Mike C Sees

This weekend I talked at length with a delightful young lady who finds her life rather unfocused and lacking meaning in several areas.  And from such conversations I always learn a lot about myself.

My friend already demonstrates enormous talent, and accomplishes a great deal at school.  Realistically, I had to tell her that to address the accomplishment gap she feels, overall, she needs to be more intentional about her time outside of school - planning what to do with afternoons, evenings and weekends.

We talked about the overall areas that matter, and need some balance, in her life.  She has already developed a great menu of enjoyable and necessary activities around these five core areas:

• spiritual nurture,
• physical wellness,
• cultural,
• community, and
• academics.

We read part of Ivan Campuzano’s “What Time is It? Time To Reexamine Your Relationship To Time.”

[B]eyond its utility value, should we care about it in terms of how we choose to live our day to day lives? Should I waste my valuable time constantly worried about events in my distant future? Or should I use my time to live as intensely as possible in the now, and take the necessary actions that will set in motion the conditions of my future reality?

So what creates our psychological relationship and therefore attachment to time? The short answer is that our thoughts are what create our time. If you have ever reached a place of “no mind” where your thoughts cease, either through meditation or an intense experience, you will understand what it means to have a “timeless” mind. No thoughts, no time. As soon as thoughts enter, time enters.

With that in mind, I would like you to take the time to examine your common thought and internal dialogue. What does it say about your relationship to time and how that impacts your life? Are you constantly on the run and feel like you don’t have enough time? Do you feel anxious and stressed all the time? Is it really that you don’t have enough time, or can it be attributed to incessant or disorderly thinking?

Since my young friend already has plenty of good well-balanced ideas for her life, but doesn’t seem to have time to get on with those ideas, that last question is the key.  Learning to “live in the now” and work with a 15 minute day-planner is, I think, her best way to take control, accomplish more, and be happier.

Making a plan for each day is one thing.  The harder bit is to actually focus your mind to execute that plan.  That means trying to get each thing done just a bit faster than the time you’ve allotted to it, and moving on when the time is up.  And it means forgiving yourself when the day doesn’t quite work out according to plan.  As long as you’re doing the most important thing at each moment, and spending time in each of your core areas, you’ll be on the right track.  And so will I.

Ivan has written several excellent reflections on time, and personal growth. Check them out, when you can make time   E.g.

• each day, what if before you try to remember who you are, you remember what you want to be? 
• many come to think that their mind is something they cannot control — master your mind;
• one day at a time to a life of fulfillment, joy and contribution
• making the most of your daily time; and the counter-balance:
• Pura Vida, tranquilo amigo tome su tiempo

• Excellent intro tone - straight to the economy
• Surplus in the past became an opportunity to transfer wealth to the wealthy.. aye
• Take charge of our future, by bold action for long-term improvements on energy, healthcare and education — that’s the economic agenda
• Credit greases the wheels of the economy — it is broken today because we have too much bad debt; too little trust
  • As taxpayers pay to restore health to the consumer & business credit systems, I want it to be responsibly directed to basics. I’ve no sympathy for those who speculate or indulge on credit.
• Help the major banks to serve again through lending - but how? through new capital tied to lending metrics
• This is about getting money for bus.ops and for families faced with negative home equity, under a sensibly regulated financial system
• Energy, healthcare, education and sensible fiscal plans are ALL about our future competitiveness
• We will have to sacrifice some priorities to achieve these practical improvements, but we will do whatever is needed to get results we need
• Catalyze private enterprise
• Double the amount of renewable energy in 3 years; congress - send me legislation that places a market-based cap on carbon pollution
• Healthcare costs drive jobs offshore — we cannot delay this reform. It is time.
• A cure for cancer in our time; large investment in preventative care; quality care for everyone; long-overdue efficiency improvements
• We will start on healthcare redesign next week
• Those who out-teach us today will out-compete us next year
• Not just more resources, more reforms - rewards for success, expanded charter schools, better training for teachers
• Everyone should get at least a year of post-secondary - dropping out of high school is quitting on your country.
• By 2020 have highest college grad % in the world. How with tuition at world-record levels??
• Take responsibility to NOT pass onto our children a debt they cannot pay.
• End direct payments to large agribusiness that don’t need them. End no-bid contracts. Control medicare costs.
• End tax breaks for wealthiest 2%. But families earning < 250K to see no tax increases.
• End tax breaks for corporations that offshore jobs — tough to operationalize
• Include (expose?) the real cost of war, in our budgets
• Inspiration comes from the aspirations of ordinary. The starting point for our work must be - how does this help America succeed?
• “Downpayment on universal healthcare” is to drive down the cost of healthcare, so we can afford it for everyone.
• Republican response (Louisiana Governor Jindal) starts long on personal notes connecting his story to President Obama’s
  • Moves to the need for Republicans to be the presidents strongest partner
  • The responding governor equates government and bureaucracy
  • Tax cuts and less government … still the only answer. Admits no possibility of effective government
  • Oops … we forgot about our small government agenda for the last 8 years. Sorry. But we mean it now.
• Most memorable take-away: surplus in past was an opportunity to transfer wealth to the wealthy- putting short term gains ahead of long term benefit - no more.

Sympathize, with the different burdens we each face
Understand, even as we hope to be fully understood
Recognize and respect differences
Forgive, even as God forgives us

These are cornerstones of relationships - between family members, friends and even countries.

O Great Spirit, God: Mother, Father, Guide, Comforter -
we hallow your name and seek your presence;

May your Spirit define us today and everyday;

May we find our daily bread and be filled,
yet be mindful to love everyone else as we love ourselves;

May we find forgiveness, and be forgiving in all things,
may we know goodness and choose what is healthy;

So may we share the joy of praise and devotion to your Way,
standing tall like the pine, lifting toward your Light,
and living in a way that sustains Life for all children of God,

Amen.

“Whenever you find yourself on the side of the majority, it is time to pause and reflect.”

“Remember to be gentle with yourself and others. We are all children of chance, and none can say why some fields will blossom and others lay brown beneath the August sun. Care for those around you. Look past your differences. Their dreams are no less than yours, their choices in life no more easily made. And give. Give in any way you can, of whatever you possess. To give is to love. To withhold is to wither. Care less for your harvest than how it is shared, and your life will have meaning and your heart will have peace.”  Kent Nerburn - Letters to My Son

“If you’re not failing every now and again, it’s a sign you’re not doing anything very innovative.” –Woody Allen

Isn’t it remarkable that the man who created so much beauty through music was so unhealthy every day of his life. [All Things Considered]

An author named Michael Gelb has developed the Seven Da Vincian Principles, [How to Think Like Leonardo Da Vinci : Seven Steps to Genius Every Day], a guide to life based largely on the ideas in da Vinci’s notebooks. They are:

• “Curiosita- An insatiably curious approach to life and an unrelenting quest for continuous learning.
• Dimostrazione- A commitment to test knowledge through experience, persistence, and a willingness to learn from mistakes.
• Sensazione- The continual refinement of the senses, especially sight, as the means to enliven experience.
• Sfumato- A willingness to embrace ambiguity, paradox, and uncertainty.
• Arte/Scienza- The development of the balance between science and art, logic and imagination. “Whole-brain” thinking.
• Corporalita- The cultivation of grace, ambidexterity, fitness, and poise.
• Connessione- A recognition of and appreciation for the interconnectedness of all things and phenomena. Systems thinking.”

This site offers some nice gifts, best of all the free gift of this movie, with these wise reminders for us all:

“What surprises you most about humankind?
That they get bored with childhood, they rush to grow up, and then long to be children again;
That they lose their health to make money, and then lose their money to restore their health;
That by thinking anxiously about the future, they forget the present, such that they live in neither the present nor the future;
That they live as if they will never die, and die as though they had never lived.

As a parent what are some of life’s lessons you want your children to learn?
To learn they cannot make anyone love them - All they can do is let themselves be loved;
To learn that it is not good to compare themselves to others;
To learn to forgive by practicing forgiveness;
To learn that it only takes a few seconds to open profound wounds in those they love, and it can take many years to heal them;
To learn that a rich person is not one who has the most, but is one who needs the least;
To learn that there are people who love them dearly, but simply do not yet know how to express or show their feelings;
To learn that two people can look at the same thing and see it differently
To learn that it is no enough that they forgive one another, but they must also forgive themselves.

My time is eternity. Just know that I am here. Always.”

[theInterviewWithGod.com]