Life and Random Thinking

Three Life Practices from a Four-Star General

Posted on August 16, 2015 by dfolstad58

Funny question, When was the last time your muscles ached?

I remember a friend of mine who took over my training for a brief time.

I can clearly remember a day he took me out to park to give me a workout. After running around the park for awhile, he told me it was time for pushups. (oh yay!)

Being a decade or too younger than I am now, and considerably fitter, I peeled off a respectable twenty pushups. My back was straight, my wrists strong and I lowered down to my nose and back like I was a marine.

I started to stand up. Whoa !

Come on Dave, give me five more.

I slowly lowered myself to do five more, but not quite so steady. I slowly ground out my 4th, and he had his hand on my back holding me there, two more Dave, just two more.

Those two ground out even more slowly, and again his voice – JUST two more Dave, and I grit my teeth and pulled those two out of somewhere,

that darn hand, and that darn encouraging voice, One more Dave, just one more.

I halfway got that one done before I collapsed in the dirt.

You know what? I was proud of those sore muscles the next day. Been proud of your sore muscles lately? Challenges do me good, and it’s good to fall flat, and build up.

remember the poem – The Reward is Within.

Manner of Speaking

Stanley McChrystal is a retired United States Army General. Former Secretary of Defence Robert Gates has described him as “perhaps the finest warrior and leader of men in combat I (have) ever met”. His last assignment before retiring was as Commander of the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) and Commander of the U.S. Forces in Afghanistan.

Stanley McChrystal - United States Army General (Retired) and Author Stanley McChrystal – United States Army General (Retired) and Author

Today, McChrystal heads the McChrystal Group, a leadership and management consultancy composed of professionals from the military, academic, business, and technology sectors. He has given an inspiring TED Talk and is the author of Team of Teams: New Rules of Engagement for a Complex World.

I recently listened to an interesting podcast in which McChrystal had a wide-ranging discussion with Tim Ferriss that covered tactical and psychological lessons from combat, the development of mental toughness, leadership and other issues. The podcast generated a number of questions from listeners. As a…

View original post 542 more words

Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Fly like an Eagle over where I live

Posted on August 10, 2015 by dfolstad58

Sicamous paddlewheeler on Okanagan Lake, north end of Penticton

Included in this post is a youtube created, splendid job too, by a local who is keen about sharing this beautiful valley he loves. Bravo Luke ! (applause)

The viewpoint is from an eagle with the camera in his claws, or maybe a drone – regardless the view is fantastic.

As you will see from watching the video, this is a valley of green and blue, browns and gold. In the opening bits you will see the Penticton sign which is like the famous Hollywood sign except it says Penticton, and is on our very own Munson mountain. (trivia – the view from this local mountain used to be on the Canadian 50 dollar bill!! and what a view too as it overlooks the 30 or so local wineries in beautiful Naramata)

The names of these places are going to be curious to you I understand. My home city named Penticton (check the link for more detail) is an Indian word, meaning either Meeting Place or Place to Live Forever. In the video the lake where you see people jumping into the water is Skaha Lake which is the lake at the bottom of our little town of Penticton, and only a kilometre or so from my house. About 6 kilometres to the north of my house is another lake at head or top of Penticton and that is the Okanagan lake, which is larger about 150 miles long or so.

Okanagan lake from beach level

When you are watching the video you will see people floating on inner tubes in a channel. This channel connects the Okanagan and Skaha Lake together and is about 7 kilometres long. A popular pastime in the summer is to float from the north end to the south end of town, leisurely pace I promise you and about 2 hours from end to end. The canal was built after world war 2 to control flooding in the valley by the soldiers who returned from war and was a joint Canada and USA project. The project provided work, land and housing for all the workers who participated.

One view shows a flag at the top of a mountain, that is the top of Giant’s Head mountain I suspect. This mountain is easily visible from Penticton and appears like a giant’s head lying down. You can hike or bike to the top and when I biked it was more than an hour grind to the top, and a zippy 8 minute whoosh back down. Giant’s Head is part of the town just north of Penticton, that town is Summerland (really!).

Skaha Lake, close to home

Enjoy the beautiful video, the water, the vineyards which are part of the area where I live. Maybe some day you can visit, and visit some of these wineries, float down the channel, or ride the famous Kettle Valley Railway (now part of the Trans Canada Trail).

Most importantly, thanks for reading, and visiting! I really appreciate it. 🙂

Posted in okanagan related, South Okanagan Restaurants and Other Jewels | Tagged British Columbia, float, Giant's Head mountain, inner tubes, Naramata, Okanagan lake, Penticton, skaha lake, Summerland, wineries | Leave a comment

How do you eat an elephant?

Posted on August 5, 2015 by dfolstad58

No, I’m absolutely not proposing a new kind of Atkins diet where you eat elephants. Yuck! It’s a metaphor for accomplishing a big task. The answer is in small bites(and probably chew thoroughly) 🙂

Really what I am talking about is slowly achieving tasks, like:

riding a bike,
learning a language,
public speaking
training your body (or mind)
developing a new skill.

When we do gradually invest time in an activity over a long period, we gradually build up our comfort level and learn easily, digestible chunks!

The first time you drove a car, you were scared, stiff movements but now getting in and driving is totally relaxed.

The same thing learning to ride a bike, at first you wobbled and weaved, but as you invested time, gradually it was something that no longer made you nervous at all. Hop on, and off!

The same for so many things, I have been in Toastmasters for 9 years, so stepping up to a lectern no longer makes my knees knock and that’s a good thing. That comfort didn’t arrive in a meeting, and I am still learning.

I checked the other day what 15 minutes of Headspace (my daily time spent in meditation) adds up to over time, I have done more than 27 hours of training myself to be more mindful, and that is in just 108 days or so.

I have no idea how many hours of spanish language training I have, I only spend 10 to 15 minutes a day but it must be adding up also. Yo no hablo espanol, but I am learning in digestible chunks.

Small bites daily, but they add up.

Can I look now?

But what about the other side of the coin? What about the cumulative waste of time I do? According to statistics, more than 49% of us watch too much tv. Some age groups are watching as much as 5 hours a day, how much does that add up to in a lifetime? Would you be shocked if I told you 13.5 years – gobsmacking isn’t it?

My challenge to myself is to spend less time in front of the box, and a little more time invested daily eating my elephants – learning new skills, encouraging deeper friendships, and being healthier, body, mind, and especially in my interpersonal relationships.

Confidence

Are you challenging yourself? What are you accomplishing in digestible chunks? and let’s agree to leave the elephants out of this.

Thank you very much for reading, enjoy your day.

Posted in health, Thinking Out loud, Toastmasters | Tagged challenge, elephant, Learning, little steps big results, personal growth, skill learning, Toastmasters, tv, wasting time | 14 Comments

Is this you?

Posted on July 8, 2015 by dfolstad58

Today I was given an blogging assignment to imagine my reader. Don’t expect me to know the color of your eyes or guess your birthday, okay?

smart mouse

Is this you?

You are a person who enjoys travel. You love the comfort of home, especially your pillow but you enjoy expanding your horizon, to making new friends, trying new foods, and it’s the little special moments in your travel that make you smile when you remember back on your trips.

safer here out of the waves

When you go to a gathering, you always know a few people and you gravitate to them first.

But gradually that “inner tiger” pokes his/her head from it’s cave and you venture into circles of people you have never spoken to before. Inwardly shy, people don’t see you that way at all and before long you are comfortably having a wonderful conversation with a new acquaintance.

Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.” — Mark Twain

You likely don’t have a motto for life, but you do live one. You smile often, you enjoy friendships with many people and people welcome you often with a hug, and say goodbye with a hug.

You love food with flavor, and all kinds of food as long as it is bright, and flavorful.

You have an appetite for life, learning and you like people.

Is this you?

Is it okay if I say that you’re giving me “Good Vibrations” ? 🙂

Posted in blogging assignments, music related, Thinking Out loud | Tagged appetite for life, beach boys, blogging101, good vibrations, Imagination, life, Mark twain, reader | 9 Comments

No change and change are both worth celebrating

Posted on July 7, 2015 by dfolstad58

No change and change; both can be good, my assignment today for Blogging 101 was to examine my tagline and title. My heart isn’t in it today.

My confession is that I did change my title, the first time I tried to push a little more discipline into my blogging and did Blogging 101, and if I was add a tagline today, I might change it to “Everything Changes”.

What do you think of that tagline? Everything changes was the theme of a recent speech where I spoke about the only constant in life is change. Yet we cling so hard to avoid change, or grump and fight against new ways of doing things. I do it also.

That’s why we celebrate anniversaries because we know that life changes, and with that awareness we celebrate the good occasions.

Today I remember change as a good thing and am grateful as I celebrate 28 years of my kidney transplant in 1987. The time before then was dire with up to 5 months some years when I was hospitalized and hooked up to a dialysis machine.

Tough times for anyone when going through times like that, and today I look back and celebrate my transplant anniversary. But it was a sad day for the donor family as they lost a loved one, and I honor them daily as I celebrate the life they enabled for me.

For the donor family, I hope the sadness is gone. I hope that the donor family can find some some small happiness that their loved one gave life and a chance for a future for seven or more recipients of organs.

Small comfort perhaps but I hope so.

We never know what the future holds, but the present changes, and so do circumstances.

Celebrate the sunny days, and know that cloudy days will pass.

Today the sun is shining, and I am aware, and grateful.

Posted in blogging assignments, Thinking Out loud | Tagged anniversaries, awareness, blogging101, change, cloudy days, life, Transplant | 16 Comments

Why do you Blog?

Posted on July 6, 2015 by dfolstad58

Why do you blog? I am asked.

Thanks for asking. I blog for many reasons, and possibly for reasons I don’t even know or understand. Confusing, yes but I think it is true.

I like to try to do what I have not done before. I am not a professional writer, I never studied philosophy, and I am a pretty regular person. But like most regular people, like you I’ll bet, there are things that make you and I different, and my attempts to write is one of mine.

One reason is that I’m a reader, I read a lot and so of course I sometimes wonder if I can write, after all I’ve got decades of reading experience.

Another reason is that I like to meet new people, make new contacts, and share my life and my experience. I think we all have something to share. So I share, and I hope I have some nuggets that are interesting for you to turn over in your mind. I really hope you will comment and let me know what you liked or didn’t.

I write to share my life, to be a part of others lives, and to live my life as full as I can.

Lastly, for perhaps firstly – don’t we all desire to touch a bigger audience, I think we all do. I think we all walk our paths in life and whether our path is smooth, or not, whether we toil uphill or saunter along – that is the path fate has given us, and it is life to live facing forward doing the best we can, and hopefully helping, and having fun with others along the way.

That’s my writing, hoping to connect with readers in digital ink.