The Practice of Your Life

The Exercise and Pursuit of a Consciously Created Life

Hidden Rivalry

Apr 22
2009

I was sitting with an old friend the other day, and she described something her friend observed in his conversation with her the day before.  He said, “You ever notice that you’re always trying to get one up on me in our conversations?”   “What do you mean” she replied.   “I say something about some topic, doesn’t matter and you immediately disagree, or add something that shows you know more,” said her friend.

To my friend’s credit she didn’t follow the pattern her friend was describing at that moment, and actually sat with his observation for a while.  “He’s right,” she told me, “and I told him so.”

I recognize this in myself as well as many people around me. It’s as if people use their

Routine – The Dance

Apr 14
2009

Oh Routine.  What am I going to do with you?  You make things so mundane, so ordinary, so repetitive and well … so routine.  You are the enemy of passion and fun. You are the oppressor of joy.  

Oh how rote you are routine?

How repetitive, how boring, how dull?

Where is your spice?  Your zest for life?

You are often unannounced and imposed. So full of stealth and so deeply woven into the fabric of my day that often months or years go by and I don’t even see you.  I have felt the life ebbing from me before I noticed you.

Why do you imprison me so?

Yet without you I am easily spent

My energy misdirected.  My mood anxious

Two Wolves

Apr 11
2009

One evening an old Cherokee told his grandson about a battle that goes on inside people.

He said, “My son, there is a battle between 2 “wolves” inside us all. One is Evil. It is anger, fear, envy, jealousy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority, and ego.

The other is Good. It is joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion and faith.”

The grandson thought about it for a minute and then asked his grandfather: “Which wolf wins?”

The old Cherokee simply replied, “The one you feed.”

Author Unknown

Someone sent this to me a couple years ago, and I saw it again in a book I’m reading now.  Brilliant isn’t

The Practice of Play

Apr 04
2009

If you’ve ever wondered if work had to be … well … work, then you’ll be happy to know that there is scientific evidence and ongoing research that shows the importance of play to our overall well-being, and that paying conscious attention to a diet of play can make work more fun.  

There is a TED talk (below) by Stuart Brown on play called “Why Play is Vital – at any age.” Stuart Brown is an accomplished researcher who was led to the study of play through his research of what drove murderers.

This talk by Mr. Brown is relevant to The Practice of Your Life because it adds some scientific rigor to what is an essential practice, the practice of play, to your living a full… Continue reading