Football and Life

When asked why I am so into football (Oregon Ducks football), I replied, "It's like life. You evaluate the situation and make a choice; something happens. You make another choice and receive a different response. If you don't move forward, you try a creative approach. Penalties arrive when you make a really bad choice.

I like to keep the ball moving on fourth down and don't kick it away.

Scores come with prestidigitation.

Winning and losing often result from factors beyond your control.

You Win Your Day as a result of choices.

Meet Lao Tzu

Be content with what you have; rejoice in the way things are. When you realize there is nothing lacking, the whole world belongs to you. - Lao Tzu

The named is the mother of the ten thousand things. 

Ever desireless, one can see the mystery. 

Ever desiring, one sees the manifestations. 

These two spring from the same source but differ in name; this appears as darkness. 

Darkness within darkness. 

The gate to all mystery. 

          - from Tao Te Ching translated by Gia Fu Feng and Jane English

Lao Tzu (his name is sometimes written Lao Tse or Lao Zi, also known as Li Erand Lao Dan) was born in Honan on March 24th in the year 604 BC. Called the “Old Master,” his name means “old-young.”

Late in life, Lao Tzu rode on a water buffalo to retire in the mountains to a province in the western frontiers. A border official, named Guan Yin Zi, urged the master to write his teachings so that they might be passed on.

In mountain solitude, Lao Tzu wrote the Tao Te Ching, went westward and was never seen again.

Lao Tzu's messages concern the discovery of the self. He advises to sense the world directly and contemplate impressions of the laws of nature. He says the ways matter and energy function in the universe is the Tao.

Intuition requires cultivating to predict change. Personal power (Te) needs awareness and knowledge of physical laws in the universe and minds of other. That power can direct events without resorting to force.

The practice of simplicity stimulates growth. The balance of contradictory forces (light and dark, positive and negative, male and female, mountains and rivers) creates harmony.

Lao Tzu appreciated the importance of humor. "Without the laugh, there is no Tao," he said.

Stay in the moment. Absorb nature's wonders. 

When you need a change, work on a small area of concern.

Trick Your Emotional Triggers

A monk rattled around in a constant state of upset and depression. When another monk tried to help him out of his gloomy mindset, the first monk said, "Look at the Master. He has outbursts of anger."

"Ah, that is so," replied the other monk. "But, notice that his anger is like lightning. It strikes to the heart of the target and then is gone. The sun shines again."

Often we react with behavior that doesn't reflect what we want to reveal to the world. We carry our emotions around with us instead of setting them free.   

Once we recognize it's impossible to avoid feelings of anger, sadness, frustration or other negative emotions, we can control our relationship to them.  We need to recognize the negative thoughts that accompany them. What positive action can replace the potential for negative behavior?

With awareness, we feel the emotions arrive, pause and learn what they have to teach us.  Then we can choose not to react with negativity.

Everyone has emotional triggers. Here are a few: a hurtful comment from someone, standing in long lines, green lights turning to red just as you arrive, being put on hold during phone calls. 

When situations arise that trigger angst, use your mind to its best advantage. Develop a key phrase or sing a tune before responding. 

Take a few deep breaths to re-center. Open yourself to possibiities.  

Laugh, laugh and laugh again.  

Let lightning strike in the solitude of your mind.  Then let the sunshine out.

Choose three situations that trigger your negative emotions. 

Write three responses for each to show how to react in a more positive way. See what happens if you use your positivity when they arise again.

Trick your emotional triggers.