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5 tips to have this year be your best year ever
Every year, many people, before or after the ball drops and the fireworks end, make several “New Year’s resolutions”. Usually, people carry over unresolved items from the prior year. Others come up with a list that is so unattainable that it practically guarantees they will not be achieved. If you are not involved in Cancer research or the health-care field what are the odds that you will cure Cancer? If you are not an astronaut, forget about walking on the moon as well.
Another mistake people make is having plans that do not personally affect them or others. It’s more like a “wish list”, and for others it’s a “look good” list.
- Goals: As mentioned above, create goals that are realistic and attainable, however, do not pick goals that you are guaranteed of attaining either. If you know you are getting a promotion this month, then do not have that as a goal. Make sure you write your goals down and tell someone what they are. We all need someone to help hold us accountable. This is important: write down 6 month, 2 year and 5 year goals, as explained in the article, Attitude of Heaven: Taoist method of planning & attaining goals, then review those goals monthly and make any revisions that are necessary.
- Community: Make friends with or join groups of like minded people. Let’s say you want to lose weight, it is going to be much easier to do so with a group of people who also want to lose weight. Even better, make sure you know people who are already their “ideal” weight. Want to quit smoking, have friends that already quit and those that never smoked. The flip side of this coin is that you also need to distance yourself from those people that do not reflect your goals, or the new you that you are creating/enhancing.
- Activities: Actively participate in things that are going to help your goals/mission. Avoid things that are just going to take up your time, waste your energy and distract you from your mission and goals.
- Discipline/Honesty: Benjamin Franklin is credited with saying that “the early bird gets the worm”. Sometimes the difference between success and failure is not being willing to change. Often times people complain that they just do not have enough time to exercise, how do I find time to cook, meditate, go for walks etc…. After hearing this, ask them (or yourself), did you watch TV today, what time did you wake up etc…? Consider that the average American under 65 watches an average of 5 hours of TV every day, if your over 65 its closer to 7 hours per day (Cross-Platform Report). Imagine how much extra time you would have if you cut back to 4 hours per day. How about waking up 30 minutes earlier? Now you have an extra 1.5 hours in your day, and that is after only adjusting TV viewing and the time you wake up.
- Be honest with yourself. We all know if we need to lose weight, drink too much, are eating too much, not as healthy as we could be etc… Perhaps, resolve to not buy larger sizes, if those clothes are getting tight, time to put down the remote and do some internal exercise. Stop going to those fast food and chain restaurants, not only will your health improve, you will also save money.
- Invest in loss: Lao Tzu stated that in order to gain we must first be willing to lose. You will make mistakes, you will forget, the important thing is that you keep going. We have all heard that the best thing to do after falling off the horse….is to get back on it. So what if you have been trying to do something for the last few years and have not done it yet. Thomas Edison failed between 700-10,000 times (depending on who you ask) before finding the correct method for the light bulb. When asked he said, I did not fail, I simply found “X” number of ways it will not work.
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The 24 hour news cycle or 24 hour stress industry?
Do you remember what life was like before the 24 hour news industry? What was television, radio, newspaper and radio like before CNN, BBC, FoxNews, MSNBC and the countless other stations, channels and corporations whose purpose it is to report something 24 hours a day? Let us not forget the endless apps for smartphones and tablets that also offer news and notifications “pushed” to your device, morning, noon, night and even overnight.
Have you ever observed someone “glued” to the TV watching the latest “Breaking News”, or one of the endless updates on news reported earlier in the day?
Recently, this National Taoism Examiner had such an experience. Early in the morning, there were several people watching one of the 24 hour news networks, with such intensity that they could not look away from the TV while speaking to someone in the same room. When the phone rang they answered the phone with their eyes still fixated on the TV. After more than an hour of watching “repeating” news stories, they decided to go out for breakfast and do a little sight seeing and shopping. Upon returning, immediately the TV went back on and the news network (approx. 6 or 7 hours later) was still reporting the same exact news from earlier in the morning. More apparent updates, of the same news.
Terror attacks around the world, bombings in the Middle East, burglaries in your neighborhood, shootings outside a nightclub, a woman raped while walking home from the bus, daily car accidents on local roads, house fires reported that occur in cities several states (or countries) away, entertainers/celebrities being arrested, Federal Reserve raising interest rates, stock market going up, stock market crashing, global warming, global climate change, Ad nauseum…
It would be interesting to see a study comparing the levels of stress observed and reported pre-1980’s compared to today, and see if there is a correlation with the rise of the 24 hour news cycle.
How many people watch the morning news while having breakfast, what do you think the effect this has on ones digestion? Is it really suitable to start ones day with a barage of bad news? Imagine the effect on sleep patterns when people watch the news right before going to sleep.
In his book “8 Weeks to Optimum Health” Dr. Andrew Weil advises people to slowly wean oneself off the news addiction that many have become accustomed to. He relays a story of a person who looked at the front page from a major newspaper, from decades prior (approx. 100 years prior), only to discover that the headlines were almost identical to the ones being reported as “Breaking News” today.
Henry David Thoreau wrote in Walden:
“I am sure that I never read any memorable news in a newspaper. If we read of one man robbed, or murdered, or killed by accident, or one house burned, or one vessel wrecked, or one steamboat blown up, or one cow run over on the Western Railroad, or one mad dog killed, or one lot of grasshoppers in the winter—we never need read of another. One is enough.”
In Taoist cultivation one is encouraged to move in a completely different direction than 24 hour news; Lao tzu stated in the Tao Te Ching:
“Without going outside his door, one understands all that takes place under the sky; without looking out from his window, one sees the Tao of Heaven. The farther that one goes out from himself, the less he knows. Therefore, the sages got their knowledge without traveling; gave their right names to things without seeing them; and accomplished their ends without any purpose of doing so. (James Legge)”
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2015 Year of the Wood Goat
This year most of the world in one way or another either celebrated , or was at least aware of, Chinese New Year on February 19th.
The celebration usually lasts several days, and in some areas can last an entire week.
There is some discrepancy, especially in the west, whether, this is the year of the Goat, Sheep or Ram. You will hear different names used in conversation, and most likely in advertisements, trying to entice you into their stores.
Yang, is the Chinese word, and its closest western translation would be Goat. On the mainland of China, people will say this is the year of the Goat, and historically the character meant “Goat”.
What can we expect for this year?
Master Zhongxian Wu states:
“Goats give you gentle and peaceful feelings when they chew grass with a slow, grinding motion. Yet they move with great speed and agility when navigating their way through rough, rocky, mountainous areas. They have strong horns and are always ready to defeat their enemies.
Goat is the eighth animal symbol in the 12 Chinese Animals System.
We use Wei 未 to represent the Goat symbol in the 12 Earthly Branches.
Wei is a symbol for the 13:00–14:59 time of day, and for the sixth month in the Chinese Lunar-Solar calendar (which is approximately July 7 to August 8 in the Gregorian solar calendar).
Wei represents the napping time of day and the third summer month when nature is in its ripest season. It is a time or a place where Yang energy (life energy) continues its decline and when the life cycle becomes more mellow. We use the tidal hexagram Dun 遁 ䷠ to symbolize the Goat.”
He cautions those who are prone to lung and digestive trouble, to be extra vigilant and disciplined with their internal exercises.
Lets look at two prior Wood Goat years.
Sometimes, the best way to get an understanding of current conditions is to examine the past and make note of any correlations.
Major events of 1955 (www.historycentral.com):
- Germany becomes a member of NATO
- Vienna Treaty restores Austrian independence
- Geneva summit
- First McDonald’s restaurant opens
- Military coup ousts Peron
- Mirage unveiled
- U-2 tested
- Rosa Parks refuses to give up seat
- Mary McLeod Bethune Dies
- Fidel Castro starts the 26th of July Movement
- US military intervention in Iran
- Great Britain declares State of Emergency due to National Rail Strike
- The Soviet Union and its Eastern Bloc allies sign the Warsaw Pact
- The United States begins its involvement in the Vietnam conflict.
Major events of 1895 (www.worldhistoryproject.org):
- Winston Churchill visits Cuba
- Frederick Douglas dies
- Oscar Wilde Brings Libel Charges Against the Marquess of Queensberry
- Oscar Wilde is Sentenced to Two Years Hard Labor
- Booker T. Washington Delivers His “Atlanta Compromise” Speech
Looking at the last two Wood Goat years we see the potential for peaceful negotiations, however, these were also years either leading up to or the beginnings of revolution and political turmoil. Economically, Goat years tend to be lean, and it is a good time to focus on minimizing ones budget, and increasing savings as much as possible. 1895 was the middle of the 1893-1898 depression, and 1955 saw the rise of “consumerism”, massive increase in personal debt and deflation.
Regardless of what happens in the world this year, make sure you focus on your internal cultivation, remaining calm and balanced, as well as, strengthening your body, mind and spirit.
Don’t miss another National Taoism Examiner article. Receive e-mail alerts when new articles are available. Just click on the “Subscribe” button below; also make sure you click all of those social network buttons and share the article with your friends and family as well. You can also follow the Qi Institutes Taoism blog.
Do you have a story, photo or video from your area that would be of interest to Taoists? Feel free to email (TJ@theQiInstitute.com) and they may be included or featured in a National Taoism Examiner article.
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