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Rhubarb Diaries
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Sunday, 24 January 2010 13:40
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There are too many distractions in our world that readily assail us at any juncture. Whether it’s work, or life, or relationships, or family, or any combination, it’s easy to get caught up in the “stuff”. Suddenly, stuff drives your day. And as they say, don’t sweat the small stuff, right? Well, a lot of stuff suddenly makes your day full of cognitive stress. It is no small wonder that I don’t run with an iPod or mp3 player, simply because I find this to be a great time to get away from all the distractions of daily life. The peacefulness of hearing my feet strike the ground, my breathing, and then, my thoughts. And then – the moment. That precious moment. And another. And another. It’s almost like a string of pearls – each moment beautiful of it’s own accord, strung together one by one. A time when all stands still, when stuff just doesn’t matter, but the moment does. Today’s 3M half marathon was a great reminder of how running provides us not only with an environment in which to "let go”, but also a metaphor for life as we know it. This metaphor also stands to remind us of how we err in daily life, and how we can excel. Even when you know that stuff happens, that distractions rule your existence, it’s a challenge to rectify it. It is so hard to simply “be in the moment” and to let go of our attachment to emotions, drama, angst, anger, frustration, discontent, and a plethora of unpleasant stuff. And let’s face it – can you be self-actualized when you are chasing stuff around all day? |
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Rhubarb Diaries
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Friday, 01 January 2010 01:59
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I will confess - I was always thankful for physics in high school. Strange as that may sound, it was one of my strongest subjects. But beyond that minor digression, physics defines what we experience in the physical world. Newton and Einstein, among many others, have contributed greatly to our understanding of the dynamics of the world around us. At this point, you must be asking “why ponder physics on New Year’s Eve?”, and this would undoubtedly be a fair question. Physics certainly doesn’t involve resolutions, or the consumption of alcohol, or watching the ball drop on Time’s Square. But when left to your own thoughts about life, when left facing the challenges of your world, you may sometimes revel in some newfound insight. And insight finds us at the strangest moments, at times when we are open to what the universe has to say to us. Perhaps the problems don’t change, but the way we see them changes. As Einstein himself noted, “the significant problems we face cannot be solved at the same level of thinking with which we created them”. Smart man, that Einstein guy. Strangely enough, physics may indeed contribute to not only our understanding of the world around us – but the world within us as well. There are two optical principles that I can think of right now that apply to life as well as they do to our physical realm. |
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