The biggest loser

My dog Amy is the biggest loser today. She lost all of her stockpile of bones!

See, we gave each dog a piece of real bone to chew on once a while. Amy loves the bones, and Jake? I'm not so sure. Sometimes Jake took the bone with hesitation, held it in his mouth, and looked at us, as if he didn't know what to do with it. We closed the door behind us, and could hear both of them gnawing at the bones.

When we heard Jake barking at the garage shortly after receiving the bones, we told each other: "Oh, Jake lost his bone." We always went to his rescue. We would go to the garage to find Amy with both bones, if any left, and we would take one and give it back to Jake, encouraging him to guard it well.

Today we washed the dogs' blankets and swept out the dogs' living area. Jack threw away over 20 pieces of old dog bones in and around Amy's bed! She had been hoarding them and sleeping on them.  

Poor Amy, I wonder what she is thinking right now.

Hopefully she can sleep tonight, as tomorrow is a new day, and a fresh piece of bone awaits!

42

Though I am not worried about my recent absence from the social media, I can't help but feel strange, as if a part of me was missing or different, not in a bad way.

In fact, it is a real treat, since I only just came back to my normal life for 2 weeks, after all the vacations, festivities, cold and germ fighting. I feel that my life and my mind is still chilling. I read other people's postings, and generously liking and maybe cheering them on or reposting. That's pretty much what I have been doing and taken a liking to. How I enjoy keeping a low key!

From my observations of some postings and my own reflection about my (former) self, I feel that we are "living too hard". It's as if life is this gigantic puzzle that requires us to endlessly deep diving into, to seek the answer. Put in another way, as if everyday is a new challenge, a battle, so to speak, and we must put on the best of ourselves, the game face, so that we don't get "creamed". Yeah, everyone else is out there to get us, so we must be prepared and fight. Life is a Pandora's box for us from the moment we were born. So? Is it true?

The word for this phenomenon is: chill. Just live and be. Life is not that complicated. Live and enjoy it rather than fight it. Maybe your battle is with the perfectionist self who has this thing called ego. We are living in a world of chaos and constant change. What seems to be perfect today at this moment - a person, a tool, a piece of equipment - may and most likely, not be perfect in another circumstance, or in the next day with things being changed. 

Learning to kiteboard took me an embarrassingly long time. I watch others, and listen to friends' instructions. I tried very hard, but no matter how hard I tried, I just couldn't get on the board to ride. Every time I was out in the water, I was literately battling with the wind and waves, helpless, frustrated. I did become expert in body dragging and became stronger, though. 

There were two advices, among others, given to me by two different people, which eventually helped me get on the board and ride. The first advice was from Ms. P, and she said: "When I first learned, I tried very hard to control the kite, fighting it against the wind and I got so tired. Someone told me to instead let the wind take the kite to where it should be, and work with it." It really helped me to spend less energy wrestling the kite, but I still couldn't get on the board and ride for a long distance. 

This other day, Mr. J saw me bobbing in the water trying to get on the board, he told me after I got back to shore: "You can try to point the board toward the kite when you dive the kite and tug the back foot in, let the kite bring you up from the water and ride." The next time I tried it, I got it, and I was able to kite a longer distance! In order to get on the board, I have to first go downwind, then I lean back and point the board upwind, so I can ride upwind!

So this is my own story about working with nature as oppose to against nature (outside of "Zhuangzhi Speaks" http://www.amazon.com/Zhuangzi-Speaks-The-Music-Nature/dp/0691008825)

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I don't know why everyone seems to be inclined to have New Years resolutions, but I just wish to have some changes for my life. So here is my list.

Work smart, play more.

Sit less, move more. (therefore the standing desk)

Don't get hurt while working or exercising. (never again)

Buy less, give more. 

Reuse what we already have.

Slow down.

Stretch.

Take care of myself first, it may mean less learning and more experiencing and experimenting with what I learned.

Make space to enjoy life with people I love and care.

Aisle seat

Do you know how long it takes to fly from San Francisco to Hong Kong? 14 hours. It's a long trip for sure.

It was a red-eye flight. At midnight, we were served dinner, which includes choices of chicken, fish or pasta and complementary wine.

After dinner, I sat in my seat and fell asleep for 4 hours. Slowly I was awaken by the numbing of my lower back and tail bone. I got up, went to the restroom, then naturally, I stretched in the aisle next to my seat. 

Here are the poses/stretches I found very useful for long flights. Believe me, it makes a world of a difference.

The first four poses help stretch the legs. Do these poses on both sides and try to hold for 5 breaths.

• Warrior I & II without the arms. Just use a hand to hold on to the seat back so you are stable. 
• Modified dancer's pose: with one hand holding on to a seat back for balance, raise one leg back toward the tailbone, and hold that foot with the hand. Lightly lean the body forward and the back leg may lean backward.
• Put that foot forward and place it on the other thigh while slightly bending the other thigh. Do the other side.
• Lunge pose on both sides.
• Sit in the seat, lift your feet off the floor and slowly rotate them.

The following poses help stretch the neck, shoulders and upper body.

• Slowly rolling the hard from right to left, then left to right. Repeat 5 times.
• Slowly look from left to right then right to left. Repeat 5 times.
• Shoulder rolls front to back, back to front. Repeat 5 times.
• Seated twist. While sitting in the seat, twist from your core to the right, hold. Then twist to the left.

After stretching I fell back to sleep. Two hours later I woke up again and I performed similar stretches. So on and so forth. 

Throughout the flight, I drank a lot of water and move around a lot. Additional hint, use an eye mask and ear plus to help sleeping on flight.

When I got to HK, my body didn't feel fatigue, and it was amazing. Additionally, the flight went amazingly fast, so it was tolerable.

It's nice to be back

Last year was
tough, hectic and challenging.
Holidays came and went,
it helped empty the heaviness out of my system, and I'm my relaxed happy self.

I went to the office today.
It's very nice to work in a day that's not chopped up by meetings,
and it's good to be productive.
I should savor the moment, as I don't know how long it will last.

What am I looking for in this year?
First and foremost,
I wish to avoid adding loads to my days.
I wish to just live and be, instead of seeking and searching...

For a while, for a change.