Taking My Time

Having arrived from my spontaneous trip today I wished to write about the wonder experiences and times that I shared with some amazing people. However, upon arrival the day very quickly started to unravel, and not in a good way. Usually when I get back from a holiday or a trip there one of two things that go through my mind. The first being glad to be back home, whether it be because the trip was bad or that you did not enjoy the trip. The second being not so glad to be back home, whether it be because I had such a great time, or because home is not the place I wish to be. The latter thought was the one plaguing my brain today, and combined with a number of other negative “Welcome Home” experiences, I was missing the place I had just come from even more.

There are positive things I have learned from my spontaneous trip that I wish to share, and I wished to share them today. However, after the way today went I don’t feel my heart would be in the writing and I would not give the stories the justice they deserved. The things that I learned and the things that I felt on my trip were beautiful, and I won’t have a bad day taint my words and lace my message with negativity. Today I just feel like ranting and cursing the sky however I feel that energy would be better unleashed upon some lovely 20kg iron plates tomorrow.

A challenge to myself was to post something every day, whatever was on my mind. Whether the topic or post was good, crap, received well, or received unwell. The reasoning behind it was to reduce the amount of perfectionism that was restricting me from action. At the same time I do wish to extend my thinking and writing beyond that of what I learn and see on a day to day basis. And some experiences are so positive and life changing that you do not have a personal posting challenge on your mind. You are in the moment, soaking it up in its glorious entirety. And some experiences teach you so many things that cannot be expressed in a single post. Some experiences are so beautiful that you wish to share every detail of the moment out of respect for that moment. This is one of those times. I will be writing about my trip, however this is something I feel needs a bit more tender, love and care invested into it, instead of dishing out a rush job for the sake of it. Also, it deserves to be written in its purest form, that is, without influence or negative bias that the external environment is producing.

One thing that I did learn however is to slow down a little, and to take things in. I’m from a place where everything and everyone is moving so fast. And if you are not moving fast you are yelled or honked at. You are made to feel anxious because you are not moving at the speed that someone else feels that you should. And I feel this is one of those times. This time I will not be pressured into rushing something I don’t wish to rush even if the one pressuring me is myself. I will take my time. I will slow down. I will be less anxious about it and I will speak to my stressed out and anxious self and tell him breathe and be patient.

I’m excited to share my experiences with you. I look forward to the future.

– Sash

Let’s Go on A Trip (the good kind)!

So half way through this year I will be travelling to Spain to partake in the pilgrimage that is the El Camino De Santiago. This trip will officially be my first trip away from my home country. It shall be my first time off this hot little (it’s not really that little, that’s what she said) Australian rock and into the world unknown. A chance to experience new things, meet new people, and acquire a new set of eyes that will change the way I see myself and the world. Shakespeare would have trouble describing my excitement.

“Doth ones excitement appear to be inspiring the ascension of the front of thou’s trouserpants?”

I didn’t really make a resolution this year as I do not strongly believe in them, but I do believe in changes of attitude. This year’s attitude will be characterised by adventuring into unknown and being open to new experiences. This is a complete contrast to my regular attitude of being content where I am and being content on what I know. Adventuring into the unknown is more than just physically taking myself to places I never been. For me it is about leaving my mental and emotional comfort zone. What lies beyond my comfort zone is unknown and I believe that it is that unknown territory to be where real life and adventure lies. I won’t experience what life has to offer sitting in a four walled room, staring at a screen all day, and neither will you. Life and experience is out there and I’m missing out on it, but not tomorrow!

Here is a highly structured and accurate manuscript of the in depth back and forth debate my friend and myself had two days ago:

“Let’s go on a trip!”

“Ok!”

Sometimes it can be as easy as that. Tomorrow I’m doing just that. A whole days worth of driving for two days in a foreign city. Who knows what kind of mischief, trouble and adventure I will get into? Who knows the kinds of people I will meet, or the experiences that I will experience? Who knows what kind of attitude or ideas I’ll leave the city with? Who knows the great or terrible stories I will have to tell at the dinner table? Definitely not me, and I’m excited about that.

“And then I rode a dragon to the moon, and because my dragon was hungry for some cheese it took a bite out of the moon. True story!”

I can visualise people saying they just don’t have the time, and this could very well be true if you are thinking of a big trip that you are unable to commit to right now. But a trip doesn’t have to be this big, long, glamorous journey that can only be experienced by first hopping into the stomach walls of an iron bird. It can be a half a day drive somewhere you haven’t been. It can be a couple hours. It can be couple minutes. There is no set time, nor is the length of time that important. What is more important is the action of getting out of the house, having a big, medium or small break and just going somewhere else. Physically taking your body out of a place of routine and familiarity, and putting it somewhere else for a little while. Exposing it to the elements for that brief moment. If there is someone who you would like to roll in the experience with, grab them. And even if there is no one to hit it up with you, talk to yourself out loud and repeat the following or something similar:

“Let’s go on a trip, to our back yard.”

“Let’s go on a trip, to that park down the road that we have never been to.”

“Let’s go on a trip, via shanks’ pony (Scottish colloquial meaning transport via ones legs/feet) around ye olde block or yonder.”

“That’s the shanks’ pony spirit guys!”

Any of those three trips would suffice. Just getting out and going somewhere you haven’t been, or haven’t been to in a while. Great old memories might resurface and new ones may be born. You may see something you had not seen before. You may think of things you have never thought before. The world might provide you with an idea, or inspiration that you have never had before. Look out your window, and go there. Walk to the park. Walk in the street. Walk in your backyard. Look around at the world around you. Notice things. Close your eyes and listen to the sounds around you. Smell the fragrances and odours around you. Touch things. Take pictures of things. Record things, ideas, thoughts, observations. If you’re at work, at a desk right now (firstly, I am honoured that are choosing to read this during work hours) perhaps stand up and walk up and down the case of stairs once. Maybe ride the elevator to the top level, and down to the bottom level. Have that little trip. Who knows what happens?

Remember, a trip can be anywhere, even as far a distance as your backyard or veranda. Treat your trip as a holiday and do what most do on their holidays; absolutely nothing. People often take trips to get away from the normal responsibilities they have in life, if even for that brief moment. They take trips to relax. Treat your small trips the same way, and do nothing for a little while. Take the time to breathe, and slow down and see a new world through new eyes.

Catch you all later with my new eyes.

Now go treat yourself to a trip.

– Sash

One Path to Rule them All?

Today a friend of mine made a status about how someone told her that the only way to “get ahead” in life, or to have any chance at being anything is to go to university and get a job. At one point in my life I was told that too, and because I didn’t question it and chose to accept that as fact I went to University. I went for the sake of going. I completed a degree for the sake of completing a degree that I had little care for. Although what I studied was interesting in its own right, I cared for it about as much as I care about the ground breaking news that Today Tonight and A Current Affair spew out.

“Please, enlighten me on the important matter of correctly fitted denim jeans!”

Needless to say I did not pursue what I studied and after my degree decided to study in a field that I was much more passionate about at the time. And I studied in an institute that was not a University. Because I was passionate about it, I enjoyed learning about it and did very well in my classes. A friend of mine also completed the same qualification as myself but went via an online course. So as you can see there are many routes that can lead to the same destination. There is no one route. There is no one option. In this day and age there are so many options out there. The harder decision is choosing which path is right for you. Are you a more practical learner or do you thrive on theory? Do you fair well in studying full time or part time? On campus or off campus? So as you can see, depending on your preferences, you can choose the route you wish to take in getting you to where you wish to be.

I feel society may have conditioned this way of thinking. That the one and true route to be where you want to be is to complete primary school, so you can complete high school, so you can go to university to get a degree, so you can get a job (to pay off your university debt). When in reality you can choose from so many different paths. Say you want to be an artist. Do you need to go to an art school? No, you don’t. You can very well learn from observation or tutorials, or an art mentor. Are there benefits to going to a school/college? Sure there are. But you don’t NEED to go that route to be a great and successful artist. What about a business owner? You don’t need a degree in business to start your own. You may be a natural entrepreneur. You may learn from experience. You may learn from attending a seminar. Now there are some career paths that require a university degree such as being a qualified counsellor, lawyer or doctor and even then you can choose how you wish to complete the degree.

Here is a radical thought. Why not make your own path? Find out what you wish to do with your life, and spend the money that you otherwise would have spent on university on learning something you are passionate about. Learn from seminars. Pay to meet experts in your field of interest. Acquire a mentor to guide you. Buy online books, audio books, tutorials. Create your own path to where you want to be. The beauty of this approach is that you can choose to study the things you need  and have to know, instead of following a subject structure at university that will most like include subjects that make you memorise information that you will never need to know and may never use.

Jim Carey makes his own soupy path!

I think there is an unnecessary pressure that is placed upon people, particularly youths. That you need to do well in high school in order to be successful in life. You need to do well so you can go to university, get a job etc. If you fail at school now you will fail in life. Which I know for a fact is not true. Just to throw some examples out of well known people who dropped out of university to pursue different career paths (and for the better I would say).  Steve Jobs (Apple), Mark Zuckerberg (Facebook), Oprah, Bill Gates (Microsoft),  John Lennon (The Beetles) , Jim Carey, Walt Disney (Disney) and Abraham Lincoln to name a few. This is not to say that you shouldn’t care about high school or your education, because you should. Continuous education and learning and are so important, especially in a world that is changing so rapidly. You need that knowledge to be able to adapt to that change. If you stop caring about learning and if you don’t try in school and don’t commit to your education that attitude could carry over later in life. Not caring about learning in high school could carry over to an attitude of not caring about learning in any area and that will be so tragic and detrimental to your life.

So I strongly believe there are definitely more ways than one to get to where you wish. Some paths may be short and straight, others may take the scenic route, but they all end up in the same place. The one big difference will be the attitude you have when you get to that end. Let’s hope you enjoyed the ride.

– Sash

Immortality Butter or Mortality Butter?

I am given one out of two options. Two jars of magical peanut butter are in front of me. The label of one jar reads “Immortality” and the other “Mortality”. Easy choice, right? Immortality butter would allow me to live forever. Not one hundred years. Not one thousand years. Not one million years. Forever. I’m talking till the end of time forever. I would be able to see how we, as humans, evolve. How our bodies evolve. How our minds evolve.  How our technology evolves. How our planet evolves. How everything evolves. I would be able to experience everything that this conscious reality that we call life has to offer. How amazing does that sound? Incredible, right? I would be a fool not to consume the immortality butter. Why do I even have to think about this?

I pick up the jar of immortality butter and throw it in my basketball hoop bin.

Welcome to your new home immortality butter!

Devil on my shoulder: “WHAT THE FFFFFFFF……?”

I open the jar of mortality butter, my hand imitating a giant ice cream scoop and take a whopping handful. And by whopping handful  I mean I measure out a tablespoons worth because this stuff is calorie dense and I have to watch my figure.

I would choose mortality butter because I do not wish to live forever. Not because it might be the right thing to do morally or whatever, but because I just don’t wish to spend my entire life (which would be forever) just existing. If I was immortal I don’t feel I would be living. I would just be existing in time and space. Everything would be less beautiful because I wouldn’t have to fear that this moment might be my last. That is what makes life beautiful. It’s because I am so fragile, that makes life so precious to me. I appreciate my life more when I know it can end in the blink of an eye. So for the time that I have left I will try to live while I can, the best that I can.  If I lived forever, if I was immortal, my life would be less precious. Less special. I wouldn’t appreciate the beauty in it because I would be sure that I would experience a similar moment in the span of my immortality. I wouldn’t appreciate the little things that might seem trivial.

Like today, driving home in my furnace of a car, dripping so much sweat I was having a bit of difficulty turning my wheel without my hands slipping. I wind my window down, and lean over to wind down the passenger side window which would allow the most glorious draft of wind to flow through. Beautiful air slapping my face, weaving between the follicles of my hair while being accompanied by some catchy tunes that I will never admit to liking and singing out loud.

MORTALITY RULES!

Now I’m sure if I was immortal I would still feel all those great sensory stimulating things, but I wouldn’t appreciate it as much. Because the mortal me knows that I could be hit by a car and killed on my way home. The mortal me knows that I could be jumped and stabbed on one of my night runs. The mortal me knows that I could trip over badly and hit my head on a rock. The mortal me knows these things. The mortal me knows these risks. But it is these risks, no matter how big or small that make life that much more exciting. Even just typing this blog right now is so great, because this might very well be the last thing that I type because I may have a stroke in my sleep.

And what about the moments you share with people. Are these moments not precious knowing that they might be the last time you ever experience them? That might be the last time I have a drink and tell stories with my friends. That might be the last time I play a game with them and have a laugh. That might be the last time I hear that terrible joke, but like the joke anyway because it was so terrible. That might be the last time I help a friend move stuff to a new place. Or the last time I wish someone a good night. Or the last time I kiss or spoon someone. Or the last time I lift weights and eat peanut butter (perish the thought).

On top of life being less precious to me, I feel I would be very alone if I were immortal. Knowing that you will never die. Knowing that you are going to experience emotional pain forever. Knowing that you are going to live through the life and deaths of your friends, your family, your children, your children’s children, forever. I don’t think I could bare the constant pain of loss like that, knowing that I will outlive everyone I meet and have an emotional connection to.

So for me, mortality butter all the way baby.

I’d like to hear others thoughts on this topic. What jar would you pick, and why?

– Sash

Terrible Poemflow – Attempt at Creativeness Vol 1.

Was feeling slightly creative and thought I would dabble in something that is way out of my comfort zone. Creative brain juices were somewhat flowing and I had a shot at making some words rhyme and mingle. To be honest I had fun throwing it together. I had a tune in my head (Generator by Foo Fighters to be exact) and these words just gushed out. I invite anyone to give poetry/lyrical writing a shot, just for fun. So what if your words don’t dance off the page in harmonious fashion. As long as they speak to you.

I won’t discuss what it is about, as I feel poetry should be left open to people’s own interpretations. I hope it finds you well.

– Sash

The Lost One – By Sash Mindflow (my real surname, seriously)

Where are you  lost one in the field?

Why are you hiding from me?

I used to know you so well, now you’re lost.

Recall the weapons we used to wield?

The fights we had, those fights were free

I miss those bouts, I’d pay but at what cost?

I had the sword and you had the shield

Neither one of us would flee

You’re the strongest one I’ve ever crossed.

Till the end, there’s no room to yield

I know you and you know me

And we both know that our coins have been tossed.

 

You will never find me, dark one  that is hunting me down.

I’m afraid there is nothing here, now go back to your home.

Why don’t you go be your own king? Time for you to wear your crown.

How Depression Makes you Stronger

I wanted to touch on this topic, however I do not feel I can do it the justice that it deserves. So I give to you Elliott Hulse’s take on it. He talks about it poetically and holistically and is someone who I highly respect. He has helped me with a lot of issues in the past and I hope this video finds you well.

Please enjoy.

– Sash

Don’t stop me NOW!

People can hold you back, but they can also raise you to new heights you never thought possible. People can hold you back, but that is only if you let them do so. Often I hear people say how much they want to do something. They speak of this something with such passion. They are so happy and excited to just talk about it. Their face lights up, their words become energised and laced with joy.

Passion-talk faces!

“So why don’t you go and try that?”

Stunned silence. The only thing you hear is distilled chirping of a cricket riding a tumbleweed in the wind.

“Oh, you know.” Insert a string of excuses here. And in an instant, they are no longer a happy as they were. Their faces dim down, their words become lethargic, laced with uncertainty, doubt, and if I’m not mistaken, regret as well. It seems as like something  or someone has influenced them and this has prevented them from pursuing something that brings the life out of them and that makes them unhappy.

I remember quite vividly a time when I expressed an idea to someone very close to me, and whose opinion I held quite high. I was very passionate about this idea and had been thinking on it for quite some time. Unfortunately my idea was negatively met with doubt and disbelief as they did not see how I was going to do it or sustain doing it. And sure enough I didn’t end up pursuing it. One year passes and I just bit the bullet and pursued my idea. I have to admit I was very angry when I did, but not with the person who didn’t initially support my idea, but with myself. I was angry with myself for letting someone else negatively influence something that I really wanted to do. I let someone else’s doubt allow me to doubt myself. If it had been a random person I may have not been persuaded so easily, but it is a little harder to hear it from a person who you regard as important influential spectator of your life. More often than not it’s the small things that these important people do or don’t do that can hit your heart the most.

But the way I see it now, being doubtful or responding negatively to an idea is just another way of telling me that you don’t think I can do it. This blog was actually started somewhat in spite of one of my friends glibly reminding me about how a previous project of mine never came to fruition. I can’t be angry with that friend, because that was the push that I needed to get this thing started. Now I know that might seem somewhat hypocritical of me in the sense that I do care about what someone has said, and therefore it has affected me in some way. However, instead of stopping me from pursuing an idea, it has driven me all the more to achieve it.

At the end of the day it is my decision and I have decided to care less about what other people think. This isn’t to say that I don’t care at all, because constructive criticism and feedback is a good thing. If you don’t care at all, you cut yourself off from everyone else’s opinions and I do not feel this is a step forward in the right direction. Other people can offer you perspectives outside of your own that you could miss just because you are so far into it it’s harder for you to take a step back. However history repeats itself, and I wind up in the same moment again and I receive the same negative response, then I am not going to hesitate to ignore them and prove them wrong. No matter who they are. It doesn’t matter if they are important people, my parents, my siblings, my friends. They are free to have their opinions, but I won’t let negative comments sway me from doing what I want to do with my life. It’s my life and I’m allowed to be selfish in this way. I’m sure they might mean well, and they might be thinking they are protecting you from future failure, but that is because they might not see your vision. They might be from another generation and their line of thinking might be so ancient in comparison, so they wouldn’t understand and as a result they project their own doubts onto you.  And if the person doesn’t mean well, they can go suck on a lemon. If they are flat out stating you can’t do something it probably means that they themselves have been held back in their own live and in order for them to feel good about themselves, they want to bring you down to their level. These are the people I will choose to ignore and disregard. In my opinion, I think it is worse to not try something than to try something and fail at it. At least if you fail you come back stronger and smarter from the experience.

You cannot please everyone in the world, and nor should you have to. If you have that idea that you are passionate about. If it makes you happy. If you cannot stop thinking about it, talking about it, fantasising about it and dreaming about it. Go through with it, and regret nothing. It will never happen if you don’t physically start making it happen. Even if it doesn’t work out the way you might have originally envisioned, as least you had the courage to make the decision yourself and not let someone else sway your passion.

Now, I love it when someone tells me that I cannot do something. Such a pleasure it is to prove them wrong. It’s like the moment someone says “Ha! I bet you can’t do that”, you call upon a Rocky-esque montage and your motivation to prove them wrong goes into overdrive. I thrive on that kind of challenge. That’s what makes me do my best.

So come on! Tell me I can’t do something. I dare you! *Waits to cue the montage music*

“I double dare you!”

– Sash

Eat this, no this, no this!

Diets!

I hate diets. Yeah, I said it!

The Atkins Diet, the Zone Diet, If It Fits Your Macros diet, low carbohydrate diet, low fat diet, high protein diet, Paleo Diet and the ever rampant See-food Diet. How the on Earth are you supposed choose, right? Which one is the best for me to achieve my goals? I would say the “best” one if the one that you feel comfortable staying on and sticking to. But that is the exact reason why I hate diets. Diet implies it is only temporary, and if it is only temporary then so will be the results you gained on that diet. You can go on and off a diet. It seems like a bandaid approach in order to quick fix a problem. It seems like a cure, when ultimately we should be striving for prevention.

He sees food, and eats it. He also apologises for nothing!

Diets, in one way or another restrict a certain thing. In a low fat diet, fat is restricted. In a low carbohydrate diet, carbohydrates are restricted. The problem here is that the body is built to work optimally by using all three of these macronutrients (proteins, carbohydrates, and fats) together. When you take one away, the body begins to cease functioning the way it should. For example with low carbohydrate you will start to feel tired, lethargic and you will have trouble concentrating. Why? Because the body’s primary energy source comes from carbohydrates. The brain itself is fuelled by glucose, a sugar that has been broken down from carbohydrates. Let’s take fat as another example because low fat diets are a very popular topic. There is even a whole market dedicated to selling “low fat” foods. Amongst other things, fat carries certain vitamins that can only be absorbed by the body via fat. Fat also affects your hormone levels. I have been through a low fat diet stage and I can tell you when your hormones are out of whack, and your libido is affected in a negative way, it isn’t the most pleasant way to go through the day (although some guys would benefit from a reduced libido). So as a rule of thumb, if a diet restricts one of these macronutrients to a very low level, approach with caution.

MOVING ON!

Another reason why I hate diets is because people are expected to fit the mould of the diet. Therefore some people are going to struggle more than others to stay on the diet. And remember a diet is only as effective as the length of time you commit to it. You may see progress at the start, but you will find when you “go off” the diet, you end up going back to square one, and sometimes end up in a worse place than you started. Everyone is different and have different tastes. Some foods that a diet requires you to eat might not sit well in your belly. I for one cannot devour too many navy beans or lentils. This is because my body has a difficult time digesting them. Therefore going on a high bean/lentil diet (I’m sure there is one of those out there too) would not make much sense for me. That is not a “diet” I could stick to.

A peanut butter diet however…..

So what the hell do I do now? If all diets are ultimately ineffective then where do I go now? How about creating your own? And how about not labelling it a diet? How about calling it your eating habit? A habit is a hard thing to break once you have established some ground rules. That’s all diets are. Diets are just plans, with rules that you stick to. So why not create your own rules? Why not structure it in a way that you find easy to do, and that can accomplish your goals at the same time? When you are eating the foods you like, abiding by your own rules and structure you won’t even be on a diet. You will just be living your own food lifestyle.

So create some rules for yourself that you can abide to today, and everyday here on after. It’s all well and good to lose the weight, but then keeping it off is the next thing. For me some basic rules that I follow everyday are: Drink two to three litres of water a day, minimum. Eat some kind of vegetable in three of my five meals a day. Eat like a king during the day and a peasant at night. In otherwords eat most of my food during the day, and reduce it the closer to bed time it is. Eat protein in every meal. Allow myself a “bad meal” once a week, or a one small treat each day.

Those are my personal basic rules that I follow every day. Those are my absolute minimums. I don’t feel like I’m on a diet, because I’m not on one. I don’t just go on and off these eating habits. I will adjust some things if my goals change, but the basic structure remains the same.  If I want to gain weight, I will eat  a little more at each meal. If I want to lose weight, I will eat a little less at each meal. It’s not rocket surgery and I think these diets over complicate things, even when they are attempting to do the opposite. I won’t neglect the foods I like to eat. I really like peanut butter (if you had not noticed), so I will eat it, whether I’m gaining weight or losing weight. I drink alcohol at celebrations. I will eat dessert. I will not deny myself these luxuries of life and I won’t feel guilty eating them. If my goal is to lose weight I will just reduce the portion sizes or when I choose to eat them. But I won’t deny myself what I like completely. The food will fit my mold, not the other way round.

I think people like being told what to do, especially when it comes to this whole diet craze. If someone tells you about this diet, and you do it, and you fail, you can easily shift your blame to the other person. “It wasn’t my fault, the diet didn’t work.” It is so easy to blame someone else. We often don’t take accountability for our own actions. It’s not the diet’s fault that it didn’t work because you didn’t stick to it. You controlled what you threw into your mouth, not the person writing the diet. Take some responsibility for your actions and take some responsibility for what you throw into your mouth. We are all adults and if we can’t even control what we throw into our mouths we have a dire future ahead.

“THE CLAW MADE ME EAT IT. I SWEAR IT!”

So create your own eating lifestyle, filled with the foods that you like to eat. Give yourself some structure, and make your own rules. Adjust accordingly depending on your goals. And the most important thing is to be consistent. Don’t chop and change everything at once. Change one thing at a time and see how it affects you. If it works, keep it. If it doesn’t, get rid of it.  See what works for you and find what helps you remain consistent because remember we want to keep those delicious results.

– Sash

P.S. If anyone has any further questions, needs me to elaborate, or anything else regarding the information here, please feel free to ask.

But I had much to do. SO MUCH!

Ever get the feeling there is not enough hours in the day? You go to bed, and you cannot sleep because you are anxious about all the things that you didn’t get done even though you were on full throttle? Seeing those disgusting unticked boxes on your list that’s mocking you on your bedside table. Feeling like you have been defeated by your own expectations of yourself. It’s like at the end of the day and some random dude floats into your room the second you are about to fall asleep, and slaps you in the face with a certificate. A certificate of “participation”. Remember those back in the day? How degrading was that? I remember looking to the kid beside me in primary school. Big cheesey grin on their face as they brandish their “credit” around.  Only to be out done by that smug kid who keeps asking whether his “distinction” is any good. Little punk. Stupid random floating “participation” certificate distributor man.

“We don’t have the testicular fortitude to tell you that you failed, so have this instead!”

But seriously, do you ever wonder whether you will get it all done? All the work you have for the day, or the week, or the year? What about all the things you want to accomplish in five years? How about ten? How about by the end of your life whenever that may be? I know worrying too far into the future takes away from the present, which is the most important part, but that is still no reason not to have some sort of life structure. Some sort of life plan. If you fail to plan, you plan to fail……or plan to get a “participation” certificate.

It all started with a bucket list challenge. Write down fifty things that you want to accomplish before you go to that big gym in the sky. I could only conjure up twenty four things. But even looking at those twenty four things, I started to question whether or not I would even be able to accomplish all things? I want to be this, and that, and this, and that, and do this and that. All these things, plans, ideas. I want to accomplish these things. I want to experience all these things, and there are so many things. Where do I even start? How do I even start? Is it too late to do some of these things? This is probably a great spot for me to stop typing and refer back to my over-thinking “Paralysis by Analysis” post, but I’m going to keep going and hopefully an idea formulates.

I suppose I would start by looking at the list and ordering them in terms of importance to me. Those are the ones that I will target first. I guess next I’d give myself goals. As much as I hate the “g” word (just from saying way too much, the word doesn’t even look right to me anymore) I know that is what I have to set. If you don’t have direction, if you don’t have a target to funnel your energy then it will go nowhere. An idea without vision is just a dream. Let’s use the ever popular example of buying a house, or an apartment. The way you would approach it is to see how much it costs. See how much a deposit is, and calculate how much money you need. Then look at what you earn, and see how long you estimate it would take to save that money if you put some away each week. Now you have an idea and a direction and a time frame.

Another way to look at it might be to work backwards. Let’s say I want to be an engineer. Ok, how do you become an engineer? Well you go an study engineering. Ok, where? At this university. Ok, how do you get into that university? You do this, this and this etc. So all of a sudden you have created this visual route, or idea of how you are going to get to where you want. And then you would do this for all the things on your list. Constructing visual routes or timelines for all your life goals. You may choose to hit the little ones first and then tackle the big ones. You may find that some overlap. You may find that you accomplish one without even realising it. You may find you accomplish some faster than you anticipated.

The secret I suppose is just to get started. Get things in motion because the hardest part is to get things moving. Think about pushing a massive rock. At first that massive goal rock is not going to move. You keep pushing, keep applying pressure to it. Next thing you know you start seeing movement, it’s slow but it’s noticeable. Now it’s starting to make some considerable progress. Now it’s moving and you are hardly pushing it. Next thing you know you have lost your giant rock because it has gained so much momentum and now it has smashed some poor guys car that was one day away from being paid off.

“Pfft, I can push that. Hold my beer!”

I invite you to write a list of those things that you desire from this life, and have a think about what you have to do to achieve them. Even Don’t be scared and don’t rush it. Grab a cup a coffee, your ye olde quill and note pad and make sweet love to the page. Even do a timeline of when you expect to accomplish it. It will make it that more real and believable and that much more achievable to you. I’ve got a lot of timelines to do; twenty four to be precise and there is no way  in hell that I’m going to get a “participation” in this lifetime again.

– Sash

To feel alive!

Nothing makes me feel more alive than running. When I am running, I am free. I am worry free. I am care free. Nothing else matters at that precise moment because I am so in the moment that there is no room for anything else. I’m sure many have experienced this feeling, maybe not with running but with something else. You know that feeling when something you are passionate about has your full focus, your full attention? You are so enticed by it you forget what time it is. You are so entranced by it that you forget to eat. You are so in the moment that you forget to sleep. You might even forget what day it is. Loud sounds become dull hums. Your vision becomes clearer than normal. You see things that you have never seen before. You notice things that you have never noticed before. All of a sudden those little things that plague your mind day to day become non-existent. You are in the moment. You are alive, in that delicious moment.

“I LOVE THIS DELICIOUS MOMENT!”

Running allows me to access this state of mind, especially when I am running hard. If you are familiar with running or any physical activity you will know that more often than not, your mind determines the outcome of your success or failure. Your mind will always give up before your body does. It is your job to train your mind to push the body where it has never gone before. And it is your attitude that will drive your mind to push the body. If you start a training session all sulky, thinking about how long this chore is going to take, then you are more than likely going to have a terrible session. You have walked in with a negative mind set, and have set yourself up for failure because you are more likely to quit when it starts getting hard. However, if you walk into your session excited to hit a new personal best, you are more likely going to have a great session because  when it starts getting hard, you will push yourself out of your comfort zone. And what lies beyond your comfort zone? LIFE!

Now this can apply to anything that you do. Think about your job. If it’s Monday and you have Friday on your mind, there is a good chance that you are going to have a less than stellar week. You are going to come to work, be negative,  and do a worse job than you otherwise would. Then you will  sulk at the end of the day because you have four more days of sulking before you can self medicate yourself with something that will help you forget your previous week of sulking, so you can proceed to the next week (which you hope won’t consist of more sulking). Rinse repeat. However, let’s say you walk into work with a mindset that you are going to smash through today’s workload in record time, so you can enjoy the coming weekend knowing that you earned that sweet, sweet time off. Chances are you might feel a little better about the week, and more importantly, with yourself.

Running is the soil for which my positive attitude seed can sprout and flourish. When I can feel my heart beating out of my chest, when I feel my legs are on fire is when I know that alive state of mind is about to kick in (extra alive points for when it starts raining or storming).  I look for that pain and discomfort because I know what is to follow. If I give up because it starts getting hard, or because my legs hurt, or because I can’t breathe then I know I am not truly alive because I am not pushing myself. If I know I am not pushing myself then I am not being the strongest version of myself. I need to push myself because that is the attitude I need to feel alive. I need that attitude to carry over in all aspects of my life in order to be the strongest me. If I do not push myself right now, I will not push myself later in other life tasks. There is no better time than right now, when I’m in pain and thoughts of stopping kick in. In order to live you must move and keep moving.  But in order to be alive, you must move, and move in a forwards direction. If you are not moving, you are not alive, and if you are not alive then what are you?

So what makes you feel alive? You should do it right now!

“I’M ALIVE!”

– Sash