In my Constant Battle against Inertia, I have decided to embrace a new diet and exercise routine. The diet part focuses around using fewer carbs, more protein, and raw fruits/veggies. For several meals a week (up to 2 a day) I will be consuming a Nutriblast, made from various fruits/veggies, nuts, etc. I will post my nutriblast recipes, and exerperience with each one. A nutriblast is what the people who made the Nutribullet call the smoothie made by the nutribullet.
I'll also be throwing around a Kettlebell.
Today I am going to take my girls on a run/walk to the park where I will engage in play with them, incorporating several crossfit like activities, like doing laterals while pushing them on the swingset, inclined pushups on various pieces of gear, sprints from one side of the play area to the other, and stretches thrown all about, because I'm not as flexible and spry as I once was.
Don't be afraid to share your experiences with Kettlebell, crossfit, or the nutribullet!
Encouragement is also welcome.
Showing posts with label inertia. Show all posts
Showing posts with label inertia. Show all posts
Wednesday, May 22, 2013
Wednesday, June 22, 2011
String Theory, Bayou Rat Style...
The universe exists in spite of Inertia...
That is a blessed finger in the eye of materialism.
Inertia tears at me again.
Ugh.
I get to a point where I'm just doing the same things over and over again, until one day, something gets neglected, and not picked up again.
Inertia. It kills me slowly day by day. Until a week goes by, then a month, then a year, then two years, then ten years.
Inertia. I can't stand it, but then again, I can't stand not having that next Soda, or that next candy bar. Give me the sugar buzz.
Inertia.
Leave the mess alone, just let it be, this other mess needs cleaning first (and more often), little by little, I'm crowded out until it spills over into whatever I'm doing.
Inertia is fear.
fear is the mindkiller.
Inertia is the enemy.
How can I deal with this inertia? How can I grow?
I'm pondering my cucumber vines. They are getting long, when they get the right amount of sun, water, and nutrition, they grow well, and fast. Then, all of a sudden, one day, the vine starts to lose leaves at the bottom. The end keeps growing, but if the end stops growing, the vine dies. Death catches up.
The cucumber feels the effects of inertia.
I suppose there are several stages of growth, physical growth, mental growth, spiritual growth. The inertia of any one can carry over to the next, so I learned a new skill, one that will help me physically develop some dexterity and keep my fingers moving, one that will help me mentally by keeping my mind focused on one task while monitoring all the rest (my mind is a skattagun folks, hence the blog name) of reality, and it is one that will help me spiritually by keeping me connected to the lessons of the past, and how great lessons subtly reveal themselves to you over time.
"I'm just tyin' a square knot over and over, right over left left over right..."
Grandpa's words trailed off at the sight unfolding before me.
There was a beltbuckle, and string. Nylon string. He was making a belt, by hand. I was somewhere around 10 or 11 and my mind was fascinated by it. The belt took shape over the next week. When he was done, he gave it to me, sometimes I still wear it.
Somewhere in that is a lesson in patience. It's up to you to learn it.
Recently, his words echoed in my mind when I gained a new insight into something his son(my Daddy) told me once on the subject of knots. More specifically, it was on the subject of the hangman's noose.
We were going somewhere with some purpose in mind, and I had a bight of some small diameter unremarkable cordage in my then teenaged hands. I was trying to figure out how to tie a noose. For some reason it fascinated me, but I couldn't quite understand it. When my dad asked me what I was doing, I replied honestly that I was trying to tie a noose.
He took the cordage and quickly tied the noose, telling me something that often echos in my brain:
"Most people don't understand what they see"
wow. That's so patently obvious I couldn't appreciate the depth and beauty of the statement.
At the time, I took the advice at face value, and applied it to the knot. He gave me the proper lecture about not tying a noose with 13 loops, and about how the knot was more useful than people think, pointing out how it could be used in fishing, and other applications. Now I look upon his advice with new eyes. Most people don't understand what they see. A lot of times I don't understand what I see. I wonder if you do.
When I see something a lot of times it takes me a minute to figure out that what I'm seeing is a chance. Sometimes I see a chance to mess up, others a chance to do something great and powerful. I'm slowly training myself to see every chance as a chance to do right. I want you to think about this for a minute. Every chance you take, is a chance to do right. My friend, the grey is an illusion. There is no grey, you don't understand what you are seeing.
Every choice, every chance, is a chance to do right, and sometimes, you do wrong. You make millions of choices every week, sometimes, you get the choice right, others you get the choice wrong, and most importantly, your choices interact with the choices of others around you in a way that you cannot possible have hope of perceiving. That's what's grey, the myriad decisions viewed from afar.
When you learn that you cannot perceive the consequences of your choices beyond the nearest of futures, and most immediate of contexts, inertia cannot control you. Inertia is conquored by humbly recognizing the limit of your perception. I choose to tie knots to keep from tying myself into knots.
That is a blessed finger in the eye of materialism.
Inertia tears at me again.
Ugh.
I get to a point where I'm just doing the same things over and over again, until one day, something gets neglected, and not picked up again.
Inertia. It kills me slowly day by day. Until a week goes by, then a month, then a year, then two years, then ten years.
Inertia. I can't stand it, but then again, I can't stand not having that next Soda, or that next candy bar. Give me the sugar buzz.
Inertia.
Leave the mess alone, just let it be, this other mess needs cleaning first (and more often), little by little, I'm crowded out until it spills over into whatever I'm doing.
Inertia is fear.
fear is the mindkiller.
Inertia is the enemy.
How can I deal with this inertia? How can I grow?
I'm pondering my cucumber vines. They are getting long, when they get the right amount of sun, water, and nutrition, they grow well, and fast. Then, all of a sudden, one day, the vine starts to lose leaves at the bottom. The end keeps growing, but if the end stops growing, the vine dies. Death catches up.
The cucumber feels the effects of inertia.
I suppose there are several stages of growth, physical growth, mental growth, spiritual growth. The inertia of any one can carry over to the next, so I learned a new skill, one that will help me physically develop some dexterity and keep my fingers moving, one that will help me mentally by keeping my mind focused on one task while monitoring all the rest (my mind is a skattagun folks, hence the blog name) of reality, and it is one that will help me spiritually by keeping me connected to the lessons of the past, and how great lessons subtly reveal themselves to you over time.
"I'm just tyin' a square knot over and over, right over left left over right..."
Grandpa's words trailed off at the sight unfolding before me.
There was a beltbuckle, and string. Nylon string. He was making a belt, by hand. I was somewhere around 10 or 11 and my mind was fascinated by it. The belt took shape over the next week. When he was done, he gave it to me, sometimes I still wear it.
Somewhere in that is a lesson in patience. It's up to you to learn it.
Recently, his words echoed in my mind when I gained a new insight into something his son(my Daddy) told me once on the subject of knots. More specifically, it was on the subject of the hangman's noose.
We were going somewhere with some purpose in mind, and I had a bight of some small diameter unremarkable cordage in my then teenaged hands. I was trying to figure out how to tie a noose. For some reason it fascinated me, but I couldn't quite understand it. When my dad asked me what I was doing, I replied honestly that I was trying to tie a noose.
He took the cordage and quickly tied the noose, telling me something that often echos in my brain:
"Most people don't understand what they see"
wow. That's so patently obvious I couldn't appreciate the depth and beauty of the statement.
At the time, I took the advice at face value, and applied it to the knot. He gave me the proper lecture about not tying a noose with 13 loops, and about how the knot was more useful than people think, pointing out how it could be used in fishing, and other applications. Now I look upon his advice with new eyes. Most people don't understand what they see. A lot of times I don't understand what I see. I wonder if you do.
When I see something a lot of times it takes me a minute to figure out that what I'm seeing is a chance. Sometimes I see a chance to mess up, others a chance to do something great and powerful. I'm slowly training myself to see every chance as a chance to do right. I want you to think about this for a minute. Every chance you take, is a chance to do right. My friend, the grey is an illusion. There is no grey, you don't understand what you are seeing.
Every choice, every chance, is a chance to do right, and sometimes, you do wrong. You make millions of choices every week, sometimes, you get the choice right, others you get the choice wrong, and most importantly, your choices interact with the choices of others around you in a way that you cannot possible have hope of perceiving. That's what's grey, the myriad decisions viewed from afar.
When you learn that you cannot perceive the consequences of your choices beyond the nearest of futures, and most immediate of contexts, inertia cannot control you. Inertia is conquored by humbly recognizing the limit of your perception. I choose to tie knots to keep from tying myself into knots.
Monday, April 11, 2011
So I'm Sitting Here...
Ok,
I am sitting here looking at myself in the reflection of my laptop, wondering exactly how I can complain about being tired. I then realized that I want to complain because of how redicously out of shape I've become. I may not be out of shape compared to you, but I am compared to where I was two years ago, and I didn't think I was in all that great of shape then. I am definately down from my peak performance age of about 27 when I was working landscaping, just married, and i had recently (re)discovered the joys of real off road biking. Non-coincidently this was immediately preceding the birth of my firstborn.
Stress + time = out-of-shapeness. That's my secret formula for the day.
out-of-shapeness + time = inertia. Inertia is my enemy, my oldest foe, my greatest fear, my sure adversary. Inertia wants me dead quicker, and wants me happy while dieing (one day I will do a post entitled "I don't want to die happy" and it will make sense). It's easy to submit to inertia and die. As soon as a course change is needed, there is inertia, as soon as the course change is no longer needed there is inertia. There's inertia when I wake up, and when I lay down...
I've been undergoing several changes over the last few years, changes that seriously impact my identity and relationship with those around me. I got to thinking about these changes critically when I read this tweet from @ArronChambers, a man I know, love and respect:
My confession is this:
I've been lazy. I've let inertia beat me up. I've chosen good things and not God things. I've take the easy way, from mac-n-cheese instead of (better tasting) grilled chicken and salad, to self-centered church instead of Christianity. I believe that the only way a Christian can live and die is under the philosophy of "I'll Be Mellow When I'm Dead."
I am sitting here looking at myself in the reflection of my laptop, wondering exactly how I can complain about being tired. I then realized that I want to complain because of how redicously out of shape I've become. I may not be out of shape compared to you, but I am compared to where I was two years ago, and I didn't think I was in all that great of shape then. I am definately down from my peak performance age of about 27 when I was working landscaping, just married, and i had recently (re)discovered the joys of real off road biking. Non-coincidently this was immediately preceding the birth of my firstborn.
Stress + time = out-of-shapeness. That's my secret formula for the day.
out-of-shapeness + time = inertia. Inertia is my enemy, my oldest foe, my greatest fear, my sure adversary. Inertia wants me dead quicker, and wants me happy while dieing (one day I will do a post entitled "I don't want to die happy" and it will make sense). It's easy to submit to inertia and die. As soon as a course change is needed, there is inertia, as soon as the course change is no longer needed there is inertia. There's inertia when I wake up, and when I lay down...
I've been undergoing several changes over the last few years, changes that seriously impact my identity and relationship with those around me. I got to thinking about these changes critically when I read this tweet from @ArronChambers, a man I know, love and respect:
"prepping my message for #CelebrateRecovery tonight @journeygreeley. i'm speaking on #confession...which is still good for the soul :)"In my subtle war against inertia, I had been doing more reading in my Bible, and recently re-read one of my favorite books, First John. We all know what 1 John 1:8-10 says:
8 If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.
9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
10 If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.
My confession is this:
I've been lazy. I've let inertia beat me up. I've chosen good things and not God things. I've take the easy way, from mac-n-cheese instead of (better tasting) grilled chicken and salad, to self-centered church instead of Christianity. I believe that the only way a Christian can live and die is under the philosophy of "I'll Be Mellow When I'm Dead."
Inertia's been my enemy a long time, and I've always been fighting it, and I'll even be fighting it when I can't fight it no longer. Until then I am fighting it using the following actions:
- I will grow as much of my food as I can. That way I know what I'm getting. When I can't grow my own, I will buy as healthy as I can.
- I will read my Bible every day. I believe that change happens best when you change according to the rules of the One who made you.
- I will exercise every day. More on this to come later, but after posting this, I am taking my girls on a bike ride. It will be short, I will sweat, and it will probably hurt when I get done. Yet, I will do this.
- I will eat a hot pepper. It's cathartic, and I LIKE IT!
My basic strategy is this: "When you are not beating inertia, inertia is beating you" and I accept that I can't win. What I can't accept is that I can't fight.
ps,
I love my wife!
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