Seeing More of the Bigger Picture

Posted on April 24, 2019 by admin

The past few years of my life have been unlike any others. Without even meaning to do so, I started on a path of radical self-improvement and experienced some major changes in several of my views. I still don’t know exactly how this journey began, but I’ve made more progress toward where I want to be in life in a couple of years now than I did in the past decade, and my progress appears to be accelerating all the time now.

I’ve always been quick to observe (and often point out) what I considered to be errors in the thought process of other people. Since last year, with the help of books like The Righteous Mind and Thinking, Fast and Slow, it’s become easier to see more of the errors in my own thinking, which has also made me slower to criticize the way others think. Sometimes I catch my errors as they’re happening, but I usually only recognize them well after the fact. Still, being more aware of them has saved me a lot of trouble and motivated me to be sure I’m on the right track with my views (which I’ve done primarily through reading a lot of books that offer explanations for a variety of phenomena in life, with most of my focus being on the stuff in our heads).

It’s become harder for me to be dogmatic or ideological since I started paying more attention to my thought processes, ceasing to identify with my views, finding out more about how my brain works, and learning more of the variables that affect everything in existence. This has made it easier to understand other perspectives, though I still often end up disagreeing with someone after hearing them out and absorbing their take. Seeing more of the bigger picture has shown me where lots of things fit together and complement each other, even things that seem incompatible or contradictory at first glance. As a result, my views have become more nuanced and, I hope, more accurate over time.

I’ve also thought of a ton of ideas for potential solutions to problems, both in my own life and elsewhere in the world. Several of these ideas seemed to come to me fully formed, as if someone else had written them and placed them in my head. My blog has been a way for me to get these ideas out there and organize my thinking so that new ideas come to me more easily. It’s also helped me make regular progress on the book I’m writing about my experiences and realizations, which I hope to have published sometime in the next decade. There’s a lot of writing, editing, and living I have to do before it’s ready, but I always get excited thinking about the impact it’ll have when it’s ready for publishing. I just stumbled onto this path and, with the way everything’s fallen into place since then, I’m sure that this was all meant to be. Thank you for sharing this amazing journey with me. It’s been a great ride and it’ll only get better from here.

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Things I Do When I’m Stressed

Posted on April 23, 2019 by admin

I’ve noticed some things I tend to do whenever I’m stressed, especially for extended periods of time. When I start doing these things, I try to figure out what’s causing the stress and work on taking care of that. Otherwise I would feel as if I’m merely treating the symptoms of a disease without doing anything to the disease itself, a course of action that may provide temporary relief but would ultimately do more harm than good in the long run. With that in mind, these are some of the things I do when I’m stressed.

  1. Bite my lips. I’ve done this for years and I don’t know why. Using lip balm regularly has helped me nearly eliminate this bad habit, but I still find myself doing it when I’m particularly stressed. This is one of the first things I notice and it lets me know right away that something is wrong.
  2. Eat out a lot, especially at fast food restaurants. Eating out is easier than preparing food at home, so if I don’t have much energy or I’m feeling upset, I tend to go to one of several restaurants that I enjoy. My love of fried food and sweet treats makes me even more likely to indulge during the rough times.
  3. Stay up late. I may be hoping to avoid dreaming about what’s on my mind, trying to stretch out the day so I don’t have to face tomorrow’s responsibilities, or lacking the will to get ready for bed. Either way, I tend to get way less sleep than I need when I’m stressed, which makes me more stressed and causes me to miss more sleep, and so on. Fortunately, this one eventually sorts itself out; once I’m tired enough, I’ll turn in earlier and get plenty of sleep. I wish everything else on this list fixed itself.
  4. Get less done. Being stressed makes it harder for me to think clearly and focus while also draining me of energy, so I’m less productive during times of stress. When I do engage in my regular activities, I typically do so with less enthusiasm and vigor than usual. Sometimes sticking to my routine helps lift my spirits, but other times it takes me a good while to feel like myself again.
  5. Lash out more easily. I’m more likely to make assumptions and take things personally when I’m stressed, which increases my chances of lashing out at those around me. I’ve gotten better at controlling myself over time, though, so I don’t do this as much as I used to.
  6. Spend more time away from people. I get drained by extensive interaction with other people even when I’m in a great mood, and being stressed makes me get worn out faster. If I do go out, I may be more closed off than usual, such as not saying much or sitting toward the end of a group. Once I’ve spent enough time by myself and I’m in a better mood, I become more social and begin to seek out enjoyable interactions once again.
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Managing Your Time

Posted on April 22, 2019 by admin

When I was a little kid, other people set up my schedule and determined how I spent most of my time. I found it easy to handle a lot of things during this period in my life: playing in the school band, playing soccer, singing in an ensemble, and, on top of all of that, keeping up with my schoolwork and a few other things I did every week. However, as I steadily acquired more control over my schedule, I gradually lost a lot of motivation and had few (if any) regular hobbies or interests. Even when I did find things I enjoyed, I couldn’t manage my time nearly as effectively as those who once did it for me, so I didn’t make time for the things I loved doing. It wasn’t until I started learning about effective time management that I was able to do more of what I love and have less filler in my days.

I suppose I got my first glimpse into the world of time management when I stopped watching TV back in 2012 during a fast at my church. When the fast ended, I continued avoiding TV because I had lost interest in it by then. Since I watched a lot of TV, ceasing to watch it freed up a great deal of time that I could spend on other activities, although I think I mostly just switched to other ways to kill time. Still, it showed me that I can reduce filler in order to make time for more meaningful things. It also probably helped me move toward being aware of how much time I spend on different activities and seeing where to make changes to free up more time for my passions.

Time is your most precious resource since you can’t get more of it. You can always find ways to make more money, get more stuff, or consume more content; you can’t recover lost time, and you’re losing time every moment that you’re alive. Additionally, if you don’t manage your time and decide how it’ll be spent, someone else will, and you probably won’t like the decisions they make for you. So if you want to have enough time to pursue your passions and interests, the best thing you can do is learn about effective time management. For that, I highly recommend The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. In this book, Stephen Covey shows the different ways that we can spend our time (some are beneficial and others are wasteful) and gives a lot of advice for managing it such that we can remain productive while still having plenty of opportunities to enjoy ourselves, including addressing important matters early on so they don’t become big problems that take up a ton of time. I think this is what really helped me refocus a lot of my priorities and plan out my days so that I can pursue my interests and my self-improvement work and still (usually) get enough sleep. The Art of Manliness also has a few good articles on time management and getting more out of each day. I hope this post has inspired you to put more focus in managing your time so that you can move a bit closer to living your best life. Believe me, it’s worth the effort.

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Realizations About Three Songs I Love

Posted on April 21, 2019 by admin

Sometime within the past few weeks, I was talking with my mindfulness buddy about a video of dogs set to some nice music. I had some big realizations during that conversation about a few particular songs and why they mean so much to me. I’d like to talk a bit about them in this blog post.

The dog video has relaxing guitar music playing over cute Shiba Inu dogs. That made me start thinking about how much unconditional love dogs display to their families. Dogs are basically love incarnate, and love is ultimately the foundation of what will save the world. This video caught my attention and made me realize it has an important message underneath it. The music and the dogs playing with each other made me feel alive in the best way.

Another special song to me is “Rainbow Connection” from The Muppet Movie. This one tells me that there are more people like me out there who understand the things I talk about on my blog and are working on leaving the world better than they found it. I may end up working alongside some of them or our paths may never cross. Either way, I’m not alone because there are many more lovers and dreamers in the world, so we will be able to make a positive difference within our lifetimes. And, since I see a lot of myself in Kermit the Frog, it means a lot to me that he sings this song.

The third song that has an extra special place in my heart is “I Got a Name” by Jim Croce. No matter what anyone else says or how I’m feeling at any given moment, I am somebody. I’m moving forward and upward in life, I’m going to be free, and I’ll get there even if those before me didn’t. Jim Croce is one of my favorite musicians and this is by far my favorite of his songs.

I’m so glad that I finally figured out why those songs mean so much to me and make me feel so good whenever I listen to them. This is one of many things I love about having a mindfulness buddy. While we often offer each other advice, we’ve also learned a lot from simply talking to each other and figuring things out as we go; that’s exactly what happened with the realizations I had about those songs. I had never though much about why they make me feel a certain way before that conversation but once I got started, the ideas kept flowing until I had my answers. Now that I know why I love those songs so much, I’m excited to continue receiving answers to other questions about my life and seeing where those answers take me.

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Direct Alternatives vs Indirect Alternatives

Posted on April 20, 2019 by admin

In How I Found Freedom in an Unfree World, Harry Browne talks about direct and indirect alternatives. Essentially, a direct alternative is something that is within your control, and an indirect alternative requires someone else’s involvement. Browne encourages readers of the book to us direct alternatives rather than indirect alternatives wherever possible. Although I had been familiar with this concept before I read the book, seeing it spelled out so clearly and illustrated with many examples has made me put it into practice like never before.

One way I’ve made use of direct alternatives is in my interactions with other people. I’ve spent a lot of time working on not taking anything personally rather than trying to control anyone else’s actions. I’m not where I want to be with this yet but it’s made my life a lot better in a relatively short amount of time. Another area where I’ve used this life hack is in my employment. Instead of continually trying and failing to make my workplace function as I think it should, I’ve found another place that is much closer to what I have in mind. Lastly, I’ve used direct alternatives for a few years now when sharing my ideas with other people. I used to argue until I was blue in the face, trying desperately to convince someone else to come around to my position. Ever since I stopped arguing, I’ve gradually developed the approach I now use. I state my thoughts on a given subject if I feel inclined to do so (mostly through my blog posts) and I don’t try to change anyone else’s thinking. If someone disagrees with me, fine. We might talk about it if we’re both up for a conversation, and I’ll do my best during that exchange to understand their perspective. And if someone agrees with me, then we might also have a conversation in which we share helpful things we’ve found on our respective journeys. I much prefer this to arguing and getting frustrated.

I’ve felt much happier and freer since I started focusing more on direct alternatives and less on indirect alternatives. I also feel much less dependent on other people than I used to since I now look for ways I can take action rather than waiting for someone else to give me directions. This has eliminated a lot of problems from my life and made me more capable of effectively handling the remaining challenges. I’m so glad I started making use of direct alternatives and I look forward to finding new ways to improve my life with them.

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A Wonderful Change

Posted on April 19, 2019 by admin

Right now, the biggest change I’m experiencing is a change of jobs. I’ve long been looking for something else and I’ve finally found it. Even though I haven’t been at this new place for long and I’m still working at the other job, I’ve greatly enjoyed the journey thus far. Here are some of my observations.

I started thinking a lot about this a few days ago during my lunch break: how much I’m enjoying the job, how it’s much more in line with my plans for my life than any other job I’ve had, and how nice it is to be able to work by myself for extended periods of time in a calm, peaceful place. When I’m done for the day, I often feel better and more refreshed than I did when I first went in, and I normally feel great at the start of the day. I first noticed this one evening when I got off after a fantastic day. The setting sun painted beautiful colors across the sky, the weather was still and temperate, and I still had plenty of time to enjoy my day before going to bed. Ever since then, I’ve remembered that feeling at the end of my shift and carried it with me into whatever else I’ve done. That’s an amazing feeling and I’m so glad I get to experience it regularly.

In addition to the excitement and happiness I feel from working at this new place, I’m also excited about it for financial reasons. My finances have been the most difficult area for me to improve as it’s been a struggle to replace bad financial habits with good ones. I’ve steadily made progress, however, and now I get to make money doing something I love. This is a big step toward financial freedom and I’m so excited for that. It shows that all the time I’ve spent reading and learning about finances and business has paid off (no pun intended) and taken me closer to where I want to be in life. The fact that it also pays well is icing on the cake.

I’ve become a lot freer and happier since I started this job. This is a dream come true and I didn’t see it coming until it arrived; I just happened to be at the right place at the right time. Although I did actively pursue this and shift a lot of things around to make it work once the opportunity presented itself, it still feels like it just fell right into my lap. Of course, all the personal development work I did last year prepared me for this opportunity and put me in position to seize it when it appeared. I don’t think I’d have been qualified for this job or even wanted it if I hadn’t spent so much time growing and improving myself. There have been some challenges with this change (the biggest one being that I have no regular days off right now), and a lot is still up in the air for the time being. But I’ll gladly take the difficulty of change over the pain of feeling like I’m at a dead end any day. This whole experience has been a major sign that things are going according to plan. I’m so excited to see where this takes me and what lessons I’ll learn along the way.

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Handling Change

Posted on April 18, 2019 by admin

I’ve mentioned a few times now that I’m going through some major life changes. These have been the first big changes for me in a long time and I’m being reminded that I don’t handle major, sudden change well. Some people can completely change their life overnight without a problem, but not me. I prefer to make small, gradual adjustments that steadily move me toward something different without feeling like I’ve had the rug pulled out from under me. When I get thrown a lot of new things all at once, I feel very confused, lost, don’t know which way is up, and have no idea what to do or how to do it. I’ve never enjoyed those kinds of sink-or-swim situations and I prefer to avoid them whenever there’s another way.

However, every time I can recall being in one such situation, I’ve figured out how to swim when sinking or climbing onto a boat weren’t options. Somehow I’ve always been able to hold on long enough to figure things out and rise above the situation. This has gotten a bit easier since I’ve done so much personal work, especially with regards to managing my emotions, so I’m sure I’ll be able to successfully navigate these major changes I’m currently experiencing. It’s simply a matter of keeping my head on straight and avoiding getting overwhelmed.

One thing that’s helping me right now is the fact that I’ve recently gotten involved in something that is extremely refreshing, fulfilling, and enjoyable. Having this positive thing motivates me to keep going through the current obstacles and gives me what I need to handle them. Another helpful thing is slowing down and living in the present moment. Rather than spending all my time reminiscing over the way things once were or dreaming about the way they will be, I remind myself to breathe, settle my thoughts, and focus on one step at a time. The more I live in the present, the more peaceful I feel and the better I’m able to get through the challenging times. This works for me when I remember to do it, and that’s my plan to get through this and any other life situation I get into.

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Feeling Off

Posted on April 17, 2019 by admin

I don’t know why, but I’ve felt off as of late. I’ve gotten frustrated more easily than usual, felt distant from people with whom I’m normally close, and ended up spending more time by myself (which I’ve enjoyed, so I don’t think I’m craving interaction or missing it when it doesn’t happen). When I’ve spent a good amount of time around others, I notice myself acting in ways that make me wonder if I’m headed in a good direction. I suppose the fact that I’ve noticed this and thought about it is a sign that I’m doing ok, or at least better than I was a few years ago; if I didn’t have any doubts about what I’ve been doing, that would probably be an indicator of trouble.

Maybe this is a phase I’m going through as I move away from compulsive people pleasing and I haven’t found the golden mean between sticking up for myself and being a pushover. There may be a lot of disingenuous people around me and I’m just not playing along anymore. I could be stressed from some of the big changes I’m experiencing right now and unintentionally taking it out on others. As I’m trying to be myself all the time, maybe I’m finding out how much time I spent trying to be who others expected me to be and it’s taking me a while to get comfortable not doing that. Or maybe I’ve been neglecting to practice what I preach and should return to doing so. It’s probably a combination of one or more of those things. I’ll find out as I continue observing myself and seeing what behavioral changes I need to make.

This is the first time in a while that I’ve felt uncertain about whether or not I’m on the right track. Once I figure out what’s going on, I’m sure I’ll be able to get back to a good place with all of this. If anything, this shows that knowing may be half the battle, but acting on that knowledge is crucial. I haven’t really talked about this with anyone, so I don’t know if anyone has noticed a change in my behavior or if they’ve also felt off lately. How about you? Have you noticed yourself feeling or acting differently within the past month or two? I’m interested to know if this is something that’s affected a lot of people, so please let me know if you’ve noticed this in yourself or someone you know. If so, I hope whatever’s going on ends soon so we can all go back to normal.

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Review of Outliers

Posted on April 16, 2019 by admin

Outliers is a fantastic book by Malcolm Gladwell. In the book, Gladwell looks at those who have risen to a place of prominence and offers an explanation for how they did it. He covers a number of people from different time periods, cultures, and classes, doing his best to show the common traits between highly successful people.

One of Gladwell’s most frequently mentioned points has to do with the sheer amount of work required to master something, which he says is around 10,000 hours. Those 10,000 hours have to contain a great deal of hard, consistent, and dedicated practice for someone to become a true outlier. Even people who are exceptionally gifted, such as Mozart, still have to put in the hours in order to reach their full potential. Sheer genius and ability aren’t enough without putting in the time.

Of course, it’s much easier to get in all those hours of practice and fly as high as you can if you’re in a good position in life. Having a particular advantage over others (such as how Bill Gates was able to work regularly with computers when they were still scarce and expensive) leads to more opportunities. Those opportunities then open up chances for you to accumulate even more advantages, and so on. This may sound concerning, but Gladwell gives a few examples of how even people who appeared to be in a bad position ended up being in the right place at the right time to get ahead after logging their 10,000 hours. He also shows that nobody becomes an outlier without a lot of help from others who steer them in the right direction and give them the tools they need to succeed.

Gladwell also talks about how some cultural norms can either offer enormous advantages or create major disasters. For the former, Gladwell uses the example of how it’s extremely common in China for people to have a solid work ethic. This allows Chinese people to excel at nearly anything they do, whether it’s creating and sustaining rice paddies (an incredibly involved, difficult, and time-consuming way of life) or being among the best in the world at mathematics. Their work ethic is such that they’re more likely to stick with something until they get it than people from cultures without a similar work ethic. When it comes to disasters, Gladwell looks at how Korean Air went from having an incredibly high number of plane crashes to becoming a remarkably safe airline. He talks in this section about how the level of deference to those in “authority” varies between cultures. In the case of Korean Air, the flight crew came from a country with a great deal of deference to their superiors, meaning that the first officer and navigator wouldn’t give orders to the captain or the people in the tower even if they thought there was a problem. This, combined with terrible weather, long working hours, malfunctioning instruments, and a few other factors lead to one crash after another until those issues were sorted out once and for all.

I particularly liked how Outliers shows the complexity of life and that one simple explanation is often insubstantial for accurately describing anything of significance. There are a lot of things going on at any given point in history and looking at just one or two of them while ignoring the rest leaves out a lot of important information; the more ways you can look at any given situation, the better your chances of finding out what’s actually happening, and the truth is often quite different than it initially appears to be. I learned a lot more from this book than I thought I would and I feel like it gave me a better understanding of the way the world works (and it’s written in plain English, which made it a fairly easy read). If any of this sounds interesting to you, then I recommend checking out the book and seeing how it affects your perspective of the world.

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Floor Divided 2019

Posted on April 15, 2019 by admin

Last night, I got back from Floor Divided 2019 in Tallahassee, Florida. This was a weekend swing dance workshop with a camp theme: there were 4 teams (red, yellow, blue, and green), a lot of games, and plain goofy fun. We had all of this in addition to the usual dances and lessons, making for an incredibly fun and memorable weekend. Here is my take on this event.

I got to the main dance on Friday shortly before it started and chose to join the green team, as did most of the others from Jacksonville. We all danced and had fun for a good while before the camp activities started. Each team gathered together and came up with a cheer before the Mockingbird competition, which was a ton of fun to watch and involved competitors dancing in sync to a video they had found. After that, the green team got up and did the Cupid Shuffle; I still don’t know exactly why, but I enjoyed doing it. Later, we found out the winners of the Mockingbird and continued dancing until the time came for the late night dance.

When I got to late night, I hung out with some other folks and had a snack while talking about dance and watching a few videos as the organizers finished setting up. In addition to dancing once late night began, we played a fun camp game called Ships and Sailors. It was basically Simon Says but with a few very specific actions we had to do when called out. Ships and Sailors and the Mockingbird were my favorite activities of the day and showed me just how fun and goofy Floor Divided can be. After Ships and Sailors, I watched a bit of solo dancing until late night ended around 2:30 in the morning. This was the first late night dance I “survived” until the end, so I was quite pleased with myself. Then I headed to the house I was staying in for the weekend, got ready for bed while talking with some of my other housemates, and turned in for the night.

I woke up around 9 after getting very little sleep due to being really wired just like I was at Lollies and Lemonade. Still, I managed to take a shower, get ready to go, grab some food, and still make it to class on time. In the first class of the day, we stretched, covered a lot of the history of dance, did the first half of the Big Apple, and had opportunities to earn points for our teams. During the lunch break, we had a lot of time to rest, visit with each other, and have a quick game of Frisbee before the afternoon class. Instructor Dee Daniels Lock took us through a warmup to some hip hop music, encouraging us to not be afraid to move our bodies differently than we might normally and telling us that overcoming that fear and trying out different dances will make us better dancers. We then worked on a lot of partner dancing stuff, including some points about swingouts. After the class ended, I left to do a few other things and get ready for the main dance that night.

The band started playing around 8:15 or so, which is about when I started dancing. When the time came, everyone who made it into the Trail Mix couple’s competition got up and danced as best as they could to modern pop songs rather than traditional swing dance music, again fitting in with the goofy camp theme. In addition to finding out the winners of the competition, we did a few jam circles, including one for those with April birthdays and another one for the folks who organized Floor Divided. After that, we headed out to the hallway for some pictures of each team and dance scene. When the dance ended, I went with a few others to Whataburger before heading over to the late night dance. I brought in my juggling equipment and juggled some glow balls with a few other dancers in one of the rooms. Then we passed clubs in the front room and showed the other dancers how they can walk through the pattern without getting hit, in addition to showing off a bit with some other tricks. After we finished with that, I watched a bit of the silly solo competition before heading home. Then, just as last night, we got ready for bed and passed out.

I think I slept easier that night since I was already exhausted and deprived from the previous night. Either way, I got ready and went to the morning class. Dee reviewed the first half of the Big Apple and showed us a few variations to several of the moves before working with us on the latter portion of the dance. I had a lot of fun going through it again since, by that time, I was familiar with many of the moves and felt more comfortable with them than I had the first time around. Following the lunch break, we had a class that primarily focused on swingouts and swingout variations, mostly things related to changing the timing but also some points about our form. I had fun with this one, though my legs were super sore and tired before it ended. Once we returned from a short break, we spent the remainder of our time together covering some moves that aren’t done as much as they used to be, including the reverse swingout and the frog jump. I had never tried either and was pleasantly surprised to find them easier and more fun than I had anticipated. Dee finished up by answering some questions and then we thanked her before resetting the room, finding out that the yellow team won again this year (the green team came in second by just 2 points!), and heading out. The farewell dance was cancelled due to bad weather, so some folks went out for ice cream and games instead. I, being quite sore and having a long drive ahead of me, decided to head home after saying goodbye and grabbing the last of my stuff from the house. A few hours later, I had made it back to Jacksonville, gotten some food, and started relaxing at home while typing this blog post.

At this point, I’ve been to 4 weekend dance workshops, and each one holds a special place in my heart for different reasons. Floor Divided came at just the right time for me as I’m going through some major life changes and needed a nice weekend to just relax, dance, and have fun with cool people. Unlike a lot of other people my age, I’ve never been to camp, so I enjoyed the team spirit and friendly rivalries at this event. Lastly, the goofiness of the camp theme, incredibly good (and fun) lessons, and general reminders I got from a variety of places to do my best in everything I do left me with a great feeling that I’m sure will remain with me for a long time to come. I loved Floor Divided 2019 and I’m looking forward to seeing what the next one has in store.

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