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Letting Go of Writer’s Guilt
In June, I wrote 20 pages of my new novel, finished two articles, and read books on writing technique. And the last few weeks? I have spent time with friends, went on walks, and caught up on old movies. When I mentioned this to a friend of mine, my voice all low and ashamed, she said, “C’mon, you deserve a break.” “Yeah, I guess,” I answered, knowing full well that if the tables were turned I would see the situation just as she did. In fact, when it comes to my friends, I am one of the first people to encourage time off and praise them for the work they have been doing. Yet, when it comes to myself, this is much harder to do. Why is it that we have no trouble cutting others slack but not ourselves? And, what can we do to make this guilt go away? |
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Putting Away Your Writing Worries
It seems that the list of concerns when writing articles keeps growing.
There are, however, four things you don’t ever have to fret about. |
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Passion Pays
The house we live in is on a half acre lot with lots of trees. It is a beautiful setting, but the situation does call for a certain amount of work to keep the place looking nice. |
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Three Foundation Stones for Building Organizational Integrity
When the stock market crashed in 1929, there were a lot of people who lost everything they had. You would think that the result of that event would be complete and utter despair. And, in fact, there were those who reacted that way. There were numerous cases of people who committed suicide because they lost their life savings on that fateful day. They simply went into a depression and just couldn\\\\\\\'t bring themselves to go on with life. |
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What to Do When You Are Chased by a Snake
I lived for several years on the Japanese island of Okinawa. It is a tropical island setting with a wealth of beauty and lots of things to do. We lived on the side of a mountain that overlooked the Pacific Ocean. The beauty that we were able to observe from there was breathtaking.
There were a lot of enjoyable things about living in Okinawa, but one of the things that I enjoyed most was learning to scuba dive. The island itself is a coral reef island so it is surrounded by all different types of coral - different colors, different shapes. There are also dozens of varieties of tropical fish. And the water was as clear as a bell. Even from the surface, by wearing a mask, you could see all of the beautiful sea life that was thirty or forty feet down.
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Celebrating the Couch Potato
Ah, the couch potato, that icon of American pop culture values. Isn\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'t that the life? Why would anyone want to exert extra energy to be productive when you can simply plop down on the couch in front of the telly and enjoy all that delicious snack food and a cool one. Why worry about a yard that needs mowing, a sink full of dishes or that overflowing garbage can. They will all be there tomorrow or even next week - you can take care of them then, or not. |
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Don't Allow Yourself to Get Burned
I'm not much of a fisherman, but I do enjoy it whenever the opportunity comes my way. I have some friends who are fanatics and occasionally I will go out with one of them. They have nice boats and it makes for an enjoyable day.
I like fishing from a boat but the kind of fishing I enjoy the most is surf fishing. I don't do it very often, but occasionally I will take my rod and reel and fish from the beach.
Surf fishing, to me, offers a lot more excitement than fishing from a boat. Here you get to stay active all the time. Basically you wade knee or thigh deep out into the surf and cast using a rod and reel. Since the surf is so active, there are a couple of special considerations you have to take care of. It is necessary to use extra weight so the bait will stay put and you have be extra sensitive to your line because it can be hard to tell the difference between a fish strike and the surf pulling your tackle.
****area of confusion with surf fishing v. beach fishing. Aren't these methods actually called "fly fishing?"*** leave out the "to me," this whole article is your opinion. Leave out the "ands" interupts flow bigtime--unpack these ideas into two complete sentences.p.s. do this throughout the article.
Of course there are a few things you have to look out for. Sea currents can be kind of tricky in some places and you have to be careful not to get sucked out to sea. Sometimes there will be sea urchins under foot and if you are not careful you can step on one. This can be quite painful. There are also other kinds of dangerous sea creatures. On more than one occasion I have had to dodge stinging jelly fish or get away from small sharks (the sharks were probably too small to be any real danger, but I was not about to take any chances).
But there is another danger that is a really sly one - especially on an overcast day. Standing out in the open air for a couple of hours, without very good skin protection, can cause you to get a horrible sunburn. This really can sneak up on you, though. The nature of getting burned by the sun is such that you usually don't realize it immediately. When your skin starts turning red it is already too late. It is very important to prepare ahead of time to prevent it in the first place - doing things like putting on a good sunblock and wearing a hat and other protective clothing.
*****I feel that you have two sories in one here. At first you start "how to" for basic life skills. however, there is not enough intro to the seconds part to give the reader a feasible tie in with the first part without having to read the article a few times for understanding.
my suggestion is that you tie the two pieces together better by gving more of an explaination on the "Why" you connect fishing with life skills.If you have any questions please feel free to contact me.
Have a groovy day--Holly M. |
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How to Take Yourself to Never Ending Growth
About six years ago I began to study tai chi. When I began, I had already been studying karate for several years, but my instructor encouraged me to add tai chi to enhance my martial arts abilities even further. It seemed interesting to me from the very beginning, but I was totally unprepared for what I have received. What I have learned is far beyond anything I ever expected.
Tai chi is a martial art that takes you through a series of very slow movements. You have probably seen people do it on TV commercials to advertise arthritis medicine. It seems rather strange and exotic for people who have never been around it. And because it is so slow and easy going, it seems like it would be very easy to do. But I assure you, it is actually a very powerful and practical form of exercise.
When I first started practicing these moves it was quite awkward. It is amazing the amount of strength and balance it takes. But as I practiced over the next several months and years, I began to notice a number of things begin to happen in my body. I began to develop greater leg strength. My balance improved. I gained better posture. I began to be able to control and conserve energy. I gained more powerful breath support and control. I also saw my ability to concentrate become stronger.
If you did a deep examination of tai-chi training, these things should really be expected because of the nature of the exercise. But there is one other thing that has happened in my experience that, even to this day, I continue to marvel about. No matter how far I seem to progress, there seems to be further to go. I make a major advance and think I am mastering the art and, behold, a whole new level unfolds before me. This has happened so many times that I have come to believe that there is no limit to the amount of progress I can make. As I have discussed this with my instructor, he has assured me that this is so.
Now, this is a significant realization, and is particularly helpful with an activity like tai-chi, where the movements are so slow. In our fast-paced society, slow is very difficult. In fact, many people who start tai-chi don't end up staying with the discipline very long because activity and progress seem so slow.
But, there is a much broader application that needs to be recognized that has very profound implications for every area of life. No matter where you are in your life, no matter what activity you engage in, no matter how much of an expert you are, you have only taken baby steps compared to where it is possible to go. But, don't be fooled by this statement. It is easy to accept this as an intuitive intellectual understanding. It only becomes profound when it is discovered in the course of experience.
Consider this. There are four areas of your life where your humanity is expressed. The four areas are the emotions, body, brain activity, and spirit. And the profound truth is this: in each of the four areas it is possible to literally explode beyond where you are now to ever higher and higher levels of development.
You can develop control over your emotions so that you are always positive and upbeat. You can overcome depression and negativity. You can put yourself in the appropriate emotional state for any situation you find yourself in.
You can develop control over your body. You can provide it with the nutrients, rest and exercise that will keep it healthy. You can sculpt your muscles so that you look good.
You can learn to control your brain function. You can gain greater and greater ability to absorb content, to think quickly, to shift your outlook, to concentrate, to control your focus and your perspective. These are all amazing abilities and anyone can become better at them.
Finally, you can develop control over your spirit. You can become more and more skilled at self-awareness, creativity, communication, decision making, analysis, contemplation, imagination, and self-discipline.
The sad thing, though, is very few people ever move on a life path that causes them to continually develop in all four areas all the time. The average person will work on one area then another, in fits and starts, but very few are focused on developing all four all the time.
So this brings us to a final, and profound, question which will determine what you do with the rest of your life. How much further do you plan to progress in your life beyond where you currently are? Your answer will determine the extent to which you are able to live life to the fullest. There is more to gain beyond where you currently are. In fact, the potential is unlimited. But, you will determine your reality. There is more and more and more and more.
Dr. Freddy Davis is the owner of TSM Enterprises and conducts conferences, seminars and organizational training for executives, managers and sales professionals to help develop greater effectiveness and productivity. He is the author of the book Supercharged! as well as the Nutshell Series of books for strengthening business. You can visit the TSM website at www.tsmenterprises.com, or you can contact Freddy directly at 888-883-0656 or davis@iname.com.
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Five Steps to Expanding Your Universe
We have all grown up in an age where exploration into dramatic new territory has become routine. We have had people travel into space to live for short periods of time. We have sent people to explore the moon. We have built machines to take people under the ocean to live and work. And we have even built machines, as extensions of ourselves, to go to places where we could not go physically, and send back pictures and other data.
There is another arena that it is possible for us to explore - one that we can do personally. It requires a "risk-taker" mentality, and an adventurous spirit, and I want to give you instructions on how to get there. I am going to take you on a philosophical journey beyond yourself. This may seem a bit esoteric and mysterious, but humor me for a moment...
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The Fastest Way to Ruin Yourself
I don't know many people who would admit to wanting to ruin themselves, but there are a lot of people who are doing everything they can to accomplish that very goal. They certainly don't view it that way, but if you look at the way they live, you can see it happening.
I knew a man who was very strict with his daughter. This strictness was more than simple discipline. He felt he had to control every part of her life. Of course, he never liked any of her boyfriends. While his daughter was young, he could get away with being an "all-controlling" parent.
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