WorldSave

Perhaps it is a purely personal thing, but I like to think I’m not the only one who likes to escape myself from time to time. And I do not mean to do so in a way most people choose — drugs, drinking, dangerous behavior and what-have-you. I mean a change of pace, of scenery, perhaps even of personality. To try on different shoes for once and discover you missed the old pair.

Lately I’ve been trying to break out of some terrible old habits. Its been a work in progress, but it has indeed been progress, which is more than I can say of previous attempts to do just this. But what creates this desire to break into something new? I can only think that it is a final attempt to change a current situation when anything short of a total makeover will just not suffice. That’s where my life has gone as of late - almost a complete 180. I’ve chosen to shed even some of the things I loved in order to gain new perspective. Losing these along with the things that truly needed to be forgotten has made me discover just what needs to be kept around. WorldSave is obviously one of the things that I will never forget.

So this mod needed a break, and I took one. Getting back into things may be slow, but they are coming. Life has been hectic with all these changes, but they are not unwanted. I just need to re-attach to some of my strengthening roots and remember who I am, even though these changes are trying to sweep me along with them.

I hope that anyone who has felt a similar experience can learn from these words: don’t forget who you are. This time around I’ve managed not to forget, but there have been times I’ve totally forsaken myself for the stupidest of reasons. This isn’t to say you cannot find new sides to yourself. By all means, grow and learn. But don’t forget who you are, what caused you to become that way, both good and bad. You can only move forward through understanding yourself.

I also hope that these glimpses into my personal life will cease before long. This site is both for personal and global development, but my original intention was to have it be very impersonal. Clearly that is not the route it has taken. Anonymity aside, you more or less know my story. If even one person can relate and learn from it then I’ve done my job. If not, then at least I’ve helped myself through a small vent.

I hope that these updates saying “WorldSave continues!” will cease and WorldSave will, in fact, continue. Its depressing to me to see it so stagnant. I love this site and what it stands for is what I’ve chosen to center my life around. I’ve forgotten it for a small amount of time so I could remember what its like to be young and have fun and not worry about anything (something I never really did in life), but it came back before long… for better or worse. I like to think for better but this whole “worrying” thing might get to me.

The goal to save the world remains. I’ll never forget it completely. That’s who I am, its a part of me now. There’s other parts too, but something tells me this goes a little deeper.

Lia Cross

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Since I’ve become increasingly more busy I’ve been wondering about boredom.  It is a truly desctructive thing to me, most notably my mind.  Not being busy drives me literally a little bit nuts, and I’m fairly certain I’m not the only one.  Why is this?  What causes boredom besides just not having anything to do?  Is it a lack of ingenuity?  How can we solve this?

I believe the cause of boredom is that our lives have become routine, and we have become dependent on external factors to entertain us.  We spend most of our lives working, which is the routine.  That takes of time and keeps us busy.  Off of work we will have hobbies, friends, family–all good outlets to avoid boredom and inactivity.  But what happens when a day comes along and there is just really nothing to do?  We sit in front of the TV all day, or do some similar mind numbing activity just to pass the time.  Because of this, we have lost the ability to create our own fun, our own culture, our own reality.  We have become dependent on other things to tell us how we should be, and if we are not doing one of those things boredom sets in.  What if there’s nothing on TV?  What if our external sources break or go missing?  Then what?

We could turn to books or the like.  Teaching ourselves something new is always a good way to keep the mind active.  Actually participating in something as a means of learning is a way to keep our body active as well.  Exercise.  Create something.  Make your own culture and reality, don’t depend on anything external to feed it to you.

This post may seem wildly unrelated and random, but its purpose is to somehow inspire you to create your own fun, and to make your time spent doing worthwhile things.  Perhaps, I also needed to remind myself of this as well.

Lia Cross

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I have encountered the term “over-think” a lot lately. I understood what it meant even though I had never bothered to define it. Realizing this, I have decided to define it, discover what about it is so problematic, and how to overcome it.

To over-think something seems to mean that there is an imbalance between thought and action. If we are over-thinking then we are thinking when we should be at the acting stage. To prepare for an action is wise, but to over-prepare can be just as devastating as not preparing at all (in certain instances). For example, imagine preparing to turn your car. You slow down. You turn your blinker on. Perhaps you near the right or left side of the road. This is only all acceptable in the event that you DO turn. If you miss the turn and continue on this course, it could be quite devastating to traffic and to yourself and anyone else on the road. There is a disconnect and misunderstanding in communication, and a lack of commitment to the action which creates confusion and in this instance is even quite dangerous. To prepare for any action in life is necessary, but only if the action is eventually taken. If the action is not taken, or if is taken too late, then this can be seen as a moment that one has “over-thought” the scenario.

What exactly is the problem with over-thinking? As you see, when one is so bent on thinking that they do not act enough (or at the right time), we can become paralyzed. Our thoughts literally stop us in our tracks. When we over-think, we tend to focus on not just how we should prepare but also on all the things that could go wrong in the event we take the action. This leads us to delay the action, or not do it entirely. This is clearly a problem for any individual wishing to lead at least a relatively normal life. Action is the only way we live, present ourselves, get anything done. Thinking is a precursor to it, but it cannot take action’s place.

The best way I can tell to overcome over-thinking is to recognize a thought in the instant you receive it and then act upon it as immediately as you can. This overcompensation leads to action over thought, which may seem awkward and foolish at first but is, in my opinion, a better option than to over-think and avoid or delay action. In any event, the overcompensation will in all likelihood even you out to the point where you are thinking and action in equal proportions, and no longer jumping into action nor delaying/avoiding it.

Lia Cross 

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I recently had a discussion with someone about them finding out what they want out of life.  They simply had no idea.  I then asked a question that I thought would be quite telling for what a person wants.

So, ask yourself:  What opportunity do you want to arise?

Notice that its not asking:  What do you want?  Asking what opportunity you want is very different, because it implies that you still must work for what you want — yet you know that the opportunity is there for you to take it.  If you can name something that you want and are willing to work for, then you’ve probably found at least one of many things that you want to do with your life.

Of course, there will be those of you who say:  Win the lottery.  Well, technically the opportunity for this is already there.  Just play the lottery.  Either way, the person I was speaking with had that smart remark, and this is my response to it:

What would you do with it?

He didn’t have a serious answer for me, but think about it.  If you won the lottery what would you do with your money?  Honestly?  What would make you feel satisfied, complete, happy?  Would you just save it and do whatever you want?  Would you still work?  Would you travel?  Donate it?  Answer seriously.  This is also probably another good idea about what you want to do.  Often the thought of money hinders us from being honest about what we want out of life.  However, money is just a means to an end, not an end in itself.  The end that money seeks to fulfill is happiness.  If you are happy with your job already, then clearly you don’t need quite as much money to fulfill that need — just enough to exist comfortably.  You don’t need to buy expensive toys if you are satisfied with your family and your career.

So ask yourself:  What opportunities do you want to arise?  And, what would you do if you won the lottery?  If you would travel with your lottery winnings, then perhaps the opportunity you want to arise is one that would allow you to travel.  What opportunities are there like that?  What’s keeping you from finding those opportunities or fulfilling this dream?  If the answer is “not enough money”, then you probably aren’t being resourceful enough.  There are ways to get around, to do things, that don’t require massive amounts of money.  It may not be as easy without the cash but its still possible.  Do some research into what it is you want out of life and how you can do it now, or soon.

For instance, if you want to travel, there are always things like WWOOF (www.wwoof.org).  For anything else, consider how you are valuable to others.  Become valuable to others.  When you are, they will want to repay you somehow for that value, either monetarily or through action.  In other words, make friends.  Essentially, if you are valuable friend yourself they will want to help you out.  You’ll make more friends, more opportunities, etc.  Mind you, don’t stretch yourself too thin.  You must always care for yourself.  However, with more close ties and with caring for others, you will find that they will care for you back as well.

So be nice to others.  Give a little bit of yourself.  Treat people how you want to be treated.  Remember the golden rule?  Be valuable so that you may receive value and opportunities, as well as good friends.

Lia Cross

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I will admit that these are two major problems for me. I have big dreams but almost never the motivation to complete them. Sometimes I even have trouble getting started. It seems to me that this is an area of trouble for many people, and that is why I am writing this blog.

Clearly, I do not know the answer to curing laziness just yet, other than just doing things, which is precisely the problem. So to find a way I am going to do an “Overcome Laziness” ten day trial. I will outline each day what I have to get done that day, what is extra, and what of that I actually get done. Then I will say how I started the day, how I felt and, conversely, how I acted.

To start us off, I will list some things I’ve read recently about procrastination. According to Russian spiritual teacher Gurdjieff, we have three selves that require balance: acting, feeling, and thinking. Hypnotist James Malone says, “When one part is either deficient or overactive, we cannot function at our best.

The procrastinator may channel too much energy to the thinking self and manifest the condition known as “paralysis by analysis.” Or it may be that there is too much action without consideration of priorities and in trying to be “all things to all people at all times perfectly” the old batteries get drained to a dangerously low level.” He further mentions that good feelings are the result of action and getting things done that we need to get done, rather than things getting done because we feel good.

I can most certainly relate to this. I don’t feel satisfied until I’ve gotten up, gotten my “action” self in gear, and have completed my chores and then some. On the other hand, I know people who try to be the “all things perfectly” and, although they keep it up, find themselves very drained at the end of the day. Either way, the result is a feeling of urgency to get things done that we either didn’t have time or energy for, or were too lazy to start at all.

To overcome laziness, for the next ten days I am going to try and keep my acting, thinking, and feeling selves in order. I’m not sure how else to measure it besides noting which self is lacking and then forcing it forward. Clearly, my acting self is nowhere to be found while my thinking self is dangerously overpowering. As for my feeling self, I honestly can’t say where it is or what its doing. Maybe a little lacking, as it always seems to be. Perhaps, if I engage my feeling self into activities that I am doing, I will find it easier for my action self to step forward.

In addition to balancing my three selves, I am going to keep telling myself “do it now.” It is a relatively simple concept, but I credit its motivation in me to a blog by Steve Pavlina. You can find the blog here: http://www.stevepavlina.com/articles/do-it-now.htm

While I find myself to be nowhere near Mr. Pavlina’s level, I do hope to change that in the coming days.

The trial is only ten days, which is an attribute to my ultimate laziness. I would have liked to make it last thirty days or more, so that I could ingrain better habits into myself, but I figure its best not to push it. If after the ten days things are going smoothly, I’ll keep it up but probably not blog about it. If after the ten days I’m a complete failure, I’m going to do ten more days with a new approach.

So far, other strategies I may employ include:

-Not sitting down except to blog and eat.

-No TV (I’ve actually already began this one).

-Once I wake up I stay up.

-No eating after 10pm. This one may seem arbitrary but I find a huge problem with my laziness is that I am not refreshed in the morning. I have been getting plenty of rest lately and, for the most part, haven’t gone to bed too late. Thus, I find the problem to be eating too late, which taxes the body all night as it strives to digest and cleanse.

I may come up with more as I go. I will let you know which strategies on which day I use, and we can judge my success from there. The first day begins tomorrow, which is really ideal because I have to wake early and I’m busy all day, so I’m forced to do things whether I like it or not! So, then, tomorrow’s trial, it seems, will be to see whether or not staying busy and having others count on you for an appearance affects how lazy I am.

Lia Cross

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