Wednesday, April 10, 2013
RANDOM THOUGHTS
There are many who seem to want to master their EXTERNAL world through more education, more competition, more training, more reading, more,more,more. I notice that my work is to understand and master my INNER world through observation, connection with others and reading what life has to offer me through work, family, friends and being alone on a run, bike, hike or simply watching the sun set from my back deck. There are different ways to "fill up our tanks". I prefer the latter approach. This is contrary to the way I was raised as a child yet it is the way I raise my children. What is most important is to be in nature, embrace its lessons, follow your heart ( what your inner voice says), and do what you love. Choose places to live... truly live... that fit skin tight over your spirit... if at all possible. Your external environment will nurture and aid your spirit. It directly impacts your daily mood and outlook on life, on other people, your work, your creativity, your energy ( physical and spiritual and mental) and your relationship with yourself. Choose friends who function on this level as well and avoid at all coast, the emotional vampires who simply such your spirit dry. These are thoughts that I play with daily. I have learned these concepts from many, many mistakes and years of struggle. We all have choice and with that, have the freedom to create a life worth living. DO & BE what is NATURAL even if it is not natural for you right now. What I believe is natural is: health and well being, abundance, joy, happiness, struggle, pain and bliss ( what we experience on the Hero's journey... up and down is natural). More later!
Monday, April 1, 2013
JOYFUL LIVING:
As life continues it's flow into the uncertain future, I wish to be patient. This requires not a suffering but a willingness to immerse myself in the natural flow of life regardless of its pace,speed,direction and not be waiting for things to happen. The natural flow means that life assumes its own form and shape, not necessarily mine. Things occur not when we think they should but when they suppose to, when the time is right. Having said all that, what I notice after several decades of this extraordinary life is that sports,cooking, exercise, eating well, writing, meditating, stimulating conversation, music and love have this transformational capacity to create much JOY. Together they create a marriage of Yin and Yang, East and West, Science and Mysticism, all a manifestation of the DIVINE. Why do we get so busy chasing the ephemeral, external rewards that cause frustration and disappointment and dis-ease. The Chinese word for busy, when translated into English , means " the killing of the heart".
As life continues it's flow into the uncertain future, I wish to be patient. This requires not a suffering but a willingness to immerse myself in the natural flow of life regardless of its pace,speed,direction and not be waiting for things to happen. The natural flow means that life assumes its own form and shape, not necessarily mine. Things occur not when we think they should but when they suppose to, when the time is right. Having said all that, what I notice after several decades of this extraordinary life is that sports,cooking, exercise, eating well, writing, meditating, stimulating conversation, music and love have this transformational capacity to create much JOY. Together they create a marriage of Yin and Yang, East and West, Science and Mysticism, all a manifestation of the DIVINE. Why do we get so busy chasing the ephemeral, external rewards that cause frustration and disappointment and dis-ease. The Chinese word for busy, when translated into English , means " the killing of the heart".
SPIRITUAL LEARNING
WESTERN LEARNING VS. EASTERN LEARNING
When I talk with most sports psychologists in the profession, they seem to focus on learning as something the athletes do to understand and master their external world on the field.
When I work as a sports psychologist, I focus on learning as something athletes do to understand and
master their internal world in their hearts and souls. I teach by having them cultivate the deeper
spiritual virtues such as courage, fearlessness, tenacity, commitment, patience, perseverance, persistence, trust, respect, integrity, sacrifice and humility all of which serve to influence their outer world. In this sense, I become a teacher and philosopher for the bigger game of life, the by product being, higher level performance on the field. I call this... THE WAY... of The Champion.
When I talk with most sports psychologists in the profession, they seem to focus on learning as something the athletes do to understand and master their external world on the field.
When I work as a sports psychologist, I focus on learning as something athletes do to understand and
master their internal world in their hearts and souls. I teach by having them cultivate the deeper
spiritual virtues such as courage, fearlessness, tenacity, commitment, patience, perseverance, persistence, trust, respect, integrity, sacrifice and humility all of which serve to influence their outer world. In this sense, I become a teacher and philosopher for the bigger game of life, the by product being, higher level performance on the field. I call this... THE WAY... of The Champion.
Wednesday, March 27, 2013
THE GREATEST SIN
THE GREATEST SIN IS WHAT DIES INSIDE WHEN YOU ARE STILL ALIVE.
*Never die wondering but it's OK to die wandering.
* It's actually healthy to see the importance of loafing occasionally.
*Do the things your heart dreams of and live the life you desire.
*Those things that hold you back from inhabiting your destiny are false, images in the mind.
*Refuse to allow your fears to set the boundaries of your destiny.
*You have but one life to live so don't limit it by fear.
*Live the life you love and you will be blessed.
*Come into the rhythm of yourself and rediscover your childlike nature.
*Sail away from the safe harbor... it's never too late... don't wait.
* When I am conscious of all the above, life is extraordinary.
*Never die wondering but it's OK to die wandering.
* It's actually healthy to see the importance of loafing occasionally.
*Do the things your heart dreams of and live the life you desire.
*Those things that hold you back from inhabiting your destiny are false, images in the mind.
*Refuse to allow your fears to set the boundaries of your destiny.
*You have but one life to live so don't limit it by fear.
*Live the life you love and you will be blessed.
*Come into the rhythm of yourself and rediscover your childlike nature.
*Sail away from the safe harbor... it's never too late... don't wait.
* When I am conscious of all the above, life is extraordinary.
Monday, March 25, 2013
SEVEN SPIRITUAL INTANGIBLES
SEVEN ESSENTIAL SPIRITUAL INTANGIBLES FOR SUCCESS:
All successful athletes and people in all walks of life seem to have certain innate core virtues or traits that define their path of success. Remember this: there is no path to success; success is that path. Here are the top seven that I find weave a pattern connecting such extraordinary people:
1) BELIEF---your lack of belief in yourself is your opponents greatest advantage.When you have self-doubt and lack confidence, it is usually due to your focus on outcomes and results, items that are beyond your control. Such focus on outcomes makes you tight,tense and tentative and as a result, your confidence diminishes. Focus instead on what you can control, those little things that you do over and over and believe in doing that. When you do, confidence rises as you become relaxed and calm, assured that you can demonstrate those behaviors. Remember this: from little streams come big rivers.
2) INFLUENCE--- Know that your influence is NEVER neutral. Your body language, tone, posture, eye contact, words chosen and attitude can either light up a room or cast it into eternal darkness. The more aware I become of the power of my influence, the more "say" I have in the outcome on or off the court.
3) COMPASSION--- the ancient TAO says we lose and in this way we win. Errors,mistakes, setbacks and failure are our best teachers and mentors. The arrow that hits the bulls eye is surely the result of 100 misses. Embrace loss as a necessary link to success. I have failed many,many times yet I am more fortunate because of that. My best seller in over 10 languages was rejected for publication a dozen times or more. Understand this natural path and have compassion for yourself and others, particularly those whom you have perhaps defeated.
4) COURAGE--- the word courage comes from the French word "coeur" meaning heart. You must have the courage to take risks and learn from your setbacks when they occur. The author, Ray Bradbury once said that when you are afraid to fail, when you are standing at the ledge of a cliff, you must jump and build your wings on the way down...then you'll fly. Remember the first time as a kid when you jumped off the diving board into the pool although you were petrified prior to jumping. You landed safely and let out a scream because you had such a successful flight into the water.
5) THOUGHTS--- your thoughts will strengthen you or weaken you. Every thought has its own energy. If a thought is contrary to the direction you wish to go, the thoughts will win. We all have two wolves inside us at the same time, fighting with each other everyday. You may wonder...which wolf wins? The answer: the one you feed. Using positive thoughts will set you on a path that is healthy, strong, forward moving and successful.
6) INTEGRITY--- this is about narrowing the gap between what you say and what you do. The less the gap, the more the integrity. Integrity relates to trust and respect, the two key components of meaningful relationships, so necessary for life of congruence and authenticity. This means that you do what you say you will do even when no one is looking.
7) GRATEFULNESS--- all achieving, extraordinary athletes that I have met demonstrate the quality of Gratefulness. In fact, I say: FROM GR8FUL 2 GR8. I ask that you list the top 7 things in your life that you are grateful for. When you get the feeling of gratefulness, breathe in into your heart( eyes closed) three times and hold it there. Then, go about your day making it a reflection of all that you have been given... live your day giving back to your team, friends, family, work, performance because of your own good fortune.
Being aware of these 7 items each day will change your life in significantly good ways.
SHANG SHAN
All successful athletes and people in all walks of life seem to have certain innate core virtues or traits that define their path of success. Remember this: there is no path to success; success is that path. Here are the top seven that I find weave a pattern connecting such extraordinary people:
1) BELIEF---your lack of belief in yourself is your opponents greatest advantage.When you have self-doubt and lack confidence, it is usually due to your focus on outcomes and results, items that are beyond your control. Such focus on outcomes makes you tight,tense and tentative and as a result, your confidence diminishes. Focus instead on what you can control, those little things that you do over and over and believe in doing that. When you do, confidence rises as you become relaxed and calm, assured that you can demonstrate those behaviors. Remember this: from little streams come big rivers.
2) INFLUENCE--- Know that your influence is NEVER neutral. Your body language, tone, posture, eye contact, words chosen and attitude can either light up a room or cast it into eternal darkness. The more aware I become of the power of my influence, the more "say" I have in the outcome on or off the court.
3) COMPASSION--- the ancient TAO says we lose and in this way we win. Errors,mistakes, setbacks and failure are our best teachers and mentors. The arrow that hits the bulls eye is surely the result of 100 misses. Embrace loss as a necessary link to success. I have failed many,many times yet I am more fortunate because of that. My best seller in over 10 languages was rejected for publication a dozen times or more. Understand this natural path and have compassion for yourself and others, particularly those whom you have perhaps defeated.
4) COURAGE--- the word courage comes from the French word "coeur" meaning heart. You must have the courage to take risks and learn from your setbacks when they occur. The author, Ray Bradbury once said that when you are afraid to fail, when you are standing at the ledge of a cliff, you must jump and build your wings on the way down...then you'll fly. Remember the first time as a kid when you jumped off the diving board into the pool although you were petrified prior to jumping. You landed safely and let out a scream because you had such a successful flight into the water.
5) THOUGHTS--- your thoughts will strengthen you or weaken you. Every thought has its own energy. If a thought is contrary to the direction you wish to go, the thoughts will win. We all have two wolves inside us at the same time, fighting with each other everyday. You may wonder...which wolf wins? The answer: the one you feed. Using positive thoughts will set you on a path that is healthy, strong, forward moving and successful.
6) INTEGRITY--- this is about narrowing the gap between what you say and what you do. The less the gap, the more the integrity. Integrity relates to trust and respect, the two key components of meaningful relationships, so necessary for life of congruence and authenticity. This means that you do what you say you will do even when no one is looking.
7) GRATEFULNESS--- all achieving, extraordinary athletes that I have met demonstrate the quality of Gratefulness. In fact, I say: FROM GR8FUL 2 GR8. I ask that you list the top 7 things in your life that you are grateful for. When you get the feeling of gratefulness, breathe in into your heart( eyes closed) three times and hold it there. Then, go about your day making it a reflection of all that you have been given... live your day giving back to your team, friends, family, work, performance because of your own good fortune.
Being aware of these 7 items each day will change your life in significantly good ways.
SHANG SHAN
Monday, March 18, 2013
SACRED THOUGHTS
SACRED THOUGHTS
When my thoughts are aligned with my intentions they are SACRED thoughts. I work to keep my thoughts aligned with what I intend to CREATE. I INTEND to create wellness, abundance, happiness and everything else falls in place just as it supposed to, not how it should necessarily. In this way,I exercise my power to CHOOSE a life that fits skin tight over my spirit and in the process of such choice, I automatically live in harmony with INTENTION. Think possibility NOT disability. This is my first blog in quite awhile and I am hoping I can get back into the groove. Been busy writing my next book which will be published in the Fall of 2013. Title: COACHING WITH A DANCING HEART. I can't wait to have it finished so that I can share the message with you. I had a strong intention to write this book and when that happened, it seemed to flow and complete itself.
Remember, never take a donkey to the derby ( why do that in life?)
Shang Shan, Doc
When my thoughts are aligned with my intentions they are SACRED thoughts. I work to keep my thoughts aligned with what I intend to CREATE. I INTEND to create wellness, abundance, happiness and everything else falls in place just as it supposed to, not how it should necessarily. In this way,I exercise my power to CHOOSE a life that fits skin tight over my spirit and in the process of such choice, I automatically live in harmony with INTENTION. Think possibility NOT disability. This is my first blog in quite awhile and I am hoping I can get back into the groove. Been busy writing my next book which will be published in the Fall of 2013. Title: COACHING WITH A DANCING HEART. I can't wait to have it finished so that I can share the message with you. I had a strong intention to write this book and when that happened, it seemed to flow and complete itself.
Remember, never take a donkey to the derby ( why do that in life?)
Shang Shan, Doc
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