About Me

Saturday, December 06, 2008

Prepared mind

Off-load all the baggage so that you are able to concentrate in the moment. Stop brooding over a problem, instead do something to solve the problem. Act on it, don't brood on it.

How to consistently "hit the clear key" on brooding? This is the challenge.

Exercise helps me if I am not too tired after the exercising. Today, I played a crisp game of tennis and then had a protein shake after I came home. I continued to stay as focused after tennis as when I was playing tennis. I came home determined to sit and blog and now I am doing it.

The uncertainty of the next shot from the opponent is no longer an issue in tennis if I approach it with a "prepared mind". I can use relaxed concentration to respond to where the ball is hit. Some anticipation is useful. Too much anticipation can make you lean the wrong way.

Same thing with my personal to-do list. When I make a to-do list, I "hit the clear key" on the feeling of being overwhelmed about everything that I have to accomplish. One by one I cross-off the tasks on my to-do list. One shot at a time on the tennis court. Play the shot and be prepared for the next one to come back over the net. Respond to the next shot and so on.

I wish that I could to articulate a set rules to make this happen consistently. Some days I am able to have the prepared mind better than on other days. How to minimize the other days?

How to have a prepared mind at least 80% of the time?

Thursday, December 04, 2008

How to Feel

I need to start feeling my feelings again! I must not bottle up my feelings and let them fester inside me.

Sunday, November 30, 2008

Distractions

It is difficult to stay focused on task when you are surfing the internet. When I search for a piece of information, I get the information but then I get interested in something else and it takes away another hour of my precious time. It is very disconcerting to me. I need to stay on task. No distractions.

This weekend I have significantly improved my understanding of different memory systems. Recent research has focused on the difference in roles of the striatum and the hippocampus. I have to find a way to include this understanding in my presentations.

Friday, November 28, 2008

Anticipation

I am feeling anticipation for novel creative expression in my life. An outlet for a being within me that needs to speak and is looking for a breakthrough into the open field/court. There is a bubbling feeling of anticipation of things to come that I will not be able to control. I will have to let go and let things happen as they will. I have held back this creative expression for too long and it is applying a pressure on me that is compelling and determined in nature.

Reading Og Mandino's "The Greatest Salesman in the World" , again after all these years, has made think about renewing my determination to succeed. My determination is stronger and getting stronger. I will succeed. I will act upon my feelings of creativity. I feel an anticipation of great success to come.

My time is now and I am going to win. I will overcome my feelings of fear. I will face and overcome the things that intimidate me.
These are my words. This is my fire-in-the-belly. I own my success. Nothing can hold me back if I am determined and dedicated enough to succeed.

Thursday, November 27, 2008

Come into my world

Enter my sanctuary

I have a story to share

It is relevant to you

It will help you

Stay here in my sanctuary

Awhile

Listen to the flute and sitar

Calm down

Enjoy the moment


Come here won't you?

I care about you

I do

Stay here in my sanctuary

Awhile

Listen to the waves

As they splash onto

the rocks

Splash ripple ripple


I love you

Come into my world

Making it snappy - boosting your energy

Picking myself up when I'm down is a process! I mean it, it is a process! I wish it was as simple as snapping my fingers.

I mean like in the song "Spoon Full of Sugar" (in the movie, Mary Poppins):

"In ev'ry job that must be done
There is an element of fun
you find the fun and snap!
The job's a game"

How to: Find the fun and snap ?!
How to: Turn a job into a game ?!
How to: Find an element of fun in every job that must be done ?!

Keep it moving, roll with your intuition and stop thinking so much!

Friday, November 21, 2008

Excerpt from "Swann's Way" by Marcel Proust

I've always marveled at Proust's description of memory. Tonight, I awoke in my bed after having slept at 6:30 pm and it is now only about 9:30 pm. I was able to compare how I felt with Proust's description of a similar moment.

"but then the memory - not yet of the place in which I was, but of various other places where I had lived and might now very possibly be - would come like a rope let down from heaven to draw me up out of the abyss of not-being, from which I could never have escaped by myself: in a flash I would traverse centuries of civilization, and out of a blurred glimpse of oil-lamps, then of shirts with turned-down collars, would gradually piece together the original components of my ego."

Perhaps this sleep that I had was a continuation of my distracted recollections, earlier today, of a time about twenty three years ago when I was a doctoral student. The abyss of not-being is analogous to the time-bubble that I had created around me while remembering my aspirations while I was a graduate student. I had traversed a quarter-century to explore a blurred recollection of the person that I was and had returned with regrets about things that could have been.

Saturday, November 15, 2008

Narrative Generating Mind Wandering

This phrase has been sitting written on a Post-it note on my desk at work for some weeks now. I have not thrown it away because it strikes a chord in me every time I see it. It is a reminder that the story in my mind can take my focus away from the task at hand. It is a reminder to stay centered in my firm place. After all these weeks of not blogging, I return to the concept of firm place. It is a lasting idea. I don't think that I would recognize the gal who gave that presentation but the concept that she talked about has lasting value. The Post-it on my desk triggered my thought back in this direction and the thought I had as I awoke from a nap this afternoon about the importance of "chunking it" for ease of memory have combined to make me write in my blog again.

Also, reminds me about the 1944 Gilkey sermon wherein he talks about an hourglass and the sand going through one grain at a time. To stop get getting overwhelmed, we must think of an hourglass. Life can happen only one moment at a time. Memories are built one chunk at a time. "Cinch by the inch; hard by the yard"

Focusing on the moment of importance; staying in your firm place!

Emil Coue: "Every day in every way, I am getting better and better!"

Note that we don't say every day we get perfect! Don't let perfect get in the way of better!

Saturday, June 14, 2008

Don''t let your mind run away with you

Concentration is the key to success in everything I do. I do well when I concentrate and I don't do well when I get distracted. It is a simple as that. As long as I stay focused on the task I am comfortable and in the zone. When I let my mind run away with me, I am find myself in some other place and I stumble and fall.

It goes back to the firm place that Jackie talked about during the POLs by the Public Allies yesterday. As long as I am focused on a firm place in mind and centered on the task at hand, I am going to be successful. The firm place in my mind is key to my ability to be strong in tough situations. The firm place or my "good inner voice" helps be in touch with my inner strength and draw upon it when I need it.

My mind runs away with me when I am caught up in a circle of concern and get worried about what others will think about me if I fail. If I proceed fearlessly, I win. If I proceed fearfully, the world smells the fear and takes advantage of it. This is my constant battle. I want to be loving toward the world but in the process of that friendliness I get caught up in a circle of concern. The world would be much friendlier to me if I was in my circle of influence and succeeding in my efforts.

Thank you Jackie for reminding to think about my firm place and my circle of influence. Thank you also for helping me connect meditation with the discovery of my circle of influence. Discovery of my firm place leads to a centering that helps me perform better in the world.

Jackie, Jackie, Jackie!

Sunday, June 08, 2008

Cope with uncertainity

It is very important to learn how to cope with uncertainity. Life is all about uncertainity. We cannot be sure what is going to happen in the future. All we have is the present and we can influence the present. By focusing on taking the right steps now we work towards a more predictable future.

Inner strength

Learn to listen to your inner voice and develop inner strength. This will help you with your brain resilience. Replace worry with work.

Sometimes it is really difficult to identify your inner voice and encourage it to continue to talk to you. Your inner voice is your strength, it is your faith in your abilities. Your inner voice is your accumulated wisdom, listen to it!

Resilience

Resilience is about getting up when you are down. It is about fight instead of flight. It is about believing in yourself even if you don't have the strength to believe. Brain resilience is about having confidence in your brain fitness.

It starts with a commitment to success. Resilience is about fighting for each point like it is the match point. Resilience is about not quitting.

Friday, January 25, 2008

Learning about Labyrinths

See link:
http://www.lessons4living.com/learning.htm

Labyrinth Walks - Life Coaching

The following is quoted from the website
http://www.lifecoachtherapy.com/content/labyrinthWalks/

What is a labyrinth and where does it come from?

Labyrinths have been in existence for over 4,000 years. Over the years people, cultures and traditions have used the labyrinth in their search for meaning and guidance. Labyrinths are usually single (unicursal) pathways that lead to the center of the pattern and then back out by retracing the same path. Unlike mazes, one cannot become lost or trapped. A labyrinth provides a sacred space. It invites the walker to set aside the cares of the world and to enter into the realm of the Holy. It quiets the mind and opens the soul. It inspires change and renewal.

To walk the labyrinth is to make a pilgrimage, to discover something about ourselves and our life. The destination is not important, the journey is. The labyrinth is a path for prayer and meditation. It echoes the turns and twists of life. The best way to learn about it is to walk it – with an open heart and an open mind – and experience your own sacred response. There is no right way or wrong way to walk the path. Relax and enjoy the experience.

Labyrinth - a whole brain experience:

The following is taken from the website:
http://www.samurai-of-light.com/labyrinth.html

The Power of the Labyrinth

Psychiatrist Carl Jung called the labyrinth an "archetype of transformation". The
effect of the winding walkway results in the synchronization of the left and right
hemispheres of the brain, allowing for "whole brain" thinking and the union of the
analytical and feeling selves. This whole brain synchronization leads to altered
states of consciousness and powerful opportunities for transformation.

Some say the path of the labyrinth - as it winds around and doubles back on itself
- becomes a mirror for where we are in our lives and thus opens us to powerful
insights. Entering into the labyrinth - the journey towards the center is often
considered the stage of letting go...of our anger, self-pity, judgement, control
- those things that cut us off from our own Divine Center.We arrive in the center cleansed of the limiting beliefs we released upon our journey inwards and we wait with an open heart and open mind to receive. The center of the labyrinth may be experienced as a powerful vibration, a rush of energy, or simply a calmness
within.

As you journey back out from the center you travel your path with new perspective and new focus. Returning to where you began with a new sense of direction. The commitment to follow that new sense of direction is a choice you have free will to keep.

Guidelines on Walking the Labyrinth
Walking the labyrinth is a very personal journey...there is no "right" way. You may wish to keep the following in mind:

* Let go of any expectation of what you "should" experience..and do not compare your walk to others. Allow any emotions to be expressed...feel free to dance or skip, or simply reflect quietly.
* Walk at your own pace. It is fine to pass the person ahead of you.
* Since the entrance and exit to the labyrinth are the same, you will meet others along the way. You may choose to connect with them soul-to-soul, embrace or simply step aside to let them pass.
* Stay in the center as long as you wish, then follow the path outward.
* Know that the vibration of the labyrinth is multiplied by the number of individuals within it. See each person as one cell in the Greater Being that is the One.
* Some people may wish to bow or pray or touch the ground upon entering or exiting the labyrinth. Allow yourself to follow any impulses that may come to you.

Monday, January 21, 2008

Labyrinth

Walking a labyrinth is wonderful way to create a whole brain experience. The path weaves to the center and we know that it will reach the center. However, the weaving is so intricate that we soon forget to think about the direction that we take because we know that the path will lead us there. We have faith. So with faith, we proceed along a path and soon our thoughts become focused on the spiritual journey.