Other Interests: pursuing your passion

Stress and Neck Pain

I ended up at the physio last week with intense neck pain.

My neck and shoulder muscles were knotted; it required heat, ultrasound and neck manipulation to loosen them enough to massage them.

Diagnosis: stress and poor computer posture.

Making decisions

As my decision-making process about my future continues, I decided I needed some space/time out to consider where I wanted to go and what I wanted to do.

I couldn't have chosen a better facilitator than Sam Beasley who introduced me to Dr Sven Hansen of the Resilience Institute.

Sven conclusively showed me that there are biological, emotional and spiritual aspects to effective decision making.

More on this another time. But as Sven mentioned that ritual and religion could be factors in resilience I've sent him a link to Laibl Wolf who looks at self-mastery through Kabbalah.

Sydney Harbour

If you're coming to Sydney then you have to stay somewhere accessible to the Harbour.

There is nothing like an early morning walk along Circular Quay past the Opera House and the Botanic Gardens.

The city is just waking up, ferries are starting to deliver workers and personal trainers are putting their clients through their paces.

I have been debating with myself whether to get a smartphone (combining mobile and PDA) which also has a camera. Well a Harbour walk is a good argument for having a camera: young professional women practising kickboxing, a terrific sunrise, Biennale art installations...all worth a photo.

Finding Satisfaction

Worth reading is a series of columns at FindLaw entitled Find Satisfaction in the Law : Taking Control over Your Career and Your Life.

Whilst it seems to be focussed on younger lawyers, the columns provide a variety of case studies.

Super Size or Downshift Your Career?

There is a new book out called Better than Sex: How a Whole Generation got Hooked on Work.

The thesis seems to be that for some people work is so satisfying that they are hooked on it, 24/7 to the exclusion of all else. "It decides status, adds or detracts from meaning. It has eaten up all the available space in society and become the defining institution, taking over from religion, family, politics and culture."

Certainly most people go through stages where work is all absorbing and demanding but on a long term basis that must damage a person's life.

Contrast that theory with Downshifting a study by the Australian Institute which identifies a group of people who are actually changing careers and accepting less money to lead a balanced life.

Perhaps both studies just show that people think more today about their careers and their life values.

Maintenance

Sometimes you just have to attend to your physical needs.

So last night I prepped for the colonoscopy I had this morning.

Luckily I was sedated through the whole thing.