Seeing The Bigger Picture

Have you ever in your life feel that you have been wronged by someone?? Or in your life has you ever wronged another person?? This week I would like to write about seeing the bigger picture in all these episodes in life, and I hope my readers will try to apply this to their daily lives and find less frustration and anger when someone does something wrong or bad to them.

When the unfortunate situation above happens to you, what do you do?? From my experience, most people will straightaway coin the other person an "***hole/****ker" or something along the lines. As I flip through the newspaper each day, most of the news I see are articles on the Rapists/murderers who are to be executed or who gets caught or something along the lines there. As I grow older, I've come to learn and think of such people, not as rapists/murderers/assholes but more as humans who committed a mistake, that way we are seeing the BIGGER PICTURE by putting the human being first before the act.

The revelation came when I was attending a talk lately by a prison inmate on his time in jail. Before he was caught and sent to jail he was responsible for quite a few murders/heists and things like that but now out of prison, he runs motivational talks on teaching people how to make the best out of their lives. It's amazing how people can change and learn after such events in their lives. From various books Ive read, and from other sources, most inmates in prison do have a conscience and people do feel grief and regret for what they did, but somehow, society always chooses to put the act before the human being. Terms like, murderer, rapist, robber, killer are constantly used and the list is endless. Once again, it would be good, and the world would be more peaceful if we could look at these people as a human being who committed a mistake, rather than putting the act before the person.

I remember a story set back in the 1990's when south Africa was just freed from apartheid. When the apartheid ended, Nelson Mandela and Archbishop Desmond Tutu set up a truth and reconciliation commission. Anyone who felt that he or she was a victim of its violence was invited to come forward and be heard. Perpetrators of violence could also give testimony and request amnesty from prosecution. There was a particular case where a white policeman went up to the commission and in front of a audience, he recounted how he had tortured and killed a black activist of the ANC (African National Congress) party. As he recounted the episode, he was trembling and tears were streaming down his eyes. As he finished, a black lady stood up from the crowd, and walked towards him. Everyone was stunned and no one moved, even the security guards did not stop her. As she reached him, she put her arms around him, hugged him, and said, " I forgive you". It was such an amazing sight and shows how even when in the darkest situations, we can still put the person before the act!! If someone like her is able to forgive the killer of her husband and father of her children, I'm sure we all can learn how to do the same with others and ourselves in our lives.
So next time someone wrongs you, or you pick up the newspaper and headlines says " Killer Caught/ Murderer Caught". I hope all of you will have the courage to put the person before the act. As humans we are bound to wrong someone also from time to time or commit mistakes in our lives, therefore, it is always good to learn how to see the BIGGER PICTURE in hopes that when we do such things, people will also see the BIGGER PICTURE with us. When we commit mistakes, let us acknowledge it, forgive ourselves, learn from it and realise we ourselves are also humans who make mistakes.

So to people that I have wronged before, I hope I am truly forgiven for the things Ive done as I have in some point of time regretted it dearly and learned from it to be a better person (hopefully). To those who have wronged me also, you are all humans who made a mistake and are forgiven. I am sure you'll all learn and will not repeat it again. As I forgive the people who have wronged me, I also hope I am forgiven.

Always (trying) to see the bigger picture,
Yuen

Patience And Persistence - The Key Tandem

How do any of us struggling athletes improve? How do the big guns of our sport smash races with annoying regularity? Well two of the big buzz words are patience and persistence. How can you develop these and more importantly, how do you maintain this once you get how it all works?

Athletes around the world over fit very nicely with the Type A personality definition, such as being impatient, highly competitive, hostile and aggressive(??), and incapable of relaxation. A very familiar ring for many, I'm sure, which makes two key ingredients of sport rather ironic...patience and persistence. After all, who wants to wait around when you're trying to take on and beat the world?!?!

Patience and persistence are ideal bedfellows - they need each other - and without them you'll never reach your potential.

Patience is the ability to wait with a calm feeling for something you want desperately. It's an area that many of us really struggle with, but improve as we get older...which is experience. As kids, it's hard to see past the here and now; to see the forest for the trees. You know the saying...if only I knew then what I know now...it would all be different (or would it?).

And it can frustrate you to tears, like having to wait until you're 18 to drive a car (or drink!!) or in my case feeling like Im going nowhere with my swimming or training. The lesson of patience, and the sense of perspective that comes with it, is one that can only truly be learned over time. That's what patience is, allowing the passage of time to unfold so all the variables can play themselves out...even if the end result is the same as you predicted. Learning takes time. Hasten slowly.

Patience is realising that the process of improvement and development takes time, repeating the big and little things over and over and over, each time making a micro-improvement on the previous time. Patience in sports also plays out in competition, in being the steady pace tortoise and not the hare that burns out before the end. Patience allows you to forsee what might happen, and take pre-emptive actions.

Persistence is having the drive to just keep on doing it, overcoming the roadblocks and detours in pursuit of your goal. Persistence can overcome it. If you simply can't figure out how to quite do something, can't recognise when it is time to quit time to accept that you haven't got a chance. The ability to, no matter what the disappointment or set back, to continue to move forward one step at a time is, perhaps more then anything in this sport of triathlon and in life, an absolute requirement.

So how do you develop persistence and patience? Well the same way you develop as an athlete/person; practice. You make yourself wait and accept waiting. You make yourself go out the door for those miles when your tired, when it's raining, when it's late at night, when it's zero, when it's snowing. No matter what, and each individual time is a victory. You are going to miss days, you are going to lose. But then somewhere down the line you will think back and realise you can't remember the last time you didn't get out the door, then as Emil Zatopek said "Motivation is no longer a problem."

So the next time you have a crappy race or training session and then have to get up for a session the next day it's raining, remember we have all had these days and the champions are made right there on the mornings when you want nothing more then to sleep a little longer. Or out in the storm and coldness where no one is about.

It has been well said, "Hold on; Hold Fast; Hold Out. Patience is a genius". Be a genius. Be patient.

"Adopt the pace of nature: her secret is patience" -Ralph Waldo Emerson-

Yuen

The Sum Of Small Efforts

'Success Is The Sum Of Small Efforts, Repeated Day In And Day Out'
-Robert Collier

Most days of the week I wake up at about 530am in the morning to join Longhorn Aquatics masters swim team for their morning workouts at 630am and to my surprise by the time we get in the pool at 630am, the kids who were training before us from 5am got out. Wow.. No partying, no late nights, just school and swimming for them..

From the looks of it, some of those kids are bound for great heights as future olympians and elite swimmers for the US. Over the years longhorn aquatics has produced many top class swimmers such as, Aaron Peirsol, Branden Hansen, Eric Shanteau, Garrett Webber Gale, Ian Crocker etc etc who all made it as great champions.

Those kids probably get up at 415/430 each day and then head down to the pool to train. Day in, day out, just train and no complaints. At the end of the day it is the sum of all these efforts, the training they do when no one is around, nobody sees and know about, that will turn them into champions of the future. Their dedication and discipline in life will put many older people to shame.


So its a long path up to the top, but with the attitude that all these young age group swimmers show (about 13-17yrs) I'm sure all of us can and will achieve our goals that we set for ourselves in life.

In 2009 I hope to learn from them and live my life with the same discipline, desire to succeed and toughness like them as I gear up for my 2009 season that will start in April. Next up is 2 half marathons as prep races!

Here's to a disciplined lifestyle,
Yuen

Happy New Year

“An optimist stays up until midnight to see the new year in. A pessimist stays up to make sure the old year leaves.”
- Bill Vaughan -

“Every man should be born again on the first day of January. Start with a fresh page. Take up one hole more in the buckle if necessary, or let down one, according to circumstances; but on the first of January let every man gird himself once more, with his face to the front, and take no interest in the things that were and are past.”
- Henry Ward Beecher -

“Cheers to a new year and another chance for us to get it right.”
- Oprah Winfrey -

“We will open the book. Its pages are blank. We are going to put words on them ourselves. The book is called Opportunity and its first chapter is New Year’s Day.”
- Edith Lovejoy Pierce-

To all my dear readers, have a great 2009 ahead!

Yuen