. They don’t understand why I don’t stop midway through a book that I don’t particularly like. One suggested that I had an obsessive compulsive disorder. I mostly get blank looks. They don’t understand the satisfaction I feel when I finish reading a book and enter the title and author into my little moleskin notebook, like having a passport stamped.
Like any good journey, I am learning a lot. Each book changes me a little bit, but the books cumulatively are changing me. I am between a third and a half of the way through the list of Hugo winning novels, not necessarily taking the books in order. I can hear the opening lines of Star Trek in my head. My journey isn’t into space, but instead into the culture that produced over five decades of science fiction and into my own experience as a reader and a human being.
Since my return to reading fiction a few years ago, I have turned into a bookworm. I read when most people are watching TV. On Sunday afternoons, I literally feel disoriented if I am not in the middle of a compelling book. In June I felt restless. I had read mainly silly mystery series in the beginning of the year. Suddenly nothing seemed interesting. I searched the internet to find suggestions. As I was walking back from the library one day a thought popped into my head, “I could read Hugo winners this summer.” In retrospect, this must be a lot like deciding to move to another city for a summer or to take a gap year. I didn’t realize the ramifications of what it would mean to me.
Books, books, and more books. Even as I type, new books are being written, published, put on library and bookstore shelves. Choosing to read the Hugo winners has given me a sense of structure—a path through the wilderness of titles, but it has also required commitment. Friends don’t quite get it. They don’t understand why I don’t stop midway through a book that I don’t particularly like. One suggested that I had an obsessive compulsive disorder. I mostly get blank looks. They don’t understand the satisfaction I feel when I finish reading a book and enter the title and author into my little moleskin notebook, like having a passport stamped.
Like any good journey, I am learning a lot. Each book changes me a little bit, but the books cumulatively are changing me. I am between a third and a half of the way through the list of Hugo winning novels, not necessarily taking the books in order. I can hear the opening lines of Star Trek in my head. My journey isn’t into space, but instead into the culture that produced over five decades of science fiction and into my own experience as a reader and a human being.
Sunday, August 22, 2010
Ray Bradbury
As a life long fan of science fiction, I have just one thing to say this morning:
Happy 90th Birthday to Ray Bradbury!!!
Happy 90th Birthday to Ray Bradbury!!!
Saturday, June 5, 2010
Solve the F@#*% Problem, Please
Has the United States become a country of judgers and critics, rather than a nation of problem solvers? When James Cameron offered to help BP control the oil spill in the gulf, many, many, many people left negative comments on the internet. What I didn’t see were comments of curiosity, surprise, or even delight. I would have liked to see a collective light bulb go on across the country. A good director knows how to solve problems, particularly the hard ones. He knows how to find and enlist experts who can contribute to his project. He has experience with not taking no for an answer, but rather challenging people to go beyond their current level of what they think is possible. He knows how to think outside the box and draw from diverse disciplines. He knows that any great project is a collaboration, not the work of one person or one company. This is the type of thinking that is needed to solve the oil spill problem quickly and with as few long term problems as possible. I am not talking about James Cameron the man as much as the way of looking at a problem that he represents. That is what we need.
Wouldn’t it be wonderful if twenty years from now a little girl told her teacher, “we are called the ‘United States’ because we are really, really good at solving problems together?” Wouldn’t it be better if it were true, if the US was know for its problem solving expertise the world over?
Wouldn’t it be wonderful if twenty years from now a little girl told her teacher, “we are called the ‘United States’ because we are really, really good at solving problems together?” Wouldn’t it be better if it were true, if the US was know for its problem solving expertise the world over?
Tuesday, April 27, 2010
The Dip
Seth Godin’s book The Dip reminds me a lot of George Leonard’s book Mastery. Both of them talk about the non-glamorous middle period after the excitement of the beginning wears off where many, if not most, people quit. Here is Godin’s description of The Dip:
At the beginning, when you first start something, it’s fun.…it’s interesting, and you get plenty of good feedback from the people around you. Over the next few days and weeks, the rapid learning you experience keeps you going. Whatever your new thing is, it’s easy to stay engaged in it. And then the Dip happens. The Dip is the long slog between starting and mastery…The Dip is the combination of bureaucracy and busywork….The Dip is the difference between the easy “beginner” technique and the more useful “expert” approach…The Dip is the long stretch between beginner’s luck and real accomplishment.
Monday, March 1, 2010
Designing My Website: Part 2
Saturday I was not going to rest until I got the navigation bar to do what I wanted it to do. The visited links were purple. While I love purple, I didn’t want it on my visited links. I was like a woman possessed. Finally, I thought to type my question into the browser window. A wonderful soul in the State of Washington had an answer to my problem. I slept well.
Since then I have been like a teenager who can’t decide what to wear to the big dance. I keep on trying on color schemes and graphics. I have painted, penciled, crayoned, and photoshopped. I have changed and rechanged and rerechanged the colors of fonts. I have tiled and untiled. I have questioned who I am and what I want to say, and tried to figure out how that translates into the look of a webpage.
Yesterday, emotionally exhausted, I sat down and read the last three hundred pages of the The Reincarnationist with barely a bathroom break. Today, given a long list of my week’s todo’s, I decided to fire up Dreamweaver again.
I am determined! What color palette is that?
Since then I have been like a teenager who can’t decide what to wear to the big dance. I keep on trying on color schemes and graphics. I have painted, penciled, crayoned, and photoshopped. I have changed and rechanged and rerechanged the colors of fonts. I have tiled and untiled. I have questioned who I am and what I want to say, and tried to figure out how that translates into the look of a webpage.
Yesterday, emotionally exhausted, I sat down and read the last three hundred pages of the The Reincarnationist with barely a bathroom break. Today, given a long list of my week’s todo’s, I decided to fire up Dreamweaver again.
I am determined! What color palette is that?
Friday, January 1, 2010
New Year's Resolutions
Last year my New Year’s resolutions were to read at least 52 fiction books and new (to me) authors with last names beginning with each letter of the alphabet. I checked that off my list by early fall and had a lot of fun in the process.
This year I have three resolutions for 2010: to write 50 entries in Kata Chimes In, write 100 entries in Kata’s Cadence, and to do some stretching every day. After walking three miles yesterday, half of that carrying groceries, and hacking at ice on the sidewalks for half an hour, my back has insisted I add the last resolution to my list.
Happy New Year to all!!
This year I have three resolutions for 2010: to write 50 entries in Kata Chimes In, write 100 entries in Kata’s Cadence, and to do some stretching every day. After walking three miles yesterday, half of that carrying groceries, and hacking at ice on the sidewalks for half an hour, my back has insisted I add the last resolution to my list.
Happy New Year to all!!
Friday, September 11, 2009
A Bookfilled Journey
Life presents us with all sorts of marvelous opportunities for journeys. In recent years I had become concerned that I was reading too many self-help books. I rarely read fiction. When my aunt went into assisted living I began to send her books, mostly novels, but I was somewhat concerned about what I was sending her. For good reason!! I didn’t know they could print some of this stuff without a warning on the cover!! One of the benefits of my reading books before I gave them to my aunt was finding the works of Alexander McCall Smith and other wonderful authors. So, when I made my New Year’s resolutions for 2009, I decided that I would read at least 52 novels. In February I added to that resolution that I would also read at least one author for each letter of the alphabet. As I have finished each book, I have listed the title and the author in my small notebook. Not only have I been reading books this year. I have also been exploring the imaginations of over 26 authors.
Tuesday, June 9, 2009
Trying Again
I think most new Tai Chi students would benefit from this quote from Linda Myoki Lehrhaupt from T’ai Chi as a Path of Wisdom:
…t’ai chi has nothing to do with perfecting technique. It has nothing to do with mastering oneself, if by that we mean controlling our feelings or thoughts. It is, rather, the practice of the student who, frustrated and angry at not getting “it,” starts to walk out the door but then returns to her training place and vows to try once more. Being able to say “I’ll try again” is one of the deepest expressions of faith in oneself.
Friday, May 15, 2009
Persistence
I like this quote from the The Heartmath Solution:
Don’t fall into the trap of feeling as if things will never get better or telling yourself, “I’ve tried, but it’s just not working.” That period between making an effort to change and actually registering the results is when most people stumble, lapsing back into old behaviors.
Wednesday, September 3, 2008
Goals and Trusting Ourselves
Sometimes the most important goal we can set is to learn to trust ourselves again.
This summer I have begun to experiment with setting goals for the week. One thing that struck me while reading Stephen Covey’s books was the importance of keeping promises to ourselves. When we keep a promise we increase our self-confidence and trust in ourselves. When we don’t, we erode that trust. This has helped me realize the importance of setting smaller weekly goals and then keeping them. I can always increase the size of the goal the following week.
Years ago I decided I would walk an average of 10,000 steps a day. At the time I was very out of shape and could barely walk 2,000 a day. I faithfully wore my pedometer from morning to night and recorded my steps before I went to bed. Each week, I set a goal for the average I wanted to achieve. In a couple of months I reached my goal of 10,000 steps average per day. Having a weekly average helped, rather than basing my progress on isolated bad or good days. Setting reasonable goals helped, too. I slowly gained faith in my abilities.
I had to remind myself of the walking experience as I set goals this summer. After a week or so of failing to meet some goals, I realized that I had lost faith. I either needed to drop some goals or decrease them. For example, I would like to practice a certain technique in a book everyday, but I am new to it. I don’t know everything that is involved and how it will affect me. I am better off trying it three times this next week and then observing my response, making tweaks in the technique so that it works for me, and getting help if I need it.
I vowed to do some strengthening exercises five times a week. One day, I absolutely couldn’t bring myself to do them. Finally, I did one exercise at a time. It took me all day to complete a set that normally would have taken under ten minutes. But I did it. At the end of the day I could put a checkmark in the box on my goal sheet. What was more important was that the following week, I felt good about doing my exercises. I had increased my trust in myself.
This summer I have begun to experiment with setting goals for the week. One thing that struck me while reading Stephen Covey’s books was the importance of keeping promises to ourselves. When we keep a promise we increase our self-confidence and trust in ourselves. When we don’t, we erode that trust. This has helped me realize the importance of setting smaller weekly goals and then keeping them. I can always increase the size of the goal the following week.
Years ago I decided I would walk an average of 10,000 steps a day. At the time I was very out of shape and could barely walk 2,000 a day. I faithfully wore my pedometer from morning to night and recorded my steps before I went to bed. Each week, I set a goal for the average I wanted to achieve. In a couple of months I reached my goal of 10,000 steps average per day. Having a weekly average helped, rather than basing my progress on isolated bad or good days. Setting reasonable goals helped, too. I slowly gained faith in my abilities.
I had to remind myself of the walking experience as I set goals this summer. After a week or so of failing to meet some goals, I realized that I had lost faith. I either needed to drop some goals or decrease them. For example, I would like to practice a certain technique in a book everyday, but I am new to it. I don’t know everything that is involved and how it will affect me. I am better off trying it three times this next week and then observing my response, making tweaks in the technique so that it works for me, and getting help if I need it.
I vowed to do some strengthening exercises five times a week. One day, I absolutely couldn’t bring myself to do them. Finally, I did one exercise at a time. It took me all day to complete a set that normally would have taken under ten minutes. But I did it. At the end of the day I could put a checkmark in the box on my goal sheet. What was more important was that the following week, I felt good about doing my exercises. I had increased my trust in myself.
Friday, July 11, 2008
Integrating New Ideas
In the last few years I have begun to realize that I can easily find good ideas in books. Actually practicing those good ideas until they become integrated into my life is the real challenge. Evidently I’m not alone in this.
In the Heartmath Solution, Doc Childre and Howard Martin write:
“People who start out to accomplish changes more often than not don’t carry them through to completion. This is especially true when what they’re trying to change involves attitudes, ways of thinking, and emotional behavior. We’ve probably all had the experience of feeling our initial passion for a change wane—and then lose the impetus for change all together. The initial heart directive that inspired us gets lost in day-to-day mind processing. Sometimes we have to go back and reactivate our commitment to earlier realizations until we have a progressive momentum going—and then we can supplement our initial appreciation with appreciation of the progress we’ve made!”
I appreciate the inspiration.
In the Heartmath Solution, Doc Childre and Howard Martin write:
“People who start out to accomplish changes more often than not don’t carry them through to completion. This is especially true when what they’re trying to change involves attitudes, ways of thinking, and emotional behavior. We’ve probably all had the experience of feeling our initial passion for a change wane—and then lose the impetus for change all together. The initial heart directive that inspired us gets lost in day-to-day mind processing. Sometimes we have to go back and reactivate our commitment to earlier realizations until we have a progressive momentum going—and then we can supplement our initial appreciation with appreciation of the progress we’ve made!”
I appreciate the inspiration.
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