Objective vs subjective

Off season is..well, off season. I took 2 weeks off and now I am running/biking/swimming whenever. I started to play squash and volleyball. Need to de-tri for sure...

Few things I am looking forward to:

1) This friday I am taking the day off. I had some blood work in the morning and will meet up with Darren at his local pool. He will see how I swim splish splash and give some pointers.

2) This Sat I am going to run long. No plans. Just go as far as I can and enjoy the fall weather. I haven't done a long run (3 hr plus) for a while.

3) Bolder is heading back to his home country after Nov 11. His younger sis is getting marry and he wants to meet up. Oh...Celebrity Sightings for sure....definitely need to shave my legs for this one.
.........

My friend bought a new TV. A big one. 50 inch!! This is to replace the old one. A mere 36 inch. As he was talking to his dad, he mentioned there is another tv out there that is 57 inch. My friend is a bit upset over this.

It is interesting how a lot of times in our life, in the decision we make, what we think is the best choice but in reality, the best choice is how we preceieve.

Before I get too philosophical in asking, what is reality, what is truth .. I like to use my friend's situation as an example (he gave me permission to do so).

If my friend thinks about the 57 inch, he will feel bad since he only got the 50 inch and a better tv is out there.
If my friend, on the other hand, thinks about the 32 incher that he replaced, he will be happy.

The only fact/truth/reality is that a 50 inch tv is purchased..everything else is all subjective.

If everything we do in life is to strieve for happiness and satisfaction. In my friend's case, what should he be thinking??

That's what I thought about recently. Along this season, I started to realize:

i) More conscious of my emotions and control them.

Just today, I had to deal with a courier coming to one of the warehouse and retrieve a printer. I use to be in charge of the warehouse and the worker pass the call to me. I didn't know the situation and while I was finding the story behind this, I was frustrated...'hey this ain't my problem..why am I sticking my head out to deal with this..'

After having a few minutes to think this over, I realize my attitude won't help the situation. Someone has to take initiative. Since I have dealt with this before...it might as well be me. And since this problem has to be solve..let's deal with it.

ii) How little I am in control and control what I can control (woah...deep thoughts huh? :) )

This is not a reason to be lazy. Rather, it is understanding the boundary of what I can control and continue to work within this boundary.

ie. At work, I have been doing front desk job...that's not my job and not what I am hired to do. After weeks of teeth pulling, I finally accept the fact that until the company hire another front desk person (which probably not soon), I will have to do stuck doing this job. I can't control the situation. What I can control is my attitude and how I interact with customers etc.

As Faris Al-Sultan, 2005 Ironman World Champion, once said 'I bring my own weather.' How true is that.

Books that have push me into reflection...

Paradox of Choices: Why More is Less - Author does a great job setting up the arguement that the more freedom we have, it doesn't necessary make us happier. One of the experiment was
that one group was to test 8 samples and to make a decision and another group was to test 4 samples and make a decision. By logic, the first group should be better at making their choices since they have more to choose from. On the contrary, the first group is less hestitate on deciding and have more regret than the second group. How come?

Flow, the Psychology of Optimal Experience - Do you have that feeling while you are biking where everything just clicks. You are conscious of what you are doing but at the same time, things seem to be moving on its own. Everything just flows. The author study all sorts of people and examine why in some activity everything just clicks and some don't.

The 7 Habit of Highly Effective People - Still reading this. I just finish reading the first habit. Proactive. This is a book that I have been meaning to read and grow from.

Bible - If you are looking for examples of people that are suffering and choose to live in joy...you will find it here. Tonight, I am going to be studying Roman Chapter 5...

This is from Romans 5:3-5:

'3Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; 4perseverance, character; and character, hope. 5And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us.'

I thought some of us endurance athletes will enjoy this passage. In the time that this book was written, Christians are persecuted heavily by the Jews and the Romans. Here Paul is encouraging the Christians in Roman to not only suffer but to suffer in joy. From an objective stand point, the Christians are nuts for doing so. After all, who will willing to accept suffering? (side note: Christians at that time was fed to the lions..).