I found a life lesson list here this morning and thought to share, with some personal extras thrown in there. Quirky, sure. But hey, I am in a light mood and am very much in love with the world at the moment. What have I learned, with time and experience? Not much, I fear.

Here are my Secrets of Adulthood. Although these items may not seem particularly profound, each one was a revelation when I finally figured it out:
The days are long, but the years are short. If I look back, wow, I was at school ‘just the other day’ but when I look forward, December holidays are sooo far away. Feel familiar?

Someplace, keep an empty shelf. Having just moved house, I can tell you that an empty drawer/shelf somewhere always gets filled. It’s lovely to find the empty shelf.

Turning the computer on and off a few times often fixes a glitch. In fact, I reckon the same counts for cellphones, exercise watches and debugging your brain.
It’s okay to ask for help. Still an ongoing battle for this area of my life. Personally (and because its easier than accepting my own problems), I blame my father for being the World Champion at not asking for help.

You can choose what you do; you can’t choose what you LIKE to do. Whoaa! Big lesson here. Choose the right person to love, the right place to live, the right career for YOU…

Happiness doesn’t always make you feel happy. There is a lull at times after a big decision. Happiness is to follow in abundance shortly.

What you do EVERY DAY matters more than what you do ONCE IN A WHILE. Amen.

You don’t have to be good at everything. Crisis that is hard for a person like me to accept. Being able to comfortably suck at something is not quite the way I was programmed. I`ll get back to you on this one.

Soap and water removes most stains. It does not, however, remove scars.

It’s important to be nice to EVERYONE. Kindness hey, doc G!

You know as much as most people. But you will never know everything. Thank goodness for that.

Over-the-counter medicines are very effective. Effective at treating the symptom. To get to the cause, however, you need to go deeper into history.
Eat better, eat less, exercise more. Duh.

What’s fun for other people may not be fun for you — and vice versa. But….look after yourself as the primary fun factor, and hang out with people who think you are fun when you are quirky.

People actually prefer that you buy wedding gifts off their registry. They may attend your wedding oneday and bring you an Al Pacca.

If you’re not failing, you’re not trying hard enough. I take this to heart, as I failed miserably in the pool last week. However, I have been back a few times, tried a little harder (until I struggled to drive 3 blocks home last night from the effort) and found more success.

No deposit, no return. Demand interest…

Have fun, above all. Chat tomorrow.

now if those 3 tunes don’t make your heart all warm and fuzzy…. get a transplant!

without a doubt, 3 great house party tracks.

house party…. sounds great. off to see The Mother in an hour. Stoked. Some Merlot Rose might have to make an appearance.

“If the only prayer you said in your whole life was, ‘thank you,’ that would suffice.” – Meister Eckhart

Every Thursday is Happiness Day on Zen Habits.

Many days, I try to humble myself and hold a 2-minute gratitude session. I simply sit or kneel, with no distractions, close my eyes, and think about what I’m grateful for and who I’m grateful for.

I don’t do it every day, but let me tell you, on the days I do it, it makes me very happy.

Why should that be? Why should the simple act of thinking about who and what I’m grateful for make such a big difference in my life?

Just a few reasons:

• Because it reminds you of the positive things in your life. It makes you happy about the people in your life, whether they’re loved ones or just a stranger you met who was kind to you in some ways.
• Because it turns bad things into good things. Having problems at work? Be grateful you have work. Be grateful you have challenges, and that life isn’t boring. Be grateful that you can learn from these challenges. Be thankful they make you a stronger person.
• Because it reminds you of what’s important. It’s hard to complain about the little things when you give thanks that your children are alive and healthy. It’s hard to get stressed out over paying bills when you are grateful there is a roof over your head.
• Because it reminds you to thank others. I’ll talk about this more below, but the simple act of saying “thank you” to someone can make a big difference in that person’s life. Calling them, emailing them, stopping by to say thank you … just taking that minute out of your life to tell them why you are grateful toward them is important to them. People like being appreciated for who they are and what they do. It costs you little, but makes someone else happy. And making someone else happy will make you happy.

What do I give thanks for, privately, in my little gratitude session? It varies every day. I thank all the readers of this site, for the encouragement you have given me, for the donations you’ve made that have made me that much closer to realizing my dreams, for the criticism you’ve given that has made this site better … for the time you’ve given me, just reading the articles when you have the chance.

I thank my loved ones, for all they do to me. I thank strangers who’ve shown me little acts of kindness. I thank God, for the life he’s given me. I thank people around the world for the things they’ve done to make the world better. I thank myself, for things that I’ve done (it’s important to recognize your own accomplishments).

How to Live a Life of Gratitude
The thing is, simple acts of gratitude don’t cost you much (especially once you get over the initial discomfort some people feel with thanking others). But they can make a huge difference.

If you’re interested in living a life of gratitude, here are my suggestions:

• Morning gratitude session. Take 2-3 minutes each morning to give thanks, to whoever or whatever you’re grateful for. You don’t have to do anything, other than close your eyes and silently give thanks. This one act can make a huge difference.
• Say thank you. When someone does something nice for you, however small, try to remember to say thank you. And really mean it.
• Call to say thanks. Sometimes you might think about something nice that someone did for you. Perhaps you remember during your gratitude session. When you do, pick up the phone and call the person, just to say thanks. Let them know what they did that you’re grateful for, and why you appreciate it. Takes a minute or two. If it’s too early to call, make a note to call later. Even better is telling them in person, if you happen to see them or if they’re on your route. Almost as good is a thank-you email — keep it short and sweet.
• Give thanks for “negative” things in your life. There’s always two ways to look at something. Many times we think of something as negative — it’s stressful, harmful, sad, unfortunate, difficult. But that same thing can be looked at in a more positive way. Giving thanks for those things is a great way to remind yourself that there is good in just about everything. Problems can be seen as opportunities to grow, to be creative. See the prayer below for more on this.
• Learn a gratitude prayer. There are many prayers, religious or not, that can remind you to be grateful. Find one you like, and print it out or make it your desktop wallpaper. Here’s a religious one, and here’s a collection from a multitude of religions. You can find many others on the Internet, or write your own. If you’re not religious, make one that doesn’t include the concept of God. A good one is below.

Let me leave you with a prayer of gratitude that I’ve always found … well, perfect:

Be Thankful
Be thankful that you don’t already have everything you desire,
If you did, what would there be to look forward to?

Be thankful when you don’t know something
For it gives you the opportunity to learn.

Be thankful for the difficult times.
During those times you grow.

Be thankful for your limitations
Because they give you opportunities for improvement.

Be thankful for each new challenge
Because it will build your strength and character.

Be thankful for your mistakes
They will teach you valuable lessons.

Be thankful when you’re tired and weary
Because it means you’ve made a difference.

It is easy to be thankful for the good things.
A life of rich fulfillment comes to those who are
also thankful for the setbacks.

GRATITUDE can turn a negative into a positive.
Find a way to be thankful for your troubles
and they can become your blessings.
~ Author Unknown ~

People always remark how busy I am. After I watched this today it made me wonder if I am one of those people who are addicted to being busy.

What keeps me busy?

1. Work – current and future projects.
2. Coaching athletes – its far more time consuming than you think.
3. Urban Ninja – this site is time consuming.
4. Relationships – nuff said. relationships, with humans, requires time.

What have I done to cut down on commitments to time and energy?

1. Kept my projects down to a bare minimum. I used to have 6 ideas I was working on. I currently have 2.
2. Reduce social media time. Are you addicted to Facebook? Do you wake up and look at twitter (to see what other people are doing) before tending to the amazing person lying next to you?
3. Reduce mental junk by planning properly.

Am I addicted to being busy?

Not at all. In fact, I am working hard so that I can be permanently unbusy once I have children so that I can be a full time dad. That’s the most honorable job I can think of doing, so that’s what gets me up in the morning.

Can you sit, and be quiet? I know many people who cant sit in a restaurant waiting for 10minutes for someone to arrive without tweeting, facebooking, checking email, sending 3 sms’s and calling someone. Unless all these things don’t relate to your BIG THING, big picture and hugest ever goal achievement, maybe you should be sitting for 10 minutes and just be totally amazed at how the world doesn’t fall apart around you every day. Watch the people and realise they each have their own world going on around them, and if they are addicted to being busy, watch them and see how it destroys their inner peace, their reason for being a beautiful human being and blurs their reality.

So, are you addicted?

+++

Key headers…

1. Big Picture (3-4 most important things)

2. Key Likes (3-4 areas that most drive my personal satisfaction)

3. Geography (where I will spend my time )

4. Body — key points for my body

5. Mind — key points for mind/knowledge/education

6. Spirit — when and how I will rest (from training, from work, from everything)

7. Places I want to visit

8. Personal Asset Allocation (today, five year, ten year)

9. Next twelve month expense projection

10. Next twelve month income projection

11. Personal Top Ten List — the ten most important things in my life that require focus, effort and time

12. Actions — what actions/habits are most important to me

13. Hazards — what items need to be watched to avoid roadblocks

The next few lines are quoted direct from Gordo about what this will (hopefully) do for you, as its done for me…

In the process of doing this review, without distractions, you’ll learn a lot about whether your effort is aligned with your goals. As well, you’ll learn if your goals are consistent with your main satisfaction drivers.

I build that out annually and review it quarterly. It’s been an immensely valuable tool for me.

Lots of folks resist the idea that we create our own reality through thinking about it. I always ask myself “how can I achieve anything without constantly thinking it about it”?

+++

Brings me to another point. How do we expect to achieve anything without constantly doing something about it? I hear alot of people talking about plans, ideas, dreams, visions, etc but I know a handful of people who are actually doing something about it. Only a handful.

How rough is that? All that wasted energy, emotion and effort.

Align yourself with your peer group, set time aside for action, and tie in some valuable resources. History, as it seems, waits for nobody.

Raoul

I believe this is the single biggest factor why some athletes seem to race “Above their Potential”. They are the ones who have consistently put together a block of training by teaching their bodies to go at the right pace, and have been able to recover session to session and got the most out of their training, not necessarily the most training possible.

+++

Happiness is such a factor for doing the good miles. Nothing kills my vibe for getting up regularly at 5:30am like personal stress. It totally overwhelms the fear I have for not performing properly. When everything in my life is going smoothly i.e. family, love, work, play, friends et al, then I find training a breeze and I have the excess energy in abundance to train properly.

Clearing the mental junk food we so willingly add to our lives is super important to me and should be to you too. Another thing that`s constantly on my mind lately is “Where do my thoughts go once I`ve had them?”

I am someone who takes his stress out on himself, and I find the more regularly I exercise, the better my body becomes at getting rid of this toxic stress flowing through my core. I am a better, more patient, fun and reliable person when I`m regularly exercising. Basic Week stuff all over again…

+++

Great piece from Gordo on FEAR to read this week. If you dont read his blog, I recommend you do so on a regular basis. He is one of the smartest guys I deal with on what it takes to be truely great.

+++

Was back at gym this morning at sparrows and realised how much less power I have in the morning. I dont know if this was an isolated incident but going to read up a little on it and report back, seemed to be about 15% less than when I gym in the late afternoon.

+++

If you havent entered for the Metro Mojo Run Series in your area yet, go here its a blast and worth the Buffalo entry fee. goodie bag, free food, good looking company and a great experience. go now……….

adios for now.