Monday, March 22, 2010

Time Is Money

Time is Money. How many times have you heard that?

It is usually used to make people move faster, rush more, get more done.
On our way to the Bali camp, we talked about it again, especially in light of some things Sensei Scott told us in Singapore Saturday about "coloring our days".

Time really IS money. Far more similar than you probably thought. Time and money can both be spent and used, even wasted. How many people do you know who waste their time? I bet those same people waste their money too.

Many smart people believe money is a tool. A powerful tool that can be used to help you achieve freedom to do the things you want. By that same rationale, time can be used to help you achieve freedom to do the things you want. By removing excess such as television, you may find you have much more time than you thought you did to engage in things you enjoy.

Far more importantly, money can be invested. I did my master's degree in Finance, and we spent long hours learning how to invest money to achieve wealth and financial freedom. I contend that you invest time the same way, and often achieve the same quality of results. It is important to make conscious decisions in how you spend both time and money if you want to increase your quality of life.

Many people squander both their money and their time. Then, when they need some, it isn't there. None left. Money can be saved in a bank and withdrawn later - there are no bank accounts for storing time, but by making poor life decisions which shorten your life (such as smoking, excessive drinking) you can be certain you aren't adding time to your life.

Financially, we have a certain finite period during which we can labor to earn money. By carefully managing how we use those earnings, we can achieve a lifestyle balance we want. Temporally, we have a certain lifetime in order to do the activities we want and make our mark on the world. When it is gone, it is gone. Our loved ones die as part of the lesson that we must treat the time in our lives as precious.

It is useful to be frugal with both time and money, and to use them really for the things which are important to you.

Think about it.

Monday, March 15, 2010

Great Expectations

The time is near.

Next week I will be in Bali for the annual training camp. Guro Jeff Espinous, Guro Fred, and many others will be there. I've been looking forward to this for the past 5 months since I came back to Japan.

Last year, our annual training camp was held at an Indonesian temple site in Singapore, and had so much going on. There were intensives at the school, a week-long seminar on all aspects of kali, silat, and Dumog (with Guro Adrian and Guro Olivia), the black belt test/demo of Guro Guillaume and Guro Maxime, advanced gradings for Guro Lila and Guro Bruno, and a tremendous amount of sharing ideas and training. Guro Jeff opened my eyes to so many things, and taught me so much about FLOW. He is truly magic to train with. Beyond that, everyone was very, very friendly. There was a tremendous sense of community and fellowship.

This year's camp promises to be even better - we are expected to have another strong team from Europe joining, as well as Dr. Charles Gibert from Tahiti, to lecture on Chinese and Western medicine and homepathy.

I am packing up my bags, and this week cannot get over soon enough! See you on the beach!!