Piggy’s Blog - Journey of Success

Something happened in the morning today that I think is really amazing. Here’s the background of the story…

Last week Thursday, my manager inquired if I want to attend a conference happening next week for a day. What an opportunity to see what’s out there, so of course I said yes. I quickly faxed in the registration materials on Thursday, and we all know where this is heading… Indeed! They did not receive the registration in time, so I had to re-register. I re-did the paperwork and was waiting for this elderly female rep. to tinker on the computer but were having some “technical issues” here and there… When she finally finished, here is the conversation:

Lady: Hmmm, do you medidate?
Piggy: Uh…not really… I practice…
Lady: Practice?
Piggy: Practice to stay calm.
Lady: Are you married?
Piggy: No…
Lady: You know what, your wife is gonna be a happy wife cuz you stay so calm.
Piggy: *smile*

This is the conversation literally word for word, that I jotted down immediately when I got the chance because I think this is amazing. Why amazing? It is amazing because the other person can sense that I’m very calm (sense it enough that she wants to point it out), and that is exactly what I try to consistently do - having a calm and still mind. And this also proves, what’s inside of us will create the image and impression that others have of ourselves.

I think this is a great personal victory :)

From most of the personal bloggers’ perspectives, eating out is a waste of money. I don’t disagree with that, but here is my take on the topic of eating out.

Just like everything, it has its pluses and minuses and let me state the immediate ones.

Pluses:

• Convinenience and time saving (no preparing, no doing dishes)
• Good tasting (I am a decent cook, but there are just better things out there…)

Minuses:

• Health concern
• Usually cost more money

After stating the pluses and minuses, now we can make a decision. Personally, I value my time very much and along with laziness, I just don’t want to deal with all the chores concerning cooking. My day is so heavily packed that I simply decided that it’s better for me to eat out most of the time. I concluded that grocery shopping, preparing ingredients, cooking, and then doing dishes will just end up taking so much of my time and energy.

Another thing I have going for me is that I do not have a family yet. I believe once you have a family, cooking and dining at home will become a much more cost-saving option simply because of the economy of scale and people to split the chores with. I actually used to cook when I was living with another family member, ah, the joy of being a chef. That was a great motivation…

With more people, buying is bulk is also very feasible without meeting the result of spoiling excessive food, which I hate when happens because of how it is just such a waste of food, and we all know that there are people starving at different parts of the globe out there.

So in conclusion, one must judge their own situation to decide if eating out is more benefical option based on some of the variables stated above.

In the past two years as I learned fitness/exercise/gym as a habit, one thing that is very pertinent in life is that - If you don’t use it, you lose it.

One doesn’t have to be a kinesiology major to understand that. My experience has been that even if it has just been a week of inactivity, I notice a deline in my weight training (very obvious) or cardiovascular performance. How do I tell? The answer is the amount of soreness I can feel. Even more obvious is the immense soreness + pain whenever I start some new training. And hence, the need for us to emphasize on consistency of exercise. To avoid the benefits that we have worked so hard to archieve, it’s best to continue to do something at least, even just to maintain a moderate level of the benefits. In addition…

The idea of “If you don’t use it, you lose it” does not only apply to fitness and health. On my path of exploring and learning singing myself, I continuously discovered that many of the causes for my difficulty to produce more beautiful tone are muscular apathy of head/facial area muscles. It is over time when I consciously practice these muscles that I am able to improve.

Actually, not only is this the problem for people trying to learn how to sing, but this is the problem for people between ethnic group learning a foreign tongue. Certain languages only require us to use certain facial muscles. It is one of the many reasons that when we try to learn a new language that we have difficulty with announciation. What we need to do is to practice using all the muscles on our face :)

Well, another thing is that us humans have a tendency to be lazy and use less, or just enough, muscle to perform a certain task. That is exactly why we need to re-learn deep breathing for our health, and also exercise our mind to maintain our mental sharpness, and of course, exercise our body to make sure we don’t lose those muscle.

In fact, I would go as far to say that everything in our body is governed by this concept of “If you don’t use it, you lose it”. Therefore, everyday we need to consciously use every part of our body and push it to improve, expand, and realize our potentials!

Picture this scenario:
My friend D is a big muscular guy, 5′ 9″ and 200+ lbs while I am 5′ 5” and 130~ lbs. If D tells me, “Dude, go lift 300 lbs, it’s good for you.” and then forces me to do it. What would happen?

Before answering, let us jump to the conversation I had with my good friend, D, the other day at lunch, where we touched on the subject of the on-going war in Iraq. I would like to bring it up because I think that some comments from D are insightful and they go something like this…

D’s comments (paraphrased and with some of my interpretation):

Can’t we just leave those people alone? We are trying to help them but do they even appreciate it? They hate us. Why are we trying to help when they don’t want the help? It is just another form of bullying. We should just get out of there and leave them alone. What gives us the right to go in there and just slap on a democratic goverment when they had no idea what the heck democracy is in the first place? Let them evolve at their own pace.

My response:

Exactly, that is exactly what the problem is. They went in Iraq and enforced a democratic goverment out of no where. People had no idea what it is, and how are they suppose to make use of it? We would serve them better if we educate them critical thinking for themselves and their own society, and THEN freely choosing upon those thoughts, which are some of the most basic elements of democrary. (but at this point, I also think, hmmmm, look at America these days, Americans aren’t even thinking very clearly these days… anyways…)

This is exactly the problem! Now let’s go back to the scenario I told at the beginning and answer the question. If D does force me to lift 300 lbs, small guy as I am, I will certainly just break my back and hate him forever. THAT, I think, is a suitable analogy to what’s happening in Iraq.

With that said, we are led to the very thing that we should remember in personal development. The idea is to take small steps toward improvement everyday, which is what we should advocate and educate, instead of using shortcuts to propel to immediate success, which either will likely not work or just end up taking longer. Life is an evolution. Healthy changes need to be steady and continuous. Now I may not lift 300 lbs today, but if I work toward it everyday doing weight training, I will be able to do that. Whether I want to is another story :P

PS. This article has the naive assumption that US is still in Iraq to secure safety for the people there, not for the oil, not for any unspoken political reasons.

What is the most important attribute that will get us through any situation in best ways possible?

Over time, I have come to reach the answer of the question, and that is composure. I will relate the answer to Zen/Buddhism’s promotion of finding the stillness in mind, a imperturbable sense of calmness through continuous self-examination and self-discovery. Just a reminder that I am not preaching philosohy or religion, instead, I am stating something that has worked well for me and I believe in now.

I can still feel angry, disappointed, sad, happy, estatic, but I have come to realize that whatever emotions and feelings I may get, there is a stillness in my mind that can be kept. My mind is a part of my entity. Those emotions are not. And with a calm mind, I can maintain my awareness, assess the situation, and come up with the best way to respond or to handle those emotions. Some simple examples (taken from my personal experience):

• If you play basketball for a long time, fatigue starts to build up and your shots are becoming more inaccurate and your body becomes less coordinated, would it do you any good to fret and get scared to take shots?
• If you are a singer, half way into a song, gone over the most difficult part, and all the singing muscle becomes really tense, would it do you any good to panic and start thinking about not hitting the right pitch?
• If you are to present in front of some very important individuals, in school or at work, would it do you any good to get so nervous and studder through the presentation?

As smart as you all are :) the apparent answer to all those are, “No, it is best for us to remain as calm as possible in order to make it through the situation with best possible performance.” I am not saying we should never be nervous because that is not possible, as I get nervous myself too! But staying calm and keeping a still mind will allow us to deal out the best cards we can at those moments, albeit subpar. It could only be worse if you get nervous, panic, and have a mental break-down.

In other words, there is no reason for us to fret or panic about anything. The only thing panicing will do for us is to make matters worse. Even if the situation is desperate, dire, and nothing can be done to help, we can reason that everything will come to pass in life, which is the truth. Why should we panic, fret, and worry ourselves to death? Just aim and do our best possible with support of a calm and still mind.

The quote provides the most suitable description of what I just mentioned:

“When the mind begins to become still, we then begin to truly see it. When you first try to stabilize and pacify the mind, initially it will become very busy because it’s not accustomed to being still. In fact, it doesn’t even necessarily want to become still, but it is essential to get a hold of the mind to recognize its nature. This practice is extremely important. … Eventually you will find yourself in a state where your mind is clear and open all the time. It is just like when the clouds are removed from the sky and the sun can clearly be seen, shining all the time. This is coming close to the state of liberation, liberation from all traces of suffering. … The truth of this practice is universal. It isn’t necessary to call it a religion to practice it. Whether one is a Hindu or a Moslem or a Christian or a Buddhist simply doesn’t matter. Anyone can practice this because this is the nature of the mind, the nature of everyone’s mind. If you can get a handle on your mind, and pacify it in this way, you will definitely experience these results, and you will see them in your daily life situation. There is no need to put this into any kind of category, any kind of “ism.” Venerable Gyatrul Rinpoche

So remember, you can be nervous, you can be angry, you can be overjoyed, but maintain a still mind that will help you get through any situation the best way possible.