"I have found that many bad moods are caused by a feeling of not
having control. People can put up with extreme hardship, climbing a
mountain for example, if they have the illusion of choosing to do it.
But even a little aggravation can make you nuts if you feel you can’t
avoid it.

"I have a fix for that loss of control problem. I call it the
“curious robot maneuver.” When things are not going your way, sit back
and change your frame of mind to one of curiosity. Imagine you have no
free will, and you are just a moist robot. Everything you have done and
will do is programmed. So there’s no reason to stress over your lack of
control in certain situations because you have the same degree of
control in ALL situations: none. What you do have is the capacity to
watch the show, and marvel as it unfolds. You have front row seats,
right behind your own eyeballs, and the theater is surround-sense. You
can actually FEEL the action!"

Read more…

Is it just me, or is this method just a fancy sci-fi version of Witnessing awareness?

I like the robot analogy though. Sometimes I look at my life and wonder whether I have a free will or I’m just being deluded that I’m in control of anything. It’s hard to tell the difference. So I just watch, do the serenity prayer, then sleep it off.

July 18

Don’t
we know, only too well, that protection from pain doesn’t work, and
that when we try to defend ourselves from suffering, we only suffer
more and don’t learn what we can from the experience? As Rilke wrote,
the protected heart that is “never exposed to loss, innocent and
secure, cannot know tenderness; only the won-back heart can ever be
satisfied: free, through all it has given up, to rejoice in its
mastery.”

Is Steve Pavlina awesome or what?!

“People
who say they want to become a millionaire but are unwilling to back it
up with hard work are only fooling themselves.  It’s not going to
happen by itself.  If hard work is a dirty word to you, don’t bother.

“However,
the great thing about this goal is that it’s achievable.  People in far
worse positions than you have already done it.  It’s hard but
definitely not impossible.  If you accept this, it becomes something of
a game.  You don’t have to fear failure because you’re expected to
fail, and that makes success all the more exciting.”
…

“After some
serious soul searching, I gave up on the idea of becoming a millionaire
for myself.  I just didn’t want it badly enough.  If I did I’d have
done it years ago with my computer games business, which I believe
was entirely capable of getting there.  I felt like a dolt for dropping
this goal, but I also felt a sense of relief about the whole thing.  It
freed me up to focus on more important priorities like service and
contribution.   

“Ironically
it was the decision to put contribution ahead of wealth that led me
full circle.  Eventually I realized that becoming a millionaire could
dramatically enhance my ability to help others.”

via: 5 Wealth Lessons from 20 Percent of a Millionaire

1. reset the timer to zero. warm up: first two minutes walking pace at 3.5 mph speed.
2. run like the wind at 9.5 mph for one minute.
3. back to walking at 3.5 mph speed for one minute.
4. repeat step 2 and 3, alternate between running and walking. do this until the timer reads 20 mins.
5. by this time i’m already gasping (very) hard for oxygen, so i catch my breath and drink lots of water.

As effective as this cardio workout is for me, I sometimes find it monotonous. It lacks variety and fun. Enter, the Cardio Coach. Check out this video promo:

I met Sean O’Malley (aka Cardio Coach) when he joined Zaadz. He posted an insane gesture/challenge on his blog:

"The gesture - From now (Jan 5th) until the 27th,
anybody who wants to use Cardio Coach and is a member of the zaadz
community can get it at no charge. If you get one and like it, you can
come back and get another (up until the 27th).

"In Return -
verbally commit that you will give much consideration to participating
in the Press Play event on the 27th…. Press
Play day has the potential for amazing things."

I took Sean’s challenge, sent him an email and asked which of his cardio workouts
is right for me. He recommended Volume 2. So I clicked the promo link,
downloaded the mp3s, saved them on iTunes, created a Cardio Coach V2
playlist, and synchronized it with my iPod Nano.

Here’s what happened on my first session with the Cardio Coach:

NOTE: Before starting with the program I recommend that you check out the Quick Start Guide to determine your fitness level and familiarize yourself with your exercise equipment of choice. And of course, check with your doctor too

Volume 2 consists of eight mp3 files: Intro, Warm up, Challenge 1,
Challenge 2, Steady State/Rest, Challenge 3, Cool down, and Coaches
Notes. I didn’t bother checking my heart rate using the treadmill’s
panel. Since I’ve been doing cardio for a while now I have a good idea
of how to pace myself. So as soon as stepped on the treadmill I
selected the Cardio Coach V2 playlist and hit play. I used the tempo of
the music as my pacing and listened to the voice instructions. At first
I thought that this would be a piece of cake. So I pushed myself more.

For Challenge 1 and Challenge 2, I manually adjusted the incline to 5.0
and the speed to 7.5 mph during the challenge intervals. Man! Big
mistake. By the time Challenge 2 was completed, I was already sweating
like Jack Black in a sauna. I
underestimated the program and overestimated my capacity. Duh. During
the Steady State the Cardio Coach gave me the option to continue with
the third and final challenge or to "veer off to the beaten path" and
skip it. I seriously considered giving up and calling it a day. But I
visualized the Cardio Coach behind me shouting at the top of his lungs,
calling me a wuss if I give up! Rats. So I took a deep breath, crossed
my fingers and proceeded to Challenge 3.

For Challenge 3, I manually adjusted the incline to 6.0 and the speed
to 5.0 mph and kept my pace for the next five challenge intervals. I
thought that I would never complete the challenge but the Cardio
Coach’s voice guided me and provided the feedback that I needed to
focus on the challenge at hand. By the time I finished Challenge 3 I
felt like Homer Simpson about to have a meltdown.
My shirt was all wet, my perspiration was dripping from my head off the
back of my neck, I’m gasping for oxygen–all signs of an awesome cardio
workout! The workout lasted for almost 40 minutes, including cool down.
I felt great! I still feel great as I write this!

So starting today instead of listening to Guns N’ Roses during my
cardio workout, I’ll do my workout with the Cardio Coach. The pacing
provided by the music alone is worth it and the guided voice
instruction helped me to focus and gave me timely feedback to push
myself even more. Give it a try.

Thanks to Sean for this gift of fitness! I’ll be joining you on January 27!

~C (for Cardio Coach rocks!)

Um, I think he is. Or, at least, Steve Pavlina is the Web 2.0 counterpart of Tony Robbins. Robbins may be pumping up people on the stage over at TEDTalks, but he has been slow to adapt to the social dimension of the web. Case in point: Check out his site. WTF? a Flash splash page? Ugh!

Maybe Tony Robbins is not that crazy adapting to the Web anyway. As long as he keeps his positive influence on the influencers, he’s still doing an awesome job, and making lots of moolah too.

But now I think it’s time to retire to my bed and incubate the ideas. And trust that everything unfolds accordingly.

The following is an excerpt from the book The 8th Habit by Stephen R. Covey. I think it’s a good reminder for all of us.

I
have also found that by making four simple assumptions in our lives we
can immediately begin leading a more balanced, integrated, powerful
life. They are simple–one for each part of our nature–but I promise you
that if you do them consistently, you will find a new wellspring of
strength and integrity to draw on when you need it most.

4) For the spirit–assume you have a one-on-one visit with your Creator every quarter; now live accordingly.

Allow me to put a spin on number 4 (especially for all those who don’t believe in a Creator.)

4) For the spirit–assume you are the Creator; now create accordingly.

October 14

The
fear that impermanence awakens in us, that nothing is real and nothing
lasts, is, we come to discover, our greatest friend because it drives
us to ask: If everything dies and changes, then what is really true? Is
there something behind the appearances? Is there something in fact we can depend on, that does survive what we call death?

Allowing
these questions to occupy us urgently, and reflecting on them, we
slowly find ourselves making a profound shift in the way we view
everything. We come to uncover in ourselves “something” that we begin
to realize lies behind all the changes and deaths of the world.

As
this happens, we catch repeated and glowing glimpses of the vast
implications behind the truth of impermanence. We come to uncover a
depth of peace, joy, and confidence in ourselves that fills us with
wonder, and breeds in us gradually a certainty that there is in us
“something” that nothing destroys, that nothing alters, and that cannot
die.

“The
problems all of us face fall in one of three areas: direct control
(problems involving our own behavior); indirect control (problems
involving other people’s behavior); or no control (problems we can do
nothing about, such as our past, or situational realities).  A proactive approach is   the first step to the solution of all three kinds of problems within our present Circle   of Influence. Some people interpret proactive to mean pushy, aggressive,
or insensitive, but that isn’t the case at all. Proactive people are
smart, they are value driven, they read reality, and they know what’s
needed. And they focus their efforts in the Circle of Influence.
They work on the things they can do something about. The nature of
their energy is positive, enlarging, and magnifying, causing their Circle of Influence to increase.”

I also wrote a flowing poem about this a while back. It’s circles and spheres all the way up, all the way down…

However, like other technology, the ubiquity of online videos has some potential disadvantages (e.g. increase in shortened attention span, video addiction, rampant pornography, etc…), but still, the advantages outweigh the cons. As The Wired Guide to the Online Video Explosion has eloquently said, “Some people look at the sheer amount of material and see a mess. But we see, amid the flood of content and competing delivery services, a new medium emerging, one with fewer gatekeepers, more producers, and somewhere – something for everyone. And that’s the point: the mess is the message.”

The mess is the message. Exactly! This is the wisdom of crowds at its best!

As for me, one of the obvious advantages of online videos is access to stuff that interests me, thus speeding up my learning process, in hyperspeed. Allow me to illustrate by examples using YouTube.com.

When I’m not watching crazy people lip-synching to My Humps, snorting wasabi, non-nude lap dancing in front of a giant teddy bear (lucky bastard bear), or making an ass of themselves, I watch guitar videos so I can learn different playing styles from my guitar gods and even from unknown people who just love showing off their guitar skills. Check out these videos and you’ll understand what I mean:

Joe Satriani guitar tapping the uber-cool tune Midnight
– Man! Joe Satriani really is a god!

Kaki King guitar tapping Pink Noise
– Damn! I’m her new biggest fan. Sorry Jewel, you too Bonnie Raitt. Kaki King is now the hottest female guitar player in my book! Drooool!

And of course, here’s my uber-guitar idol:

Stevie Ray Vaughan ripping it Crossfire style!
– I’m not worthy! I’m not worthy!

See my point now? Those are just some of the videos that inspire me to no end. In fact, I decided to make an ass of myself too and broadcast my crap so I can keep track of my progress while showing off. Too bad I only have a webcam with a crappy microphone but this will do for now. Here’s my YouTube.com URL:

http://www.youtube.com/user/c4chaos

I’ll use it to video blog (vlog) my practice sessions and times of spontaneous luminous (and not-so luminous) inspirations. So, pardon my guitar-playing imperfections, coz whether you like it or not, I say, let the Chaos begin!

~C (for Chaos has just begun)