Sunday, March 29, 2015

Tools


If you're not into my hippy rants, x out quickly....





Awww, you're still here!!! Thanks for staying!!!


I was listening to a podcast... that should be the new name of this blog... anyway, listening to Joe and Aubrey and somehow Aubrey spilled out this quote above, and the conversation ensued.
It lingered around on my drive to work and I thought about it more, the root of it all.
Then I went in for one of my "therapy," sessions later that day and thought about it some more and had a fantastic visualization...
I had this view of maybe 12-20 people... I was above the stage but even with the curtain, so I could see the action on the stage as well as what was happening behind... I'd see people out and performing, but when they went behind curtain and out of the bright lights, their bodies and faces changed.
It was like a conveyor belt.... they'd circle around and come out and all these different bodies and shapes and faces and then when they went around back, everyone was the same shape and color and looked the same.
And it made me think deeper about this quote and empathy and how a few moves in one direction or another and we could all switch places, real quick.  Our lives are... whatever you just thought, but few moves can change everything.  Money can come and go like water. Health can come and go, we think we have a handle but we dont (I knew a 38 vegan triathlete who died of a heart attack last year).  Friends and loved ones, jobs, you name it... it can all fade away or triple in volume, we never know.  So this quote makes me think of empathy a little more and it caused me to slow down a few notches and treat people a little nicer... and I'm already a super nice guy! (insert smiley emoji).  So next time you encounter a grumpy douche  or someone who is just rude, maybe give them a little crap to settle them down but also know, they could be you.  In a different light, on a different stage, with some different luck or circumstances, that could be you.
On a real tripped out level, it is you.

Buuuuuuuuut...
Part two of where this thought took me was to a "witnessing," gear.  I started taking steps backwards and paying attention or reexamining some of the "therapy," I've been through... and I see it all as a tool.
Then I started thinking about this "tool," concept and accessible it all is, if we choose to use them intelligently and with an intent to truly improve ourselves.  And this isnt about sales or promos, but my recent massage with Audrey kinda helped get this rolling.  What a tool it is, to have such a skilled massage technician (is that the title?  I think it fits).  I told her the symptoms I felt, she went to work and I'm sooooo much better, so much stronger and more effective in day to day life, its unreal and crazy to ignore.  Same can be said for what I do and go through when I see Jared and receive an acupuncture treatment.  I tell him whats going on, he makes an assessment and bam, we're off.  What a unique tool he offers, to be able to work that magic and heal... with what?  Needles, knowledge and my body.
I think those two go very hand in hand.
Same with yoga but it was much more "me," as far as I didnt sit down and have an assessment and then a pro went to work on me... it was me going to work on me, which is a f'n incredible tool to tap into, even for just that one brief moment, someone calls a breakthrough.  Those "ah-ha," moments. Yes, as a tool, its used for whatever we choose.  But yoga and Buddhism always went hand in hand for me and has many branches of tools circulating, such as meditation and body awareness, so... it is what it is.

But then to pause our life-game and look at ourselves like a... wild, dynamic, alien monkey with this incredible computer brain that we really dont know much about... and looking at our lives and all these tools surrounding us.  Classes to learn, music to inspire or relax or motivate, social media to reach and share, computers to expand and grow our "database," nutrition to heal and improve...
I think too often, we go monday-tuesday-wednesday-thursday-friday-saturday-saunday-weekweekweekweekmonthmonthmonthyearyearyear oh shit, I'm 38... what have I done w my time?
When this question pops in your head, its a good thing, even if it temporarily makes you sad or depressed.  Because the questioning, hopefully, makes you start to see tools around you and start getting to work on....

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Be useful, Be helpful, Be a Tool!!!
That would look nice on my stone :)
Awww too cryptic? Just wait til my next blog on April 5 (thats a hint, free hug if you text me the topic)

This Is Blue Chip