The tale of the lucky time-traveller

I remember when I turned 23, I felt OLD.

I've been in college for longer than four years. I felt a little behind in life.  And I honestly felt a little over the hill.

I know I know. No 23 year old is over the hill. But I still felt that way. And me being a little behind with semesters in college didn't help my feeling.

But one day, I time travelled. I swear! 

I was daydreaming about myself as an 80 year old. I was old and brittle.

...and I was upset.

"Why didn't I do 'this' in life? Why didn't I do 'that' in life?"

I was an unaccomplished old man much closer to his deathbed than his crib. And I wanted nothing more than to go back to have a second chance.

"If only I could go back to when I was 23. I'd do things different. The things I was scared to do, I'll do them this time. Because here I am near my deathbed. It had to happen, so why didn't I have the courage or willpower the first time?"

WHOOSH!

I snapped out of it. 

I looked around... I was 23 again!

That literally made me feel good.  THere I was feeling old and over the hill, but a change of perspective gave me inspiration.

With this new inspiration, I want to do the things that my 80 year old self wish he did... 

Call me crazy, but I felt like a time traveller. Feeling old, like I did things late in life. The suddenly, I'm young again!

We all have one life to live. Life's too short to live it sane.

Graduate And Move On

“Fear is the glue that keeps you stuck. Faith is the solvent that sets you free.” - Shannon L. Alder

Don't plan forever.

I know some people that want to be in school forever, especially when recently graduated from college.

I have nothing against wanting to learn forever, even if that means taking classes at age 60, but school is supposed to be those learning years--the stages in life where you develop certain skills to be used elsewhere later in life.

School is preparation.

Graduating means "no more preparation, it's time to perform."  And that is scary!

It's important to move on from that though. You can't stay in a frame of mind where you just want to prepare forever JUST BECAUSE it gives you something to do for the time being.

Take what you learn, and show the world.

Plans can be very important, but doing them forever is pointless.

Maybe just maybe you've learned enough to sustain yourself and grow.  Have faith in yourself

Graduate... Then move on.

Be Seen Today, Especially If You're Not Ready

"You can have the best product in the world, but if you don't know how to sell it, it's a waste of time." - Arnold Schwarzenegger

I have a huge problem.  I am a perfectionist.

I don't finish projects because they aren't perfect.  I am reluctant to start new projects because I know that it will be an endless amount of work that I won't ever be satisfied with. Therefore, completion of the work will never come.

That has to stop.

I've heard a great quote:

"Great art isn't completed--It's abandoned."

I feel like I need to pay more attention to that.

I think a huge lesson I have learned, but keep forgetting, is that I have to produce content. I have to produce relentless amounts of content.

Of all the supposed content that I should be releasing, none of it will be perfect.  Lots of it won't be great.  I have to accept that.

But the important thing is to keep dishing it out. Improvement comes with practice, hence why the content must be a non-stop outflow.

If somebody produces 10 things a week, and 2 of them are good, then TWO of them are good! That's a good thing.

It's better than not producing anything at all waiting for it to be perfect.

If you are waiting for "the perfect time" to lose weight, or begin something that you've been wanting to do for a while, that perfect time will never come.

If you want to produce youtube videos, but don't own a good enough camera, then use your sub par camera. Use your less than perfect cam, and get busy.

I'm Dirt!

"Nobody cares about your dirt. 'Who you are inside' is meaningless aside from what it produces for other people." - This article... http://bit.ly/12MXIDf

I feel like I've always kind of known this, but never quite understood it until very recently-- I am dirt!

I, me, Sajen believes that he has a lot of worth inside him, but he doesn't feel he has much to show for it.  I am nutritious rich dirt that has the ability to grow the largest redwood tree.

I know I can do it. I know I can grow that huge beautiful tree for all to see. I know I can grow that tree that surprises me when it grows.  But, I haven't done it yet. Not yet... not yet...

So far, I'm the only one who knows what I'm possibly capable of, but that's not good enough. The world doesn't care about potential too much. It cares about results and effect.  I'm the same way.  I know I have a lot of potential, but that doesn't matter or impress me if I don't do anything about it.

Nobody cares about the dirt--me included. We all care about what grows from it.

Dirt is highly absorbent. It sucks water from the surface, and holds nutrients. Lots and lots of nutrients.

Dirt is a consumer.

However, put some effort to plant a seed water it and nurture the plant, and the dirt becomes something more than a consumer. It becomes a producer.

The tree is the star. Not the dirt

Fact: lately, I've been consuming way way too much. Content, music, reading, movies, food... I'm consuming it all.

Even with things I WANT to produce, I'm consuming way more from OTHER PEOPLE'S creations.

Consuming is important, but currently my scale is tipped in the "consumer's" advantage. I need to give the "producer" side a lot more attention, but that takes work.

Humans only want something that gives them a benefit.  I need to provide the world with my "product" whatever that is. I'll feel accomplished having done it, and others will become the consumers of my efforts.  They will get something out of me! That ups my value.

Hooray For Contradictions

"Do I contradict myself? Very well, then I contradict myself, I am large, I contain multitudes." - Walt Whitman

Can you love something for a very specific reason, and hate it for the exact same reason?

Could a  clear-canvas, unbiased mind listen to a republican give a spiel and agree with their points?
Could that same mind listen to a democrat's spiel and also agree with their complete opposite arguments?

Can you agree with both on an issue? Can you disagree with both on the exact same issue while simultaneously agreeing with it?

I think so. It's a contradiction, and I don't care.  I see contradictions all the time. Guess what... The world doesn't implode because of the paradox.  The world continues on housing contradictions as it turns.

It's so easy for the human brain to render clashing valid arguments as completely invalid.

Is something wrong with accepting a paradoxical mentality sometimes?

People have a hard time accepting that. They grab their pencils and papers and try to figure out what's logical. If they can't understand it, then it must be wrong.

What if two sides are wrong and right at the same time? Make sense? No it doesn't. But, maybe that's okay because contradiction is nature.

People have the ability to shape themselves into any shape. If the world provides round holes, you could become the square peg.  Or maybe you become something that doesn't even resemble a peg.

If people adopt a trait 'here', an attribute 'there'... a habit from 'up', and a feature from 'down'... then maybe a person will become a unique one-of-a-kind entity--one that is self-contradictory perhaps.

Others can have a hard time accepting anything contradictory, so they will begin to bash and tear you down. They want you to make sense. They will shape you to fit the world's "round holes."

I don't see much wrong with celebrating your individual thoughts, ideas and feelings. Even if they don't all make sense with one another.

If heaven is the unstoppable force and hell is the immovable object, then earth is what happens when the two collide.. And we live on earth.

Think in the Long Term

"You must have long term goals to keep you from being frustrated by short term failures." - Charles C. Noble

You have a headache? Take a pill. You're headache will vanish.

You overweight? If you go on a grapefruit only diet, you'll lose 20 pounds in two weeks. Problem solved.

Feel insecure? I bet if you talk negatively of people, you'll feel much better because you bring them down to your level.

But guess what... The headache comes back, the weight comes back, and the insecurities are still there.

You've fixed no problems.. Often the result of small thinking.

Why not think bigger? Why not thing larger?

Short term goals can be a good thing at times, but I feel like history repeats itself in that real success is all about long term goals and the relentless small steps that get you there.

Quick fixes don't really solve problems, they just cover it up momentarily.

I once went on a no-carb diet for a summer. I lost 40 pounds in a little over a month. I gained it right back plus more.

I didn't fix my real problem which was my lifestyle.  Bad habits were already formed.  Anyone can break a habit for a month, as I did. But replacing old habits by forming new ones is more of a long term goal. That's where my success really was in eventually losing weight.

To change habits and live healthier is a long term goal.  My weight didn't get put on in 1 month, so it shouldn't come off that fast either.

But by making little changes in my lifestyle, and seeing my true goal, it wasn't too difficult in hindsight.

Eat healthier, smaller portions, exercise, don't binge eat... That's how I lost weight. No magic diet, no magic pill. Over time, the weight came off, and I felt better.

A healthier body is one way to gain a bit of self esteem, but a healthy mind is more important for that.

If you feel small compared to others out there, then you shouldn't hate them. Hate will make YOU feel worse. "The more you love, the less you hate."

A surefire way to help yourself is by taking inspiration from ANYWHERE you find it.  If someone's talents or life is making you feel jealous, why not change that "jealousy" to "inspiration?"

...Or you could just slam them, and try to bring them down to make yourself feel better.... Nah.

Use the inspiration to grow yourself into a beast of a person easily comparable to those that could have been target for your jealousy. That'd help some self esteem, huh?

Congratulate them. Give them credit. Learn from them for better or worse... But, don't bring them down.

Building a tower is a long term goal. It's more difficult, yet rewarding. Job well done!
Destroying someone's tower to make yourself feel better is small and weak. And you won't feel better, really.

Long term, long term, long term. No quick fixes.

Cliché for a Reason

"Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me." - Old Nursery Rhyme

I've heard that a million times before.

"If you can't say something nice, don't say nothin' at all." - Thumper from Disney's Bambi

Yep, been there and heard that before too. Lots.

"Treat others how you want to be treated."

How cliché.

Haven't we all heard little sayings such as these a million times growing up?

The efforts of our parents, role models, movies and arts to plant positive seeds in the minds of a fresh generation is commendable. But let's face it--some of the messages can become cliche.

"Cliché?"

Isn't that word pretty much synonymous with dull, unoriginal, boring, blasé, or uninspired?

People find clichés so predictable because they've heard them an infinite amount of times throughout life--maybe to the point to where they lose their meaning...

So why do some people have such a hard time with them in life if we all know them so well!

If people drill positive messages into a kids brain, shouldn't the message soak into the kid's soul? Shouldn't it become a part of their root as a person?

Maybe clichés exist for a reason. Maybe they are repeated millions of times over centuries for a reason. Maybe mankind stumbled on to something and wants to share it for future generations for a reason. Maybe just maybe clichés can be right.

Lets take the examples I posted earlier:

"Sticks and stones." I know too many people that are too worried about what "other people" think of them. They worry what "other people" will say about them. They could be hurt by the words if they are harmful.

But words can't hurt you, right?

Of course words can be emotionally damaging if you let them... IF you let them.

But, look at history... George Washington, Lincoln, Steve jobs, Mother Theresa, Gandhi, Martin Luther King, Einstein, Buddha, or Jesus Christ... If you do the research, you could find that these great influential world-changing people weren't always popular. In fact, some of them were hated. But they persevered. They weren't HURT by the words of others... Or maybe they were hurt, but they believed in their purpose more than the pain.

Sticks and stones can kill a man. But I guess it takes a certain kind of mind to really REALLY get that words can't kill you. Humans are built stronger than that.

"Treat others how you'd want to be treated."

Do you know anybody who is ridiculously offensive, yet easily offended? It's ironic.

These kind of people could destroy an army tank with their words, yet crack as easily as an egg if somebody talks back.  Definitely a sign of an insecure person.

How would the world be if everybody actually treated others how they want to be treated?

Yes. Maybe clichés become motifs in history for a reason. Maybe they're on to something. Maybe the simplest messages you learned as a kid have some real depth and answers in them. Maybe it'd be worth it to pick your brain and pull some of those embedded messages from childhood out and give them a reexamination.

To the great clichés repeated throughout history, I raise my glass to you, for there is another word whose meaning is to be repeated generation after generation...

"Legend."

 Cheers! *gulp* (That's some good water)

Hypocrites Can Be Logical

"The best way to succeed in life is to act on the advice we give to others."  ~Author Unknown

I'm a hypocrite.

I think everyone is to a degree.  I make it a personal goal to actually practice what I preach, but sometimes I can lose sight of that. I think everyone does--some more than others.

I try to stay closer to the I'm-not-a-hipocrite side of the curve.

I've heard some great advice throughout my life--advice that I've incorporated into my DNA.

As years went by, ive found that some of that great advice and intellect came from hypocrites.

I know sometimes it can be hard to swallow hypocritical advice. But GOOD advice coming from someone who doesn't follow it themselves doesn't mean there isn't worth to the words.

Good advice is good advice--it doesn't matter who says it.

I do know people personally that just can't listen to hypocritical advice. Even if the advice is pristine and meaningful, the words are ignored.

Examples:

"That college dropout is telling me how important school is, so I'll ignore what she has to say."

Or

"That guy stating the importance of balanced diet and exercise weighs a lot, so I'll ignore what he has to say."

Or

"That person with depression is giving happy-life advice, so I'll ignore what they have to say."

Now, I'm not downplaying the importance of being pure to your words; I'm not supporting hypocrisy.  I think we all should practice our good beliefs. I'm simply saying good advice is good advice no matter where it comes from. 

Choose what you want to absorb into your DNA, and don't let the absorbency be affected by whether or not the person "enlightening" you practices what he/she preaches.

They're loss. Doesn't have to be yours.

Perhaps you've grown up inheriting traits from someone important, be it parents, role models, or even celebrities . Then years later, you find that they have been a hypocrite behind closed doors. Should that affect the value of your beneficial  upbringing? I think not.