Reflections

I must be getting on in years I think. I am in my 59th year and I seem to be spending a lot more of my time reflecting on what has been going on in my life. The lessons I have learnt, and the lessons that I have been given, but have not learnt from. How I have played my cards when met with success, and non-success. I do not think we fail at anything if we find victory where it's at because you learn a lot from both sides of the coin, and sometimes how you deal and play your cards after success or the achievement of your goals can put you back 10 steps in your overall development. And I am not talking only about physical effort.

Careers seem to be a very important part of people's lives these days and physical effort and practice can be a great playground for the development of skills to deal effectively with the challenges of day to day lives where the stakes can be a bit higher, and how effective you are can change your life and those that are around you, i.e. family, friends, co-workers. By being  the role model, and leader. By living your life and taking the lessons that you learn through your physical practice out into the rest of your world as it is.

One of the aspects of my physical effort is now how I see my fellow competitors. When I was younger all I wanted to do was to beat the person in front of me or my clubmates. I felt this aggressive feeling that they had to be beaten at all costs. Now I look at those people around me during a race and their best efforts, and to use the effort of those athletes or co-workers to draw out the best of myself, it is replacing the "it is all about me" and substituting it with a bigger picture of" we", to draw from their best efforts in a very caring and compassionate environment, and do the same for myself to draw out my best efforts by the inspiration that others around me give. In this way we become integral in that we are all connected.

To be able to do this we need to be comfortable with ourselves. To be grateful for all that we have, and to reframe our small world in a positive way. How we look after ourselves spiritually, physically, mentally, emotionally, and nutritionally all play a large part in how we see ourselves, and how we can reframe our world in a positive way. Very hard to do on little sleep, poor diet, little or no exercise and the wrong type of activity, and I am sorry but a 20 minute walk the dog while he stops at every 2nd tree for a scent party is not exercise or physical practice. Each day you need the discipline to set aside time to reflect on how you went to-day. How did you improve today and how did you help others to improve themselves. Use the breathing  tools, arousal visualisation, and the mantra that I find very helpful these days is "slow is smooth, smooth is fast". Slow down your thought processes before you act. Develop the skill set to look at yourself in "real time" and how you are going and whether your decisions are reflecting  on yourself and others in a positive or negative way . If things are not going so well, tough times at work, missing your daily physical practice, yoga, and meditation, you need to stop, and spend a few hours in a self imposed retreat to redirect yourself on a subconscious and conscious level, so you can regain your effectiveness. Your physical practice gives you all the physical bodily benefits of achievement but it also refuels your emotional and spiritual parts of yourself to put you "into the right frame of mind" to be able to settle down to a time of contemplation and be able to redirect yourself with decisions based on what values you hold in high regard and the practice of breath mastery, visualisation, and physical decision-making models such as the OODA  loop the SECMAC models which I will have a closer look at in my next blog.

Get back on track having used your tools to make a good plan. Now you need the courage to come forward and give your spirit the nourishment it needs to put your plan into action. The OODA loop was developed by the U.S. Navy fighter pilots to help them think in such a way that they are continuously orientating  themselves in their situation, making a decision, putting that plan into action, and then reviewing that plan, and so the loop goes around again, orientation, decision-making, putting the plan into action, and then reviewing that plan. They get so good at this, that this is the thought process they use flying at quite often supersonic speeds during warfare simulations and the real thing. Your plan may not be perfect but your mission now is moving along getting better every time you complete the loop. Use all your positive tools to feed your dog of courage. Again breath control, visualisation, mantras, posturing, and displaying a Kokoro spirit of never ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, giving up. Self mastery is a path to a better life that not a lot of people take on these days. It is a very effective way to be true to yourself and to be a model for others to follow. It does not happen overnight but it will happen with patience, time, and practice to be the master of your own destiny. In mastering yourself you are able to help those that are part of your world down the same path.

" People look at me and laugh because I am different. I look at them and laugh because they all look the same."