I wanna take the breath that's true (Mazzy Star)

Wie geht's?

I've finished reading the Ryan Holiday book I've been using as blog material on here and in Baggy Trousers for the last few weeks (Discipline Is Destiny).

One of my favourite bits turned out to be in the Afterward, and is probably the reason his words resonate with me so much - we are brothers!

This is the bit:

Aware of my tendency to do things compulsively, I don't drink, or smoke, or take recreational drugs of any kind. I avoid the steady drumbeat of the increasingly negative news media, trying to remain positive and to keep up the good fight in a broken world. I keep my ego in check and, to the best of my ability, my temper too. I do my best to be a good husband and supportive spouse. I get my sleep. I keep my desk clean - or cleanish. I eliminate tasks and delegate the ones that others can do.

How refreshing that he feels comfortable enough to reveal all of that. I can add to my - what would Graham Purdy do? approach to now include - what would Ryan do?

Love and peace - Wozza

Hooked on a feeling (Blue Swede)

Photo by Obi - @pixel9propics on Unsplash

Wie geht's?

Ryan Holiday asks two great questions in the chapter headed 'Quit Being A Slave' (Discipline Is Destiny):

• What are you hooked on?
• What do you have trouble doing without?

You may want to reflect on those two questions as I've been doing since reading them last week.

Seneca says, "Show me a man who isn't a slave". We all have something.

It's easier for me to tell the things I'm not addicted to, rather than admit the things I do have trouble doing without.

I've never smoked, never taken recreational drugs, never drunk alcohol to excess, never been a work-aholic, never been a slave to money, and never been addicted to gambling. 

At one time I did have ambition as a leader and I clearly aimed for promotions, but no longer. I don't crave likes on social media and although I still like Coca-Cola, I can live without it. In the past, and especially in my youth, I was hooked on playing sport of many kinds - tennis, squash, running, badminton, softball, cricket, football, but no more. At various times I've also been hooked on certain TV programmes like Seinfeld, 24, Lost In Space...but not now. I could cheerfully do without a car and my phone.

So, what can't I do without? Walking, reading, collecting records, listening to music, and blogging. I am a slave to those activities, but I would argue - they are not bad habits. The reverse is true, actually - they are habits that keep me healthy, active, relaxed and self-reflective. Like this post.

Love and peace - Wozza

Training from morning to night (Musashi)

Wie geht's?

While in Auckland last week I walked to Mt Eden shops and found a cool bookshop. They had a copy of Ryan Holiday's Discipline is Destiny.

I've already bookmarked a large number of pages that resonate with my life.

His chapter heading 'Practice...Then Practice More' is an example (Americans sensibly use practice with a c for both noun and verb). The plain message is clear from the heading, but the writing of Musashi (a samurai warrior) spells out things well: A thousand days of training to develop, ten thousand days to polish.

That's basically 30 years of practice. But really - I think he's indicating that the practising/improvement never stops.

I spent a lot of my childhood practising my football skills. My brother wasn't a sporty guy, so I didn't have his help, but, in autumn/ winter/ spring I had our empty family swimming pool to practise in. I spent hours kicking a ball around the pool - hitting angles, running, passing, trapping the ball, give and goes. Hours and hours.

I started playing football for Eden A.F.C. when I was 4 years old. By my mid-thirties I had completed my 30 years of practice, but I never considered myself the finished product.

Practice...Then Practice More. Absolutely right.

Love and peace - Wozza

Get out now

Photo by Steffan Mitchell on Unsplash

Wie geht's?

In the past I've proselytised about the advantages of walking and I've mentioned the walk I sometimes take that is guarded by a crazy territorial magpie.

Of late, Jacky and I have reclaimed this walk (with Rey and Jerry in toe) - lo and behold - the magpie is nowhere to be found! Maybe it's not nesting season. Rest easy, I'll keep you updated.

We like this walk. John Stilgoe would approve:

Get out now. Not just outside, but beyond the trap of the programmed electronic age so gently closing around so many people...Go outside, move deliberately, then relax, slow down, look around. Do not jog. Do not run...Instead pay attention to everything that abuts the rural road, the city street, the suburban boulevard. Walk. Stroll. Saunter. Ride a bike and coast along a lot. Explore.

Ryan Holiday quotes that passage in Stillness Is the Key with the message - Don't let the beauty of life escape you.  

Tautoko!

Love and peace - Wozza

Keep a notebook (Jack London)

Photo by Mike Tinnion on Unsplash

Wie geht's?

Following Ryan Holiday's push in Stillness Is The Key, I've started a nightly routine of writing a journal entry before heading to bed.

I've kept journals/diaries off and on for decades. Mostly it's been when I've traveled overseas. I always keep a journal then because so much happens in a day - it's good to keep a record, and yes, I do re-read them from time to time. They conjure up great memories/feelings.

A daily journal is different though and I'm aiming to not just do a list of what happened in the day. Instead, I'm aiming to use it to get things off my chest, have quiet time with my thoughts, clarify those thoughts, and separate the harmful from the insightful.

But, as Ryan points out - there is no right way or wrong way, the point is just to do it.

So, I've carved out a space - just before bed each day, for a few minutes of reflection that both demands, and creates, stillness.

Love and peace - Wozza

Round and round the ring I go, I want to know, I want to know (Paul McCartney)

Wie geht's?

Stillness is the key, is the message by Ryan Holiday in his book Stillness Is the Key.

Before footballers take a penalty, a free kick, or even a corner, they pause, centre themselves, and breathe in, breathe out. A deep breath in. A deep breath out. Then they complete their play.

As Ryan says:

Stillness is what aims the archer's arrow. It inspires new ideas. It sharpens perspective and illuminates connections. It slows the ball down so that we might hit it. It generates a vision, helps us resist the passions of the mob, makes space for gratitude and wonder. Stillness allows us to persevere. To succeed. It is the key that unlocks the insights of genius and allows us regular folks to understand them.

And that's just from his introduction. More from Ryan in the next few posts, I'm sure.

Love and peace - Wozza 

He blazed a pick white liberty trail through history's hall of fame (Fess Parker)

Harry S. Truman

Wie geht's?

Ryan Holiday's book Right Thing, Right Now is a rich source of inspiration. While discussing concepts emanating from stoicism, he returns many times to the example of Harry S. Truman, the 33rd President of The United States of America.

Ryan is certainly a fan. Truthfully, and shamefully, aside from his signing off on the two atomic bombs and that sign on his desk (The buck stops here), I've never thought of Truman much or read about him. But I'm going to change that after Ryan's descriptions.

Truman wasn't a successful businessman, but he was honourable and a man of integrity. He toiled away in obscurity as a senator, but he was honest.

As Ryan notes, "it's one thing to try to keep your hands clean, it's another to manage to do it in a den of thieves."

Truman drew ethical lines and respected the code. It was, for instance, unthinkable for him to be late.

In many ways, it seems, Truman was an ordinary man, but after FDR's stroke, he became President. And I need to know more about him. Not the condensed bios online and not the glossed over ones that centre on his years as President.

To do him justice, I'll need a visit to the Little Red Bookstore, I suspect.

Love and peace - Warren N. Purdy

Do the right thing.

Wie geht's? Cool for cats?

I'm loving a new book I picked up recently - Right Thing, Right Now by Ryan Holiday, yes the Daily Stoic guy.

It's terrific.

The main message: 

Do what is right.

Do it right now.

For yourself.

For others.

For the world.

Sounds easy? Well, yes...and, no.

Basically, it involves the line between good and evil, right and wrong, ethical and unethical, fair and unfair.

It involves some key decisions:

What you will do.

What you won't do.

What you must do.

How you do it.

Whom you do it for.

What you're willing to give for them.

The first chapter of the book centres on the example shown by Harry Truman and it held me entranced while I read during my Year 10 class' sustained silent reading time today.

Love and peace - Wozza