another sport?

Been thinking of incorporating explosive activities with my lifestyle.

Training for parkour is definitely rewarding. I can feel the body aching all over, and my jumps and strength has seemed to improve.

Then someone suggested capoeira. It is a Brazillian dance/sport/martial arts. It sort of reminds me of the music genre, blues.

Well. Just interested. Not interested enough to take the plunge yet.

Good read

I started reading this book: Tribes by Seth Godin. Google his name, google his book. I am excited and stoked about his book.

His book is all about creating movements. I did not realize I was creating a movement, and that was why I faced so much resistance. This was particularly so in the former organization I worked for. Well, to balance things out, I would say that I was quite difficult to get along with.

Back to the book. If you are bored with your working life, and want to find some meaning in it, I recommend this book.

After reading this book, you might find the real answer to why you have not found meaning in your life.

Have a good read!

changing agendas

I have a problem of always wanting to change others. Last night, I sat with a good brother of mine, and I exacted him one of my ‘judgments’ on him. He graciously forgave me of the offence of ‘forcing him into my way of seeing things’.

This is a occuring pattern that has been around since as long as I can remember.

Honestly, I am sick of my idiocy and foolishness in doing something like this.

So, I started thinking of what sort of paradigm shift I would need to change my world view. Then voila, I read this:

When (a) you accept that you have NO power to make someone else change and (b) accept that you do have power in how you will respond to such things, you receive two benefits

• You stop distressing over how to fix another person
• You use different criteria to evaluate yourself and your life (and thus may find that your own irritation is adding to the vicious cycle and your negative evaluations of your life)

Interestingly, many friends have indicated that I also am quite hard on myself.

Getting real with myself

A series of events has forced me to take a honest look at myself.

I am no angel. I have my own ragtag shit of bad habits. I am basically not a good person.

Yes, a friend was wondering if I was too hard on myself. I think that I just need to clean up my act. Come clean with myself.

Especially in certain areas of my life, I have got to be ruthless about dealing with it. If not, I will start to lie about my nature, and try to sneak and get away with it. Such is the deceptive nature of myself.

the barbarian way

A friend recommended me a book that recounts how the author sees his life as it contrasts with social norms and uniformity.

Honest from the heart, this book grips me by the gut and really tells me that I can be more than who I think I am. In fact, I can be fully who God has created me to be. And it seems that this book really pinpoints my problem: Fear. Fear of this and that.

“You are controlled by what you fear”

If I fear losing relationships, then relationships control me, I will do everything in my power to control people, so that I would not lose the relationships. But the downside of this logic is that controlling people makes me LOSE relationships.

If I fear being poor, then people can use my fear against me, to make me shift from my own values. Basically, I would choose money over integrity.

The solution? Only the One. God, Whom is Love, I will choose to fear. Because God, Who is Love, would not control me, but guide me into achieving all that He wants me to achieve.

Cynics and skeptics out there, I don’t expect you to understand, because it sounds insane. Precisely.

choices we can make

It is tough to see someone you love failing at the things you know how to work out from. Especially when the situation is that of depression or even self-esteem. It could even be a relationship when your significant other is hurting you, but you have tried your best to change the other.

Here’s a relief I read from another blog:

But when (a) you accept that you have NO power to make someone else change and (b) accept that you do have power in how you will respond to such things, you receive two benefits

* You stop distressing over how to fix another person

* You use different criteria to evaluate yourself and your life (and thus may find that your own irritation is adding to the vicious cycle and your negative evaluations of your life)

This really makes sense, doesn’t it?

It definitely releases the burden I have for the other. I just wonder why I keep wanting to change others almost forcibly.

Back

An interesting artiste which I started listening to. His name is Beck. I love Jeff Beck, but Beck is a much younger guy.

When I first heard Beck, I thought he was a quirky younger and modern version of Bob Dylan. With acoustic guitar and harmonica and interesting lyrics, Odelay’s country/bluegrass type music really peaked my interest.

But I never really bought into Beck’s music until I heard Midnite Vultures. I really liked the disco-esque sounds from that album. I found Mutations a bit slow and droning, but surprisingly Sea Change is something much for me to enjoy.

Will be listening to Sea Change for a while.

Scott Adams’ two-fold test for popularity of product

I read Scott Adams’ from time to time. His blog posts makes lots of sense, at least to me. Here is what was interesting. He challenged the idea that there has to be quality first before popularity sets in, yet at the same time, the vice versa is also possible.

What was helpful from that post was his two-fold test on how to obtain instant popularity thus have time to achieve quality:

I have a twofold test for whether something can obtain instant popularity and thus have time to achieve quality:

1. You must be able to describe it in a few words.

2. When people hear about it, they ask questions.

Now, it may seem easy to complete the two-fold test. But really, it is deceptively difficult. More so with a culture of my fellow seemingly-apathetic country men. Therefore, the two-fold test is a good guideline, but does not quite transcend cultures yet. Still, it is an excellent guideline, and it is for my local country men to harness Mr Adams’ guidelines to fit the culture here.

tying the knot

I am working with some people with relationship problems. Here’s the interesting thing that struck me:

“When I get married, I have to tell my wife that she really does not have to worry about me cheating on her with another woman, more so, I would appreciate it if she could keep tabs on me for cheating with her with myself.”

The way I see it, being humans, we go into a relationship thinking how it would benefit me, and me, and myself. I am of the opinion that marriage should (and that’s a tall order, I must say) always be about the other.

Affairs, alcoholism, and all the classic symptoms of a relationship abuse or breakdown, comes when I am not taking responsibility for my relationship with the other. These classic symptoms, in effect is always about ME. I have an affair to satisfy ME. I drink/take drugs/watch pornography to satisfy me! The hurt in ME hurts so much that I have to act out.

What is the thing that I need to do then? Kill the ego? Killing the ego would leave an emptiness that possibly push ME into more of the classic symptoms. It is a lose-lose situation. There has got to be a win-win situation.

Time to think out of the box.

as good as it gets

Another 1997 movie that I recently found the VCD at the back of my drawer.

An interesting movie regarding the life of a highly successfully writer/author of romance novels who has a case of obssessive-compulsive behaviour.

I think the highlight of the show for me was when the authour forgot to lock his door. Some of the themes in the movie was about acceptance, change, and that in reality we all mask what we say, and that many times we are afraid that if we speak our mind, it will be embarassing or will be rejected.