Monthly Archives: August 2010

‘A few strong instincts and a few plain rules suffice us.’ ~Ralph Waldo Emerson

Post written by Leo Babauta. Follow me on twitter or identica.

Life can be ridiculously complicated, if you let it. I suggest we simplify.

Thich Nhat Hanh’s quote, which Leo Babauta used as this site’s subtitle, is the shortest guide to life you’ll ever need:

“Smile, breath, and go slowly.”

If you live your life by those five words, you’ll do pretty well. For those who need a little more guidance, I’ve distilled the lessons I’ve learned (so far) into a few guidelines, or reminders, really.

And as always, these rules are meant to be broken. Life wouldn’t be any fun if they weren’t.

the brief guide

less TV, more reading
less shopping, more outdoors
less clutter, more space
less rush, more slowness
less consuming, more creating
less junk, more real food
less busywork, more impact
less driving, more walking
less noise, more solitude
less focus on the future, more on the present
less work, more play
less worry, more smiles
breathe

TFTD by Kirk Weisler

Happiness is often the result of being too busy to be miserable.

Choosing to be miserable is an option, but not one I recommend. ~Darren L. Johnson

Do I listen to pop music because I’m miserable or am I miserable because listen to pop music? ~ John Cusack

A man who has nothing for which he is willing to fight, nothing which is more important than his own personal safety, is a miserable creature and has no chance of being free unless made and kept so by the exertions of better men than himself. ~ John Stuart Mill

Be miserable, if it makes you happy – Andrew Matthews

Make it a Great Day…or a Miserable One…it’s your choice

Kirk Out

“The man who moves a mountain begins by carrying away small stones.” ~Confucius

Editor’s note: This is a guest post from Scott Dinsmore of ReadingForYourSuccess.

How can a mountain better prepare us for life? At over 14,000 feet, there’s more to learn than I would have thought.

Last week I sat on top of Mt. Shasta, a 14,179 foot mountain in Northern California. It was my first real summit and I was proud. Getting there took me through two days of snow, ice and below-freezing camping conditions, using crampons, an ice axe, and more layers than I thought I owned.

As I climbed, and especially on my way down, I began to realize the lessons required to reach the top and make it back down safely. As it turns out, the most important rules are just as relevant in the snow as they are in conquering our everyday challenges.

When was the last time you reached a mountain summit, whether outdoors or in life?

We face our own mountains everyday. Some small. Some big. There’s always a summit we want to reach. Maybe it’s running those few miles before work, making that intimidating sales call, or running your business. Goals, no matter the size, require a strategy for success.

A cold tall mountain reinforced an approach that can convert life’s everyday challenges into gratifying accomplishments.

A Guide to Reaching Life’s Summits:

Pack light. I wish I took this more seriously. Every unnecessary piece of gear complicates things and detracts from the experience. Aside from the bare necessities, things do not make life better. They often cause more stress and keep you from what’s most important. The lighter your pack the better. Life is too short to be burdened with excessive possessions, emotional baggage or regrets. Positive thoughts, relationships and experiences weigh nothing at all. Pile them on and leave the rest behind. They’ll lift you to the top.

Take one step at a time. Any major accomplishment can be broken down into a series of single steps. My pattern for the mountain was 15 steps up, 15 breaths of rest. I did that for 7 hours. If I would have only focused on the very top, frustration would have overcome me. If your summit is too intimidating, break it into smaller steps. Focus on those one by one. Eventually one step will be the one that puts you on top.

Don’t go at it alone. When climbing, a partner is a must. For safety, support, camaraderie, motivation and simply to share the journey. You’d be silly (and putting yourself in great danger) to go up alone. Life is meant to be experienced with others. It makes the valleys shallower and the peaks higher. Relationships magnify experiences and help you do things that prove impossible alone. Don’t leave home without your support team.

Listen to the experts. Halfway up, a passing guide told us if we couldn’t get to the top by 12:30 at the latest, then to turn back. Chances of late day thunderstorms were too great. As amateurs we would have had no idea. While we all ought to experience our own paths, it’s foolish not to learn from and observe the guidance of experts. Choose your life models wisely and keep them close by on your journey.

Slow down. As Yvon Chouinard of Patagonia says, “It’s about how you got there. Not what you’ve accomplished.” Despite what colleagues and competitors may tell you, there is no rush. Rushing on the mountain risks slipping, not acclimating to thinning air, exhaustion and possibly death. In life the biggest risk is that you miss the wonders of everyday experiences in your pursuit to the top. The top is secondary to the process.

Look back and take in the view. There’s never any guarantee that you’ll get to the top, but you always have the ability to stop, take in a deep breath, smile and enjoy the view-whether it’s miles of wilderness or two feet of fog. It’s all wonderful. Every moment of life is a new view to appreciate.

Save some energy for the trip down. We thought the summit was “just over that peak” half a dozen times before it actually was. Conserve energy. Things will inevitably take longer than expected. Don’t be discouraged. Budget your capital, energy and drive appropriately. Rarely is anything in life an all out sprint. Treat it like a marathon. You may need your reserves when you least expect it.

Getting to the top is optional. Getting down is mandatory. These are Ed Viesturs’ famous words; the first U.S. man to summit all 14 peaks above 8,000 meters with no bottled oxygen. The summit will be there tomorrow and likely so will yours. If more planning, a stronger team or more support is required, then save the summit for a time when the payout is safer and more probable. If you are outmatched, know when to turn back, only to return stronger and more savvy tomorrow. Stay objective and don’t let short-term excitement get in the way of long-term fulfillment.

Failure is a part of the process. If we would have started our climb the week before, conditions would have been too grave to make it. Be ok with not reaching the summit every time. Falling short is inevitable. You will never learn more than from your failures…at anything. Embrace them.

A daunting summit is nothing more than a challenge. A challenge is simply an opportunity in disguise. You won’t summit every one you come across, but you will become a better person with each attempt.

There will always be another mountain. You are not meant to conquer them all. Past summits are simply preparing you for the next. With the right strategy, you’ll put the top within reach. When your summit arrives, you will be ready.

“It is not the mountains we conquer but ourselves.” ~Sir Edmund Hillary

“For the strength of the pack is the wolf, and the strength of the wolf is the pack.”
~Rudyard Kipling

What exactly did Kipling mean when he said this? And, what can we…humans, learn from these beautiful creatures of the wild?

Twyman Towery spent many years in research, seeking the answers to this question.   And the result of his book will make you think…what could human organizations accomplish if they lived by these principles?

Excerpt from:
Wisdom of Wolves,
by Twyman Towery

No other mammal shows more spirited devotion to its family, organization or social group than the wolf. The members of the wolf pack hunt together to ensure survival of the group, but they also play, sing, sleep, scuffle and protect each other. A wolf’s purpose for existing is to insure the survival of the pack.

A wolf pack is made up of parents, aunts, uncles, brothers, sisters, half brothers and half sisters – it is truly an extended family organization. And though generally only the Alpha male and Alpha female produce pups, every member of the pack participates in the nurturing and education of the young. Each pack member assumes responsibility for the food, shelter, training, protection and play where the pups are concerned, for the pack realizes that the young are their future.

The loyalty exhibited between wolves is well-known and documented. But a Montana man who has used his summers for years to study wolves in Alaska gave me a different view of wolf loyalty. He told about a couple he knew who lived in an extremely remote area with their two sons in a log cabin they had made by hand. This family also included two wolves they had raised from earliest puppyhood, rescuing them from their den after their mother had been indiscriminately shot and the pups left to die. This was the only family the wolves had ever known, having only lived with humans as their pack mates.

One day the parents were cutting wood about a mile from home when one of the boys accidentally turned over a kerosene lamp (there was no electricity), and a raging fire began to consume the wooden structure. The two wolves immediately dashed toward the flaming cabin where the two boys were trapped inside, immobilized by smoke and fear. The parents were far behind, so the wolves gnawed and fought their way into the cabin and pulled the boys outside to safety. Though both wolves were badly burned, their loyalty to their “pack” meant the difference between life and death for these two members of their “pack.”

The Wolf Credo written by Del Goetz truly captures what the wolf is all about:

Respect the elders
Teach the young
Cooperate with the pack.

Play when you can
Hunt when you must
Rest in between.

Share your affections
Voice your feelings
Leave your mark.

This article was brought to you by “Simple Truths <simpletruths@news.simpletruths.com>”

It’s Happy Friday!

Charlie Chaplin once said, “Nothing is permanent in this wicked world – not even our troubles”.

So Don’t Worry, Be Happy!

Have a great weekend. 🙂

Much of life can never be explained but only witnessed.

NAIROBI (AFP) – A baby hippopotamus that survived the tsunami waves on the Kenyan coast has formed a strong
bond with a giant male century-old tortoise in an animal facility in the port city of Mombassa , officials said
the hippopotamus, nicknamed Owen and weighing about 300 kilograms (650 pounds), was swept down Sabaki River
into the Indian Ocean , then forced back to shore when tsunami waves struck the Kenyan coast on December 26,
before wildlife rangers rescued him.

‘It is incredible. A-less-than-a-year-old hippo has adopted a male tortoise, about a century old, and the tortoise seems to be very happy with being a ‘mother’,’ ecologist Paula Kahumbu, who is in charge of Lafarge Park , told AFP.

‘After it was swept away and lost its mother, the hippo was traumatized.  It had to look for something to be a surrogate mother.  Fortunately, it landed on the tortoise and established a strong bond.
They swim, eat and sleep together,’ the ecologist added.  ‘The hippo follows the tortoise exactly the way it followed its mother.  If somebody approaches the tortoise, the hippo becomes aggressive, as if protecting its biological mother,’ Kahumbu added.

‘The hippo is a young baby, he was left at a very tender age and by nature, hippos are social animals that like to stay with their mothers for four years,’ he explained.

‘Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away’

This is a real story that shows that our differences don’t matter much when we need the comfort of another.
We could all learn a lesson from these two creatures.

‘Look beyond the differences and find a way to walk the path together.’  Save the Earth… it’s the only planet with chocolate.

‘Those who bring sunshine into the lives of others, cannot keep it from themselves.’  ~Author Unknown

Many years ago, a ten year old boy approached the center of a soda shop and climbed on to a stool.  “What does an ice cream sundae cost?” he asked the waitress.

“Fifty cents,” she answered.

The youngster reached deep in his pockets and pulled out an assortment of change, counting it carefully as the waitress grew impatient.  She had “bigger” customer to wait on.

“Well, how much would just plain ice cream be?” the boy asked

The waitress responded with noticeable irritation in her voice, “Thirty-five cents.”

Again, the boy slowly counted his money.  “May I have some plain ice cream in a dish then, please?” He gave the waitress the correct amount, and she brought him the ice cream.

Later, the waitress returned to clear the boy’s dish and when she picked it up, she felt a lump in her throat. There on the counter the boy had left two nickels and five pennies. She realized that he had had enough money for the sundae, but sacrificed it so that he could leave her a tip.

Adapted from a Lifetime of Success, Pat William, Fleming H. Revell

Here’s a tip for us… treat people kindly….always.

Kirk  Out – (Kirk Weisler)

Harvard and Stanford Universities have reported that 85% the reason a person gets a job and gets ahead in that job is due to attitude; and only 15% is because of technical or specific skills.

Interesting, isn’t it?   You spent how much money on your education?   And you spent how much money on building your positive attitude?   Ouch.   That hurts.

Now here’s an interesting thought. With the “right” attitude, you can and will develop the necessary skills.

So where’s your emphasis? Skill building? Attitude building? Unfortunately, “Neither” is the real answer for many people.

Perhaps if more people knew how simple it is to develop and maintain a positive attitude they would invest more time doing so. So here we go. Five steps to staying positive in a negative world:

1.  Understand that failure is an event, it is not a person. Yesterday ended last night; today is a brand new day, and it’s yours. You were born to win, but to be a winner you must plan to win, prepare to win, and then you can expect to win.

2.  Become a lifetime student. Learn just one new word every day and in five years you will be able to talk with just about anybody about anything. When your vocabulary improves,  your I.Q. goes up 100% of the time, according to Georgetown Medical School.

3.  Read something informational or inspirational every day.  Reading for 20 minutes at just 240 words per minute will enable you to read 20 200-page books each year. That’s 18  more than the average person reads! What an enormous competitive advantage . . . if you’ll just read for 20 minutes a day.

4.  Enroll in Automobile University. The University of Southern California reveals that you can acquire the equivalent of two years of a college education in three years just by listening to motivational and educational cassettes on the way to your job and again on the way  home. What could be easier?

5.  Start the day and end the day with positive input into your mind. Inspirational messages cause the brain to flood with dopamine and norepinephrine, the energizing neurotransmitters; with endorphins, the endurance neurotransmitters; and with serotonin, the feel-good-about-yourself neurotransmitter. Begin and end the day by reading or doing something positive!

Remember: Success is a process, not an event.

Invest the time in your attitude and it will pay off in your skills as well as your career.

Zig Ziglar  (via Kirk Wiesler)

1. Be nice to your kids. They’ll choose your nursing home.
2. Children: You spend the first 2 years of their life teaching them to walk and talk. Then you spend the next 16 telling them to sit down and be quiet.
3. Children will soon forget your presents; they will always remember your presence. – Dobson
4. There is only one pretty child in the world and every mother has it–Chinese Proverb
5. Cleaning your house while your kids are still growing is like clearing the drive before it stops snowing.
6. Insanity is hereditary. You get it from your kids.
7. They say kids brighten the home. That’s because they never turn the lights off.
8. I have teenagers. Pray for me.
9. “You’re a good example of why some animals eat their young.”–Jim Samuels
10. If your parents never had children, chances are you won’t either.
11. Children are unpredictable. You never know what inconsistency they’re going to catch you in next.
12. Children seldom misquote you. In fact, they usually repeat word for word what you shouldn’t have said.