Cheers!

The optimist says the glass is half full.

The pessimist says the glass is half empty.

The project manager says the glass is twice as big as it needs to be.

The school teacher says it's not about whether the glass is half empty or half full, it's whether there is something in the glass at all.

The consultant says let's examine the question, prepare a strategy for an answer, and all for a daily rate of...

The entrepreneur sees the glass as undervalued by half its potential.

The first engineer says the glass is over-designed for the quantity of water.

The Buddhist says don't worry, remember the glass is already broken.

The scientist says a guess based on a visual cue is inaccurate, so mark the glass at the bottom of the meniscus of the content, pour the content into a bigger glass; fill the empty glass with fresh content up to the mark; add the original content back in; if the combined content overflows the lip, the glass was more than half full; if it doesn't reach the top, the glass was more than half empty; if it neither overflows nor fails to reach the top then it was either half-full or half-empty. Now what was the question again?

The Dutchman would suggest to both pay for the glass and share the content. Then tells you he will have the bottom half.

The physician says that the glass is not empty at all - it is half-filled with water and half-filled with air - hence, fully filled on the whole!

The dog just wonders: can he eat the glass or will you throw it so he can bring it back... The cat wonders why the glass is only half full (or empty)... is it a trick... poison perhaps...

The adolescent student says the glass is just another dirty trick played by the teacher to prove that students are dumb.

The psychiatrist would ask you, "Is the half-empty/half-full glass really that important? I mean... really? Think about it. If fact, let's not. Let's set that particular issue aside for a few moments and talk about what's really bothering you.." 

And my glass.... is now empty..... Refill please?

Chill time

oneliner (3)

"Being perfect is not in my job description."

Under the Rose - Onder de Roos

What is it, in for example a book or a poem or a movie or a person, that touches us?

Sometimes you read something and even though you don't really understand it, it touches something inside you. It plants itself in your heart and mind,and stays there. Sometimes you meet someone, maybe even for just a minute, an hour, a day, and they touch your life in a way that changes it forever. They change you forever.

This poem touched me the first time I read it, in the book "Ogen van Tijgers (Tigers' eyes)" by Tonke Dragt. It was written by Walter de la Mare and is called Under the Rose (Song of the Wanderer) / Onder de roos (Lied van de Zwerver). I hope you enjoy it and perhaps that it touches you too :)

Nobody, nobody told me

What nobody, nobody knows

But now I know where the rainbow ends

I know where there grows

A Tree, that’s called the Tree of Life

I know where there flows

The river of All-Forgotteness

And where the lotus blows

And I, I’ve trodden the forest

Where, in flames of gold and rose,

To burn and then arise again

The Phoenix goes.

Nobody, nobody told me

What nobody, nobody knows

Hide thy face in a veil of light

Put on thy silver shoes

Thou art the stranger I know best

Thou art the sweet heart, who

Came from the land between Wake and Dream

Cold with the morning dew.

Niemand, niemand heeft mij verteld 

Wat niemand niemand weet,

Maar ik weet nu waar het eind van de Regenboog is, 

Ik weet waar er groeit

Een boom die Boom des Levens heet, 

Ik weet waar er vloeit

De Rivier van de Vergetelheid

En waar de Lotus bloeit

En ik - ik heb het Woud betreden, waar

In vlammen, roze en goud, 

Verbrandend - en herrijzend steeds

De Feniks zich ophoudt.

Niemand, niemand heeft mij verteld

Wat niemand, niemand weet.

Verberg je gezicht in een waas van Licht,

Die met zilver schoeisel treedt - 

Jij bent de Vreemdeling die ik het beste ken, 

Van wie ik het meeste hou.

Je kwam van het Land tussen Waken en Droom, 

Koud van de Morgen-dauw.

Daydreamer - Adele

Many to one

"Anyone can achieve their fullest potential. Who we are might be pre-determined but the path we follow is always of our own choosing. We should never allow our fears, or the expectations of others to set the frontiers of our destiny. Your destiny cannot be changed, but it can be challenged.
Every man is born as many men and dies as a single man."

- Timothy McGee, NCIS -

Smile

Everyone smiles in the same language

Moving (on)

Last week I got the message that I need to vacate my room August 1st. Moving. Again. I guess in a way it made me think about the (near) future. Again.

I have been making changes and I have changed in these last few months. Some quite obvious changes, some a lot less obvious. But changes anyway. And they have made me like myself better than I did in the past. Like better. Not like. Not yet. But I am definitely getting closer to that moment where you look in the mirror and think: Yeah, I like you!

The hardest things?
Separating who I am and what I do. Realising that when I do something wrong, it does not make me a bad person. Or less likable. Which rationally is completely logical, but emotionally not so much...
Recognizing my limits. Not in what I can or cannot do, but in what I do or do not want. Learning to say no, and know that it does not make me a lesser person or less likable...
Being okay with yesterday, with last week, with last month, with last year. I cannot change what happened. I cannot undo the past. It's not in my job description. Accept. Do not regret. Learn, and live for today and tomorrow.
And let go. Forgive others, but more important, forgive myself. Move on.

So yeah, I am going through my boxes. Boxes of things and boxes of past. Emptying out. Keeping the good stuff. Remembering the good memories. Giving away what I do not need anymore. Letting go of what was.

Moving. On.

Arrow and the Song

I shot an arrow into the air,

It fell to earth, I knew not where;

For, so swiftly it flew, the sight

Could not follow it in its flight.

I breathed a song into the air,

It fell to earth, I knew not where;

For who has sight so keen and strong,

That it can follow the flight of song?

Long, long afterward, in an oak

I found the arrow, still unbroke;

And the song, from beginning to end,

I found again in the heart of a friend.

- Henry Wadsworth Longfellow -

Change

Perpetual Miracles

In Perfect Shape (by Mandy Wintink)

on www.ultimaterob.com

How often do we head to a competition in perfect shape? Cardio is up, no injuries whatsover, well rested in terms of sleep and muscles, mentally fit as we can be, and no leftover twinge in that sprained ankle, pulled hamstring, or that torn ACL.

I wish I could say that I was in perfect shape for the upcoming Canadian Ultimate Championships in Sherbrooke but the reality is that I am not. At fitness practice last week I felt like my quads wouldn’t kick in during sprints, likely because my hamstring was pulled and my SI joint was locked because I hadn’t seen my chiropractor recently.

It’s a rare occasion when I am “perfect”! *insert sarcastic tone*

So let’s stop expecting perfection! It doesn’t serve us in any other domain of our life. Really, it doesn’t! Perfectionism is actually a huge problem in our Western culture. In fact, there is a great book written by Positive Psychologist Dr. Tal Ben-Shahar entitled The Pursuit of Perfect: How to Stop Chasing Perfection and Start Living a Richer, Happier Life. Ben-Shahar starts the book off with a wonderful story of when he won the national junior squash championship and felt utterly depressed and unsatisfied within hours. Why? Because he was chasing perfection and even with a great championship win, it was not good enough! It wasn’t perfect.

When we chase perfection, we chase something that is unreal, unattainable, and impossible. As a result, we are destined to fail before we even begin. When we chase perfection we set ourselves up for misery, disappointment, and low self-esteem. And when we delude ourselves into thinking that perfection IS possible then we risk ending up like Ben-Shahar even if we do win. When we are upset that we are not in perfect shape, we have already succumb to the brutal misery that chasing perfection offers.

How’s that for pump-up talk less than 48 hours before Nationals!

So how do we stop chasing perfection? It starts with a reality check!

- Where are you?
- What shape is your body in?
- What can you do?
- What can you not do?
- Can any change be made at this point?
- Do you have any more control over your situation at this point?

Be honest with yourself. Know where you are and what limits you have. Don’t worry about the limits you had before or will have in the future. Just get a sense of where you are right now. This is a reality check.

Upon checking into reality, consider that this is actually a very wise practice that people spend a ton of money at yoga studies trying to achieve. They are seeking to be “in the moment”. Knowing where your body is and what limits you have, is being in the moment. Its yoga and you just got it for free and didn’t have to sweat or contort your body.

The body is the one thing that does not escape the moment. It’s living in it. So no matter where our mind might be (e.g., on that throw we didn’t complete, on how our kids are doing back home, on that MCAT exam we’re about to take, on that new job that starts on Monday) our body is in the present moment. Our body is playing ultimate! Being in the moment means knowing full well how our body is feeling right NOW. Not how we want it to be feeling. Not how it was feeling last year or when we were 22. Not how it would feel if we had just done those extra sprints, if we hadn’t pushed it too hard in practice last night, or at the last tournament. Not if we were 10 lbs lighter or 20 lbs heavier. Not if we were taller or faster or didn’t eat that big mac or had that extra red bull. RIGHT NOW! All those other thoughts are just our minds attempt to chase perfection and, unfortunately, sabotaging our body’s experience in the present moment.

When we get on the field, when we warm up, when we line up, when we pull, when we run, there is nothing more to do, change, improve, recover, develop, strengthen, elongate, etc. This is it. The tournament is here. This one. Not the one next month. This one! Nothing else matters but every single moment of this tournament. Don’t waste your time wishing you were any different because all you will end up doing is wishing away the experience of nationals before you.

And it’s in each moment of awareness where the magic of athleticism happens. Where we are in the zone, naïve to expectations. We’ve been in that zone before or at the very least we’ve heard other great athletes describe it. It’s no mystery. It’s mental focus. It’s the place where we flow easily from moment to moment. It’s being in the moment.

I know I will be better if I keep my mind focused on what my body is ACTUALLY capable of doing. I know I will be better if my mind is focused on the moment in action! I won’t be better because I think I should be.

When we stop chasing perfection, that zone is possible! And the only thing that will matter is how we felt in our body and how our mind and body were in sync in that zone Whether our body is on the field or on the sideline. Whether our body is injured or not. Whether our body is tired or rested. Whether our body is fit or not-so fit. We will be living that richer, happier life, if we aren’t deluding ourselves with ideas of perfection or other unrealistic expectations.

So how do we actually achieve this?

Just go out and play dammit! And have fun doing it, not matter what body you brought with you!! Enjoy the moment!

Would anyone know the difference?

(Paul Coelho)

A friend tells me the story of a father who took his two boys to play mini-golf. At the ticket office he wanted to know the price.

- Five coins for adults, three for those over six years. Under six years entry is free.

- One of them is three, the other seven. I’ll pay for the oldest.

- You are silly – said the ticket seller. You could have saved three coins, saying that the oldest was under six; I would never have known the difference.

- That may be, but the boys would know. And they would remember the bad example for ever.

Fear

Irrational fears... I am sure everyone has them. Being scared shitless even though you know that it doesn't make sense.

I guess in a way I faced one of my irrational fears today: I went to the dentist... I avoided going for years, knowing it was a dumb thing to do, but just the idea of going had me scared...yeah shitless :-)
This time it wasn't like I had much of a choice: a beaver sized jaw (not really my look) and a heck of a root canal infection, a couple of days without solid food and to top it all some serious pain kinda makes you do certain things even though you are scared.

So yeah, first dentist visit in years. Both him and his assistant were incredibly kind, taking their time talking me through what they were doing, even getting a smile out of me when the x-rays needed to be redone. Lots of anesthesia, which helped. Now we'll have to see if things improve. As I said, the look doesn't really do it for me! New appointment in two weeks to finish the root canal treatment and to look if anything else needs to be done - eeek.

But I did face this particular fear and in stead of telling myself that it was stupid to postpone going, what my habit is (or rather: used to be), this time I am telling myself that I can be proud of myself for going, no matter what pushed me.

I did go, I made a different choice this time around and took a different path.

Yay me!!!

Oh, and a little something I'll just put in my pocket (as the expression goes in Dutch): the dentist told me that for not having seen a dentist in so long my teeth seemed to be in pretty good shape, with hardly any tartar! :-D