It’s amazing what a little space can do. For instance, going from ‘nowhere’ to ‘now here’ is just a matter of pressing the spacebar 1 time, yet a whole new reality arises as you go from ‘nowhere’ to ‘now here’. Let’s zoom in on that. ‘Nowhere’ is defined as: Not anywhere. To no place or result. As in: “This road leads to nowhere”, what sounds kind of negative? ‘Now here’ on the other hand can be defined as: At this moment, in this place. It’s not judging in any way, it simply states that at this moment, you are in this place. That’s much more positive since being in a place means you are somewhere, instead of nowhere. Also, nowhere seems externally orientated: you’re looking around finding yourself nowhere. Whereas ‘now here’ is more internally orientated: you turn to yourself as the starting point of everything with all options open. So in life, whenever you find yourself in a situation you’d rather not be in, see if you can find a spacebar. Press it and a new reality is created.
In many of life’s problems, logic is a great way to help solve them. Just like the quote says: it will get you from A to B. But in life we also encounter situations where simply going from A to B is not sufficient. For instance in the case where you find yourself being lost, after years of going from A to B, having tried all options that seemed logic, now you’re standing on a cross road wandering where to go next? Then: dare to go off road. Use imagination for it allows you to enter a field of infinite possibilities. Where sooner or later new ideas, clues and answers come to mind. Imagination goes beyond reality, sets you free and creates opportunity. From there new roads from A to B will emerge.
In Asian philosophy, the concept of yin yang (in the West often referred to as yin and yang) is used to describe how polar opposites or seemingly contrary forces are interconnected and interdependent in the natural world, and how they give rise to each other in turn. Like night and day, ebb and flow or in the case of this Japanese proverb; vision and action. They need each other, for else they become illusionary forces – either a daydream or a nightmare. Did you notice how in the West ‘yin yang’ is referred to as ‘yin and yang’? Apparently in Asian philosophy there is no need for and in yin (and) yang, meaning: in Asia the yin yang concept is considered as one, while in the West it is perceived as two separate forces, that potentially is one, depending on the presence of the word and.
Whether you want to be financially independent, lose weight, feel at peace with yourself or simply have a fresh cup of coffee; once you want something, it’s sometimes hard seeing that you don’t have it, yet. In life we set all kinds of goals, the perfect life is out there and we want it, rather sooner than later. And if possible: right now! I mean, life’s short, right? Yes, but… everything takes time. Great things, like making a million dollars and small things, like making it through another day at the office. It even takes time for the clock to tick. The question is: what’s your perception of time? Do you take your time to get to where you want to be or do you pressure yourself, thinking you should turn your dream into reality in an instant? Life may go fast, but that doesn’t mean you should go fast too. It can take up to 330 days before a caterpillar turns into a butterfly, you never see them being frustrated about time passing slowly. So relax: enjoy every minute of our journey, for the only time is now.
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.
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?
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!
