It was 30th April 2014, and I had just flown in from San Diego when my friends Torill and Eirik invited me to join a Norwegian group travelling to La Conner Washington – I had no idea what I was going to learn. At the time, I was living in student/freelancer/entrepreneur hostel accommodation in Hillcrest and realised I was stuck. During those days in La Conner, something shifted. One of the things I saw new is that the sun is not circulating the earth, even though it looks like that. The earth is rotating, and it is a trick of the mind which makes it look different, i.e., that the sun rises and falls.
Then I realised it is the same with happiness. It’s always there within us. The only way it’s not experienced is because we have a lot thinking in our personal minds. It’s like the clouds covering the brightness of the sun, and when they pass, we see the effect of the sun fully again.
State of Mind in sports
In sport, the state of mind of the players is the key performance variable. In Tennis, when a player is not clear, it’s because they have a lot of thinking, which they are taking seriously. They believe in their circumstances, and react to the environment. That’s why you sometimes see calm tennis players, and sometimes you see tennis players who scream at the judges or break their rackets over their knee. The difference between those players who appear calm and those who are agitated is the way they are using their minds. The former knows experience comes from thought in the moment, and nothing else and is transient in nature, and the latter believes his experience is are coming at him from the situation. With this realisation, of the way life really works, a player is less likely to get caught up and distracted by unproductive thinking. He knows that feelings are just part of the game and part of life. Like the poor weather, thought comes and goes. If we understand that on a deeper level, we will live with more satisfaction, ease, and love. We will have more resilience and see people around us with more goodwill.
I get insights into my life, every week
Just three years ago, 2014, in La Conner, I started my journey in this new direction of understanding the human experience. I am still learning and keep seeing things differently. I get insights into my life, every week. An Insight is just a new thought. In the space of new thinking, people change. As a result of insights, people are more in the moment, listen better, and are less judgemental. I have a different relationship to memories of the past, as well as to all my thinking. Since I am based in Oslo and travelling around the globe with this new understanding, I am inspired to have two languages on my website. Even though my English is not the greatest, I do not want to let those thoughts limit and stop me. I hope you enjoy reading these blog posts. Feel free to comment under here with anything. Michael