Oddly enough, the source of this video was passed on to me by a co-worker today.

This is a refreshing way to think about our traditional preconception about work. Instead of powering through 40 years of work between 25 and 65 with little opportunities for extended time off to recharge, Stefan Sagmeister’s bravely implements a 7 year work schedule with a 1 year sabbatical. He is borrowing retirement time so that he can recharge his creativity. Apparently this has been a great benefit as each time that he came back from being away, his fresh new ideas generate more revenue. It’s such a logical answer to our highly stressed out society and allows us to learn more about ourselves and be happy.

I’ve been thinking about taking some time off for myself to recuperate from just life. I am yearning for an opportunity to take some time off to do what I love and explore what makes me tick. Unfortunately, work has been occupying most of my time these days that I am unable to schedule any time off. Fortunately, things are calming down in the near future. I will be able to get some time off on the books so that I can recharge like Stefan.

Probably the best way to achieve what Mr. Sagmeister has done is to work for myself and find my own opportunities to take extended leave with minimal impact to my finances. Such an intriguing and desirable possibility.

For this week’s clean-up I will be working on getting my garage cleaned up. The focus will be on getting items into piles of things I’ve accumulated from my dad’s possessions last year and begin sorting between the following categories.

• Things to sell
• Things to give away or freecycle
• Things to recycle
• Things to e-waste
• Things to throw away

I’m hoping to get things in groups so I can easily take the appropriate steps with them. This is going to be a big project but I will take little steps to make this happen. This may take longer than I expect but taking steps on a daily basis will help. The more important question to ask is when can I start on this? My answer – today!

The only thing I did this week to move myself forward was dig out my hockey jersey and pants for donation. I’m not sure if I was procrastinating or I chose to take it easy this week but I am hoping to do more in the coming week. My donation last week didn’t go to APWC yet as we are still organizing pickups this week. We’re scheduled to make the delivery on Wednesday evening.

It’s been a tough day today. Lost my motivation to write. Went to visit my dad for his birthday. All my thoughts and ideas just seemed to shutdown and all I want to do these days is to watch movies and sleep. I hope this only temporary.

I’ve noticed lately I have been really down. I’m starting to slowly creep back into the role of the victim. As mentioned before, I must stop myself from doing this and examine what is the true driver of these feelings. I realize that I do set rules for myself that I perceive to be the law. For example, I’ve been trying to figure out how I can do one of those 90 day work-out routines. One of the main reason why I can’t move forward is that since I am now living in 2 places, I can’t do those work-outs. Well, my fiancee reminded me last night that I don’t necessary need to follow the rule of working 90 days consecutively. The idea is just to get my ass off to exercise whether it is 6 days a week or a few days a week. I don’t have to follow the hard and fast rule of doing this like every “normal” person. I just need to exercise. She told me what she learned was to ask/tell yourself next time that you don’t exercise, “I don’t have time for my health.” I like it. I think I will borrow that from her to keep my motivation to exercise. I might do one of those programs and combine it with bike riding or yoga.

One revelation that came out of these rules I set for myself are just another way to procrastinate out of doing what is good for me. It is actually fear that is driving this behavior. It is my own way of stopping myself from my own possible success as I am trying to make sure I account for everything and make sure no stone is left upturned. I am a classic perfectionist and can’t stand doing anything half-assed. I find myself starting something and just leaving it and not finishing it because of my procrastination. Luckily for me, I’m rereading a book called, The Now Habit: A Strategic Program for Overcoming Procrastination and Enjoying Guilt-Free Play which has tips in curbing my procrastination. If only I can just take some time and finish this reread and start implementing the solution.

I am lacking so much motivation right now. Maybe it has something to do with, my dad’s birthday this Saturday and Father’s Day on Sunday. I’ve been warned about anniversary weeks.

I don’t want to leave on a downer note so instead I leave you with a concert from one of my favorite band – Camera Obscura.

Growing up in Southern California in the 80s and 90s, finding a hockey fan was a rare feat. It’s also much rare to meet someone who actually played roller hockey or any form of hockey. I discovered roller hockey in high school when I was in my tennis playing phase. A few guys was practicing in a vacant tennis court that had no net. I was intrigued. I actually learned how to roller skate when I was in grade school and eventually was rollerblading during the peak popularity of that time. I thought I was awesome because I knew how to skate and turn. I quickly learned that I had more to learn, grasshopper.

I finally got into roller hockey when I met a guy at work during my first job out of college named Joe who played in a few leagues. What was even more cooler was that his girlfriend played too. Next thing you know, I bought a second pair of Mission roller hockey skates, a light carbon stick, plastic roller hockey pucks, jerseys, shin guards, knee pads, elbow pads, pants, gloves, helmet, and of course the precious cup.

I looked like a full-blown roller hockey player with my equipment. I started playing with Joe at first but later found myself looking for other places to play. Burbank has a rink, Irvine had Wayne Gretzky’s rink (I’m not sure if that’s still around), and Torrance had a couple of outdoor rinks. I was invited to join a team in Torrance who played on Saturdays. I played for about 1 and half year with these guys and won 2 championships. Only scored 2 goals the entire time. It was tiring and exciting! I’ve always wondered what happened to these guys.

That was such a fun time in my life. I got to hang out with a bunch of guys doing what we all loved. I eventually stopped playing with them because I lived too far and my relationship with an ex-girlfriend finally ended which severed my contact with these guys. I never did look for another hockey group and eventually sold off all my equipment.

The point of this post is to remind me of the good times I’ve had during my hockey phase and remind myself that I once did something that nobody else in my circle of friends did. I just wanted to play and did it. I need to find the next thing that I would love to do that not all my friends have or is doing. I also need to sell or give away the hockey equipment and clothing this week.

Looking back this week, I accomplished the following things.

1. Wiped my Dell laptop and got it ready for donation.
2. Wiped another Dell desktop computer and got it ready for donation.
3. Met and talked to my friends Richard, Jen, Alex, Scott, and Shon.
4. Collected donation items to get it ready for a donation drive delivery.
5. Spent quality time with mom and really talked to her about everything.
6. Learned my dad is still communicating with us through a family friend.
7. Read a very spiritual book that was recommended by a friend. 50% completed at this point.
8. Rode my bike into work once this week.

One main thing I haven’t started yet is an exercise routine. I will try to get that going this week. I heard on the news that you only need 3 days of strenuous exercise a week for 30 minutes to maintain a healthy body. Time is no longer an excuse for not exercising. I have to stop procrastinating and start acting.

I normally don’t watch Jon Stewart, but this might make me want to check out his show now.

Enjoy!

BTW, 300th post!

I’ve been reading a lot about minimizing and simplification. Most sources identify minimizing what you own and pair down to the essential things. This is going to be tough as I am a sentimental fool. I’ve kept many keepsake through the years so this is going to be challenging. I am certainly not looking forward to the day I need to make those tough decisions.

To keep me motivated, I need to constantly have reminders. This blog is going to be my reminder. Each relationship I establish and reestablish is going to be a reminder. I need to read and reread everything to remind me. The stuff are just glimpse of happiness. True happiness resides with the relationship and experiences I go through. Giving back to people who are in need is true happiness.

I need those who knows me in person remind me these things. Share with me your stories, thoughts, and feelings about your life. This will keep me going and I may eventually meet my goal of dialing down my life and be free from consumption and be truly happy.

Completely forgot to write a post up for Thursday. I think it’s because I just succumbed to my tiredness after coming home from a rewarding ride from dinner. Spent time with a friend who I haven’t seen since August! We enjoyed our beers and the hockey game and chatted up about all the changes in our lives. It was a relaxing and mellow ride home. As I climbed the last hill towards home, one of my rear wheel spoke just popped. Luckily I was just at the drive way of my complex and had to walk back home. If this happened during my ride to Long Beach, that would have been a major setback. It’s funny how things happen at a particular point in time.