Everything has a price tag to it. Ask for anything in this world and you’ll get it. As long as you’re willing to pay the price. When you’ve given up your family, your other passions, your loved one; the only way to go is forward. Don’t waste the effort thus far and the price that has been paid. Nobody said it would be easy. But there’s no where to go but forward. Let the all that has happened to you spur yourself towards your goal, for there is no other way and you’ve made the choice. Painful it may be, let it fuel your drive towards the top. When it’s all said and done, make sure you made all the sacrifices worthwhile instead of letting it go to waste and wallow in depression and sadness.
Your Consciousness Determine Your Reality
The blind cannot see, the deaf cannot hear. What you see, what you hear and what you touch is but a perception of our reality. You choose what you want to see. We set the boundaries upon ourselves. Our eyes are clouded, our ears are covered, our minds are confused. We think thoughts that are forced upon us. We think thoughts that become a self fulfilling prophecy. There is no spoon. There is no hand. Everything is an illusion.
E=MC²
Energy cannot be created nor destroyed. Everything is energy. Energy has no boundaries. We set the boundaries on ourselves. When will we wake up?
There is no path to peace. Peace is the path. You must change what you want to see in the world — Mahatama Gandhi
Nostalgia
Looking back at some of my previous photos, with some dating 2008. It was a good 3 years ago. I haven’t been a big fan of pictures. So there’re actually much more but I’ve removed myself from some of them. Thinking back, I shouldn’t have done so, much unglam as they may seem. Looking at the photos, I couldn’t believe some of the photos. But they only serve to show how far I’ve come as a person. Thinking back of the crazy times I had. The good times and the bad times. Time has moved on no matter how good or bad the situation was. No matter how terrible something seemed, time would move on.
My Inspiration
“Too many people spend money they haven’t earned, to buy things they don’t want, to impress people they don’t like.” – Will Smith
How true is that. We live in a society where we wanna impress others, prove our self worth to others. But one who has the confidence from within has nothing to prove to anyone. The change over the years have both been mental as well as physical. I cringe when I look at past photos of myself. The terrible posture I had then, I sure hope I have none of that now.
3 years from now, when I look back, will I still be able to see a change? A change from the boy to a Man. Will the transition be complete? Will the 4 elements be manifested into this existence? Namely the King, Warrior, Magician, Lover. If you have no idea what I’m talking about go read the book by the same title, hopefully it grants you some insights.
Need I Say More
“Time is more valuable than money. You can get more money, but you cannot get more time.” – Jim Rohn
This is a quote I never fail to tell people. That’s why I’m always so hard pressed and anal when it comes to time. Though I suffer from the classic penny wise pound foolish with regards to it at times. I’ll end today’s post with a couple of lines from the Green Lantern.
“Fear is the enemy of action. Will is what makes you take action. Fear is what stops you and makes you weak. When you’re afraid you can’t act. When you can’t act you can’t defend. If you can’t defend you die.”
Late Night Musing
To start off, read this 1st.
http://www.thenategreenexperience.com/blog/what-makes-you-a-man
Is He A Real Man?
How true about the society today and perceived image of the world by people around us.
“Let’s face it, most of us are lazy. We don’t read or educate ourselves more than we have to. (When’s the last time you read a book that wasn’t assigned to you?) We have fickle self-esteem and mistake machismo for manliness, a by-product of watching hero movies and never connecting with any of our friends. We have shallow romantic relationships we don’t work at to make better.”
But today I’m not gonna talk about what a real man is. It’s already defined in the link earlier. I’m here to talk about what the hell has happened to us compared to the past.
Have our lives been 1 disaster after another?
Everyone wants to be in the limelight these days. Everyone wants to be the centre of attraction and affection. And in order to do that, they put down others around them and become all Alpha. But is alpha really alpha, or but a pathetic attempt to cover up the pussy who’s within. Crazy antics, loud voices and all apparent snobbish-ness, that’s what’s been seen all around. Gone are the days where people are really genuine and want to be your friend. Instead, you’re only a friend when you’ve some value, if not please f**k off.
A true man never needs to show off or tell anyone how good he is. He lets others do the talking for him. He just goes about doing his stuff. Like they say, empty vessels make the most noise. There isn’t a need to declare to the world how awesome one is. I believe there still exist this phrase called the Silent Strong Male.
What happened to this guy?
And so, we have shallow friendships. We also have shallow relationships. It’s true the media has poisoned the minds of countless guys. To be a gentleman, you got to be all sugar and nice. As a result you see 2 types of guys these days.
a) Weak, nice, pansy looking kinda guy
b) Bad ass looking, strong arrogant guy
Which brings me to this question. What happened to the mature, intelligent, confident guy? Is he hiding somewhere in Alaska? After a while, guys realize that being all sweet and nice doesn’t pay off. So he turns into a swaggering, dominating alpha male. Pretty soon the ladies flock to this newly improved guy. But 5 years down the road, the guy is around, “playing the field”. None of his relationships have born fruit and they were merely for satisfying the ego and of course, his dick. Whatever happened to treasuring relationships and appreciating a woman for who she really is? Seems like it’s all about me, me and me. I’m not saying go start seeing your girl 24 hours a day and stuff like that. I’m saying put down your f**king ego and start thinking for once, how can i truly make this girl happy. She might laugh, have a good time, but at the end of the day, it could just be a fleeting happiness.
So many relationships break off these days because people are so busy satisfying what they want. It becomes a parasitic relationship. So much for “being in love” huh. It’s easy to fall in love. Basically we humans were wired that way. What’s hard is maintaining it. We complain that a relationship ended because of this and that reason, yet never do anything to remedy it. We will always be spoilt for choice, but till the day we make up our mind, we’ll always be distracted by this and that.
Neglect the people around you, and you will suffer. You are the sum of the people around you. Your family, your friends, your spouse/bf/gf. If all 3 groups think you’re f**ked up, chances are you really are.
The Curtain Falls
When men are not wasting time chasing skirts, they’ll have more time chasing what is really important to them. I guess here concludes a chapter of my life, albeit a quite big part of it.
Start doing what you love, and perhaps the person that loves you will come along. It’s after all a phase of life that all boys go through before becoming men.
Here’s to the more important things in life. Cheers.
Snap Back To Reality
Someone once said, “You’ve no money, yet you wanna live like X Men. You gotta be kidding.”
Dreams, we all have dreams. Some people dream all their life. Some gave up their dreams. Others just woke up and saw the world as it is. Yes, you can be happy and contented with what you have. Yes, the religious text talks about being at peace and leading a simple life. However, the world or rather the society today has it’s own rules too. Without wealth, without looks, without power, you are shit. When you are shit, you deserve shit. It’s like the geek saying where are all the hot girls. It is a materialistic world out there. When you have nothing and are dreaming, don’t wonder why you don’t get certain stuff. Don’t complain why you can’t get the Victoria’s Secret Models. People tend to judge things at their face value.
“When you’re nothing, don’t post anything on your profile. Posting some fanciful story doesn’t change the fact you are nothing. The day when you can have a profile, is the day when you are so good in a certain field that you can claim ownership for that skill.”
I’m not saying to wallow in self-pity and get depressed. Yes, you know you are shit. So what are you gonna do next. We can’t change our past, but we can change our future. You need not give up your dreams, but you gotta be realistic. Not everyone is born to be an Olympic gold medalist, or the next Rock Star, or the next President. Accept your fate and do what you can with it. Plus dreams are a very dynamic concept. It is always changing.
X Men are X Men because they have money. Batman is Batman because Bruce Wayne has money. Ironman is Ironman because Tony Starks has money. Stop dreaming, be realistic. But don’t be average and become just like any other guy on the streets.
Empathy and Quitting
Having empathy for other people is the ability to feel what they are feeling through conscious means. You should always try to put yourself in someone else’s shoes before judging their actions. But having empathy isn’t the same as sympathizing with someone and giving your tacit approval of their behavior.
Someone can tell me a story of why they can’t achieve their fitness goals, and I can put myself in their shoes. I can do this because I’ve felt the same feelings that they are experiencing at that time. However, this doesn’t mean I pity or feel bad for that person because what is holding them back is usually an addressable issue.
Not like we live in Afghanistan or are under the threat of nuclear radiation. We live in the safe city of Singapore. Beyond some extreme physical ailment, it’s pretty rare that someone can’t achieve their goals. Some have a more difficult path than others, no doubt. But getting in shape and improving your health really isn’t theoretically that hard. It’s hard because it usually requires behavior change to some degree or another.
So I can have empathy, but I may not sympathize. Sometimes you just have to give it to them straight in the face.
The best investment one can make is the investment in Oneself.
’nuff said
Cardio Week II
Here’s a recap of the week’s training.
18/04/11 (Mon)
-20 minutes jog
—————————————————
Yup, that’s all. No, I’ve not been slacking neither did I lose steam. Been down with a respiratory tract infection all weak. Seems more serious than expected. Kinda suck when you made the choice to quit smoking and yet have to breathe in the smoke of others. Guess that’s what triggered the whole infection.
Cardio Week I
Now that it’s the off season, I’ve decided to take this 1 month to focus on cardio. It’s the base of future things to come. So here’s a recap on what’s done in the week.
12/04/11 (Tue)
R1 Battling Ropes
-Alt wave
-2 handed wave
-Figure of 8
-Open & close
2sets; 30sec on, 30sec off
2min break between sets
3min Rest
R2 Sprints
-sprint 40m, 1 pushup, sprint back x 4
3sets; 1min break between sets
5min Rest
R3
-Skipping 1min
- 15 twisting hops
- 10 sprawl
- 10 side to side hop
3sets; No rest
3min Rest
R4
-Jumping Jacks 30sec
-10 medicine ball slam
-10 get ups
-10 around the world
3sets; No rest
3min Rest
R5
-Hammer grip alt wave 30sec
-Burpees 30sec
-Hammer grip 2 handed wave 30sec
-Sit outs 30sec
2sets; 1min rest between sets
-10min jog
13/04/11 (Wed)
-6 Belt pull-ups x 4
-Newspaper crushing 15sheets
-Hanging from bar
-Uneven pushups x 10 per side
-Ski squats 50sec
-15 calf raise
-7 pull-ups
-10 finger pushups
-Ski squats 1min
-10 finger pushups
-15 calf raise
-Bjj drills
-10 hanging leg raise x 2
-1 arm 1 leg plank 30sec per side
-1 arm 1 leg side plank 30sec per side
-Skipping 1min x 2
14/04/11 (Thurs)
-Shadow Combinations
Inner Tube Power Uchikomi
-Morote Seoinage 10 x 5
-Haraigoshi 10 x 5
-Ippon Seoinage 10 x 5
-50 Face pulls
-50 1 sided pulls
-50 Hip Twisting
-15min run
-20min run in afternoon
15/04/11 (Fri)
Interval Training
-400m x 4
1min rest in between sets
-200m x 4
30sec rest in between sets
-100m x 4
No rest, jog back to start
5min Rest
Cycling
-Sprint 10sec, higher resistance
-Cruise 20sec, lower resistance
Repeat 10 times
7min Rest
-Alt Waves 30sec
-10 Medicine Ball slam
-2 Handed Waves 30sec
-10 Sprawls
1min Rest
-Figure of 8 30sec
-10 Medicine Ball slam
-Open and Close
-10 Sprawls
