Tag Archives: commitment

ONE – An Intentionally Aware Study

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ONE. It’s a concept that’s quite loaded. When I think of that word, I think of a Yoga studio here in Vancouver that I attended the opening of, filled with stylish yogis doing much better down dogs then me and having much longer hair then me. I think of airy hippies floating around a circle with magic beads encouraging us to become one with the world, our thoughts, others, and roar like the lions (or tigresses) we are. I think of Bob Marley bouncing around with his Rastafarians on a stage with big amps, one love man. I think of one more cup of coffee, for the road. I think of the feeling of walking through the forest with something I cannot call by name tingling up my spine like a vine.

You see, I’ve become conflicted with how ONE can be ONE in our current world’s trajectory, a marketed ONE. It seems to me it’s conflicting. We’re encouraged to get more followers on social media, because when we do, we’ll get more people interested in our images, reading our messages, which means we might make it big or get that big sponsor, you know, become ONE, find our ONE truth. Mo’ money cause this hustler is ONE. We’re given slogans reminding us to get out more, explore more, see more of the world, meet more people, connect with more people… all of this shouted loudly and vibrantly and from hip tongues by society’s climbers, and believed – or perhaps regurgitated – by many more. I’ve believed them for so long, reworded them to explain to others. Moreso, I respect the concepts. Continue reading →

Commitment and Intention

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Committing is perhaps one of the scariest things we face as humans.

Do I want to commit to this vehicle for the next 6 years? Do I want to commit to this smart phone plan for 2 years?

Further, the I cannot’s. I cannot commit to my exercise schedule. I cannot commit to you’re needs full time. I cannot commit to this project. I cannot make plans that far in advance.

By no means am I saying that evaluating the tough decision ahead is a bad thing. In fact, I think an evaluation is very necessary almost always on a regular basis to keep yourself and your actions aligned with your intentions.

This is our life, these are our days, the present is now. There isn’t a moment in our life when we shouldn’t be moving with intention, with care, with awareness. The only thing we’re guaranteed is that right now this is happening. Let’s not squander this.

Getting into the shower in the morning, do it gracefully and magically. Making coffee, every scoop of coffee should be exactly measured to eye and placed into the press with a touch of flair. Shoveling the driveway, don’t just push the snow aside; design a fantasy world.

How present we are in our world is what makes us humans uniquely so. How conscious we are of every fine detail in life.

The choice is up to you, how do you want to draw your desires? Commit with intent.

Effort & Attention

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team_effort

Effort is something that a lot of people tend to take for granted.

Let me start by defining what I mean by effort: effort is the amount of personal interest, thought, and attention that a person puts into a movement, idea, plan, and/or activity.

Basically what it is, is your commitment. Often times you will hear somebody say: “Everything happens wrong for me,” or you will see carelessness, or slacking. These are all by-products of little effort. When you train yourself to put forth an effort with every ounce of energy in your body, you will find that every activity is performed right, efficiently, effectively, and with the expected results you had when you began the activity in the first place.

You always hear of somebody pulling a muscle lifting a box, or shoveling the snow, but what you don’t hear is how they were attempting to do the effort. Have you ever had this happen to you? I know I have run into situations where I have reached around something to grab an item, but because I was lazy, I didn’t want to get out of my chair to put forth a proper effort to get that item, so I end up straining to reach that item, and tweak my shoulder or my back leaving me with a slight strain for a week.

This is a by-products of lack of effort. Sure you did actually get it, but the effort you put into it was a small portion of what you have inside of you.

Aside from getting hurt, you can also hurt other people. Think of the last time you had a conversation with somebody and only gave them 1/2 of your attention. They can always feel that you are giving them that lack of attention, which is lack of effort, and you hurt their feelings.
Some people, if they receive that kind of attention for long enough, will eventually stop giving you their effort and attention and move onto somebody or something that gives them full effort.
I also find with myself that I feel better after I have done something with all my heart; giving a 100% effort. I feel like I couldn’t have done any better because I couldn’t have put any more effort into the thing that I was doing. Its one of those kind of things that you can be just doing whatever your doing and catch yourself taking short-cuts and forgetting things because you are not really giving it your full attention.
Sometimes, I know I have parked my car at home and suddenly realized I cannot remember the last 10 minutes I just did driving. Have you ever done this? This is because I’m either in a zone, or I’mfocused on something else taking away from my driving.
Repetitive habits like this can easily bypassed with very little effort which can in turn, turn into something extremely hazardous for not only yourself but the people around you.
So next time that you are cleaning your car, or washing your dishes, chatting with friends or even driving home after work, make sure that you give it your full effort and just wait and see the kind of rewards you can get out of giving it your 100% effort.
E_Chinese_Symbols_Proverbs_Effort

Balance

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balance_rocks

Life requires balance. No matter which way you look at it, too much of a good thing is bad.

To me, this translates to too much indulging and not enough committing is a bad thing. And vice versa: too much commitment and not enough indulging will make a person go crazy as well.

The secret is to balance life’s pleasures with its pains to gain the balance we all need to succeed, to stay positive, and enjoy oneself in this journey.

balance_seesawTo create three pictures of these lifestyle choices, let’s start with the funner of the evils.

Take for example if you choose to spend all your time going to the club, socializing with friends, placing aside your bills and family for a life with total spontaneity; randomly taking trips to exotic destinations, and staying committed to no one in particular.

Yes, as a fairy tale; a sort of Alice in Wonderland luster-lust relationship, is very appealing at first glance. After all, a story that fills dreams of young children’s sleep is by no means a distasteful existence, but in reality, even Alice was getting a bit confused and muddled by the end of her journey.

Does this path provide sustainability?

It does require a lot of positive thinking , but it really doesn’t allow the journey’er to hold a balance in one’s life. However, who am I to say whether one way through life is better than another? For most of us, we do not come across larger than life creatures and queens with giant heads in our days; we are faced with grocery bills, the boss, and parents.

Then there is the overtly tight, narcissistic, OCD riddled humanoid that simply must have a strict regime and daily tasks in order to go about their day with the least amount of restraint on their mind as possible.

Although this does require a lot of focus,which nobody can argue, it does require a lot of restraint on the creative mind; what about letting the wind to run through your hair (what about the sunscreen, and a hat to protect the scalp, and are we going the right speed). Flash-backs of a recent picture I’ve seen of an office completely covered in tin foil appear vividly in my mind (yes it was a prank).

balance_elephantCan a happy balance be found, taking the good from both of these polar opposites?

Can a person find some serenity in having certain tasks that they perform every day methodically imprinted in exact order?

Some simple things like taking a shower every morning, coffee, the same blend for breakfast, and the same route to work are all methodically imprinted in ones routine that it’s hard to realize that they are an actual routine. They seem rather something that is more necessary than choice.

But then there are things that one does in their day like lunch-time. Where shall we go today? Somewhere new? How about a walk in the park? Or what about tackling the day’s work in the opposite order than usually taken? Does work offer such a luxury?

I think that it’s hard to get one’s mind out of sub-conscious programming of daily monotonous activities, and challenge the mind to think of new, creative ways to take each step forward; but I task it to you, the reader, and myself, the writer, to analyze these supposed standard routines and see what we can do to provide some excitement to them, but still hold a balance to the routines that we as humans crave.

Maybe this mere fact is what truly makes us individuals in the end: to become victims of monotony, but I like the challenge this norm. Every once and a while it is fun to add a little excitement to the day!

balanceDo any of you have any tips on how you find balance in your life?