Absolutely glorious day in NJ as I catch a train to Boston. Should be outside, but will have to console myself by editing Episode 5 of the PKTS podcast! Episode 4, Caitlin, will be out next week! (What’s in Boston? A little pk on Sunday and an interview too.)
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Happy, healthy and successful people, like the mature tree, have grown deep roots in the important areas of their life. They have, over time and a great number of small actions, built habits that are so fixed, that no one would even try to challenge them.
“Nature does not hurry, yet everything is accomplished.” – Lao Tzu
~ Zachary Sexton from, How to Build the 25 Habits of People who are Happy, Healthy and Successful
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Seeing Gen Y as “heroic” may seem like quite a stretch to some. But as Howe pointed out in my interview with him, “Remember that no one said anything about the GIs being the Greatest Generation until the very end of the last fourth turning.” No one thought the last Hero generation was anything special at the time either; it was only in retrospect, after they had fully risen to the challenge of their age, that they were venerated.
~ Brett McKay from, How Millennials Could Be the Next Greatest Generation of Personal Finance
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Those of us living in the United States have enshrined in our founding documents the inalienable right to the pursuit of happiness, a concept that has older roots in European philosophers such as John Locke. These documents, of course, provide not the slightest bit of instruction about how to embark upon this pursuit, wisely leaving this conundrum to the individual and the communities to which he or she belongs.
~ Chris Masterjohn from The Pursuit of Happiness Does Not Require Feet
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Never cease to stand like curious children before the great mystery into which we were born.
~ Albert Einstein
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These days, cues on living a virtuous life are virtually absent from school or popular culture. And there are thousands of other stimuli vying for your attention. What this means is that you can’t hope to accidentally bump into cues every day that will help you remember the things that are most important to you. Instead, you have to purposefully plan for your regular exposure to those cues. You do this by regularly reading your scriptures, or personal manifesto, or books on philosophy and development, and doing other things which continually pull up all your past feelings and insights into the man you want to be, bringing them to bear on your present challenges.
~ Brett McKay from, Hold Fast: How Forgetfulness Torpedos Your Journey to Becoming the Man You Want to Be
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The linked article is rather long and covers a wide variety of sources and ideas — some I’d venture most “modern” people won’t be interested in. But, the thread running through this is very real.
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It’s not just something you practice when you’re learning something — though dropping the “expert’s mind” and seeing the learning as a beginner is an important practice in learning. It’s something you can practice every single moment of the day (if you can remember to do so).
~ Leo Babauta from, Approaching Life with Beginner’s Mind
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The thought manifests the word;
~ Juan Mascaro
The word manifests the deed;
The deed develops into habit;
And habit hardens into character;
So watch the thought and its ways with care.
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This is pretty common. Thinking isn’t the problem, but the struggle comes when we’re constantly spinning stories in our heads and getting caught up in them.
~ Leo Babauta from, Finding Stillness
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Hear! Hear!
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Having dinner with some of the Aikido guys before a seminar tomorrow. Multiple black belt tests tomorrow.
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