That’s me. Not the naked cowboy, the other dude. I bet you didn’t know we were homeboys. Between me and you, he’s not as tough as I look.
So, Sensophy just saw a MAJOR spike in traffic and despite me screwing up the math in the newsletter, the fact remains: we had over 16,000 page views last week from about 4,500 different people!
Our community is expanding and some amazing new peeps are joining in on the sensophizing. Now may be a good time to share some personal information about myself. Here are 14 monumental moments of 2010 accompanied by the lessons i learned from them.
I Saw A Shrink
and I felt like punching him in the face.
Oddly enough, I’m not an angry or violent guy. But who doesn’t break eye contact with you for 30 seconds without saying something?
I went to talk to him because I was figuring out why I was 24 years old, smelled terrific, and had never been in a healthy long-term relationship. I also felt it would be good to discuss some screwed up stuff that happened in my childhood — Iwas ready to conquer my demons.
I learned that facing your fears head-on takes the power away from them. Once I spoke about the “secret stuff” that tormented me, the tables turned and I was able to befriend the damn bastards.
I Fell In Love
with an amazing woman who rocked my world.
She opened me up emotionally where I had been shut down for a long part of my life. She taught me how to laugh from the gut and smile to my ears.
I learned more about myself from her then I ever could have from the best personal development books in the world. We cooked, traveled, laughed, learned, slept, loved, and cried with each other. After being together for a year, we broke up last week.
I learned that love is motherly. She can make you feel like the most precious person in the world but she can also punish you when you step outta line. Overall, no one compares to Mom.
I Left My Job
and didn’t know what to do next.
So I went to Hawaii for a while. It didn’t happen overnight. I saved money for 6 months plus sold my car and my motorcycle. I canceled my cable TV plus house phone, and then learned how to cook. In the most stereotypical sense, I embrace my Judaism financially.
I opened my life up to the unknown — the place where all magical ideas come from — the place most people are scared shitless of. By doing so, I created the most extraordinary year of my life, ever.
I learned people won’t always understand what you’re doing. Shit, even you won’t always understand what you’re doing. But follow your gut and trust the path with a heart.
I Declared Independence
from everyone I was unconsciously trying to please.
For my entire life, on some level, I was looking for validation from my family and friends. That had to stop. I had “hard” conversations with a lot of people and told them I was no longer living my life looking for their acceptance.
I learned that sometimes the people closest to you are the ones who will hold you back the most. I learned the power of addressing people with a good heart and letting them know when stuff isn’t working for you. I learned that, with time, the relationships that are meant to be great will be great.
I Walked On Clouds
and made witty jokes about it the entire time.
It was during a 12 mile hike through Haleakala in Hawaii.
We had about 6 hours to get to the point where we could see the sunset, but one Greek lady in her 50s wasn’t keeping up with the schedule. I decided to stay behind to support her while she bitched and moaned so that everyone else could move forward to catch the sunset.
I learned that sometimes it’s more special to make someone else’s day than it is to make your own.
I Ate Space Cake
and tripped my face off in Amsterdam.
WOW, that place is straight flavor.
I had the best journaling session of my life and made sense of dreams that were previously too elusive to elaborate on. I concluded that I wanted to get paid to go to school. Down the road, I see Sensophy as a way to earn a living while learning what I’m most passionate about and sharing it in service to the world.
I learned that even if you love to be in control of your state, when the variables add up accordingly, it’s okay to get out of your comfort zone.
I Became a Vegetarian
and started bear hugging trees, baby.
Well, kinda. I decided that my energy was equally as important to me as my happiness. By cutting out meat, I was able to increase my energy, eliminate my mood swings, and drop 10lbs.
I learned that when you make a commitment to something, you should make it non-negotiable. As Jack Canfield, author of Chicken Soup for the Soul, says: “99% is a bitch. 100% is a breeze.”
I Had Visions of the Holocaust
when I visited the Terezín concentration camp outside of Czech.
My mind couldn’t do anything with the data that the tour guide told us, so my intellect evaporated. My emotions went elsewhere.
What I did get was a primal, instinctual, sensation-like, vibration-type tingling in my bones. It was my soul’s reaction to the horror. I felt it physically. A silent understanding that I could not understand. An acceptance of not being able to accept it.
I learned that I am the most blessed person alive and I will not allow myself to live a “regular life.” I need to self actualize and be all I can be — that’s not an option.
I Mastered My Mind
by meditating every day.
I realized if I really wanted to love my outer-world, I needed to first master my inner-world. I started waking up with the sun and meditating for 30 minutes every morning.
I can now place my mind wherever I want him to be, and for the most part, the dude actually stays there. Amazing stuff. Just two years ago that super sloppy drunk monkey was swinging wild into poisonous territory.
I learned that I am not my thoughts, but I can control them. I learned that before I can create what I want in life, I have to be able to clearly visualize it in my mind. With time, meditation is a way to do that.
I Did The Impossible
and went to a Jets game with Gary Vaynerchuk.
This was as far-fetched to me as going to the moon, which, as my friend Eliot Burdett says, is not all that unrealistic as it will become commonplace in my lifetime.
I needed to walk my talk, because Sensophy would straight suck if all we did was intellectualize here. Actually practicing what I was “preaching” took the experience from 2D to 3D. I knew there was a heart in that path and I felt it would inspire others to live their dreams.
I learned that when you “REALLY REALLY REALLY” want something, the universe conspires to help you obtain it. I learned that we can do truly amazing things with our lives — once we break past old patterns of thought.
I Found My Purpose
by following my heart.
I asked myself a lot of quality questions that I was uncomfortable answering and they made me think about what I want my life to look like in 50 years.
I learned that in order to do good work, you must love what you do. And when you love what you do and figure out how to do it in service to the world — magic happens.
I Chilled With Dahlia
and played peek-a-boo.
My niece is an amazing soul who radiates with joy and innocence. Emerson says infancy conforms to no one — now I get it.
I learned that in order to communicate with some people, you’ve gotta get outta your comfort zone. I love the lil’ lady but she wouldn’t dig me if I didn’t do obnoxiously obscene stuff.
I Philosophized
and realized that I’ve always been a philosopher at heart.
I remember when I was 14 years old, I had a chat with my pops and asked him what I was. Like, “Look at my hand dad, what the hell is this, how do I even know this is real?” He dropped some Descartes on me: “I think, therefore I exist”
This year though, I found Philosophers’ Notes and spent a couple hundred hours learning to study and embody the wisdom in them. I participated in the Optimal Living 101 “embodiment calls” and became good friends with some great people.
I learned, and I learned, and I learned, and I lived.
I Sensophized
and so we are.
2010 was the most exciting year of my life. I stepped into the roll of conscious creator and rocked out hardbody. I decided I was going to choose what my life would look like — not just accept a sub-par norm that most of society conforms to.
I learned that life is what you make it and I refuse to let someone else make my choices for me. I am ecstatic thinking about what 2011 holds and am confident that amazingness will continue to emerge.
