WWSJD – What Would Steve Jobs Do?

Posted on February 22, 2012 by The Wandering Yogi

As I mentioned in my last post, I recently read the Steve Jobs biography. One of the most inspiring books I have ever read. I want to keep this post short since my last post was almost 1300 words, so I am not going to get into all the ways in which I was inspired by him (faults and all). I just want to share a little story with you about being persistent against the seemingly impossible. 

Shortly after finishing the book I found myself in Reno at a craps table (I am not into gambling, but it was fun to experience something different). My travelling companion handed me a $500 chip from another casino to try and cash in at the cage since the croupier wouldn’t cash it in at the table. I went up to the cage with a big smile and asked if I could cash it in. The woman looked at it, made a call and then told me, “No.” 

As I started to walk away I stopped abruptly and thought to myself. “What would Steve Jobs do?” Would he have just accepted that “no” and walked away? 

Hell no. 

So I turned around and went back. I asked her (nicely) if there was an actual written policy and if I could talk to a supervisor. She directed me over to the main cage in the next building very close by. I spoke with the manager there and she also gave me the same answer. “No.”  

Now I was determined. I was not going to leave until I cashed that chip in. I knew that there must be a way, so I pressed on and asked the manager the same question, “Was there an actual written policy and could I talk to a supervisor?”  

She made a call to the pit boss. He came over, looked at me, looked at the chip and said “No problem.”

 Score.

 I was so proud of myself.

Ultimately, between my travelling companion and I, we received 3 “No” answers before finally getting a “Yes.”

The main thing that I learned from reading the Steve Jobs biography is to not put a cap on what we think is possible. Being persistent against the seemingly impossible may not get you everywhere, but it can certainly get you further – in your yoga practice, in your business, in your MISSION.

Don’t take lazy “No’s” as a final answer from other people and especially from yourself! You have to be willing to keep taking that next step right past the nay sayers and your own negative self talk!

Posted in Book Reviews, Business, General Yoga, Life Design | 3 Comments

Letting Go and Moving Forward

Posted on February 20, 2012 by The Wandering Yogi

Written down on the giant white boards in my home office over a month ago was my 2012 mission statement:

“I am going to grow my client’s businesses so we can all continue to profit in doing what we love while supporting others. I am going to teach everything I like to think I know that may help support other humans beings via consulting, yoga and writing, both paid and in service, as I continue to put forth time and effort in strengthening my skills and personal practice. This year is stable and prosperous for me and affords me the time and money to get in my car alone, with my son and/or with others and drive to beautiful places, which will renew, invigorate and inspire me, and where I can choose to work from or simply relax and play.”

It is still pertinent to what I am doing in life (the part about yoga included, even though I have stopped teaching classes for the time being). However, as I was looking at the statement, I decided to erase the whole thing and wrote:

“Do less. More money.”

I sat with that for a few days and then changed it to. Do less. More money. Create more value.

I kept revising it until finally settling on this.

Financial prosperity, more quality free time, and deeper connections by creating more value in the way that I work, play, relax and communicate.

Then I set to work.

As you know,  I am no longer teaching a regular weekly yoga class. I took a good hard look at the mental, physical, emotional, spiritual and financial ROI (return on investment ) that was being created for my students and the studio, as well as for myself.  The decision I easily came to was that it was time to let the class go and take a step back.  This was a big decision for me, as a huge part of my identity was wrapped up in the idea of being a yoga teacher. That was one of the main reasons I felt it would be good to take a step back and look at my true intentions and motivations as a yoga teacher. The other major reason, was how I allowed myself to strangle my truth so that I could be more inline with what I thought a yoga teacher SHOULD be like. The decision to stop teaching at this time turned out to be more freeing than I ever could have imagined.

So I made a another decision. One that felt even bigger, and proved to be more mentally and emotionally challenging.

I deleted my Facebook account.

Don’t laugh!

You have to understand that I have been incredibly active on Facebook. That particular medium of sharing my life and thought streams was a deeply ingrained. There is a lot of great things about being able to connect with people so easily across the globe. The fact is, however, I simply spent too much time and energy on Facebook. It was at a point where I realized what a distraction it was to my work flow, the quality of my relaxation time, and my ability to connect face to face with other human beings.

The first week wasn’t so bad. The second week, I began to feel a sense of loneliness and disconnect, but also found myself having new experiences and conversations with people I would have not had while I was attached to my Facebook account.

By the third week, I was feeling really good about it. I started to notice how the Facebook posting pattens were still ingrained in my brain and I was able to bring my attention to what brought up the desire I had to constantly share my life and experiences with the masses of people I called “friends.” I found myself camping in the beautiful Carrizo Plane. I thought to myself,  “Now THIS is a time I wish I had Facebook still!” I wanted to tell all my friends that I was spontaneously camping in the middle of my work week and show them the pictures of the beauty I was witnessing.

Why?

Honestly, I realized that I wanted to brag. I wanted all my friends to be stuck at work and slightly envious of what I was doing. This is a very different intention then when I wrote about my experience on here, where my desire was to inspire and motivate you.

There was one other equation in the decision to leave FB. Less time on Facebook = more time on productive efforts = more prosperity!

Goodbye Facebook.

My next step was moving out of my office and working solely out of my home office. I love my apartment and I have everything I need here. I decided to consolidate more time and energy by getting rid of the unneeded space. Then I turned my attention to the reason I kept my office for so much longer than I needed it and realized, that here too, was an ego related matter. I felt special having an office, as though it somehow made me more professional…and more interesting. Having an office doesn’t make you more professional. Being efficient and effective at your work makes you more professional. As far as being interesting, well, I think you either are or you aren’t by your very nature, and the only person who needs to think you are interesting anyway… is you.

That 3rd decision led to one less thing to think about, one less thing to have to spend time getting to, and one less thing to use for external validation.

Awesome.

After letting go of my regular weekly yoga class, my facebook addiction, and my unnecessary office space. I Started to find myself with an abundance of free time and energy!

I have been suppressing the desire to add more big ticket, too do list items and instead, have used the time to connect in person with friends, practice yoga, listen to classical music and read more books. I managed to finish the 600 page Steve Jobs biography in a day and a half (in between all the other things I had to do) by practicing the speed reading skills listed on Tim Ferris’ blog. I also found myself with the time to take a last minute spontaneous trip to Reno, on a half hour notice, where I learned to play craps and dined on the most expensive and delicious dinner I have had in some time (I didn’t pay for it, but that’s a whole other thing).

Two spontaneous trips in two weeks? Now THIS is what I am talking about!

These seemingly small changes that I have made with the one goal in mind of, “Financial prosperity, more quality free time, and deeper connections by creating more value in the way that I work, play, relax and communicate.” have made dramatic shifts in my life. I feel clearer and more connected. I have more time, more money and better conversation. I don’t work AND live on my computer. I don’t feel like I am spread so thin and I feel MUCH more relaxed.

I guess I always felt like I needed to know what destination I was going towards before I could leave things on the side of the road. Turns out, as I let go of the things I thought I needed, I gave myself more choice in the direction I wanted to travel simply because my pack was lighter.

I am more maneuverable now. Maneuverability. This is the essence of the Yoga of Travel.

Maybe it is time to start thinking less about what you think you need to move forward, and more about what you have that is holding you back.

P.S. Read the Steve Jobs biography. Seriously. Talk about a person with pin point focus, the ability to stay true to himself, and the ability to minimize things in order to make them better.

Posted in Life Design, Prosperity and Abundance, Teaching Yoga | 2 Comments

You Are Perfect Just As You Are

Posted on February 13, 2012 by The Wandering Yogi

I went camping for two days with one of my design clients in the middle of the week (’cause I can - being a location independent entrepreneur and all). Some may find that strange, but rest assured my client relations are all fairly abnormal. At any rate, we spent a lot of time talking about who we are, what we want in life and basically…how we roll. I have been realizing more and more that I am slightly..ummm…eccentric and this conversation really helped solidify for me that I am kind of an odd duck. I have no desire to be like anyone else. NO desire. This has become apparent to me even more so recently, than ever before, when I decided to take a break from teaching yoga for awhile. My path of being a yoga teacher, as it has been, was the last bit of me trying to be like others which simply did not mesh with who I actually was. I am not a golden light of health and earthly transcendence. I like the earth. I like the struggle. I like the raw and the brash and the wild. The irreverent and the novel. 

I practice yoga to keep from being in pain on a daily basis, to push the boundaries of my body and mind and to become more aware of the ways in which I limit myself. I sit in meditation for the sole purpose of watching thoughts arise so I can create space from them in order to choose how I think instead of being on the auto pilot program prescribed by my past, society, media,  people around me, etc. 

I do these things so I can be more me. Not to be more graceful. Not to be softer. Not to be kinder. Not even to be healthier. 

Frankly I would rather sit around at any given moment and drink coffee or beer, smoke a cigarette and talk to another human being about our experiences on this planet while throwing out a few f-bombs every once and awhile (often). 

And that is a-o-k with me. 

For a long time I used to think that the Buddhist concept of releasing the illusion of duality meant that I had to change myself in such a way that my actions were all more in line with each other. That if I was going to be a yoga teacher, I had to stop eating meat, be a size 2, and speak the half-truth of positivity at all times, and if I couldn’t do those things and fit myself into the idea of the mold that I had in mind, then I was somehow less-than and lacking. What a messed up ego trip! By the way, life is not all positive. It is yin and yang baby – all the time. 

Now, I realize that releasing the illusion of duality means just that – releasing the illusion of duality. 

I am embracing myself with a giant hug and a pinch on the butt. 

All the things that I do and say and think and feel ARE me. I am one, whole, fucking human being. 

Perfect.

So for now I am giving up the idea of “bettering” myself. I am just going to do what I do – work, play, travel, practice yoga and meditation, swear , smoke, drink, laugh, talk, dance, sing, write, eat this bacon and egg breakfast burrito sitting here next to me  (yum!) and explore what it means to rest in my wholeness, imperfections and all. Who knows where being comfortable with myself at this moment might lead to. 

My life is awesome and I live it on my terms. I enjoy my own company and no one seems to think I am an asshole (that I know of…or care about). 

What greater success is there? I am not talking about saving the world here.

How would you feel and what would your life look like if you stopped trying to be something that you’re not?

P.S. Here are some pictures from my super awesome, mid-week, trip to the Carrizo Plain National Monument … I give it 5 stars for SPACIOUSNESS.

Funny enough, it just so happens that I stopped at the James Dean memorial site on the way to the Carrizo Plain.

 

 

 

 

Posted in Life Design, Rebellion, Teaching Yoga, Travel | 1 Comment

Rebel with a Cause – Stop Being a People Pleaser

Posted on January 26, 2012 by The Wandering Yogi

 Hey you! Yeah you! The person sitting there in your cubicle hating your boss or sitting on your couch crying over your relationship while you read this blog and dream of a better day. 

You rock! 

Seriously, I mean it. You have spent all these years languishing in a life you don’t want. That takes some major resolve to deal with the debilitating misery and boredom of your life. I commend you. You’ve got some big time willpower. 

Crazy huh? I bet you thought you didn’t have willpower, didn’t you? 

Now that your eyes have been open, for god’s sake, STOP WHAT YOU ARE DOING IN LIFE THAT YOU THINK YOU HAVE TO DO IN ORDER TO PLEASE YOUR: 

Parents. 

Conservative best friend from childhood…. (wait…what? LOVE YOOOU!)

Boss. 

Co-workers. 

Significant other. 

Etc. etc. etc…. (yawn…)　

Why are you doing this to yourself? 

FYI 1: Catering to the whims of what other people think you should be doing with your life does not make them happy.

FYI 2: People will approve and disaprove of you no matter what you are doing. 

FYI 3: YOU can totally be happy and successful even if you are totally not at this moment. 

FYI 4: If you think your life kinda sucks, I promise that the stress of changing it is way better than what you are doing now.

FYI 5: Relax man, most things are not a big deal. Take a deep breath. Shit passes (heh). 

FYI 7 (cause 6 is lame and I wanted to get to 10 FYI’s): You absolutely can make a living doing what you want. The internet is pretty awesome. You can learn anything. Stop making excuses. 

FYI 8: It IS better to be alone than to be in an unhappy relationship. Great things can happen when you are alone. Relationships that don’t coincide with who you are and what you want, drain all your energy until you’re dead. 

FYI 9: The fear of loosing everything is pretty scary (being a fear and all). Actually loosing everything (ok maybe not EVERYTHING) can be one of the greatest gifts you may ever experience in life.　

FYI 10 (whew…I made it): People who try and make you feel like you shouldn’t start your own business, travel the world, or whatever that thing is that you want to do, are INSANELY jealous of your verve. Nothing more.

I would apologize for sounding a little brash, being that this is a yoga blog (partially) and therefore I **SHOULD** be using a higher vibration of conscious communication, right? Whatever. I am who I am. You are who you are. And sometimes you just gotta be set straight about the fact that you are perfectly set crooked. Embrace it, get out there and live your own damn life on your own damn terms. THEN maybe you can start thinking about how you are going to truly and deeply affect others in a positive way.

Posted in Life Design, Prosperity and Abundance, Rebellion, Relationships | Leave a comment

7 Differences Between You and My Very Successful Client

Posted on January 15, 2012 by The Wandering Yogi

I have been paying close attention to the lifestyle, business practices and words of one of my clients, who happens to run multiple, successful, business establishments. I have noticed some very major differences between the way my client functions and the way that, well…everybody else does! 

So here are the 7 ways in which YOU are different than my client when it comes to being successful. (And by “you”, I actually mean “us,” because I am pretty guilty of these as well…not that I am trying to make anyone feel guilty or anything…just sayin’…)

1. You avoid being uncomfortable if at all possible.

 2. You see the limits in your abilities, time, finances and knowledge and don’t bother even starting the processes which you are capable of right now. 

3. You are afraid of people’s criticisms and often let those criticisms divert your attention towards failure instead of taking what’s good and making adjustments while telling the rest of the naysayers and trouble makes to go to hell. (uhh…something like that) 

4. You see an obstacle and only see the obstacle, not the many ways around it…or over it…or under it…

5. You think you have to pick one thing and that will be the only thing that you will ever do, so you don’t pick anything.

6. You think you have to do it all on your own.

7. You are not true to who you really are and what you really want. 

 

Posted in Business, Life Design, Prosperity and Abundance | Leave a comment

The Prajna Paramita Heart Sutra

Posted on January 15, 2012 by The Wandering Yogi

Because sometimes you need a shift in perception…

This translation comes from a handout I got some years back while staying at the San Francisco Zen Center.

Heart of Great Perfect Wisdom Sutra

Avalokiteshvara Bodhisattva, when deeply practicing prajña paramita, clearly saw that all five aggregates are empty and thus relieved all suffering. Shariputra, form does not differ from emptiness, emptiness does not differ from form. Form itself is emptiness, emptiness itself form. Sensations, perceptions, formations, and consciousness are also like this. Shariputra, all dharmas are marked by emptiness; they neither arise nor cease, are either defiled nor pure, neither increase nor decrease. Therefore, given emptiness, there is no form, no sensation, no perception, no formation, no consciousness; no eyes, no ears, no nose, no tongue, no body, no mind; no sight, no sound, no smell, no taste, no touch, no object of mind; no realm of sight … no realm of mind consciousness. There is neither ignorance nor extinction of ignorance… neither old age and death, nor extinction of old age and death; no suffering, no cause, no cessation, no path; no knowledge and no attainment. With nothing to attain, a bodhisattva relies on prajña paramita, and thus the mind is without hindrance. Without hindrance, there is no fear. Far beyond all inverted views, one realizes nirvana. All buddhas of past, present, and future rely on prajña paramita and thereby attain unsurpassed, complete, perfect enlightenment. Therefore, know the prajña paramita as the great miraculous mantra, the great bright mantra, the supreme mantra, the incomparable mantra, which removes all suffering and is true, not false. Therefore we proclaim the prajña paramita mantra, the mantra that says: “Gate Gate Paragate Parasamgate Bodhi Svaha.”

Buy The Heart of Understanding: Commentaries on the Prajnaparamita Heart Sutraby Thich Nhat Hanh

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Mind, Heart and Life Changing Books That Have Fundamentally Shaped Me

Posted on January 15, 2012 by The Wandering Yogi

The Steve Jobs biography

Thomas Merton’s The Way of Chuang Tzu and New Seeds of Contemplation

Tao Te Ching

Journey to Ixtlan and Tales of Power (though I recommend you read the whole Carlos Castaneda series)

Musashi by Eiji Yoshikawa, translated by Charles S. Terry

The Book of Five Rings by Miyamoto Musashi

Alice Waters and Chez Panisse

Shogun

The Alchemist

The Prophet

Worldly Virtues

Doctrine of the Buddha

The Celestine Prophecy

On the Road and The Dharma Bums by Kerouac

The 4-Hour Workweek: Escape 9-5, Live Anywhere, and Join the New Rich

Zen Mind, Beginner’s Mind and Crooked Cucumber: The Life and Zen Teaching of Shunryu Suzuki

The Eight Human Talents: Restore the Balance and Serenity within You with Kundalini Yoga

Shambhala: The Sacred Path of the Warrior

The Autobiography of Malcolm X

The Law of Success by Napoleon Hill

A Brief History of Time

Kaffir Boy: An Autobiography–The True Story of a Black Youth’s Coming of Age in Apartheid South Africa

Life of Pi

The Heart of Understanding: Commentaries on the Prajnaparamita Heart Sutra by Thich Nhat Hanh

Posted in Book Reviews | Leave a comment

Trust and Courage – The Survival Tools of Change

Posted on January 15, 2012 by The Wandering Yogi

When I started this blog I was full of focused, motivated energy. For the most part, everything in my life was going exactly as I wanted it to. Business was growing, my yoga practice was strong and my life was stable. A dream came true, and I found myself working from my computer on my design and marketing business while living and teaching yoga at Michael Franti’s Soulshine Retreat Center in glorious, Ubud, Bali.

Everything was a GO. A big green light for any direction I put my attention towards.

And then I came home.

With in a week of being home I made a huge decision to end my 5 1/2 year relationship. I won’t go into details out of respect and privacy for my ex-partner, the father of my son, but I think it is safe to say that this was a long time coming.

Timing really could not have been worse. I JUST got back from being away for a whole month. I had nothing saved up, because…you know…I was in Bali. My car (our only family car) had blown the transmission an hour away from the SF airport when I left for the trip (I barely made it) and it was not repairable due to the value of the car versus the cost of the repair. I was sick the whole first week I came back, and I really had nowhere to go as far as a new home.

What I had realized, was that there was never going to be a good time to make this kind of decision and change. I know this because I kept waiting for one for a long time. One that would make it easy. One that would make everything ok.

One week after coming home from Bali, I put my things in storage. I had an offer from a close client to spend that first week in their lovely, backyard studio cottage, so that I would have a nice resting place for the transition. From there I spent the next 30 days living in my office with the support of the people I share that co-working space with. Now granted, it is a beautiful office space with a living area, gourmet kitchen, laundry room, full bathroom, etc, but it certainly was not home. Keep in mind that I had no car and mutually agreed upon, shared custody of my almost 4 year old son.

Talk about challenging. The hardest part of all was accomplishing even the minimal amount of work which needed to be done in order to not have my clients run away, while screaming back at me. Time was so limited, emotions were running high, I had no comfortable place to relax and recharge – the stress was truly overwhelming and sometimes debilitating.

In mid-November, about 40 days after moving out, I finally got an apartment (I love it, by the way). It took a few weeks of not having everything I needed to really work, live and sleep well, but eventually all those things found their way to me with the help and support of so many people around me. I write this now, from my fully stocked dining room/home office. 

It took a few more weeks, but as thing began to stabilize, my energy for work started to increase. I have to admit though, that even now, I have yet to really get that pin-pointed focus back, but it’s coming along.

In my heart, I know I made the right decision. It took a great deal of courage and trust to walk blindly into the unknown. I am so thankful for all of the family, friends and clients who caught me when I plummeted, and who gently reminded me to keep up so that I didn’t loose the things that were important to me. I don’t know if I could have done any of this, and bounce back as quickly, if I didn’t have my yoga practice to keep my body healthy and my mind and emotions from completely falling into disaray, and also, if I wasn’t doing work that I truly enjoyed on a schedule that allowed for the amount of flexibility that I personally needed to wade through the big pile of mess.

But here I am. It is 2012.

Challenges always come and go. There is a way through everything.

Right now, there is still some stabilizing processes that are going on, so I am not really focused for the moment on big dreams and goals. Really, I am  still discovering this new stride. However, all of my I AM Statements still beckon every now and again, even if I am not in the active phase of working on them. At the moment I simply have this mission for 2012 which I would like to share with you:  

“I am going to grow my client’s businesses so we can all continue to profit in doing what we love while supporting others. I am going to teach everything I like to think I know that may help support other humans beings via consulting, yoga and writing, both paid and in service, as I continue to put forth time and effort in strengthening my skills and personal practice. This year is stable and prosperous for me and affords me the time and money to get in my car alone, with my son and/or with others and drive to beautiful places, which will renew, invigorate and inspire me, and where I can choose to work from or simply relax and play.”

I just want to be free enough to drive to interesting places and keep the work flowing. If a new business venture arises (which it probably will as I get my focus back) or if an opportunity in a foreign land happens to present itself all full of intrigue and possibility, I wouldn’t turn my back to it. However, at this particular moment, let’s just see what happens today.

Posted in Life Design, Relationships | Leave a comment

Karma – The Law of Cause and Effect

Posted on September 25, 2011 by The Wandering Yogi

In Bali, I am working on setting up a business partnership with a successful, yoga clothing designer named Karma. When I tell people this, I always get the same quip… “Oh, well then, you should have good karma!”

There is no “good karma.” Just as there is no “bad karma.” They is only karma. Cause and effects.

Newton’s law of motion states that for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction. This may be true in physics, but not when it comes to life.

In life, for every cause (every action, thought and emotion) far reaching, sometimes highly unequal, opposite and similar ripples of effects (reactions) can occur.

When observed closely it is plain to see how something we do has both a feeling of negative and positive consequences. In fact as I was talking with Karma today, this was clearly presented, when he had mentioned that he was feeling the stress of growing his busy business. I said yes, that indeed, he should expect to feel even greater forms of stress as he becomes more successful. The stress will just be a different kind.

Not only do our actions create both positive and negative experiences, they do so not just one time, but as a continual flow. One action now will create positive and negative experiences in an interweaving dance along time. All time.

One of the most important things to remember is that not only do our actions create both positive and negative experiences for us, but for others as well. Certainly for the ones closest to us, but for many people around us, including people we have never, and will never, meet in life.

I understand that any success that I may have brings both positive and negative consequences to myself and others. I love what I do, so I probably work more than what may be healthy, sometimes putting a strain on both myself and my family. And though it pains me dearly that this happens, I know that there are people who feel insecure and defeated (or even annoyed!) around my successful choices in life and the way I talk about them versus feeling inspired. I also know that certain things that have happened in the past that seemed like a failure at the time turned out to have very positive effects later on.

One day I was trying to get a job at a yoga studio when I totally stuck my foot in my mouth and made a rather negative comment about another business, only to find out that the owner of that business was the friend of the yoga studio owner who I was talking with! Yikes! Needless to say, I didn’t get the job. I ended up working at another yoga studio that was a wonderful match for me and brought me years of enjoyment and growth, and even though that studio is closed now, it still brings opportunities my way that bring enjoyment and growth (and prosperity!)  Even then though, who can really say what would have been the more positive outcome. And who can really say if the outcome that I find so positive for myself was actually the best thing that could have been for the studio I ended up working for. Of course, we could go crazy and end up in a depressed and self defeated state if we get hung up on these things or feel immobilized if we keep going round and round with such thoughts. However, it is important to have perspective.

I am all for enthusiasm. It brings enjoyment to life and I know from experience that it is one of the most valuable tools for success in business. However it is easy to get carried away in excitement and loose perspective. It is easy to develop feelings of “can do no wrong” when we are successful and when everything seems to be going our way. Be enthusiastic, love what you do, reach for great heights, but hold on to a humble heart and accept law of karma, which is the acceptance of things as they are.

Even compassion has it’s karma. One time, I was talking with Tenshin Reb Anderson, a zen priest, about what to do concerning bugs, particularly in dealing with bugs that may cause us harm. On one hand I did not want to kill them if possible, on another hand there was a time where a small infestation occurred that posed a potential health risk to my family, so I had them exterminated. He told me a story about a time when he was at Tassajara Zen Center in Marin County  and two of the priests had come across a deer, tangled in barbed wire, very near death and in a terrible state of suffering. They had decided to end it’s suffering via a compassion killing. As zen priests, making the decision to kill a life form is a very grave matter, but ultimately the two men had felt in their heart that it was the best option. It turned out that their choice, made from love, made everything worse! Both for the deer and for them. He said there are no right or wrong answers about dealing with the karma of killing bugs that may cause harm to humans. It has been an age old problem that Buddhist have dealt with, so you must follow your heart and accept what may.

I will leave you now with a version of a famous zen story.

A farmer had a beautiful horse. One day the gate  was left opened and the horse ran away. The villages felt sorry for the farmer and said, “You are so unlucky.” The farmer simply replied, “We shall see.” A few days later the horse came back with another beautiful horse at it’s side. The villagers were very happy for the farmer and said, “You are so lucky.” The farmer again replied, “We shall see.” A year later, while the farmer’s son was out riding the new horse, he fell and broke his leg. Again the villagers said, “You are so unlucky.” The farmer simply said, “We shall see.”  Not too long after, all the young men in the village were called to war and every one of them was killed. The son, having a broken leg, remained safe at home. Once again the villagers commented, “You are so lucky.” Again the farmer relied, “We shall see.”

 

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The Secret to Successful Blogging

Posted on September 24, 2011 by The Wandering Yogi

I am going to tell you a little secret…

In the short 4 1/2 months that I have had this blog up and running, it has helped me earn THOUSANDS of dollars (well over $6 grand in fact) in cash and experiences. Don’t miss out! Keep reading…

Posted in Life Design, Prosperity and Abundance | Leave a comment