Good news!

It gives me great pleasure  to announce that I am going to be a Dad again. All the relevant relatives have now been told, so it's safe to announce on my blog.

Child number two is set to arrive around the 23rd March 2009. 

Can't wait!

:-)

Rest

It is a fundamental concept of yin and yang.  In this instance, yang is activity and yin is rest.

Yang, by it's very nature, will eventually expend itself. That goes for people, too. We need to rest. And if we are yang for too long, we eventually become exhausted and collapse (yin). 

The best yin is deep and restful sleep. This essential part of life is often ignored as our modern lifestyle encourages us to work and play hard. There's so much to distract us, when everything is available 24-hours a day. 

Power napping can really help to top up your batteries. If you do not think you have the discipline, you could try other methods. There is a product I have used for many years to help this - Recharge (I'm not on commission). This teaches you a simple method to quickly recharge your batteries. It is not a substitute for sleep, but can help you if you feel burned out.

Get plenty of rest..... and be happy.

Rich

Last Lecture

Randy Pausch was an American University lecturer. He was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer (which is inoperable), and this was his last lecture, entitled "Achieving your childhood dreams.". It's over an hour and sixteen minutes long, so make sure you have time to watch.

Be happy,

Rich

How do you think?

This is Jill Bolte. She is a neuroscientist, who experienced a stroke. Her experience is both inspiring and compelling. Be patient, it is an amazing lecture.

Meditation can access these states after much practice. Or you can contact places like the Monroe Institute to do their Gateway Experience. How you experience the world is very real. Your thoughts are things.

Change your mind, and you change the world.

Rich

Compare two Great Masters

First, we have Chen Zhenglei's sword form:

Then we have Chen Xiaowang's Sword form:

How can two people do the same movements in such a different manner, yet the core requirements and rules are never deviated from? This is the great diversity of martial arts. Interpretation is one of the greatest joys. Shakespearean actors announce the same lines, but with different emphasis - all based on who taught them, their intention and their life experience.

This is the true essence of Chinese martial arts. Everyone is different. We all have different body shapes, background, strengths and weaknesses. We bring our unique selves to improve, and we all absorb the training at different rates. 

A good teacher's students should not all look the same, for the teacher should taylor the training to the individual - shaping them without stifling them. However, when watching the student,  you should be able to clearly see who taught them. 

Be happy,

Rich

Being young

A recent study in how the brain works has concluded that time travels slower for small children, and gradually speeds up as we get older.

The reason why this phenomena happens, is because as children, we are noticing everything as a new experience. When we do this, we have more dense or detail-filled memory. As we get older, things become a variation on what we already know to be correct, so we commit less and less to memory and therefore time travels faster in our retrospective experience of it. 

So what can we learn from this?

• Always try to keep a sense of discovery.
  
• Learn new things.
  
• Do memorable things.
  

.... and time will lengthen like those long summers when you were a child.

Be happy,

Rich

Instinct

How many times has something challenging happened, and you thought to yourself, "I knew that was going to happen."

Lot of times, I'll bet.

Yet how many times have you stopped and asked yourself why didn't I do something about it?

We all have a natural guardian. It sits in the back of our consciousness, and sometimes it shouts to us (like when a car shoots out of nowhere), and other times it whispers. And with all the noise and hustle of our daily life, it's hard to pay attention. 

The secret is to be still and relax. The more you rush and hustle, the more you are likely to be distracted from the inner wisdom that is always there. 

:-)