A New Year has passed and people are starting to try and get back into things after a first work week. All these sad faces. But, tell you what, the year has only started. Don’t discount it just yet, just because you don’t like to do what you need to do. I know, I know, staying in bed in the morning is nice, but it sure won’t pay the bills!
Here’s the nice thing about it. It can only get better, right? What’s the point in feeling sad? Why don’t you start something right now? Something you always wanted to do? Or set something in motion, to get to do that thing you always wanted to do? Get yourself something to look forward to at the end of the day. Start planning that trip to Bali. Start saving the money you’ll need for it. Look up that new bike you want to get. What’s the point in being miserable? Life’s to bloody short to be miserable. Ain’t that right, Mr. Grumpy?
And smile.
Whatever you do, smile.
Me? I’ll be back training next week, sod the aching knees. Sure, I’ll take it easy (promise, only one shiner per session, alright?). To me, it’s a really positive thing, looking forward to getting on the mats again. Me knees have been aching for the last several months, haven’t been able to train very much, but I’ve been smiling the whole way through it and I keep looking forward to get back doing it all again. That’s what’s keeping me happy, and I don’t mean that in a way that says “it’s all keeping me happy”, because that isn’t true either. But it is one major thing for me.
I hope you have something like that in your life. Something other than either your work or even your family, that keeps you happy. Something just for you. Let’s face it, we all need something we can call our own. Something we do once in a while, just for ourselves. Something that makes us smile out of pure joy.
So, why not keep smiling for the rest of the year? Might make you remember it as one of the best years you’ve had, and only you can make it that great.
It all started in January. Myself and the missus were going to head off for a vacation in Austria, going skiing. Anticipiation has, as usual, built up and we’re itching to go! Waking up in the morning, thinking, it’s a tad chilly in here, isn’t it? Yep, 14 Celsius when we usually have no less than 18 when we wake up. Hmm, what’s up here? Hop in the clothes and walk downstairs to check if the schedule had been screwed up on the timer or what .. No, schedule is fine. We’ve got gas in the cooker (the house heating is also gas, both getting delivered through the same pipes) so that isn’t the problem. Pop on out on the balcony.. Cold.. Right, it’s -10 Celsius out .. Should have put on something more than a t-shirt! Ah well, now that I’m here anyway … Opening the door to where the boiler is and …. Yup … It has developed a sudden bout of ice-in-the-pipes and burst … Feck!
We have 2 hours left until we have to be at the airport! Luckily we found a plumber who could come out and replace our boiler, but not until the next day! Crap! Ah well, we have his number, so let’s just give him the keys to the house and pray it won’t be emptied when we get back. Thankfully, he was not just an honest fella, he was fine with waiting for payment until we got back too… All €2500 worth …
Our vacation was great though. We had a blast in the slopes and Nush was loving getting on a snowboard.
Once back I was on track to start changing my life. At the time I was working for Amazon, you know “the book people” .. Must say, I enjoyed working there, but at the same time, it was time to move on. I had at this point realized it’s not just Amazon I want to move away from, but it is the IT work as well. I was starting to get miserable to be honest. I had looked around for other things to do with my life and trying to figure out what I’d be happy doing, while it could still pay the bills. Don’t get me wrong, I’ll always enjoy computers and what one can do with them, but I have realized that a hobby that I turned into a career has started to lose its lustre. You know, the very thing that makes it fun and interesting isn’t quite there any longer. Too much work and not enough play I guess is one way to sum it all up.
I’ve always enjoyed talking with people. Just having a chat, seeing how they are, you know? One thing I got to hear a lot in Amazon was that I was talking too much. Hey, it’s who I am. Having a quiet office with nobody to talk to, for me, makes the day very boring, dull and drags it out. So, talking to people was a must for anything I’d take on.
I also realized that I do take a lot of enjoyment out of helping others. I sometimes even go out of my way to help others. Sometimes even way too much out of my way. But, hey, it’s me. I like doing that, so helping others was another must to be in there. But what the heck should I do then? Didn’t really fancy looking at becoming a doctor or anything like that. I’m not one to sit in school and study. I tend to enjoy a quicker pace than most others, so sitting in school has always been way too boring for me. (I did 3 terms worth of maths in 1 term at one stage, because I was bored …)
Alternative medicine however has always seemed interesting to me. So, I started looking at what is happening in that area. You’ve got your Homeopaths, your Acupuncturists, Massage Therapists, Chiropractors and so on .. None of those felt to be something for me … But then .. I stumbled upon something …
Hypnotherapy. But, what the heck is it? You hypnotize someone and then what? Well, I decided I should look closer. It seemed very interesting, lots of different things you could help people with. The whole concept started mesmerizing me. (Funny that!)
So, I went for an introductory course. I was hooked after the first day. Amazing, absolutely amazing. So, I went and took the full course as well and I’m now RC Hyp, Dip Hyp (or in English: Registered and Certified Hypnotherapist, Diploma Hypnotherapist).
In between starting my course and finishing it, I decided I needed to move along with the rest of my life as well and resigned from Amazon. I needed some change of scenery. So I started working for an Investment Bank down in the IFSC (International Financial district in Dublin). Well, not much to say there other than I decided to not continue the whole probation period. SIG and myself went separate ways after 5 months.
Good news there is, more vacation time was had! While I had just quit from Amazon, we decided to go on another ski trip, this time to Arinsal in Andorra. Very nice spot!
Was also over in Sweden over the summer to see my dad and the kids. As always, way too short a stay.
Once I got my Diploma in Hypnotherapy I started looking around to see how I can get my own clinic up and running. Seemingly, this is quite easy here in Ireland. Setting up a clinic that is. It’s getting the clients that’s the crux of the matter. Most clients one would get is through referrals, and how do you get referrals? By treating someone. So, friends and colleagues have been in and the odd client has started popping in. It’s a slow trickle, but it’s getting there.
While the clinic is slowly spinning up I have started working at a company called National Instruments. It’s a really nice company with offices all over the world. Sure, I am still in IT, but I am now working for a company who puts their employees at the forefront. Couldn’t be happier.
First thing they asked as I started was if I could go to the US for two weeks. Of course I can! Excellent! Two weeks in Austin Texas, just as the snow had started coming down over Dublin! -10 Celsius here in Dublin while I enjoyed 24 Celsius in Texas.
I got to meet the team over there, got a much better understanding of the environment, had storage training and squeezed in as many meetings as I could.
Not to mention, I got a chance to train while I was over there as well! Brilliant! So I not only made some new friends at work, I made some new friends outside of work as well.
I’ve learn’t a lot this year. Not just by getting my Diploma, but also about myself, about Martial Arts and so many other things it’s almost scary to sit here and reminisce.
Now, there’s only a few days left of this year. So few one could just count the hours if one wanted. But why sit here and reminisce over what is ending? As with anything else in life, your perceptions will constantly guide you. Instead, look forward to the new beginnings that are about to form. Most people see the New Year as a new start. A way to kick start things. A start for that thing that you really should do. Quit smoking for example. Or perhaps you’re looking to start exercising more? Perhaps a new job is waiting for you? A New Year holds many promises for the future.
But, here’s the kicker … Why don’t you make every day just like that? I found new beginnings several times over the last year. All weren’t good, but some will stay with me for a very long time.
What makes someone a hero? Going to a foreign land, gun in hand, fighting a cause determined by his superiors? What cause is worth fighting for? Who’s cause? Why should you fight for someone else? What is so important you have to go to a foreign land?
Media is filled these days with news about “terrorists”. Someone trying to make a living is a terrorist? Someone fighting for food and their own survival is a terrorist? What truly makes a terrorist a terrorist? Because someone labels them as such or because of the actions they take? What makes a soldier different to a terrorist?
On this time of the year, I am always thinking of those less fortunate than myself. Those without a big ham on their table. Those without heating. Those without a roof over their heads or even shelter. Those are the people to fight for. The rights of those people as well as the rights of myself. My rights as a human being are worth no more than a home less person. Worth no less.
So, what really makes a hero? Is a hero someone that stands guard over the vast opium fields in Afghanistan, because some government told them to? Is a hero someone that hands out food to the homeless? Which do you think is the bigger hero of the two?
Is a hero someone that convinces this lonely, tired, desperate person not to take their own life this Christmas? Is it someone that helps an elderly person across the street? Is a hero someone that aims a weapon at a religious gathering and fires rockets across borders, killing indiscriminately?
Typing this out, it seems obvious who are the real heroes. Watching the news bites however, I do not see heroes. I see soldiers carrying out orders from people who do not care who dies, as long as their objectives are carried out.
Where is your battle field? Who and what are you fighting for?
Personally, I find that guarding an opium field is just wrong. Burn the thing down instead!
A 5 year old, fighting cancer is much more heroic. Pick your battles in life and pick them well, they are what defines you and what you stand for. Let’s make a better world. Help your neighbour dig their car from under the snow. Spend an hour handing out food in a shelter. This is Christmas! Opium fields have never helped anyone but those making money out of them. Look after your family instead and your much more the hero. Help someone get home to see their family.
Being a hero starts every day you wake up. Every time you can make someones day better, you’re a hero. Every time you can help someone pack their grocery bags, you’re a hero.
To me, a fire fighter is a hero. An ambulance driver. A nurse. Those are heroes.
People guarding opium fields are just guards. People fighting over the opium fields are just thieves and thugs. People firing rockets into weddings, over borders, into civilian population, these are not heroes.
The police and rescue services who tried saving lives at a disaster are heroes. If you’ve ever helped anyone to get to a hospital or get medical attention, you’re a hero.
In other words, looking after your fellow man makes you a hero. Standing up for what is right makes you a hero. Disobeying an order to fire at innocents while you are wearing a uniform makes you a hero.
Be a hero this Christmas. It is not that hard. You just have to do something with love towards someone you love, or someone you have just met. You don’t even need to know their name. You just have to show compassion, and isn’t that what Christmas really is about?
Christmas isn’t really about getting lots of presents. It’s about becoming a hero to someone. Someone who needs you.
Recently I was asked to be on the radio and answer some questions about driving in this wonderful winter weather that we’re seeing here in Ireland. Unfortunately I couldn’t make the show as I was then in Texas, so the time difference meant I would have been sleeping when the show was to air. However, I figured eventually that perhaps it would be a good idea to put some things down in print for my fellow drivers…
Preparing yourself
First of all if you yourself isn’t prepared to be out in cold weather, it kind of speaks for itself, don’t go out. Consider if your vehicle breaks down and you are stuck on the side of the road until you can get help. Dress appropriately. Try to layer clothing as the air pockets between each layer will help as it acts as insulation. Good shoes, decent gloves and something to keep your throat warm all helps. If you’re out during dawn and dusk, also have a reflex somewhere on your clothing. Being seen is being smart.
Ladies, you look great in your high heels. Seriously, we men love you in them. Your ankles will hate you though if you slip. It’s not very fashionable wearing a cast. Shoes with decent soles you can find that still look good so you don’t need to compromise on your looks, nor your safety.
Preparing your vehicle
There’s a few things you should make sure before you start your trip. Well, perhaps not so few, but hey …
Make sure you have enough coolant and windscreen wash in your car. Make sure they have the right mix for the weather. Nothing like your radiator blowing up thanks to ice in the pipes on a cold day.
Get an ice scraper for the car. Before you set off, hop in the car and start it. Have full blast up on the windscreen. Turn your lights on. Get out and close the door. Scrape off the head lights and brake lights (excellent time to check your lights work!). Scrape of all the windows. Seriously, all of them, not just a bit on the windscreen. DO NOT USE HOT WATER unless you enjoy driving without a windscreen in this weather (and if you do, just get a convertible!). Now, when you hop back into the car, it should have started to warm up, so you no longer need to blast the windscreen with air, right?
Driving
This is the meat of this post, really. If you have followed the above, you’re somewhat prepared, but only somewhat. First of all, I’d like to remind people that there are some things that are standard on any car these days. Those include indicators and mirrors. Please, use them appropriately.
First things first. You’re probably used to driving on dry roads and sometimes on wet roads. Driving on ice and snow is completely different. It makes each move you do much more “interesting” …
One thing NOT to do is to break and turn at the same time. Always, always, always break when you’re travelling in a straight line. If you’re on ice and turn and break at the same time you’ll spin out. Needless to say, do that at speed and you’ll be happy not to hit anything and end up with a sudden stop.
Taking off from a stand still is easy folks. If your wheels start to lose traction, let up slightly on the accelerator until you regain traction. In that way you will also retain control. If you simply hit the accelerator it may get interesting if you hit a patch which gives you lots of traction all of a sudden. You may then simply launch yourself even faster onto the next patch of ice, where again you have no traction and now you won’t be able to control the vehicle any more. Not the best move possible, eh?
A rule of thumb when driving on icy or snowy roads is to have the vehicle in a higher gear. This will give you more control over the vehicle as you are then also having slower revs on the engine, while having a lot of power coming down to the wheels.
If you can imagine it, try to drive like you would have an egg under the accelerator. Easy on the throttle and no hard pushes. The harder you push the vehicle around, the harder it’ll hit a curb, light pole or even a human.
If you do start spinning, leave the breaks alone, press down the clutch and gently steer out of it. Here’s a video on handling a skid. (Still searching for one that shows how to get out of a spin. Hey! I’m still at work! )
Your considerations for distance changes. Well, it should anyway, but judging by how people drive, nobody here has really grasped this, so let’s go through this a tad for you.
Do you know the stopping distance your car has at any given speed, while on dry roads? Probably not. On water that expands quite a lot. On ice, again it grows by a massive margin. Actually, stopping distance on ice is at least 10 times the distance you would have on a dry road. Let me put it like this, in dry conditions, at 50 kmph, you should have enough distance between yourself and the vehicle in front that a whole truck should easily and comfortably be able to fit between you. Doing 100 kmph on the M50 with black ice here and there you should not just fit one, two or three trucks. If you try to brake on ice doing that speed you will travel several hundred meters before you’ve even started to slow down noticeably. Anything between your starting point and your stopping point, well, you figure out where those things will end up …
So, give the guy in front a break and stay well behind. Use your indicators early and change lanes early too. Don’t just swerve in right in front of the car behind you as you change lanes, it means you’ve just stolen their safety net. Slow down early before you get to a crossing, traffic light or entering a roundabout. Someone may suddenly appear there who hasn’t had your foresight and just skids through, all four wheels locked with no chance of stopping. So, don’t put yourself in front of them.
And please, please, please do check your mirrors before you change lane, turn a corner and just in general! You might be surprised with what you find showing up in them! (Like a bus…)
3 second rule
To help you gauge your distance, there is something called the 3 second rule. It has nothing to do with the 3 car rule implemented by certain drivers here. Instead, what you do is while you’re driving you pick something along the road ahead of you. Start counting as the vehicle in front passes that object, “one thousand and one, one thousand and two, one thousand and three” … If the you get to that object before you have finished counting, you are too close to the vehicle in front. This recommendation is for dry conditions. Again, on ice, your stopping distance ten folds in comparison to dry conditions. Yes, I am serious. You don’t believe it, I really do not recommend you trying it out on the roads. Do feel free to go to a course which does “skid tests”, that’s a controlled environment.
Speed
Your speed and distance to other vehicles will determine how well you can get out of any bad situation you may end up in. I think this should be fairly simple to realise, but looking at how close people end up behind each other, I am not surprised to hear of multiple car collisions. On the contrary, I am surprised they do not happen more often.
Consider this, if you are travelling at speeds exceeding 50kmph, you have NO chance of handling a skid. Zero, nil, none. Trust me, I’ve tried and failed, both in controlled and not so controlled environments. I have the whiplash to prove it.
So, do slow down if it seems the road is getting slippy, there’s snow on it or you can see it starting to glitter and glimmer. That last one, it looks very nice during the season of Christmas, but it does mean the road has at least frost on it, more likely patches of ice.
Lights & reflexes
Here’s a pet gripe of mine. People not putting on their headlights in the morning “because I can see fine as it is in this light”… “You utter gobshite” is my response to that. You turn on the headlights so others can see you. Not just the parking lights, they are not meant to be used when you’re driving. You have headlights, use them. NOT BEING SEEN IS WHAT GETS YOU KILLED! This goes for any road user, be it a pedestrian, or a truck. If you’re a pedestrian, put on something with a reflex on. I know, they are hard to find here, for some stupid reason. However, me personally, I’d rather look stupid walking down the road then being smashed to bits on a stretcher. The choice is yours though.
Two wheelers
I love my motorcycle to bits, I really do. If you do not know me, there’s posts on here with what I ride, so trust me I’m not someone on a moped during weekends, alright? However, driving a motorcycle in this weather is akin to suicide. Get on a road with even a few cars on it, hit some black ice and you can say goodnight. Riding motorcycles in decent weather is dangerous as it is, but on ice it’s pure madness.
If you’re on a bicycle, take it damn easy, stay on footpathsor cycle paths because there at least you have some room if you fall. Along the side of the road, squeezed in between cars, busses and the edge of the road is a really bad place to fall over. Before you get to a turn, slow down and try to see if it looks like there is snow or ice in the turn. If there is, try to stop before you get there, and put your bloody feet on the ground to keep you upright.
Pedestrians
For the love of everything that is holy, use the pedestrian crossing and stay the heck off the roads. If cars can’t bloody well stop as it is, you really don’t want to stick your face out around the front of a bus, do you? That also means, if you get off a bus, do not pass the bus on the front! There’s bound to be some muppet overtaking the bus. This won’t be fun if the roads are dry, but now he can’t even stop. So, feel free to walk on the roads, slip in front of cars that cannot stop, if you feel so inclined. I’ll be standing on the footpath, calling 112 so they can come by and sweep you up from the road. Again, you have freedom of choice here…
Conclusions
As in everything in life, you can take on board what you feel like, or you can choose to ignore it. This is your call. However, being someone that has grown up in colder conditions than is seen here, perhaps you should listen. For me to get my license, I had to pass a skid test before I was let out doing the practical, on the road test. Ireland has nothing like this available in the driving test. Heck, the driving test here is still a heck of a lot easier than what I did, disregarding the skid test.
Be prepared of hitting bad roads, icy conditions and in general having to spend time on the roads with lots of people who have no clue how dangerous they really are, and you are likely to be fine. All you can do is try to be as safe as you can be.
The worst present you can give your family is them having to go to hospital to pick you up or identify you. It is Christmas, give them the present of your company this weekend. Be safe.
First time I’m writing a book review, so I’ll start off with a caveat actually. Similar to the one the author gives himself, funnily enough!
When it comes to your own security or the security of those you hold dear, do not take any advise at face value. Make sure it actually works when you do need to use it. Everything that is written or that you see is not necessarily true. Just because it is in a book or on TV doesn’t mean it is half as good as they make it out to be. Don’t hazard your own or others lives on something you haven’t tested!
Having said that, I find this book to give a very interesting insight into the minds and behaviours of various types of personas that may want to try to take your worldly possessions (or life) off your hands.
Here we have a book written by Sgt. Rory Miller, a guy who has worked, and still is, in high security prisons as a security guard. His resume is impressive, but it is already in the book so if you’re curious, read the book. Let’s just say, I personally think he has the qualifications to speak on the subject.
There is a big discrepancy to what is taught in a regular dojo versus what you may encounter outside the dojo. Firstly, in the dojo, you are training with your mates. They usually won’t try to hurt you, at least not too badly. Even if they do swing a sharp blade at you, their behaviour is slightly different to how they would swing at someone unknown to them, who they do mean to harm. It would be highly unusual if they actually tried to do you physical harm in the dojo. This difference is what underpins the entire book and goes through, in high detail why this is, what you will found “on the outside” and what you really need to consider when you run into the really nasty people who have zero regard for your (and others) life.
Believe what you will about your fellow man, but do remember, you are quite possibly entirely wrong when you place any assumptions on how someone will behave when faced with a life threatening situation. Including your own self. There is no substitute for experiencing a situation where your life depends on your immediate, accurate and correct response. Not even training in a dojo where you’ll have a whole bunch of others (usually friends) who attack you.
This is highlighted very much throughout the book, and one assumption after another is torn to shreds. I especially find the chapter on predators a big eye opener. I mean, you try to think the best of people, but there is some seriously screwed up people out there too. It reminded me why I do train, and it will make me train both slightly differently as well as harder.
In any case, if you do train in a dojo and you have never really been in a fight on the streets, then you should really read this book. If you train for competition and think you can stand on your own two feet in a fight, you should really read this. There is nothing like deceiving yourself into believing you can take on anyone, anytime, anywhere. Reality is, you may not even see them coming.
So, read this, as it definitely has opened my eyes. It has given me some ideas and has certainly changed my training.
One thing that people usually forget is that everything you have learnt and will learn in life can be applied not just to the subject matter in which is was learnt, but in any other subject matter you encounter in life. You can learn something about cars and use that same principle in lots of other areas too, if you just listen to the lesson and grasp the principle behind it.
As you probably know, I train in a Martial Art. How can principles learnt while fighting someone be applied to anything else in life? It’s quite simple really. All you really need is a little bit of imagination. I will here touch on three completely different subject areas, but I will take one principle and apply it appropriately to each area. Let’s pick a lesson from Martial Arts, then apply some imagination and then I’ll let you use your own imagination as we take that same lesson into something every human thinks about, sex.
Yes, you read that right! I’m sure you’re now thinking that this will end up being some sado-masocisthic blog post, right? Not at all. Quite on the contrary actually! The subject areas could really be anything, but this may show you some contrasts and commonalities and how your own imagination can transform your life.
When you start training in a Martial Art, you’ll be shown basics and you’ll likely be told that the basics are the most important techniques you’ll learn. Practice your basics and higher level techniques will then also become better. I can tell, your imagination is already skipping forward. So, hang in there and we’ll get to that in a moment.
So, let’s use our imagination a bit and consider the above fact. If you really think of it, the above statement holds true in anything you want to get better in. It could be some topic at work, some sport you train or compete in, even cooking. Take each component in whatever subject matter you wish and you will see that if you can get the basics right and improve your skills the end result will also be so much better, right?
Take this into the context of being with your partner then. Remember your first kiss? It was probably shit if you think of it objectively. But through the years, hopefully, you get more chances to practice that technique and eventually your skills in kissing someone improves. Should you stop trying to get better? Nah, why should you? That’s no fun right?
Next thing that your Martial Arts instructor will probably tell you a lot is to slow it down. This is so you can more easily see, feel and understand what the technique itself has to teach you. You’ll find openings in yourself where you are vulnerable, openings in your opponent where you can strike, weird or interesting angles that changes what opportunities you have or not have. It’ll show you at what points you’re doing something right, but more importantly where you are doing something wrong.
Using your imagination next, let’s consider something that a lot of people do. At a certain age you can start driving a car. You’ll be driving in lots of different road conditions and weather conditions. On a dry road it is very easy to keep high speeds and still be in control. Driving fast is not necessarily a mark on you being a good driver. As adverse weather rolls in controlling the car safely becomes harder as it may lose traction a lot sooner and easier. Roads that has water on them are not as safe as a dry road. Roads with icy spots are yet again not as safe as a wet road. Roads with thick ice and a bit of snow on top is less safe again. The key then to drive safely is not to be driving fast, but to drive at a speed where you can safely control your vehicle. Look at Ireland recently. Slow down and you’ll much sooner notice when the road becomes unsafe or when the car is starting to lose traction. If you slow down, you can then control the car and take yourself out of a potentially lethal situation. Driving fast will more than likely get you injured or killed.
Now, if we take this into the realm of sex, I’m sure you can already see direct correlations here. Lads, how many times have you had a woman tell you to slow it down and not just jump in there? Again, slowing things down will make it much easier for you to figure out what makes your partner tick, sigh, squirm and enjoy what you’re doing.
Everyone that starts in a Martial Art will at some stage be told to relax. In the dojo you will find someone that is very rigid and really goes at it with lots of force and strength. Also known as “being martial”. Doing this will probably hold you back eventually and eventually you’ll not progress and get any better at what you do. Your techniques may look good, but you may find yourself getting beaten when ending up sparring or worst case on the streets in a real fight.
Let’s consider a punch, aimed at your belly. Your natural reaction is to tense up as you receive the punch and more than likely you’ll get winded. All because you’re tensing up, you lock up your entire body. Once the air rushes out of your lungs, that fight is over. If you instead relax your abdomen a bit you can absorb a lot of the force and thereby not get winded. As you haven’t locked up your body you can also move out of the way to a much safer position, leading to you staying in the fight or surviving a potentially lethal situation.
Again, taking this into the context of sex, what can you learn here? Well, if you tense up you’re also losing control of your body in this situation as well! It becomes harder to breathe for example. If you relax, you could enjoy the moment for longer and thereby have more stamina and definitely a much nicer experience.
Another thing that is said to us in the dojo is that soke never does the same technique twice. Soke is the japanese word for Grand Master. He is the person who decides what direction the Martial Art is taking and so on. He is therefore a very important person in any Martial Art. But why doesn’t he do the same technique twice? Well, no two situations are the same. Not even if you practice the same technique over and over again. Each time a strike or kick is making its way towards you, there will always be slight differences. Learning to use those differences to ones advantage is a key factor. If you end up on the street in a fight and you expect your opponent to behave in some specific pattern, you’ll end up on the ground bleeding. No person reacts exactly the same as any other person. Not even if the same thing happens twice in a row as they have learnt something from the first time it happened to them.
Let’s consider something that Einstein once said: “The height of insanity is doing the same thing twice and expecting a different outcome.” He mean this in the context of science and expecting different test results from the same tests. Science is very absolute in this regard, but so is expectations, which is a very relative term. In order for you to get a different test result, you have to change the test in some way. Could be simply slightly different mix of ingredients or perhaps adding or removing some component. What is important to understand here is that the second time you do the same thing, the result is already known and can be expected to be just what it was the first time. You should expect this, because others will expect this as well. Something needs to change for it to be different.
Again, this also holds true when it comes to sex. Keep on doing the same thing over and over again become boring. Really boring. Eventually you may even have a schedule when you’ll have sex. Does this sound like fun? Does this sound like something you’ll want to have for the rest of your life? Nah, not only change what you do, but when, how and where. You’ll have lots more fun that way, right?
So, to those of you training in Martial Arts, what other lessons and principles can you apply to your daily life that you learn in the dojo? What lessons from your every day life can you apply to Martial Arts?
Those of you not training Martial Arts, what lessons have you learnt at work that you can use at home?
To all of you, remember this, your imagination is the most powerful force you have at your disposal. You can imagine anything you want and if you work towards that imagined goal, eventually you’ll get there, and as I showed above, there might be some fun along the way too!
Never forget, everything you have learnt so far you can use any way you see fit. All you need to do is being open to new ideas. Both your own and others.
Hopefully this learnt you something, but more importantly I hope this may open new doors in your life and shine a light on that something you want to have improved and given you some ideas on what you can do to get it resolved.
Wow, media are really rocking with the state of the Republic right now. National and International media are all over this country. No such thing as bad press they say, but I do think at least one person disagree right now about that statement. Brian Cowen.
Let’s face some facts here shall we. He inherited a country that was on the verge of being flushed down the toilet. He was part of the ensemble that got us there too. But I’ve yet to hear a single word about our previous head of state, Bertie Ahern. I’m sure he’s getting a tan somewhere nice and warm, just not warm enough for my liking.
Let’s also not forget, the whole nation was more than happy to getting the tax reductions when the country was “going well”. Just because there was an abundance of money flowing through here doesn’t mean we did well. All it really means is, the populace was happy to spend, spend and then spend some more. Now that the global markets have caused a ruckus and the builders have managed to build more houses than there is people to occupy them, the whole nations is left to foot the bill.
Why? Well, when we had an influx of money flowing through, did the government and the people consider that there would be a time when we’d not be able to fart gold bars any more? Nope, not a single thought spent on such silly notions. Why worry about bad things, like the country going bankrupt, when we can spend, spend, spend and lend, lend, lend.
Has this nation been here before? Sure has. Did the nation learn anything? Not a damn thing it seems.
Are people pissed off? Yup.
Are people considering their own responsibility? Nope.
Are the Dail and Seanad taking responsibility? Nope.
Did they wait too long to sort out the banks? Sure did, that is quite self-explanatory, isn’t it?
Consider that over the previous 14 years €12.78 billion was spent, every year, only public service salaries and pensions alone. That is the single biggest post in the books our dear government jots down all the ins and outs. €12.78 billion, every year.
At this juncture, the Republic of Ireland really only has one choice. Bite the bullet, grit through it. Seriously. It is even past the point where a revolution would actually accomplish anything at all.
So, why am I bothering even writing down any of this, as it’s all really obvious isn’t it? Well, there’s another problem nobody has bothered highlighting or even consider. Something which is even worse than having to put your kids in debt for their first 30 years of their working lives. Yes, there is actually something worse.
Everyone at this point agrees about the fact that Brian Cowen should resign. I think he himself is resigned to the idea of his resignation.
But, who should take over the reins? Who can continue to steer the country out of these problems and make it thrive again? Is there a single political party that can accomplish this? Is there even a coalition that can handle this, confidently and with the peoples support, and which at the same time can actually be honest to the people of the nation?
I can’t see a single party, coalition or individual that has the guts, never mind the ability, to actually accomplish this. Which means we’re more than likely in for another shower of monkeys to rule the nation for the foreseeable future. Because there is no alternative present!
So, instead of sitting at home moaning and whining, instead of demonstrating screaming murder, instead of stuffing your mattress full with the bits of paper you just took out from the bank, what are you going to do to help the nation? What can you do to help the nation regain its fallen glory? Are you going to help those less fortunate than yourself? Because these days they can surely need it. Will you help at the homeless shelters? Will you help ensuring our ambulance services stay? Exactly what are you going to do? Instead of just talking or screaming?
I know this, I will be there, helping those in my area who can need a hand. I’ll help friends with whatever I can as much as I can. Because that is something I can do. What makes me so frustrated is, I see all these Irish people, who I have come to love, sitting on their thumbs screaming “it hurts, this sitting on me thumbs!!”. Of course it does, nitwit!
Now, get off yer arse and do something about things!
You want to be successful in what you do? You want to “be the best”? You want to have all your dreams come true? Most people tend to answer yes to these questions.
Are you willing to do what it takes to achieve those goals? Are you willing to put in the effort required to get there? Again, most people say yes here too. Only one problem, people generally do not realise the effort they may have to go through and how hard that road might become.
If you take a look at those that are really successful in what they do, no matter what it is they do, you’ll find a few select things they all have in common. First and foremost is the fact that they just never quit, never give up, no matter what they are faced with. They get knocked on the head and fall down, they’ll be right up on their feet again, getting back in there again, again and again.
I’ve heard a couple of quotes which fit very well in here, and I’ll also add a video, which actually is the reason I’m posting this in the first place. Take these quotes and remember them, saying them to yourself when you’re starting to falter. Because you will falter. We all do at some stage.
“It’s not how many time you fall down, it’s how many times you get back up again.” – Unknown, references appreciated! “Fall seven times, stand up eight.” ~Japanese Proverb
“We shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills; we shall never surrender [...]” – Winston Churchill [Full speech]
“Do it with a smile!” – Sensei (you know who you are, Domo arigato)
You have probably been told, and likely still believe, that your brain was only allotted a certain number of “brain cells” and that once gone that your brain would never be able to recoup those lost entities.
Scientific studies have revealed over the last decade this simply isn’t true. You can actually not only regain “lost” brain cells, but you can also change different parts of the brain. Simply put, your brain adapts to the excercises you put it through. For example, if you are studying for an exam, the parts of your brain that are involved in learning and memory retention grow and become more dense, effectively making you more adept at learning and retaining new skills and knowledge.
But, when does these new parts of the brain form and can you do anything to help it along?
In an average person, the brain “regenerates” or “grows” when you’re asleep. In other words, when your conscious mind has gone to bed and your subconscious mind is at its peak of its working day. So, this in turn tells us something else, if you let your conscious mind “go to sleep” and you simply let your subconscious mind do what it needs, you can then allow this to happen, even when you are not asleep.
But how can you get into such a state then? Well, you could consider the notion of day dreaming, meditation, self-hypnosis etc. which could also be called by the term “trance state”. No, I do not mean in the sense of doing a seanse looking for dead people, but rather a very common state which an average person actually enters, normally, several times through the day.
If you consider those times you’ve driven to work, but can’t remember anything of the drive, apart from going into and getting out of the vehicle, this is what I am talking about. You’ve simply let your subconcious mind drift away processing whatever it needs to process.
You can, as noted above, also use meditation or self-hypnosis for the same purposes. In actual fact, some research has claimed that from a 20 minute meditation session, your brain has then created a new synapse, a complete neural pathway representing a specific “thing” (emotional connection, memory association, etc. etc.)…
If you’re curious about reading more about this, I found a decent starting place, which includes further references. It is a student paper, so itself is an introduction for those who want the scientific references and data.
Waiting is something I don’t do too well. It is something one does because one has to, not something one chooses to do. Sometimes though it can pay off to hold off things for a little while, allowing other things that are in motion to settle down before making any decisions. It is good to keep moving, but it may not always be good to be rushing.
One can find examples of this in all sorts of places in a normal day. For me, this became even more obvious this morning. Here’s the thing, I had a job offer from a company yesterday. I had also been waiting to hear from another company as well. Both jobs are something I’m both good at and I liked both companies. There was just something extra I found to my liking with this other place, the one I had waited to hear from, and I had waited longer on them than the company who had now offered me a position. So, I was now twisting and turning, wondering what was going on at the other place, as I had no feedback at all. Could be good, could be bad, one can’t really tell.
Sitting here at home then, having nothing much to do, this plays on ones emotions, probably more than anyone likes to admit. You then get up in the morning, still wondering “Should I take this offer? Will the other place offer me a position? What should I really do?”. Nerve wrecking, like as I said before, I liked both places.
While I then was checking my morning email, I was thinking “ah, let’s just go for what is on the table. It’ll be fine. The others haven’t said anything yet and I’ve waited for some time now…”
This is where things are getting tricky, and by now you can probably guess what is happening. As I am in the middle of accepting the offer I have, the phone rings …
Fantastic! Oh CRAP! I now have 2 job offers, offering similar packages etc. What the hell do I do now then? Gut feel is all I have left to go on, and to be honest, my gut feel has helped me before. I am simply going to go with the company I got the best feel from and that I feel suits me the best.
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