You Can Just Enjoy
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In any situation you can take a moment to notice whether you could enjoy it more - maybe a lot more or maybe a little more - and then take action to raise your enjoyment. Turning the act of noticing into a habit yields huge gains for lifetime enjoyment. This has been the message for me lately and so it is my solemn duty to pass the message on to you. Some examples: During a conversation someone asked me out of 10 how comfortable I was in my seat and I said 7. Once I was aware of this it was effortless for me to adjust myself to go to an 8 and then a 9 and then ask for help to reach a 10. When given the aux cord I put on Deftones and as the song filled the room I noticed that it did not match the vibe. Before the song ended I switched to Fleetwood Mac. This change immediately elevated the energy of the room. I have been asking over voice notes for referrals for my practitioner work. Someone suggested that after I send each ask, I say, "A success!" out loud. As I've done this, each day's ask has felt easier and easier. I was feeling pessimistic about an upcoming call and then I remembered that I don't know the future and that the call is an opportunity to practice being present and honest and that because they reached out to me, having the call is a gift from me to them, and I felt better about it. What's something in your life you can enjoy more? ~*~*~*~ I'm looking for a frontend developer position working with TypeScript and React. I'm good at building quickly and demoing what I've built thanks to previous jobs and I'd love to contribute to an altruistic project. You can see my creative portfolio here and schedule a chat with me here. |
@strangestloop
"Get back here!" I find myself shouting at my focus at times, but that's just a story. The internal tug-of-war isn't real. I could stop giving my attention to the distraction at any time, but I instead let the avoidance process run its course, and then I am resourced to do the task. Let me just run eight miles first, thinking intermittently about the message I want to send, and then I will feel resourced to send it and possibly receive a response that is not to my liking. I am practicing...
Asking is a skill which also makes it a game. It's a cooperative game between the asker and the askee and I'm going to describe a few examples I was in close proximity to recently in order to see what this game involves: The group asked for the delicious off-menu dessert and they got it. They had an advantage in that there was only upside. Since they weren't attached to getting the dessert, their circumstances would either stay as they were or they would get better. So an acceptance of any...
I have no words on this newsletter day, instead there's a pleasant combination of body relaxation and mental emptiness. As a frequent thinker this quiet in my head feels wonderful. I have been practicing boredom and gratitude and being with things as they are rather than wishing they were different. When negativity arrives I get to be with it, and then when I arrive at emotional neutrality I can overcome the negativity, which feels increasingly important to me. The obstacles are the point....