Practicing Beethoven – Fur Elise on Acoustic Guitar

I was busy practicing a song  today ( Fur Elise ) when Leila Tried to sneak up on me and record me whilst me being unaware. Unfortunately for her she did not go unnoticed. But I did do a rare thing and let her record me while I practice ( Video Attached below) which brought up a point.

I started to learn this song yesterday and when it comes to learning new songs I tend to not want people to hear it unless I can play it fluently. So in the practice stage I definitely don’t want someone to record me and the reason for that is simple – it sounds bad lol. I just started learning this so it’s not going to be perfect and there will be many mistakes and when I play for others and there are mistakes it’s a self-judgment point, but that is part of this whole process in music. When you first learn something new you are not going to be good at it at first – there will be mistakes and it takes practice to get it right.

It is this part of music that people do not see often – when you go look at some professional musician playing a song you don’t really realize what it took for the person to be able to play that well. It’s loooooong hours of mistakes, repetition, consistency and endurance. What we see when we watch these pro’s is the end result. They don’t show the road that got them there. For me it would be cool to see that process, but in the music world of professionalism and perfection you tend to only see the end result.

So sure it’s not very good right now, but with practice, eventually, I will be able to play it well. And so, for your listening and viewing pleasure I present to you the process of making mistakes:

Day 324: Complaining can be good for you

The thing about complaining is that it’s sooooo easy. Anybody can do it. We have all done it, looked at problems in our lives and complained about it, knowing full well that complaining about something is utterly useless.

So how  then can complaining be good for you?

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Why do we Get Overwhelmed?

We have those moments when things seem to feel like it’s too much. Like we cannot possibly handle it anymore. Why does this happen and where does it come from, how do we create it and is there a
way we can Strop it?

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Day 297: Why is Fear Never Real?

 

Fear

Im going to start with a great Quote from the not so great Movie After Earth:

“Fear is not real. The only place that fear can exist is in our thoughts of the future. It is a product of our imagination, causing us to fear things that do not at present and may not ever exist. That is near insanity Kitai. Do not misunderstand me, danger is very real, but fear is a choice.”

Fear is not real. Fear is a choice. Even though the movie in general was not so great I did enjoy it, because of its theme which is based on the point of fear and overcoming fear. And you can relate the fear to any fear – is never real, It’s always based on our minds and always based on the future and never based on what is actually physically here.

 

Why Fear is never real

Fear cannot be real because fear is something that we create in our own minds – we literally imagine it. The only place you can find fear is in the minds of those who choose to create it. It’s all future based. For example fear of heights: Some people totally freak out when looking down from a great height, the fear is falling and dying, but in the present moment all you are doing is looking down. The fear is created based on what is not actually here.

The way the father grounds his son in the Movie is also cool and very beneficial:

“Kitai, calm down. Take a knee. Root yourself in this present moment now. Sight, sound, smell.”

See, the fear and stress is created in our minds. It when we start thinking about the future and possible outcomes and all the uncertainties involved that the problem is created. We - for a moment – actually leave the present moment and get lost in our minds creating imaginary fear. So when this happens “ Take a knee” – meaning bring yourself back into the present moment that is here. Get yourself out of the mind and stop thinking. Look around you, breathe the air , listen to the environment – ground yourself in the present moment. You always want to be HERE in the present moment.

So stop creating fear – when you start fearing something what do you know? That You are not here in the moment. Fear is never real.

Day 283: Having a Bad Day? The problem might be 'Thinking'...

Today I had what we call a ‘Bad day’. One those days where it goes on and on and on and where you wish you can simply skip the day and not have to live through it. I am now at the end of this so called ‘bad day’ and looking back it wasn’t actually a such ‘bad day’ and I made it far worse than it really was. So why did I create such a bad day for myself? What caused this?

It all started the day before, where I started to plan my day and already saw it’s going to be a full day of relatively hard work for me. Here I already created the experience of ‘ it’s going to be a looong day’. I planned the day ahead with time estimates and when I’m going to do what. My day started with an unfortunate event where I spent time tying off an area for the horses – it was unfortunate, because I tied of the wrong area and had to undo what I did. Here the first thing that came up was” SEE, I KNEW IT WAS GOING TO BE A BAD DAY!”. I brought the thought and idea I created the day before into this moment to validate it and make it real.

From that point on every little thing that went a little wrong irritated me more and more. The weather report said it was going to be nice and cool day, which would have made raking up a field for hay for the horses a bit easier. Instead it turned out to be a hot day. When we were done with the hay I was quite tired, but still had quite a few things on my schedule before this day was up. And I went through all those tasks with the experience of “ im having a bad day”.

The things that happened today are not something new. Many a time the weather changes, or I have to totally redo something or things don’t go as planned. What made this day so bad is that I already created and decided how I am going to face and experience this day before I went to bed. The problem was that I allowed one thought to direct my whole day and only now at the end of the day did I see this.

This is something I could have totally avoided if I simply directed that single thought. This is why it’s so important to slow yourself down and watch for these thoughts. How many thoughts do we have running around in our heads undirected? Very problematic when one single thought can affect my day to such an extent. – imagine what many thoughts can do? Teach yourself how to direct these thoughts and become the director of your life

Day 282: Your Journey to Self-Empowerment:

 

I’m pretty sure if you are asked if you would like to empower yourself the answer will be a very definite YES! I mean, who would not want self-empowerment? The funny thing is though that we tend to not realize what Self-empowerment means, we do not understand the most important part of this which is not the “empowerment”, but the SELF.

For me I would say that empowering yourself is probably one of the most difficult things you will face, because empowering yourself means changing yourself. It’s not like you will have somebody else doing it for you – it’s going against who you think you are and what you believe you can and cannot do. It’s a tough road, but when you get to the other side it is well worth it.

One example I can give is that many years ago I was the very definition of the word lazy. With anything that remotely resembles work was met with a large amount of reluctance from me. I disliked work and always whenever possible did the bare minimum to get the task done. This all changed when I started this process of self-empowerment and self-discovery.

For those who were or are lucky enough to live on a farm will know one thing – There is always allot of work to be done. So when we first got the farm we started with the planning. Fences needed to be replaced, trees needed to be planted, horse grazing areas needed to be prepared so it’s safe etc. So as we were planning the usual resistance I faced when seeing work to be done grew as per usual. I really did not want to do it lol. Not just that – I had no idea how to do the stuff, I have never done it before so I was clueless on how to do this.

At that point I faced a choice – do what I usually do and give in to the resistance and stay the same lazy person as I always have been, or make the choice to change myself and not allow my reluctance and resistance to work direct me. And I simply made chose the latter.

That was the easy part – even though it took me most of my life to get to that choice. What I found is that it’s an everyday commitment I make to myself. Change happened over time, its take patience and dedication and consistency. The more I pushed through the resistance to ‘work’ and instead did what needed to be done it became easier over time.

Sure at times I really did not feel like it, but that is where decline comes in and the understanding of the importance of what I was doing. In the end it became like an understanding. I understood the need for what I was doing. For example replacing old rusted barbed wired fencing with new animal safe fencing. It eventually did not even become “work”, but more something that needed to be done and so I did it.

This Journey is not easy, but if I back then did not make the choice to change I would have probably still be the same lazy person as I have always been going through life a slave to my resistance, instead I chose to empower myself.

Thanks for reading

Day 278: Be solution orientated – not problem orientated

 

The Other day I was facing a dilemma with some farm work. without going into details I had a particular problem where I could not find a solution and all I saw was problem after problem. So I explained the problems in detail to my partner and after every suggestion she gave me to get to a solution all I did was showing the problems with her suggestions. In the end I was complaining about the problems and became a little frustrated with all the problems. There is a saying “ complaining without giving solutions is called whining” - so at the end of it all I was doing was whining.

I was in a reaction at that point, because all I could see was problems. Then she said to me” Be solution orientated – not problem orientated”. And that stuck with me and I could see what I was doing. I was purely focusing on all the problems without actually looking at solutions. At that moment I was problem orientated and thus it is all I could see – problems. I took her advice started looking at solutions and then found something that worked.

It’s so easy to list the problems in our lives and continuously point them out and complain about them, but it’s a very different story to stop the whining and complaining and actually look for solutions to the problems. And in some cases there is not an Ideal solution which makes it easy to get stuck with all the problems, but being Solution Orientated will assist and support you to stop being blinded and consumed with the problems in your life and to find solutions.

Next time you find yourself in a situation where all you see is problems then you know “ I am being problem orientated”. In this state all you will see is problems and no solution will come out of this. Instead be Solution Orientated – this way you don’t allow the problems to keep you from getting to a solution.

Day 277: What does it mean to be "Here" in the moment?

 

You have probably heard this a few times in life “Live in the moment”. What does it mean to live in the moment? What does it mean to be here in the moment? And more importantly why is it so hard to actually be here in the moment?

The next time you are doing something like cleaning your house or some gardening pay attention to where you thoughts go. I was walking through the orchard one morning assessing the damage from a recent hail storm which unfortunately destroyed most of the figs. Anyway, as I was looking at the trees and trying to fix some of the damage and salvage what I could, I was constantly thinking. Thoughts like thinking about what I’m going to do next and what I’m going to make myself for lunch and other plans of the week etc.

So while I was busy picking damage fruit and trimming broken branches I was thinking about other things. I was not actually here in the moment, but in the future looking at plans and things I am going to do next – instead of being here and focusing on what I’m currently doing.

So being here in the moment means actually being here in the moment. It’s Not thinking about the future and constantly being in your head. While I was thinking about these things while walking in the orchard my awareness was diminished. When I realized what was doing and stopped the thoughts to simply be here in the moment I could hear the birds that I did not notice before.

Not being fully here in the moment we tend to miss things – it is in these moments that we tend to misplace keys, or forget about turning the oven off or any other event of forgetfulness. Simply because when you were putting down the keys you were in your head and not actually aware of your environment.

So bring yourself back to earth and be Here

Day 223: Doing something to the best of your ability

 

I'm going to share another perspective on the point of living your full potential. In a blog, which you can read here, I wrote a more general point on realizing and living your utmost potential. Today I am going to give some examples of practical application and how I applied this in my life.

Living your utmost potential is like doing something to the best of your ability. I have said this many times in blogs - that I was always a person who took the easy route in terms of work, did the least amount of effort required to complete a task. Since walking this process that all changed.

The first opportunity I had to change this about myself was working with my hands. What is cool about "getting down to earth" and getting your hands dirty with good old physical work is that when you are done with it you can actually see what you did. For example: The first time I worked with bricks, we had a bath put in by plumbers so we needed to brick it up and I decided ill give it a go. I remember it took me the whole day to do this, mostly because it was a new thing so as I built it layer by layer and a got to my 4th layer I noticed that the 3rd layer was out of line. So i could have left it as it was, but that 3rd layer would not be in line with the rest of the mini wall and the thing about a wall is that it would be there for many many years - every time I look at it I would see it was not built properly, in the end I dismantled the 4th and 3rd layer started again.

Working with bricks and cement and concrete - when you are done it is a permanent thing so I wanted to make sure that every time a look at the finished product I want to to be able to say that I did my best. And always the next time I worked on a similar task like throwing and leveling a concrete floor I looked for ways to improve and make it better than the last one I did.

It was a cool experience and opportunity for me to improve myself by always doing something to the best of my ability - my utmost potential. And I did this with many tasks ranging from roofing to fencing to tree planting - finding ways to it better and improve my skills.

Day 221: Have you reached your Full potential?

 

The title almost sounds like something they tell you in school. The potential I am writing about is your life potential. In the following blogs I am going to expand on the points in this document and what it means to me. Today I am writing about the first point which is: Realizing and living my utmost potential.

There are two parts to this – the first part is realizing your potential.

Before I started this process I did not even look or imagine that I had any kind of potential. I sis nor even conceive that I could do more – be more effective. I believed that I was going to be the way I am for the rest of my life.

Since starting walking this process of self-perfection those beliefs faded away. I started questioning my life and how I lived it and what I have allowed to exists within me. My first big point I faced within myself was my depression. When I faced that point and walked past it I realized that I had the power to change my life for the better. I realized that I had in fact potential.

The second part is Living your utmost potential.

Realizing my potential was difficult, because it means facing the fact that you can actually change. It is realizing that all the excuses I had for not changing myself and not moving myself like fear, doubt or believing I am to weak or not good enough simply isn’t valid anymore. And that means the only thing keeping me from Living my utmost potential is myself. Living your utmost potential is even harder. It is to move through the resistance that comes up when you change something about yourself that you have lived for many years.

A few years ago I believed I was doing enough and that it is impossible to do more than what I was doing back then. The funny thing was that a while after that I was doing way more than I did before, but back then I believed was living my full potential – but that was not true. It is very easy to sit back and say to yourself “I cannot do more”, but deep down inside you see you can do more.

Before I was a very lazy person – I really disliked any kind of effort and always opted for the easiest path that has the less effort involved. I had to walk past this self-created laziness in order to live my utmost potential and have come a long way now, but it is still a work in progress.

Ill expand some more in the next blog.

Day 219: If I change myself – Will the world change?

 

"'You cant change this world".

This is something that comes up with people when they see others dedicating their lives to world change. It is said that the world is just the way it is and nothing can be done make it difference. It has been blamed on many things like human nature – saying that it is in our nature to be greedy and uncaring. That the world is the way it is, because it’s our nature and that will never change. No one person can change this world. It is very easy to give up even before you started. It is very easy to simply say “ it is impossible “ just so that you do not actually have to do anything.

It is at least partially right – human nature is the problem. It is not our nature that is the problem, but it is what we have all accepted and allowed our nature to be. The question is then if you can change the nature of the human, which the nature of yourself, will the world change?

To find the answer first look at world as a whole – we have the usual things that are always there like war, famine, hunger, poverty. Now, the world is really a reflection of ourselves – let’s take war for example: War stems from things like anger, mistrust, bullying, ego and a lust for power. If we look within ourselves we will find all those things exist within us. All these terrible things that exist in this world had to come from somewhere – ourselves. It is human behavior on a larger scale.

Common sense here would dictate that if human nature/behavior was different then the world would be different as well. So yes – you change human nature you change the world. But can human nature/behavior be changed? Many believe it is impossible, but it’s not.

This is how you change the world – change yourself and live as an example and assist others to do the same. It is not an easy thing to walk and many give up or fade away. You can change who you are, because I have changed who I am. Since walking this journey I have changed allot of points within myself for the better. If I can do this so can you.

I have grown immensely ever since being part of the DesteniProcess. There are many people part of this process and today I am going to give the spotlight on 2 people namely myself and Bernard.

I am sitting here looking for words to express how grateful I am for all the support I have received over the years from Desteni and Bernard, but no words really comes close.  I have changed over the years – to go from a shy, silent type, with zero leadership skills to a person who works with people and has developed leadership and communication skills. This was something I thought I would never achieve in my life – being able to lead.

I have also developed a point of stability within myself. Before, I was so unsure of myself –always doubting myself and my abilities and mostly avoiding people. I had so much fear of the future and worried about it. The point of stability that I have is that I realized: no matter what comes my way – no matter what happens and no matter what I face – I am able to get past it, I am able to get through it. It may be difficult or something I have never faced before, but I trust myself that I am able to deal with it.

Now, you the reader may not fully grasp just how amazing this achievement is for someone like me, because you do not know who I was and how I was. I believed Self-trust was impossible for me, yet here I am. This is what Desteni is all about – YOURSELF! This is something that is greatly misunderstood by the cyberbullies and haters – I can attest to the fact that what they write are but opinions and beliefs based on …nothing substantial, because  I write from over 8 years hands-on experience with walking and living the Desteni Tools as well as living with Bernard. I write from actual facts – with me as the living proof. I don’t know about you the reader, but I only go by facts.

The facts are these:

I have changed. I have developed a strength within myself that I never thought possible. And I did that myself. When you build something out of wood like a table you need tools, right? You will need a hammer and nails as tools to build this particular table. So once you are done building you say “I built this myself” – of course you could not have done this without the hammer and nails, you could not have built the table without the tools. This is what Desteni is – A tool to use to support and assist yourself to grow and build yourself. Who is Bernard within all of this? Here was a man that decided not to accept poverty, war, suffering , abuse and greed and all those fucked up things in this world as just something  that is ‘acceptable’ / ‘the way life is supposed to be’ / ‘how humans have always been and will be’. See, we all simply say that suffering is a part of life – Bernard said it is unacceptable.

He lived his life investigating everything and kept what is good. He actually cared. Remember caring is not a feeling – caring is an action. He lived to find ways for all humans and animals to never suffer again. What he found as one of the problems is obviously humans – we cause the suffering of animals and to each other. So to change the world is to change the human and he started with himself. Then he shared what he found.  He lived by a principle – to live according to what is best for all. People get confused when they read or hear “ best for all” – as if it is something alien and impossible. But it is simple – would you say that hurting another is what is best for all? No. Would you say that having water, housing and food is what is best for all? Yes

Desteni is a group of people living by a principle – not by one person. Bernard is dead, but that does not change Desteni – Desteni is a group dedicating our lives to find ways to change this world into a place where suffering and abuse is non-existent. People say it is impossible, because that is very easy to say. They say it is unrealistic, because it is easy to say that – then they do not have to change who they are or do anything to MAKE it Possible. I have done the Impossible for myself with the TOOLS of Desteni. Impossible is the words I’m possible. Living by a principle of what is best for all is probably the most difficult thing you can face – that is why people turn to slander, because they are afraid to live like that. So – if you are dedicated and have guts and actually care about the billions that suffer as you read these words then join us. I am the living proof and fact of how effective the Desteni tools are.

It is not impossible to end suffering and abuse. 

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