It's Finally Time to Tame the Beast!

Man it’s hard to realize that you’re the one driving the car. I know…I know what the hell is Shak talking about? I’m talking about taking control of your life. It’s just that this year has been HEEEEEEEEEEELA HARD.  And I’ve been the main reason why it’s been that way.  Sure, I could blame the Recession Monster (kind of a creepy dude) or the Money Bandit (another creepster) but the real truth is I’ve done a damn fine job of getting in my own way.  I spend many waking minutes envisioning conflict sometimes in my waking hours.  Who does that?  Oh, you do it too?

Check out my most recent example.  Getting a minor concussion from playing soccer with 10 stitches.  Boy when I envision, I manifest!  I even remember thinking a week before the incident, how cool would it be to get a tattoo with "Beauty & The Beast". 

Day 2:  Right After The Hit ( I went up for a soccer header & well it didn't go as planned.  Thank Goodness for pain killers.)

OUCH (10 stitches)!!!!!!

Day 7: No more thinking crazy, battle-themed thoughts.  I promise! 

The truth is I have this 80/20 thing going on, maybe you guys do too. 80% of the time, I’m optimistic, I’m bright & cheery and thankful to be alive on this grand journey we call LIFE. But the other 20% of me would make Darth Vader shudder. It’s my inner beast that I’m talking about. It’s afraid to become more in life, it’s worried about making enough money, it’s afraid to get close to someone in a relationship and so what does it do? SEEK, SELF SABOTAGE & DESTROY!

Seriously.

2010 has been my own version of HALO. Because I love creating battles, I mean EPIC battles for myself I decided to kill myself financially and pay my mortgage by myself right when I was on track to decrease my finances and pursue acting 100%. This is nothing new; I’ve been paying for everything since I was 17 years of age. I have the lone ranger act down pact. I’m so ready for my scene where I walk into the sunset it ain’t even funny. But this isn’t good folks; it’s tragic hero behavior. Those who win create a team of support. Those who win don’t create obstacles for themselves but rather create solutions.

Who knows, maybe I feel like life will be too damn easy without the obstacles.  But isn't that a good thing? I think that dude in the matrix, Agent Smith was right when he said, “…as a species, human beings define their reality through misery and suffering. The perfect world was a dream that their primitive cerebrum[s] kept trying to wake up from.” Say it ain’t so Agent Smith!!!!

I thought I had it. I thought through all of my research on personal development, I had learned to master my thoughts. I mean read through the posts I wrote the previous year. BOY WAS I WRONG! Every time I try to convince someone (including myself) that we can create our own happiness…it turns into this Disney vs. Apocalypse argument. What if Agent Smith is right? Who cares that he’s a fictional character. What if we just can’t accept that happiness is real and totally possible?

Well, I’m at it again. I’m opening up the positive reinforcement books. I realize that it’s a practice not a one and done scenario. It’s like lifting weights and eating healthy…it’s for life not for a season in your life. And more important than taking care of your body is taking care of what you feed your mind. So, for the time being, I’m focusing on peace, abundance and happiness.

I already know it takes a MASTER MIND to focus on such things in a world that blocks light, perpetuates fear, increases poverty…but each of us can make such a huge difference. I’m taking baby steps. I’m back on my inspired grind. I’m back in acting class with a most positive teacher, Dustin Felder. Check that dude out. I realize my efforts for 2011 will be spent on building a team of positive, inspirational and in Dustin’s words “winning mentality” types of folks. I can lose by myself. Nobody can create better war like scenarios than the ones I manifest in my mind. So, this time around I’m going to put myself to the test and envision a total win-win scenario for my whole camp.

I’ll let you guys know what happiness looks like.

Shak
100.

Can You Be Too Happy?

Today as I walked in the office a co-worker stopped me. She said she had decided to ask me, "Why am I always so damn happy"? She said, "Shak, can you just give me a bit of what you have and sprinkle it in my coffee"? Man, if she only knew. I've been trying to find a way to scientifically reproduce happiness and SLANG it to the masses since I was about 4 years old. I've been ridiculed for being "too damn happy" since a child. “You’re too nice” I still hear all the time. “You have to learn how to deal with the REAL WORLD”. Recently, a sweet guy I was dating knocked on my door while I was singing in the shower. I can't remember what I was getting ready for at the time but we weren’t in a rush. But he started knocking on the door angrily, "Shak, what are you singing about, why are you always so damn happy?” REALLY????? No, I mean REALLY????? Isn't that an oxy-moron, can you really get angry at someone for being too damn happy?



That’s when it started to sink in I’m not from this planet. No it’s the only logical explanation. Maybe, people are right. I must not be a part of “THE REAL WORLD”. I can't help but to find the joy in the GRIND. My cup has always been full not half full but really full. And as a result, folks from far and wide have taken it upon themselves to try to drag me down to their level of misery or rather take me back into “THE REAL WORLD”. But I don’t live there. I’ve tried being miserable and depressed like most other people. But the truth is I’m just no good at it. I’ve even tried being really mean and totally inconsiderate of other people, and it ended up hurting me more than the folks I was trying to intentionally hurt. Remember, what goes towards comes back towards. I’m happy because I give off happiness. My other co-worker said, "Shak you're like a Disney princess, singing while you work for 7 dwarfs like Snow White". NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! That might be taking it a bit too far. A Disney Princess?


Perhaps the real truth is no one sees the amount of effort and sweat I put into taming my inner beast. We have to fight every day the good fight to be NICE people. The reason it’s such a fight and uphill battle is that we live in a world that doesn’t see the value in treating each other nicely. Sure there are several books that preach it’s the RIGHT way to live (the bible, the Koran, the Torah…Aesop’s Fables). But who reads and believes those books right? I mean it’s one thing to quote a parable or two, but no one is crazy to live that way right?


"The honey bees that fetch the nectar from the flower to the comb
Never tire of ever buzzing to and fro.
Because they take a little nip, from ev`ry flower that they sip.
And hence, they find their task is not a grind.


For a spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down.
Medicine go dow-wown, medicine go down.
Just a spoonful of sugar makes the medicine go down
In the most delightful way."
---Mary Poppins




Shak aka The “happy” alien
100.

I'm Inspired by Walt Disney

This b-day week has been Amazing! I went to Disneyland on Sunday and a Laker game on Wednesday. What could possibly be next? Best part about Disneyland was the end. When Bright and I were walking out on Main street it started to snow (fake snow of course) and the fireworks started to light up the night sky. A soft feminine voice announced over the speaker, "Happy holidays and remember to believe." I started thinking about what it means to believe in things as if you're a 6 year old walking around Disney's park for the first time. Kids don't reason about the time it takes to get on a ride or how many calories are in a damn funnel cake. All they know is that they're going to get on the rides they want to ride and live it up. Ask an adult about Disneyland and he'll usually tell you it's much smaller than he remembered, too crowded, too noisy and he's just there for the kids.

What is is about adulthood that kills our ability to look at things from a fresh perspective? Why are we no longer impressed with running around in a circle with our jacket over our head? Why can't we laugh at ourselves anymore?

I mean who and the hell wrote the book on being an adult anyways? Whoever they are, they pretty much suck. That's my best, humble opinion of course. One of my gentleman suitors gave me the greatest compliment recently about my age. Of course he didn't realize it at the time. He said, "you can't be turning 30 this year, where's the mature attitude? Shouldn't you be more worried about your bills." MUAHAHHAHAHAHHA! Umm really? I've had more bills and responsibilities than most folks my age since 16, however, I choose not to let those worries define who I am. Bills are bills are bills. I can take em or leave em. They're going to be there so why worry about them?

But how we choose to see the world is ALWAYS up to us. We decide. And up until this crazy point in my life where I finally feel kinda grown up, after all, I am 30 ish. I choose to live my life like it's brand new, exciting and an adventure. It's more fun that way, you don't know what to expect and chances are guys 10 years younger will still find you attractive. Not because you're wearing skinny jeans but because they'll actually think you're their age. Ok maybe that's the downside of this whole be-whatever-age-you-think-you-are thing. There is always a plus and a minus.

"All your dreams can come true if you have the courage to pursue them". ---Walt Disney

Shak

100.