Tor on Marathon

Being a computer geek, professionally, I work with data. A very common thing in a computer system is the maintainance and changes of STATE. If you replace the word “computer” in the last sentense, you have a perfect description of a woman. LOL. Ok, let’s just say: a human being. This post is on some thoughts on the keeping of the Human State … of Mind and on the pursuit of Happiness. Issues that matters to us all every single day.

Ok, let’s start by understanding what STATE can be. As for the Human Life we can define three states:

L1. Unborn
L2. Living
L3. Dead

I will not go into discussions whether there are more states than these, ie. if the is a L4 for Heaven or whether we repeat cycles L1-L2-L3-?-L1-L2-L3. What should be of some importance to you is your current state L2. We all tend to forget the fact that our days in L2 are finite. We DO enter state L3 at some point, beyond which all other states, issues, wealth and worries do not seem to follow us. So be grateful for your L2-state every day, do good and useful things, love someone, love yourself. You only have so many days.

Love yourself. Often we do not. We are unhappy because the outer world does not mirror our expectations. So why do we act like insects when things don’t fall out perfect for us ? We should be better than that ! Insects are driven by chemical substances, pheromones, and are as similar for many other dynamics in Nature forced into a stimulance-response pattern, attack or retreat. We Humans are a bit more subtle, we have a million different states for our mood, mind and feelings, so why not refine their usage a bit ? Anyways, let’s list a few core states:

C1. Hungry
C2. Sleepy
C3. Afraid
C4.Feeling Safe
C5. Aggressive
C6. Horny

You might think that most men just go for C1 and C6, but truth is that we could list tons and tons of additional states here. You see, the states are actually not so important, well, at least not if you have the luxury to get food and water every day. What really is interesting are the MECHANISMS that set our states. Are you happy because of something in the “outer” world or because you choose to yourself ? Do you need outer proof in order to feel happy or can you be “just happy”. Analyze what really makes you happy. Is it Money, is it your Partner, your Kids, your Family, your Friends ? And does the lack of these make you unhappy ? If so, why ?

There is a lot to be said about our states and it is a very complex matter. First of all, please realize how quickly your state may change. You hear a piece of music that reminds you of your Childhood or a lost love… and your state changes. You scent the fresh-cut grass cycling home from work… and you are back to the summer holidays in School. You hear dissonant violins in a horror movie… and are scared as hell. Oh yes, the media and movie guys know how to manipulate your states. The question is: do you ?

Surely, the Human Psyche is playing tricks on us. You see, we might think that we have narrowed down a certain state and why and why not we are in it… only to find (later in Life) that the REAL determining state is a completely different one. You could for instance again and again choose partners that leave you and put you in a sad state.. only to realize that the real state triggering this is your own state of being in/handling loss to which you are familiar and feel safe in. Or you might eat too much food making you feel happy for a short while… but actually being escaping the real issue you have: the lack of self love. Or just love. Thinking about it, I consider Love/being loved to be the universally one true state we all long for.

I’ll write more about “State Management” later.. also with respect to Running. Meanwhile, ask yourself some questions.

What state are you in now ? And why ?

One of my favorite books is the “Meditations” by the Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius. It’s fascinating to contemplate that the most powerful man in the World actually was a Philosopher. “Meditations” was written almost two Millenniums ago but is still ever so relevant. Just take this quote as an example:

If you are distressed by anything external, the pain is not due to the thing itself, but to your estimate of it; and this you have the power to revoke at any moment

So easy to read and agree with, so hard to practise ! I guess we forget again and again that we filter the “Truth” ourselves, as brilliantly captured in the movie “Memento” and so powerfully explained in the sort-of scientific teachings of NLP (Neuro-linguistic Programming) and in the more spiritual ones by Seth/Jane Roberts, especially the book “The Nature of Personal Reality”. As described by Leonardo da Vinci we Humans are left with the powers of our Senses. NLP and Seth elaborate that we each create our own subjective, personal interpretation, an inner representation, based on the “data” from our senses. We tend to think that our experiences is the “Reality” or “Truth”. They are subjectively but not objectively, cf. Marcus Aurelius. Do dwell on this for a minute !

The Vision is perhaps the most powerful and persuading of our Senses. If we have seen something, it must have “happened” and it should be possible to establish a common Reality with others witnessing the same events. Right ? Wrong ! We are still filtering, we are still being Subjective. Intriguingly, take this piece of new technology as your aid: a camera that takes completely unfocused images ! See this example  and play around with the picture (click around): https://www.lytro.com/living-pictures/2325

Woo ! Imagine that our Mind could do the same. Refocus.

You were right, Marcus Aurelius !

So a Happy New Year to you !

It is magic, isn’t it, how a simple new digit may change our outlooks towards Life. I guess that is one of the special things about the New Years Evening and the transition into January – that we put aside the disappointments from the Past and really believe that the Future will bring us new stuff. Well, it might.  The interesting issue here is the mechanism itself: we adopt a change in our entire system. By the definition of a New Year we surrender to something that may fall so difficult in so many other circumstances, times and situations in out lives: we reframe our Worlds, we alter our interpretations and we twist our mind-sets on what is possible. Indeed, all these virtues are available each second we breathe. We should use them more often !

So why does it fall so easy on New Years Eve ? Perhaps the answer is: the context. It is “OK” to start again, you could even say that we feel that we are given permission to change,  that it is OK to change direction and to set new goals. Indeed, Context is a great factor in our subconscious mind and I tend to believe that our interpretations of Life and especially our feelings are extremely driven by our abilities to perspectivate, i.e. to choose our Centext instead of feeling doomed or destined by it.

We all want to be HAPPY, don’t we ? Well, I think that Happiness is a point-of-view and as such an interpretation of what actually happens in the outer world. So where do the Context blend in ? Let me give you an example: yesterday, the entire Globe celebrated the New Year, many were probably both drunk, horny and happy and thus most people have a positive feeling connected with “New Years Eve”. For me, this evening is in the light of another Context: this is the Evening on which I in 1973 saw my Father die at age 31, makeing me an Orphan just aged 7, a situation I fully understood on that very evening and how this was to define my entire life. So: same evening, different contexts -> different feelings, thoughts and degrees of Happiness.

Don’t get me wrong, I am not begging for pitty here, I am trying to prove a point, perhaps one of the most important ones I can pass on to you: learn to Perspectivate, learn to understand the importance of your sensation of the Context of any given situation or argument you might be in. Understand your Life in a larger context Timewise, i.e. in the vast span of Eternity and in the modest and perhaps random age of the Civilizations. We are all merely Dust in Time and Space and exactly therefore is Context everything in our short lives. Everything. So be aware of yourself, of your Centexts and of your Choices, first and foremost your mental ones,  they will define your feelings and thus your Experiences. Get it ?

Personally, I jump into 2012 with many and great hopes for the Future. Running-wise I will now interpretate everything I do, eat and train from the perspective that I am a 3.15 Marathon Runner. This is a very different position as compared with just a few months ago. I choose this Context for myself  and thereby I define some of the important aspects in my 2012 must-do’s.

Also, I choose to welcome saying good-bye to a few People that obviously don’t belong in my Life, People whom have abused my Trust and my Love. I know I did the “right” things and should not go down due to the Others misbehaviour.  So, I will choose the positive version knowing that “I can Love”, and leave the victimized version behind. I will choose the Context of not having met the really important people and partners yet. I have changed my interpretations and as such killed the love and the friendships that I thought I had – but never really had. In that Context the loss is now a gift. Thank you, Life, for making me understand.

So hello 2012, bring on Happiness, great races and lot’s of Love. For all of us.