Lessons in Skating

Skating with Rhythm through Life

Back in April I went on a trip back to hometown Utah for a family reunion! 

For some of my relatives, haven't seen me since I just started to walk and go to school, and some like my oldest sister hadn't seen me for 10 years prior since I moved down to Texas. 

It seemed like so much time has passed and so much has happened, all we could think to do is to relish in past fun activities we've done as a family. 

One of those was roller skating! We went to the Classic Fun Center, which brought so many memories! 

I remember as a 6 year old I was too afraid to get on the rink, I would watch my older sisters & brother skate to their heart's delight while I admired their skill. 

This time visiting the rink was different, so much reminiscent memories of family fun.

 I was now ready for some risk-taking! 

I even saw a mother skating with their baby in the stroller on the rink! 

I saw all types of people of many different ages zooming past everyone with style, truly enjoying the culmination of skill they've developed in the art of skating. 

I thought, this time I will surely learn something even if I fall down. Sure enough, as I cruised around the outer edges of the  rink with assistance from a Skater-aid I went faster and faster and my turns and control of my balance improved more and more, until I started to feel exhaustion hit me then I began to slow down and lose the rhythm of my feet movement. At that moment that I stopped moving my feet & lifting my knees to maintain balance is when I fell.

From just that night of skating alone it taught me some things that are reminiscent about life. If you never take the chance to learn something, you will never know. 

At the beginning learning to skate, even with a Skater-aid, you are bound to fall one time or another. 

In life even those with the "best" track records have had their set backs & obstacles along the way. 

I learned to "fall on purpose". Let me explain, when I knew I was about to fall, instead of crashing uncontrollably without knowing how it could hurt me, I actually would throw myself down with my leg and side of my arm to the side of the rink with carpet so I don't hurt myself and my body naturally cushion my fall.

Same thing in life, it's important to take calculated risks and have a plan how to "fall with style" or know what you will do to mitigate the inherent consequences of risk.

Something really interesting I noticed was the emotional self - control & concentration needed to successfully keep rhythm while skating. I needed to maintain my breathing as you would do while doing any type of exercise. When I lost concentration is what also caused me to stop focus on my balance and feet movement, therefore causing me to fall as well.

At one point I thought this, 🤔💭

" If I just keep lifting my feet, controlling my turns and body balance then I will continue to roll smoothly in the rink.... I will eventually control my speed and catch my breathe - allowing me to continue skating for longer periods." 

It's the same thing in life! Don't let your mind distract you from what is happening in the here, and now. The present is the pretense before the future, if we can focus on what we are doing NOW that will be the highest indicator of what will be our future.

Happy Skating 😉🛼

Economic Inequality

                    Economic Inequality

                          Year : 2021                             

On a first-hand experience scaling from one income class to another, barely making it, to being right above the poverty level or right below the median 60% of the population I can definitely say that I have learned a lot in a short amount of time about the U.S. Government and American economic system. I am currently studying investing and financial literacy.

From my experience I have come to take note of some things in the U.S. economy:

- the poor and below poverty level individuals/families are systematically supported to stay at the income level they currently are at.

.... Why do I say this? 

1) someone having a real job working full-time and even many times overtime hours, neglecting their mental, emotional, and physical health during this process,  receiving somewhere between 24k and 30k per year to pay for rent and utilities will be considered to have "too much income" to qualify for state food or medical benefits which are the most important and expensive costs especially amidst inflation.

2) Therefore ... someone working twice as hard to pay the bills will not qualify for government benefits despite needing them to grow financially and stay healthy.... and someone forced to not work at all or barely work at all, live on public housing and be at the complete mercy of the government assistance systems, such as food stamps and Medicaid, will be limited to their options for financial freedom.

3) Individuals/Families who are solely  dependent on government benefits are stuck with the "rules" the benefit programs imply upon them. They cannot have more than 2k in their bank accounts. They are not supported to work, or else their benefits are taken away immediately upon verification of payment from work and not to mention if they are dependent on Medicaid to pay for their medications or doctor visits, they will most likely have those benefits taken away as well. 

They are not able to be investors in the economy such as owning stocks, bonds, index funds, or real estate... or else their benefits are revoked. Even degrees and certificates from years of schooling free or paid for is not a guarantee of securing a good paying job these days, so even school is not a sure investment for those in poverty level of society.

Do you see the point I am getting to?

U.S. government systems are aimed at keeping the poor, poor. Supporting them to stay where they are at, any growth beyond poverty is case for revocation of benefits,  whether the individual or family is prepared or not.

The stage I am at right now: 

working class...  

in between poverty and middle-class

Notes: How am I supposed to get health care?

How am I supposed to go to school and secure a well paying job where my skills will be valued?

How to achieve a work-life balance for mental, emotional, and physical health?

How to fight inflation of the economy?

How to maximize investments?

How to not live "paycheck to paycheck"?

How to maximize savings?

How to budget effectively?

How to save up for and buy a car?

Thank you for reading my blog, 

I hope this discussion has been useful to expand our consciousness of the current reality

Until next time!

Essence of Life

 Amidst all of the anxiety and excitement at this time in the world and in our local communities, 

for every individual and every family, the would if's and the ever more present pressures that we are all facing at the time of this pandemic,

What comes to mind during these times is that as we are each given the gift of life, we are also forced to accept the other side of the coin of death and failure, fears and anxiety. 

The would if's and could be's, like the monster hiding under our bed when we were toddlers.

 

Like the existential crisis I went through growing up at about 5 years old, 

not being able to fully comprehend that I am a living breathing human being with a heart pumping about 5 liters of blood per minute, veins and arteries all over, lungs that can't stop inhaling and exhaling, a heart that can't stop it's unique rhythm of beating, or else the other side of the coin greets me, the other side that is universally known as death. I struggled to understand how fragile each and every part of my body is, not to mention the time when I completely forgot how to chew food and how I used to hope to get sick to stay home from school, be served hot soup in bed, and not have to do any chores around the house.

 Later regretting that being sick meant limited use of my body, of course a lot of discomfort and every so often accompanied by pain.

Pain and discomfort that I wished so much at that moment that I could be healthy again, and only then grateful for the healthy body I had had before wishing to stay home sick.

The interesting thing though, is at that moment that I was sick, at the weakest moment of my body, I had also felt closest to God. I felt like all I could do is surrender to life even if that meant leaving, I felt free of blame, free of obligations, free of life's pressures and just accepting the process, like I've done my best and whatever happens happens. Of course, don't get me wrong, we should fight with all of our strength and might to preserve life, what I went through while being sick I wish upon no one else and we should never in no way cause any harm to ourselves. 

However, this world is an illusion and God creates miracles every moment, however small or big we may judge it to be from our perspective - everything counts. 

See, what we call death is not actually death, it is the detachment of our soul from the body, where the body goes back to the earth in the form of decomposition and the soul goes back to its purely eternal life state because there is no longer any intermediary to contain it in the body (i.e. blood).

This world is an illusion because our body is a "vehicle" for our soul, a vehicle without a soul cannot be driven and a soul without a "vehicle" is not in a body. So, the body is basically useless without the soul. 

A person can seem different from the outside but feel very much different in themselves, in their own soul. 

A person looking only from the outside may judge them as they should be sad, stressed, giving up, etc... but the soul in that individual's body may see and feel things from a very different perspective.

A mother who seems to be falling apart from the outside may give birth to a very healthy baby, 

individuals involved in an ugly car crash could come out with little to no injuries, 

A person fired from a job may actually be grateful later on and find other opportunities that before wouldn't had been possible had they stayed in that same job, 

Someone that had happened to have gone through a misfortune may be able to connect to others in a more genuine way than before and help in ways that they would had never thought of before the "misfortune", 

there are sicknesses that we may have caught early on in life which could have strengthened our immune system later on in life for handling more serious illnesses more efficiently,  

there are individuals that go to school and even graduate but then later have a student loan that completely outweighs the annual income gained from their profession, 

there are individuals that are grown up with all of the basic necessities and luxuries this life can offer and still find themselves in depression, a feeling of lack inside of themselves, and insecurities, 

there are couples that look "perfect" on the outside but their relationship is truly anemic, and they only come to realize this most of the time when they finally really spend some genuine one on one time with each other

and vice-versa there are couples that look like their life is crazy but are the happiest and most grateful to be together. 

So this is the essence of the life, 

the ever present miracle of life, 

acceptance of the process 

and blessing of every moment.