Since we've gotten rid of cable (I think we're breaking down and getting some sort of digital convertor soon) I've been trying to read more. I currently have about 10 books from the library and 15 samples on my Ipad. I just finished reading Russell Simmons' Super Rich: A Guide to Having it All and really liked it. I read his first book Do You!: 12 Laws to Access the Power in You to Achieve Happiness and Success a few years ago and found it to be very helpful. It helped me get my first paying freelance writing job! So of course, I had to read his second book. I was a little caught off guard with what the fact that it was mostly about meditation and yoga, but these are two things I've been wanting to get into. I did yoga years ago, but stopped and I've always been curious about meditation. For some reason, I found myself in tears for a lot of the book (hormones? who knows) but there were also some funny, refreshing parts with the way Russell explains things. The book really drove home the idea that you should work on being a giving person and not worry so much about what your getting. That once you don't dwell on the material things, you'll have everything you need. Russell also speaks about Transcendental Meditation which is something I remember hearing Howard Stern talk about.
I looked into a place in NYC to learn it back when I heard it from Howard Stern (the same place Russell apparently went to) but it's not cheap to learn ($1500 I believe), luckily Russell offers some tips in his book. I decided to give it a try for the first time today and unfortunately, I fell asleep. But, before I fell asleep I did feel like things got very quiet around me as I was humming in my head. I'm not really sure what's supposed to happen with meditation though, so this might have meant nothing. I'm going to keep doing it though. I'm sure I can get better.
The other things that Russell talks a lot about in the book is yoga. As I mentioned, I did yoga a few years ago. I loved my instructor, but I wasn't so great at the yoga. I'm not a very flexible person, so yoga kinda just stresses me out with all the things I can't do. I also have a metal rod in my big toe, making things like Downward Dog not very comfortable. (Though Russell mentions a woman he met at yoga who did the entire class on her knees because is missing one of her legs, so things could be worse.) Anyway, my instructor, Paris, was very good about modifying things to help me and he even did some Thai stretching with me sometimes at the end of class. He seemed very interested in helping me get better. And as the weeks went on, I did get better. But then I moved and just sort of stopped going. A few years later (he'd since closed his studio) I found him subbing at another studio and so we started again, but it didn't last long and now I'm trying to find him again. I would love to get started and this time stick to it, just to see what I can do. The last time I took a yoga class was at my gym and I was hating it the whole time. I've definitely gotten worse in the time that's passed. I'm hoping to find Paris, but either way I do plan to start yoga again. We have a spare room that currently houses junk and I'll be turning that into a yoga/meditation/relaxation room. The idea of becoming a calmer, clearer, more flexible person really appeals to me.
The book also talks about the idea that you can change your life, that it's like a Subway car, if you were going the wrong way, you wouldn't just keep going, you'd get off, cross to the other car and start going in the right direction. This has really opened my eyes and and me realize that I can change my life if I want to! I recently have been looking for more freelancing work as well as other job opportunities because I'm just not happy at my current job and the other day a temp agency called me for an admin assistant/office manager job that pays more than what I make now, but still has nothing to do with what I want to do. I almost went on the interview, but that's exactly what I've always done, taken the first job to come along even though it's rarely been something I've wanted to do. I decided to give myself a chance to find something better. Taking that job wouldn't have put me any closer to where I want to be in life. I read a quote recently that said something about how if it's not moving you closer to your goals, it's pushing you farther away. And that's the truth. So, it's about time I started moving closer. And Super Rich helped me to see that even better!
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