Golf is a fascinating game: you have no opponent except yourself and only the perfect alignment between body and mind results in the perfect swing. Also, the difference between a great shot on the green and a whoosher off target, is often only a matter of millimeters. That’s because the angle from where you hit the ball, has a major effect on where it will land given the distance the ball is going. A millimeter more to the right or to the left, up or down results in a difference of many meters. Think about that in the context of daily life. A small change may have little effect on today or tomorrow, but over the course of many years it may be the difference between life and death. Starting or quitting smoking is such a change. You can also use this line of thought in reverse: when you completely messed up something (you hit the ball way out of the golf course) it’s likely that by changing only a small detail in your approach, you will get a much better result next time. So whenever you fail, don’t burn yourself down – see what small changes you can make.
Johann Sebastian Bach is one of the worlds greatest composers of all time. He’s certainly my favorite classical hero. Regarded as the master of harmony and counterpoint, Bach excelled not only as a composer, but also as an organist, violist and harpsichordist. About making music he said: “It’s easy to play any musical instrument: all you have to do is touch the right key at the right time and the instrument will play itself”. I really like looking at things that way. Making anything complicated simple. Like: “It’s easy to run a 100 meters in 9.58 seconds: all you have to do is run really fast”. The Chinese philosopher Confucius said: “Life is really simple, but we insist on making it complicated”. So, here’s a nice ‘simple’ tune from Bach, perfect for a sunday morning. Played on piano by Francesco Tristano, Filmed at Théâtre de l’Atelier, Paris. More Blogotheque? Click here.
This film is for you to relax. You’ll enter a pure, positive and peaceful atmosphere that can only come from love. It made me reflect on the rat race that is so typical for Western society. The constant hurry we seem to be in. The short attention span that we have, running from one thing to another. And about the pressure of making a career and money. Watching this film made me forget about all that completely. At least for 3 minutes and 56 seconds. So enjoy, unwind, feel free and… be surprised.
Walt Disney is an inspiration to me. And I don’t mean Walt Disney the billion dollar entertainment company. I mean Walt Disney the guy, the man, the person. The first thing Wikipedia says about him is: Walter “Walt” Elias Disney (1901-1966) was an American film producer, director, screenwriter, voice actor, animator, entrepreneur, entertainer, international icon and philanthropist, well-known for his influence in the field of entertainment during the 20th century. I mean… that’s quite an impressive list of qualities right? Why do you think the list is so long? It’s because what he wanted, was never done before. It was considered impossible so he had to try, invent, create and do many things by himself first. And in doing so, he literally turned the impossible into fun for millions to enjoy. He lived by his own creed: “If you can dream it, you can do it.” Or as he later said about his – by then very successful – company: “Always remember that this whole thing was started with a dream and a mouse.” How about that. A dream and a mouse. So, what’s your dream?
You may know how to fly an airplane from reading a book. But it is until the moment you actually get into a plane and fly, that you’ll find out whether you really can. You may know everything there is to know about wine. But it is until the moment that you taste it, that you’ll find out whether you even like it or not. You may be an expert on Johannes Sebastian Bach, but without having heard his music, what do you really know about him? This scene from the movie classic ‘Good Will Hunting’ is about the difference between knowledge and experience. Having knowledge without experience, makes you smart maybe, but not wise. The character Will Hunting (Matt Damon) is about to find that out. He is smart, very smart. In fact, with his extremely high IQ he outsmarts everybody. Even his therapist (Robin Williams). Almost, because in this scene Williams explains quite impressively the difference between knowledge and experience. It’s a call to us all, to dare to experience. To dare and live.
William Shakespeare once said: “There is nothing either good or bad but thinking makes it so”. Our thoughts can make and break anything in a split second. They can make the impossible possible. They can make something good, seem bad and something small, larger than life and vice versa. And yet, we are not our thoughts, we only have them. They’re ours, without a doubt and we are free to play with them any way we want. Like with the ‘Lego’ in the photograph above: by rearranging the Lego (our thoughts), we can create anything we want. This photo, by the way is made by Kevin Poulton. After he and I had contact, I discovered more of his creative photography. It’s definitely worth some of your time, especially when you are into Star Wars and up for a big smile: click here!
Yeah, what does make you happy? Such a simple question, right? Maybe even so simple, that it’s easily forgotten? Until of course sometime later (or even years) when you realize you’re caught up in all kinds of things, not entirely sure anymore if that really makes you happy. And then you wonder: who am I, what does make me happy? And even when you know, the question is: do you succeed in giving that enough attention? Anyway, simply by being still for a moment, to listen to your own breathing and by asking yourself that question: “What makes me happy?” you will start to bring peace to your mind. And from this peace an answer will present itself to you. And if it doesn’t, don’t force yourself, just smile at it. You can make the question smaller: “What would make me happy today, this morning or this moment?” It may be a very simple thing, the point is: Where focus goes, energy flows. You’ll start to focus on what matters to you and on something positive. Your actions will follow that focus. And from that point on you can explore until you have a clear answer to what makes you happy in any situation, and dance your way through life accordingly. Alright, maybe not dance, but flounder – or somewhere in between. Either way, to give you an inspirational kick start, do yourself a favor and watch this film. It alone will make you happy, if only for a moment.
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