Refinement of the Way

Character for "the Dao/Way."

The past few weeks I've been lax with my approach to training and writing. I usual follow a set routine, but instead I did everything on the fly.

I didn't do this out of laziness to plan. That's actually further from the truth. Rather, I've noticed the most elite and exceptional individuals did what was best for themselves. In their own realm they were above and beyond everyone else, such as Michael Jordan, Bruce Lee, and Jack LaLanne to name a few.

That's the distinguishing factor. The greats do their own thing and create their own individualized methodology. It's their own formulated system which works best for their own body. Within training and life, it takes a great deal of experimentation to find it. To find that special thing isn't easy.

Daoism calls it "the Dao," or "the Way" when translated into English. The name itself isn't important. What is important is that when it's found, you'll find yourself dedicated to it with a strong passion and as a result work won't feel like work. It will be your livelihood.

And that's what I'm in search for as I attend graduation this morning. To find my own Way: to develop and refine it in life.

"Wherever you go, go with all your heart." - Confucius

Four Years Gone

We were playing around here this past week.

The last post I did was two or three weeks ago. The short break was due to a combination of being sick, school ending, and the sheer "going with the flow" attitude all happening at once. Interestingly, I noticed blog traffic remained steady despite no new content. While I attempt to create two posts per week on average, I realized life goes on whether or not I write new material.

If you follow this blog regularly, you may know I'm a graduating senior. With four years gone, I've noted a few things worth sharing.

• College students have a lot of free time. Thirty weeks of school is 150 days leaving 215 free days. I certainly believe it's the population with the greatest potential to make change happen and influence items on a large scale.

• The environment can create and enforce bad habits. The ability to create your own class schedule puts you all over the place. Most food around campus is crap leading to fewer selections of better alternatives. Late classes and going out result in sleeping and waking up late. The night social life revolves around alcohol to have a good time. There's an emphasis on negatives rather than positives for the individual.

• College is a time where you can learn a ridiculous amount or absolutely nothing. It depends entirely on how you take advantage of your professors and the school's resources - whether they're academic or recreational.

• People appear lazy. However, that isn't necessarily true. Instead I think there's a lack of passion to engage in something meaningful and enjoyable. If everyone could find that certain outlook, it would lead to a whole lot more involvement. The same applies to life itself.

• If you are fortunate to attend college and pursue higher education, you get a sense of what kind of person you will be in the near future. Likewise, you'll get a good idea of what interests you to an extent and possible avenues you'd like to pursue.

• If you find what's right for you, college is easy. Knowledge-wise, it puts you far ahead of the curve than most people in the nation.
  

You can graduate as the same person you were four years ago or an entirely new person. I don't know a period that's as lenient as college and everyone should make the best of it.

I'll have another post tomorrow morning.

Opinions?

Every now and then I would really appreciate feedback from the blog's readers. Today is one of those rare days.

Take a few minutes and read this article. Good? Now read this post.

Thoughts? Comments?

(I've intentionally avoided posting recently, but more on that in the near future.)