Stay on Offense Climb Mountains

Attacking Adversity

Bookish Weapon Number Twenty-Five

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Ryan Holiday likes to write books about the Stoics. This is his latest at the time of this writing and is called, “Stillness Is The Key.” Not a bad title. There are a couple of ideas I liked in the book. One was the importance of sitting and letting your mind wander. The other is how journaling is just for you, not for someone else to read.

There is one other area Holiday discusses which I will briefly cover and that is Virtue. I suppose the main focus is on journaling and sitting alone because I spend so much time alone and then because journaling is one of the four strategies I discuss in my book.

Sitting Alone

Holiday says we need to sit, empty our minds and think. He says we should think about the following:

“Think about what’s important to you.”
“Think about what’s actually going on.”
“Think about what might be hidden from view.”
“Think about what the rest of the chessboard looks like.”
“Think about what the meaning of life really is.”

So that gets you started. The interesting thing was not what Holiday had to say but someone he quotes at length. It is Twyla Tharp, author, dancer and I would say a very wise person. In fact, I am looking forward to reading some of her books. So, what does she say about sitting and thinking?

“Sit alone in a room and let your thoughts go wherever they will. Do this for one minute…Work up to ten minutes a day of this mindless mental wandering. Then start paying attention to your thoughts to see if a word or goal materializes. If it doesn’t, extend the exercise to eleven minutes, then twelve, then thirteen…until you find the length of time you need to ensure that something interesting will come to mind. The Gaelic phrase for this state of mind is “quietness without loneliness.”

Isn’t that fantastic? I think it is. It is the best thing in this book.

Journaling

As I said this is one of my four strategies in “Attacking Adversity.” It has helped me immensely over the years. Holiday devotes an entire chapter to it. Maybe he read my book! He points out that Anne Frank kept a journal and that “she didn’t write every day, but always wrote when she was upset or dealing with a problem.” That is exactly what I do. Not as brilliantly as Anne Frank, but it gets the job done. Holiday liked her observation that “Paper has more patience than people.”

Holiday says, “this is what the best journals look like. They aren’t for the reader. They are for the writer. To slow the mind down. To wage peace with oneself.” I sure agree with that last part. “Wage peace with oneself.” After writing in my journal I am so much more peaceful than a few minutes before that. As Holiday says, writing things down helps you see your thinking from a distance. That is helpful as well.

Virtue

Holiday has a whole chapter on virtue. Here are two things I thought were very good. He says, “…the person who knows what they value? Who has a strong sense of decency and principle and behaves accordingly? Who possesses easy moral self-command, who leans comfortably on this goodness, day in and day out? This person has found stillness.”

Then discussing what someone might do in different situations he offers this:

“Different situations naturally call for different virtues and different epithets for the self. When we are going into a tough assignment, we can say to ourselves over and over again, “Strength and courage.” Before a tough conversation with a significant other: “Patience and kindness.” In times of corruption and evil “Goodness and honesty.”

Go Hiking And Find The Strength Within

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No matter what difficulties I am facing from day to day, when I get up in the mountains I find a strength that I don’t have when I am not climbing. I think it is one of the ways I connect with my creator.

Of course, you are outdoors in creation. Being outside in the forest aligns with our nature as humans.

The Quiet

There are places in the mountains away from freeways and even the sound of waterfalls where you can hear your heartbeat. In these places, I am rejuvenated. I find the strength I didn’t know I had.

Having places like this gives me a place to rest. Resting when climbing mountains is typically not what I do. However, in these cases, I make an exception.

The Clouds

Am I the only person that finds strength in clouds? Especially in the mountains where they hide part of a view or make a landscape almost spooky.

Everyone has seen clouds take the shape of familiar things or scary things. You might see a dragon or an angel. Somehow, in the mountains, these images are more powerful and can transfer that power to the person watching.

The Trees

I know I have talked about being a tree hugger before this. The trees surround you and I suppose that is why you hear the term “nature bathing.” The large ones are so old. I read once that old trees talk. It is just that they talk so slow you can’t understand them.

Trees seem so much more stable than me. Rooted deep in the ground seemingly unmovable. And I think you can borrow some of that stability just by being around them.

The quiet, clouds and trees all combine to strengthen the spirit within. So go hiking!

Bookish Weapon Number Twenty-Four

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This book by Barbara Hansen had a profound impact on me at a time when I was struggling so I am hoping it will be useful for you as well. With that in mind, I will highlight a few of my favorite parts of the book.

First, however, I think the author’s back story is important. She was paralyzed at 19 years old and spent the rest of her life in a wheelchair. She describes some of her challenges including getting out of bed every morning using an elaborate hoisting method. Then she loses her home in a storm. So she is very qualified to discuss overcoming adversity.

Internal Resources

Hansen’s main focus is on developing internal resources to handle life’s difficulties. She talks about creating a “steel core of spiritual strength. There are three important first steps she discusses: 1) Process the pain of the past 2) Choose our response to reality 3) Stop making ourselves victims. She says, “By changing our thoughts and attitudes we can modify our actions, habits.” This way we gain inner strength.

What I find interesting is that she does not tell you what attitudes you should have and says this depends on the individual as long as it “nourishes the soul and makes us better people.”

She says, “Memorizing inspirational and peaceful lines from poetry or scripture has given me the inner strength to get through life’s lousy times.” This is good advice. It does take a little bit of work to do the memorization, but it is worth it.

We All Count

Hansen quotes William George Jordan, in his book, “The Majesty of Calmness.” Jordan says, “ Man’s unconscious influence, the silent subtle radiation of his personality, the effect of his words and acts, the trifles he never considers, is tremendous. Every moment of life is changing to a degree the life of the whole world.” Consider that last statement! Every moment of your life is effecting the whole world! That is such an uplifting and serious thought. We all count.

Death, divorce, aging, being single are all reasons for feeling what Hansen calls, “terminally alone.” She calls for all of us to become aware and be the person for someone who feels alone.

Journaling and Books

Hansen doesn’t specifically discuss journaling, but she talks about “typing.” Here is what she says, “ At the end of the day I will often know that life is not right; something’s wrong. Having only this vague sense of discontent, I’ll not be sure exactly what I am feeling or why I am feeling it, but I know something is corrupting my peace of mind. Typing helps me pull my emotions outside of myself and place them onto the screen. The longer I type the clearer my feelings and ideas become, my paper psychiatrist has helped me face, sift through, and deal with the emotional pain that has periodically pounded my life. As thing gives form and focus to my ideas and feelings, I find I am no longer in the clutches of discontent. Talking to my paper psychiatrist gives me a clear awareness of what it feels like to be me.” She says this so much better than I did in my book, but it is one of four things that helped me deal with adversity. I called it journalling and she calls it typing, but it is the same.

She says books give her strength and pleasure. “The insights and inspiration I get from books “refill my pitcher” when my pitcher gets empty.” So grab a book. It can make a difference.

Faith

Hansen says that “faith in God gives us a desire not only to live but to live well unless we believe being alive makes the world a better place, we are going to have a hard time getting in touch with our spiritual core; unless we have faith in our own uniqueness, we’ll find it difficult to to have faith in a power higher than ourselves.”…”This faith in our personal spiritual value gives us staying power when life hands us rotten reality.”

I love the final sentence in her book after she discusses the importance of spirituality as an anchor in everyone’s life and the hope it gives us. Then she says, “This hope isn’t the certainty that life will turn out well; it’s the belief that life makes sense regardless of how it turns out.”

Go Hiking And Widen Your Window

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Yes, “Widen Your Window” is the subject of this week’s Bookish Weapon so I thought I would play with that idea a little when it comes to hiking.

The author is talking about widening possible responses in times of stress. One of the ways to do that is to get out into nature.

Relaxing

Being in the woods is relaxing. Even when you are pushing hard up the mountain you can smell the wild strawberries, the bark on the trees, and sometimes if you’re lucky, smoke. Yes, smoke! So maybe smoke is one only I would like and a certain kind of smoke.

When I was small I would spend time with my father clearing land. We would dynamite a stump or two and then burn them. The odor from the stump burning is what has stayed with me. So whenever it is in the air it takes me back.

Getting Away

If you are heading for the mountains it means you are not worrying about work or problems. Your mind is focused on the climb. You leave your cell phone wrapped up in your backpack. Yes, I know many don’t, but they should keep it tucked away. Distractions like that are unwelcome in the woods and you will not be widening your window.

Unless you live close to the mountains, it takes a while to get there. This trip helps me detach from my life back home. By the time I am at the trailhead, I am in a different world both physically and mentally.

Use The Exercise

One of the exercises in this book is developing an awareness of the contact between our body and immediate surroundings. She has you sit in a chair for this, but you can do it on the trail. Feel your feet on the ground and the wind on your face.

I think you could even use the trail to release stress. When you reach a quiet spot, take a deep breath and exhale while imagining all of your stress and tension leaving your body. It works great and I have a particular place I like for doing this.

Your window a little narrow? Go hiking!

Go Hiking And See A UFO

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Well, if you don’t get into the mountains there is much less chance you will see anything. Now, if you are snickering or rolling your eyes right now, check out the Joe Rogan podcast number 1361 with Cmdr. David Fravor and Jeremy Corbell. Now that you have listened to that, I will continue.

Oh, you don’t have the time to listen to it? Ok, let’s just think about all this.

The Media and UFOs

Recently I was listening to David Sinclair discuss his findings in the area of anti-aging. Some of the things he talks about are amazing. Then I heard a radio newscast discussing his book, laughing and joking about it. Of course, they do the same thing with the subject of UFOs.

The other extreme is Coast to Coast. Listen to George Nori. He took over where Art Bell left off. There you will not only hear credible stories but crazy nut cases as well. It is great entertainment.

Mountains and UFOs

The first reported sighting of a UFO was over Mt Rainier in the 50s. UFOs like to fly over mountains. Those green guys probably just like the view.

If you hike in the dark as I do, well before sunrise you can see all sorts of things up in the sky that you don’t see during the day. Even if you just hike during the day, keep an eye on the sky, because you never know what might show up.

My Experience

Yes, I saw something that I have never been able to explain. It was years ago at Lake Wenatchee, at night. I was lying on the beach, sober, looking up at the stars. I saw a couple of satellites move across the sky and then I saw something amazing. From four different directions, these white, star-like objects converged on an imaginary point. When they all met in the middle they immediately went back out away from the center. Each one probably just kept going the same direction. They all disappeared. Oh, how fast? Very fast! I have never been able to explain it or have anyone else explain it to me.

As Joe Rogan and others have said, “We are not alone.”

Bookish Weapon Number Twenty-Two

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William Irvine’s book, “The Stoic Challenge,” is a little different than some of the other popular books about this philosophy. It is, indeed, a challenge!

His book begins with what to most of us, would be a frustrating time at the airport. One delay after another when we need to catch a flight and we start to steam inside. Not Bill Irvine. He accepts it as a challenge to his ability to use his philosophy, stay engaged and improve his resilience.

Setbacks

I don’t think I have read any other book that uses the word “setback” more often. There is a chapter devoted to it. Actually more than one. He describes all the different ways we can experience a setback, the psychology of setbacks and how to use Stoic philosophy to confront them. The Stoics’ goal says Irvine, “was not to remain calm while suffering a setback but rather to experience a setback without thereby suffering.”

In his chapter on the psychology of setbacks, Irvine gets busy discussing anchoring and framing as they relate to Stoic philosophy.

Anchoring

This kind of anchoring is not like what you experience in Neuro-linguistic Programing, where you heighten the subject’s emotion and attach an “anchor.” Irvine explains it as a retailer selling shirts for $50 but then having sales of 20% off. This anchors the “regular price” at $50 in the shopper’s mind.

When it comes to the Stoics, “they would periodically make a point of imagining ways their lives could be worse…By thinking about how things could be worse, they effectively sank an anchor into their subconscious minds. The presence of the anchor affected how they subsequently felt about their current situation.”

Framing

Epictetus said, “what upsets people is not things themselves but their judgment about the things.” So there are six frames that Irvine outlines for us and that we can use daily.

First, there is the “Competing Obligation Frame.” You think someone didn’t give you something you thought you should get because they are nasty, but with this frame, you can step back and say to yourself that they may have had a competing obligation which prevented them from giving you what you wanted.

Second, the “Incompetence Frame,” Someone does something and you at first think it is out of malice, but with this frame, you realize they are just incompetent.

Third, the Storytelling Frame,” allows you to “write your behavior” by focusing on how the setback could turn out well in the long run.

Fourth, the Comedic Frame, is when you use humor to offset the setback. Simple and it works.

Fifth, the Game Frame, is where you think about your setback as just a part of a game. Sometimes an elaborate game I suppose.

Sixth, the Stoic Test Frame, is seeing every setback as a test by the Stoic “Gods” of your ability to stay calm and find a workaround.

Toughness Training

This is when we go out of our way to make our circumstances take a turn for the worst so we can expand our comfort zone.

This subject is one I found particularly interesting since in a minor way climbing a mountain I have not climbed before or even one I have during difficult situations is a form of toughness training. However, the author uses climbing Everest as an example which is way out of my comfort zone.

He says your comfort zone has two dimensions. One is physical and the other emotional. You work on the emotional by facing your fears. Then in the physical dimension you face physical discomfort. Is he talking about cold showers? Maybe. He talks about how he forces himself to go out in cold weather with no coat. I think cold showers are worse or rather best. Take that cold shower every day!

The whole idea is to “expand your comfort zone so you will feel comfortable in a wider range of circumstances.”

Death

My favorite subject! Maybe it is because of my age. I think death and I are becoming friends or at least death is a casual acquaintance these days. The Stoics say you should contemplate your death. Irvine says, “…pause in your daily routine to reflect that no matter what you are doing, there is a chance that the is the last time you will ever do it.”

One visualization I liked was what he calls, “prospective retrospection.” This is when you reflect on the fact that at some point in the future you will look back at this very moment and wish you were there. Think about it. You have lived a long time and now you can’t drive, hike, or maybe even walk very well. You will look back and wish for the past. So do it now so you appreciate the present more.