Inside Everyone Lives A Walter Mitty

Over the weekend, I saw The Secret Life of Walter Mitty. It is a simple wonderful movie stared by Ben Stiller. He plays a day dreamer who dreams of heroism and doing great things.

Not many would admit that but I totally understand Walter Mitty. I am just like Walter Mitty. Since young I would day dream of heroic things that I would save the day and walk among the greatest on earth.  Probably this is why many of us enjoy watching movies, a sense of escapism and to be away from the life that we are living.

For many of my day dreams, I dream of running my own business, signing deals, enjoy financial freedoms and send my kids to university. That was my dream and I dream of it everyday. I have tried many times and many times I lose steam and have failed spectacularly. It was only through the support of a friend and family members where we are able to start something on our own.

In the movie, Walter said he actually day dream less after he embarked on his remarkable journey. I did day dream less but was I living the dream? Not really. Starting a business is a lot of hardwork none of the scenarios that I dream actually came true. Maybe not yet. Was it a nightmare? Not really as well.

I supposed it is better than living a life where we dream our life away. Walter Mitty only dream about the good parts of life. There is no effort required, there was no pain or any frustration. Maybe the only frustration was getting back into reality. That is not life! In life, there is always challenges and frustrations. Day dream gives you the possibilities. A hook or an sense of target to encourage you to take that journey.

It is ok to day dream and think of the wonderful things of life. In fact, I encourage it. While dreaming for it, imagine yourself what would it take to live the dream? You may already have the solution. Go for it. Who knows, you may not need to day dream anymore.

Feeling Stress? Trying Yoga and Meditation

Lets face it, I have a full time job, family with two kids and a start-up to run. The stress is forever making me weary. During my waking hours, I spent most of my time working or managing the family. The stress can be so overwhelming that there are times where I just wanted to run away from all. I supposed this is the price of ambition.

Through the years, I have found certain ways to wind down or to switch off. Sometimes it works, while sometimes it did not. I am not an expert in stress management but what I have experienced is very similar to what has been described in an article from the Wall Street Journal. One of my main way to relax is to attend a weekly yoga lesson. In that short sixty minutes, I would experience all sorts of discomfort which includes cramp and pain. It was wonderful time to listen and watch the body. I have no time to think about other things else but to be within the moment. We have spent most of our existence on going somewhere, through yoga I learn to be being here. Once a week lesson may not sound a lot, but if you can mix your days with one or two pose into your daily routine, it will make a lot of difference.

One of my secret to mix yoga or workout into my daily routine is with an mobile application called Workout Trainer. You can find it on the Google Play. There are all sorts of workouts and programs that comes with detailed instructions. The workout caters for various intensity requirements. It even has workout that focus on certain parts of the body. For those who always complain about time constraint, there are even workout that can be as quick as two minutes. My favorite workout is the 5 minutes abs and arm workout. In 5 minutes, trying doing 100 pushups and 100 crunches. It is a good stress reliever.

I learned to meditate in 1995 through a Buddhist group in Australia. However, I never really got into it until 2012. To me, you really do not need find a quiet place  to meditate. If you are stuck in a traffic, waiting for the elevator. Just focus within yourself and observe your breathing. All you need is to feel and observe how your body breath in the air and exhale the air. Within that short moments, you should feel a lot easier. 

There you have it. This is how I unwind. There are times where none of my approach would work. When that happens, you can either built up a to do list, and go through it. The motion of crossing out accomplished items gives you a feel good moment. Do it enough, you would see that things are not as bad as it seems.

Good luck. And feel free to share your experience.