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Be Yourself and Bye Bye Negativity
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Shrinking Change – and some to spare (post by Kirk Weisler)
“We shrink from change; yet is there anything that can come into being without it? What does nature hold dearer or more proper to herself? Could you have a hot bath unless the firewood underwent some change? Could you be nourished if the food suffered no change? Is it possible for any useful thing to be achieved without change?”
–Emperor Marcus Aurelius
If our change is shrinking, our growth is shrinking…and if our growth is shrinking so is our value and our ability to contribute to a future that is requiring more change than ever before. Whenever I think about change …I always remember the ‘too many encounters’ I have had with people who don’t have any change of their own …and so they are asking for some of mine. I am happy to share my spare change, but I might as well be giving them a fish because when the change I give them is gone they will need some more. What we must learn to do for ourselves is ‘make the change’ or as Gandhi taught, “be the change”… then we can achieve the useful things spoke of by Emperor Aurelius.
I hope we all have plenty of change for ourselves and to share with others as well.
Kirk out
Train Blog 1/28/2013
While waiting for the bus, “old dude” has an old-time keyboard in one hand and pushing the bike with his other hand. He drops his bike next to the trash can and out runs a rat and it runs right into the bushes. I guess the rat was camera-shy. lol lol lol. Anyway, old dude sits down and turns on the keyboard. I guess he thought we needed some “wait” music so let the beats begin. hehehe. His foot is tapping while he presses different keys to make a different sounds to that one beat. Like always, there is always someone who feels the need to sing way too dang gone loud. Some chick is singing about Big Lots and way too loud. Well the bus is here and I hear the man say, “all I have is .25 cent, I hope he let’s me on.” While he is locking his bike down to the front of the bus, people are getting on and he is watching to make sure no one takes his precious giant keyboard. He is the last to get on and the keyboard still playing that one beat everyone thought back in the day was the “BEAT” still playing loud. He holds out his hand and tells the bus driver that this is all that he has. Thank goodness the bus driver is nice and let’s him on. There’s been times where after passengers lock down their bikes and hauls stuff onto the bus, the driver will tell you “no”. That “beat” is still beating but he finally found the right button to turn it off and that girl stop singing.
Opportunity for Impact (post by Kirk Weisler)
Today’s Thought was first published in The Upper Room and was written by Keith Curran of Virginia…it was first shared with me by Debbie & Fraser Hawkes
in 2004.
On the first day of school, our teacher asked us to form a circle and to close our eyes. If she tapped us on the shoulder, we were to move quietly to the center of the circle. Our teacher explained that the children she chose would be her helpers for the year. They would collect homework, sharpen pencils, clean the chalkboard, and help other students.
I could sense the presence of the teacher as she touched the shoulders of other children. I could hear them moving to the center of the circle. I felt eager, yet I wondered if I was someone she could count on. I wondered if she liked me and if I was worthy.
When the touch came, I opened my eyes and moved to the center of the circle. Then I watched the wisest teacher at the Seventy-ninth Street School as she slowly, lovingly touched every student in the class. We were all worthy of being helpers. She needed us all and loved us all.
You can sense the impact this teacher had on all over her students. We have the opportunity to make the same impact on the people we come in contact with each and every day. It may be a simple smile with a good morning, or afternoon attached. It may be a simple, how are you. You will never know until later what a tremendous impact you will have on some person’s life.
Make the difference, make an impact, ….you can do it!
Kirk Out
What’s Weighing You Down (post by Kirk Weisler)
If you wish to travel far and fast, travel light. Take off all your envies, jealousies, unforgiveness, selfishness, and fears. — Glenn Clark
If you were going to lighten your back pack or help someone else lighten their own…what would you take out?
Kirk Out
The Heaviest Thing
Thank you for sharing this post cousin:0)
The Most Successful Techniques for Rising Early (post by Leo Babauta)
‘The proper response to life is applause.’ ~William Carlos Williams
By Leo Babauta
Waking early is one of my favorite things in the world. The morning is quiet as the world hasn’t begun stirring, the perfect time for meditation, writing, exercise and some quiet reading.
Waking early can give you an hour or three of extra time for focus and creativity. While you could do those things later in the day, most people don’t (with exceptions of course).
I haven’t written about waking early for awhile, mostly because my waking time is in constant flux. Some months I enjoy rising with the sun, other times I’ll get up early on purpose for awhile and enjoy the extra quiet time.
I’ve learned a thing or two about how to change your wake-up time with joy, and today I’ll share the most successful techniques in my many experimentations.
The Gradual Method
The best method for changing the time you wake up is to do it gradually — 10-15 minutes earlier for 2-4 days, until you feel used to it, and then repeat. If you get up at 8 a.m. normally, don’t suddenly change it to 6 a.m. Try 7:45 a.m. first.
That might seem too slow to most people, and you’re free to disregard this advice. However, in my many experimentations, the most enjoyable and long-lasting change in sleeping schedules have been slow and gradual.
Sudden changes of an hour earlier or more in your waking time are difficult, and not likely to last. If you get up 1-2 hours earlier, on Day 1, then you’ll have a tough time, and not enjoy it. The next day, you’ll have a big sleep deficit, and it’ll be even tougher (assuming you’re able to do it 2 days in a row). Day 3 is even harder. Eventually you either make it through the tough times (it’ll take at least a week of suffering), or you crash and sleep in late and have to start over or you give up.
Sleeping patterns are difficult to change, and so the gradual method works much better. This is true, by the way, of eating habits, exercise habits, clutter habits and more.
3 Steps to Actually Get Up
So you’ve set your alarm for 10-15 minutes earlier than normal, and maybe got through the first few days, then set it another 10-15 minutes earlier, and soon you’re at 30-45 minutes earlier than usual … but now you have the tendency to hit the snooze alarm and stay in bed (sometimes awake) without getting up.
Here’s how to beat that in 3 steps:
- Get excited. The night before, think of one thing you’d like to do in the morning that excites you. It could be something you want to write, or a new yoga routine, or meditation, or something you’d like to read, or a work project that’s got you fired up. In the morning, when you wake up, remember that exciting thing, and that will help motivate you to get up.
- Jump out of bed. Yes, jump out of bed. With enthusiasm. Jump up and spread your arms wide as if to say, “Yes! I am alive! Ready to tackle the day with open arms and the gusto of a driven maniac.” Seriously, it works.
- Put your alarm across the room. If it’s right next to you, you’ll hit the snooze button. So put it on the other side of the room, so you’ll have to get up (or jump up) to turn it off. Then, get into the habit of going straight to the bathroom to pee once you’ve turned it off. Once you’re done peeing, you’re much less likely to go back to bed. At this point, remember your exciting thing. If you didn’t jump out of bed, at least stretch your arms wide and greet the day.
What to Do When You Get Up
First, things not to do with your newfound early-morning time: don’t check email, news, social media, blogs. Don’t waste this new time doing the same thing you always do.
Here are some other things that are better, in my experience:
- Drink a glass of water. You’re dehydrated from not drinking any water all night. Drink a full glass of water if you can. It’ll make you feel more awake.
- Meditate. Even just for 3 minutes. It’s such a great way to start your day — doing nothing, just sitting, and practicing mindful focus.
- Write. Or do some other kind of creating.
- Exercise. Go for a walk or a run, or do a home workout. Even just 10 minutes.
- Enjoy a cup of coffee or tea. Either one of these makes the morning better.
Sleeping Earlier
You can’t just wake up earlier and not sleep earlier. You’ll eventually crash. So here are some tips for getting to sleep earlier:
- Set a bedtime of 7-8.5 hours before you want to wake up. So if you’re waking up at 6 a.m., go to bed between 9:30-11 p.m. Where you are in that time frame depends on how much sleep you need. Most people need about 7.5-8 hours of sleep, though there are lots of variations. I tend to get about 7, but also take a short nap in the afternoons.
- Create a bedtime ritual. I like to set up the coffeemaker and clean up a little (it’s nice to wake up to a clean house), then floss & brush my teeth and do a fluoride rinse. Then I read myself to sleep.
- No computers in bed. That means no laptop, no tablets, no mobile phones. Kindles are OK except the Kindle Fire, which is the same as an iPad. No TV either. Just reading.
- Exercise helps a lot earlier in the day. It gets your body nice and tired, so you’ll sleep better. Don’t exercise an hour or less before bed, or you’ll be pumped up. I like a glass of red wine in the evening — it helps relax me and I tend to sleep a bit easier.
- Try this method if you have trouble sleeping: close your eyes and get comfortable, then think of the first thing you did that morning — the very first thing, like turning off your alarm. Then think of the next thing, and so on, replaying your morning in as much detail as possible. I never get to mid-morning.
Common Problems
Here are some of the most common problems in my experience and from readers’ questions:
- § Super tired in the morning: If you wake early and just can’t seem to function, that’s fairly normal. My solution is water, move around a lot, and drink a bit of coffee or matcha (powdered greeen tea). I will sometimes take a nap in the afternoon if I’m really tired. Also, it might be a sign that you’re moving too quickly — make sure you’re waking just a little earlier, and stay at one time for a few days until you feel adjusted before setting the alarm a little earlier.
- § Missing out on spouse time: If you are used to spending the evening with your spouse, and going to bed early means you’re missing out on that time, you have a few options. One is to see if your spouse is willing to try getting up early with you, perhaps to meditate or exercise together, or just to have coffee together. That can be really nice. Another is to cut out that together time in the late evening, but find time during the day (if possible), or at least in the early evening and weekends. Finally, you could decide that the together time is too important, and not get up earlier — or compromise and keep most of the evening together time, but wake just 30 minutes earlier.
- § You’re not a morning person: Some people think this but just haven’t given it a try — or they’ve gotten up an hour or two earlier all at once, and hated being so tired. This is why the gradual method is so important — it’s not that you’re not a morning person, it’s just that you tried to change too quickly and are suffering. But finally, it’s true that some people just are better focusing late at night (I have some friends like this) and morning isn’t their thing — and that’s perfectly alright. There’s no need to conform to what others do. I just shared this to show what works for me.
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