ShadowLion Posted January 2, 2015 Report Share Posted January 2, 2015 Original posting, includes links re: "sisu."I've been doing a lot of reading the last few weeks and one of the most affecting things I have run across is this post by James Clear about "sisu."A Finnish word, sisu doesn't translate directly into English, but you can think of it as something akin to "guts" or "grit." It is well worth reading James Clear's article, and delving into the Wikipedia entry and the work of emilialahti.com, to gain a better sense of the concept and to learn some of the fascinating history behind the word. Sisu is what allowed 300,000 Finnish soldiers to fight a Russian invasion of Finland to a standstill during the brutal winter of 1939, though Russia threw 900,000 soldiers into the fight. Sisu runs even deeper than grit. It is a type of mental toughness that allows you to bear the burden of your responsibilities, whatever they happen to be, with a will and perseverance that is unbreakable. It is the ability to sustain your action and fight against extreme odds. Sisu extends beyond perseverance. It is what you rely on when you feel like you have nothing left. ~James Clear With what I am trying to do, the challenges I have had recently, and the difficulties I anticipate over the coming months, I am structuring my kickoff challenge for 2015 around "sisu." Expect to read more about it in the next six weeks. And, as the above is mainly a placeholder while I am away in the snowy north of Arizona: Happy New Year! This is what I saw this morning at breakfast time! That line of dots on the horizon is a herd of more than a hundred pronghorn antelope heading for the nearby lake for water... Detail from the above photo. Yes, those are antelope. My cellphone camera doesn't work well at those sorts of distances. It did get the falling snowflakes in the first pic, though!Expect to see the return of the old firefighting fun and games, tai chi, bellydancing, and ShadowLion's 2015 adventures into the arcane arts of coding apps, entrepreneurship, and writing very soon.Lots and lots of writing...After a less than stellar challenge last time, <strong>The Beast is Back!</strong> I still have a very, very full work schedule and I am coming off a bit of a slump last challenge, but I'm diving right into the first challenge of 2015. I need to. This community has helped me keep my dream and goal of returning to fighting fires again alive, despite setbacks and injuries and doubts. My Main Quest for much of last year was to attend the Arizona Wildfire Academy and recertify as a wildland firefighter this coming spring. The fact is, I'm not physically or financially ready for that yet. Part of my slump was due to my disappointment over that. But I am not giving up, merely readjusting my time frames and expectations. I am pulling things from the past 4 or 5 challenges that have worked the best for me and mixing in a few new twists for this go around. And, I am committing to a year's focus on consistency, and a challenge specific focus of "sisu." Expect to hear quite a bit more about sisu in the coming weeks. (There are a number of links in the spoiler.) I believe it is my not-so-secret weapon on the way to success in my quest. All the ideas, plans, programs, workouts, and diets in the world mean nothing if I do not have the grit and the guts to persevere through the inevitable setbacks and difficulties along the way. Consistency is important; sisu is absolutely essential. More to come on Monday evening, MST MAIN QUEST:Currently, I am scheduled for 5 strength workouts and 5 cardio workouts per week. My cool downs will be 10 minutes of stretching/yoga, warmups will be 10+ minutes of tai chi/chi gong, belly dance moves, exercise biking, brisk walking, and/or jump roping. I have two rest days per week and they are to be "active" rest. I will base my numbers off these plans and adjust if needed, based on my trainer's instructions. I had intended to go for 5 mins daily handstand prep practice this challenge, but am thinking it would be best to wait on that for now. 10 Quote All men dream, but not equally. Those who dream by night in the dusty recesses of their minds, wake in the day to find that it was vanity: but the dreamers of the day are dangerous men, for they may act on their dreams with open eyes, to make them possible. ~T. E. Lawrence When we contemplate the whole globe as one great dewdrop, striped and dotted with continents and islands, flying through space with other stars all singing and shining together as one, the whole universe appears as an infinite storm of beauty. ~John Muir Link to comment
ShadowLion Posted January 2, 2015 Author Report Share Posted January 2, 2015 Reserved for Fitness Goal Details and Weekly Progress Stats 1 Quote All men dream, but not equally. Those who dream by night in the dusty recesses of their minds, wake in the day to find that it was vanity: but the dreamers of the day are dangerous men, for they may act on their dreams with open eyes, to make them possible. ~T. E. Lawrence When we contemplate the whole globe as one great dewdrop, striped and dotted with continents and islands, flying through space with other stars all singing and shining together as one, the whole universe appears as an infinite storm of beauty. ~John Muir Link to comment
ShadowLion Posted January 2, 2015 Author Report Share Posted January 2, 2015 Reserved for Food Goal Details and Weekly Progress Stats Quote All men dream, but not equally. Those who dream by night in the dusty recesses of their minds, wake in the day to find that it was vanity: but the dreamers of the day are dangerous men, for they may act on their dreams with open eyes, to make them possible. ~T. E. Lawrence When we contemplate the whole globe as one great dewdrop, striped and dotted with continents and islands, flying through space with other stars all singing and shining together as one, the whole universe appears as an infinite storm of beauty. ~John Muir Link to comment
ShadowLion Posted January 2, 2015 Author Report Share Posted January 2, 2015 Reserved for Life Quest Goal Details and Weekly Progress Stats Quote All men dream, but not equally. Those who dream by night in the dusty recesses of their minds, wake in the day to find that it was vanity: but the dreamers of the day are dangerous men, for they may act on their dreams with open eyes, to make them possible. ~T. E. Lawrence When we contemplate the whole globe as one great dewdrop, striped and dotted with continents and islands, flying through space with other stars all singing and shining together as one, the whole universe appears as an infinite storm of beauty. ~John Muir Link to comment
ShadowLion Posted January 2, 2015 Author Report Share Posted January 2, 2015 Reserved for Randomness Related to the Above Goals Quote All men dream, but not equally. Those who dream by night in the dusty recesses of their minds, wake in the day to find that it was vanity: but the dreamers of the day are dangerous men, for they may act on their dreams with open eyes, to make them possible. ~T. E. Lawrence When we contemplate the whole globe as one great dewdrop, striped and dotted with continents and islands, flying through space with other stars all singing and shining together as one, the whole universe appears as an infinite storm of beauty. ~John Muir Link to comment
Spark Posted January 2, 2015 Report Share Posted January 2, 2015 Woo writing! Looking forward to it, SL. 1 Quote Level 10 Superhero Trainee (Ranger)Str 20 Dex 12 Sta 15 Con 15 Wis 13 Cha 16 My Battle Log: Getting Back on the HorseChallenges! 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10NerFiWriCh Completed: 1! My book! The Mercenary's Guide to Ruined Seattle. To all you saints and sinners!You losers and you winners!Here's to one more day above the roses! Link to comment
Jakkals Posted January 2, 2015 Report Share Posted January 2, 2015 Snow!! Very pretty. I really like James Clear. It will be great to see what you come up with this challenge. 1 Quote Level 8 : Wizard Blacksmith [ STR 6 | DEX 6 | STA 5 | CON 5 | WIS 10 | CHA 4 ] Jakkals, 2019 nommer 3 Spoiler Adapt yourself to the things among which your lot has been cast and love sincerely the fellow creatures with whom destiny has ordained that you shall live. -Marcus Aurelius Link to comment
ShadowLion Posted January 2, 2015 Author Report Share Posted January 2, 2015 Hey, Jakkals! I just heard about James Clear about three weeks ago and have been reading through his whole blog. Great stuff! I've got plans... They will probably be posted in a couple of batches over the next few days. I'll be back in Phoenix tomorrow and should be able to get most of the details up on Saturday. 1 Quote All men dream, but not equally. Those who dream by night in the dusty recesses of their minds, wake in the day to find that it was vanity: but the dreamers of the day are dangerous men, for they may act on their dreams with open eyes, to make them possible. ~T. E. Lawrence When we contemplate the whole globe as one great dewdrop, striped and dotted with continents and islands, flying through space with other stars all singing and shining together as one, the whole universe appears as an infinite storm of beauty. ~John Muir Link to comment
ShadowLion Posted January 2, 2015 Author Report Share Posted January 2, 2015 @Spark Lots of writing... I committed to 500 words a day for two weeks, starting last Monday. That is a minimum, mainly just to get me to put posterior into chair and start tapping keys. I just completed Day 4, and have written more than 4500 words in just under 2 hours total writing time! Right now, it's mainly stream of consciousness stuff using a website called 750words.com. The site gamifies the writing process and I am using it to build a solid writing habit. I plan to start phasing into more focused and serious writing once I get some of the cruft out of my system. Also plan to steadily bump up the word count until I get to a baseline of 2,000 words per day, at least 5 days per week. I'm figuring to be at that point by the end of the challenge. Volume. Consistency. Spew it onto the page, then extract anything worth keeping for later development and editing. That's the plan, anyway! 3 Quote All men dream, but not equally. Those who dream by night in the dusty recesses of their minds, wake in the day to find that it was vanity: but the dreamers of the day are dangerous men, for they may act on their dreams with open eyes, to make them possible. ~T. E. Lawrence When we contemplate the whole globe as one great dewdrop, striped and dotted with continents and islands, flying through space with other stars all singing and shining together as one, the whole universe appears as an infinite storm of beauty. ~John Muir Link to comment
Jakkals Posted January 2, 2015 Report Share Posted January 2, 2015 Have you every tried Write or Die? My entire Nano was done on Write or die. Especially fun is the suicide version where it starts deleting your words when you don't write quick enough. 3 Quote Level 8 : Wizard Blacksmith [ STR 6 | DEX 6 | STA 5 | CON 5 | WIS 10 | CHA 4 ] Jakkals, 2019 nommer 3 Spoiler Adapt yourself to the things among which your lot has been cast and love sincerely the fellow creatures with whom destiny has ordained that you shall live. -Marcus Aurelius Link to comment
Balthazar Posted January 2, 2015 Report Share Posted January 2, 2015 Read your first post 'The Beast is Back' Couldn't help but start singing this in my head 1 Quote Link to comment
Spark Posted January 2, 2015 Report Share Posted January 2, 2015 @Spark Volume. Consistency. Spew it onto the page, then extract anything worth keeping for later development and editing. That's the plan, anyway! That is absolutely how it works for me. NaNoWriMo got me into the 2000 words/day habit, and now I feel like I've rather let the side down if I don't do 2000 words. 4500 in two hours is a bunch! I can do that if I'm writing flat-out, which happens maybe once or twice a month. Keep up the pace! 2 Quote Level 10 Superhero Trainee (Ranger)Str 20 Dex 12 Sta 15 Con 15 Wis 13 Cha 16 My Battle Log: Getting Back on the HorseChallenges! 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10NerFiWriCh Completed: 1! My book! The Mercenary's Guide to Ruined Seattle. To all you saints and sinners!You losers and you winners!Here's to one more day above the roses! Link to comment
Harihead Posted January 2, 2015 Report Share Posted January 2, 2015 It's so exciting to find more authors here. Yay, for writing challenges! > I committed to 500 words a day for two weeks, starting last Monday. How's that working out for you? I would like to get more consistency and flow going with my writing. To make time for it, I'm dropping a time-consuming volunteer position I took up last year. It was frankly just too tiring to be president of a big organization in my "free" time and do everything else, too. So I'm clearing the decks to let writing commence! Best wishes. Subbed to cheer you on. 2 Quote Level 9 Ranger STR 13 | DEX 10 | STA 21 | CON 19 | WIS 20 | CHA 15 Challenges: Current | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 7.5 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 11.5 | 12 | 13 | 14 Groups: | Rangers | Walk to Mordor Nerd Fitness Academy level: 0 | Starting over Eat clean, walk strong, age gracefully with joy. Link to comment
Amdhiel Posted January 2, 2015 Report Share Posted January 2, 2015 Love it!! I can't wait to see what all your quests are etc. It's also awesome to see that we are both working on writing habits!! Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk 2 Quote Assassin Battle Log | MFP: Amdhiel Challenges: Current, #7, #6, #5, #4, #3, #2, #1 "Why do we fall sir? So that we can learn to pick ourselves up." Alfred - Batman Begins Link to comment
Hornbeam Posted January 2, 2015 Report Share Posted January 2, 2015 Subbed. Want to know more about sisu! 2 Quote HornbeamLevel 3 High Elf ScoutSTR: 3 | DEX: 0 | STA: 5 | CON: 4 | WIS: 4 | CHA: 2current challenge"Higher, Lighter, Simpler, More Joyful" Link to comment
rowan Posted January 3, 2015 Report Share Posted January 3, 2015 Shadowlion has true grit! I'm loving the theme here, and also the majestic snow pics! You better be ready, I think you were born ready, I know the world is simply not ready for SHADOWLION 2015!!!! 1 Quote LEVEL ONE APPRENTICE WIZARD RANGER: HUMAN UNTIL PROVEN OTHERWISE Achievements Unlocked: Breakfast Warrior, Pushupapalooza, Quadruple Nanomaster, Return From the Dead, Gainful Employment, Leap of Faith, Minimalism Game, Get Thee Behind Me, Coffee, Camp Nerd Fitness 2015, Return From the Dead 2: The Undeadening, Gainful Employment 2: Boss Edition, Fancy Comics Person, Rogue Hair Tumblr of VERY INTERESTING ART: https://www.tumblr.com/blog/radicalwizardtimes Link to comment
ShadowLion Posted January 3, 2015 Author Report Share Posted January 3, 2015 Have you every tried Write or Die? My entire Nano was done on Write or die. Especially fun is the suicide version where it starts deleting your words when you don't write quick enough. Oh, that looks absolutely wicked...and fun! I'm having success with 750words, but Write or Die may be just the thing for when I bump up the word counts. Once you pass 750 on 750words, it just gives you a total count, but it doesn't award any more points or track further. Write or Die has so many more options! I now have a five day streak and a total of nearly 5,700 words, an average 30 minute sessions. I worked on the tablet today and hit 44 wpm, which is a lot faster than I thought I could do. The tablet is a little less accurate, but I can get speeds very close to my best on a standard keyboard, which surprised me. And I have now earned my third badge - ha! I can't believe how much the silly little badges motivate me! I am now a penguin... 2 Quote All men dream, but not equally. Those who dream by night in the dusty recesses of their minds, wake in the day to find that it was vanity: but the dreamers of the day are dangerous men, for they may act on their dreams with open eyes, to make them possible. ~T. E. Lawrence When we contemplate the whole globe as one great dewdrop, striped and dotted with continents and islands, flying through space with other stars all singing and shining together as one, the whole universe appears as an infinite storm of beauty. ~John Muir Link to comment
ShadowLion Posted January 3, 2015 Author Report Share Posted January 3, 2015 Read your first post 'The Beast is Back' Couldn't help but start singing this in my head Ha! Now I have "Back in Black" running through my mind and it's going into my workout playlist! Quote All men dream, but not equally. Those who dream by night in the dusty recesses of their minds, wake in the day to find that it was vanity: but the dreamers of the day are dangerous men, for they may act on their dreams with open eyes, to make them possible. ~T. E. Lawrence When we contemplate the whole globe as one great dewdrop, striped and dotted with continents and islands, flying through space with other stars all singing and shining together as one, the whole universe appears as an infinite storm of beauty. ~John Muir Link to comment
ShadowLion Posted January 3, 2015 Author Report Share Posted January 3, 2015 Writers, unite! That is absolutely how it works for me. NaNoWriMo got me into the 2000 words/day habit, and now I feel like I've rather let the side down if I don't do 2000 words. 4500 in two hours is a bunch! I can do that if I'm writing flat-out, which happens maybe once or twice a month. Keep up the pace! That's good to hear. I figure it will work, but great to know someone who has actually achieved it! The 4500words/2 hours was in four sessions averaging 30 minutes each. That seems pretty doable. My longest session so far has been 43 minutes. I couldn't produce at that rate for much longer than that at this point. It's so exciting to find more authors here. Yay, for writing challenges! > I committed to 500 words a day for two weeks, starting last Monday. How's that working out for you? I would like to get more consistency and flow going with my writing. To make time for it, I'm dropping a time-consuming volunteer position I took up last year. It was frankly just too tiring to be president of a big organization in my "free" time and do everything else, too. So I'm clearing the decks to let writing commence! Best wishes. Subbed to cheer you on. Thanks for the encouragement! Things are working out well so far, but I am only five days into it. The real test will come in another two weeks or so. We'll see if I've got the sisu to keep going then. Good for you for making the tough call and clearing the time to follow your dreams! 1 Quote All men dream, but not equally. Those who dream by night in the dusty recesses of their minds, wake in the day to find that it was vanity: but the dreamers of the day are dangerous men, for they may act on their dreams with open eyes, to make them possible. ~T. E. Lawrence When we contemplate the whole globe as one great dewdrop, striped and dotted with continents and islands, flying through space with other stars all singing and shining together as one, the whole universe appears as an infinite storm of beauty. ~John Muir Link to comment
ShadowLion Posted January 3, 2015 Author Report Share Posted January 3, 2015 It's bedtime and I'm being strict with myself on that. I'll catch up with the rest of you tomorrow! Quote All men dream, but not equally. Those who dream by night in the dusty recesses of their minds, wake in the day to find that it was vanity: but the dreamers of the day are dangerous men, for they may act on their dreams with open eyes, to make them possible. ~T. E. Lawrence When we contemplate the whole globe as one great dewdrop, striped and dotted with continents and islands, flying through space with other stars all singing and shining together as one, the whole universe appears as an infinite storm of beauty. ~John Muir Link to comment
ShadowLion Posted January 3, 2015 Author Report Share Posted January 3, 2015 And more writers... Wow! Is there a trend here, or something? Love it!! I can't wait to see what all your quests are etc. It's also awesome to see that we are both working on writing habits!!Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk Hey, you! Good to see you back and your writing quest is very cool. We can all scribble together! Subbed. Want to know more about sisu! Sure thing. You'll see plenty about it here this challenge. And check out those links I put in the first post. They're a great place to start and get inspired. Will you be adding a modest writing goal to your challenge, perhaps? I know you've already got a lot to do, but I remember you had a writing goal your first challenge. I went back and checked your thread and see that it was for 200 words. Baby steps towards those dreams...if not this challenge, maybe the next one. Shadowlion has true grit! I'm loving the theme here, and also the majestic snow pics! You better be ready, I think you were born ready, I know the world is simply not ready for SHADOWLION 2015!!!! Heya, Rowan! So glad you are back! Another rebel with a cause and a lot on her plate. I am waiting for the next set of adventures to appear.... 2 Quote All men dream, but not equally. Those who dream by night in the dusty recesses of their minds, wake in the day to find that it was vanity: but the dreamers of the day are dangerous men, for they may act on their dreams with open eyes, to make them possible. ~T. E. Lawrence When we contemplate the whole globe as one great dewdrop, striped and dotted with continents and islands, flying through space with other stars all singing and shining together as one, the whole universe appears as an infinite storm of beauty. ~John Muir Link to comment
IslandGirl_Becks Posted January 3, 2015 Report Share Posted January 3, 2015 Bring it on! You even get a a theme for your challenge. Finlandia/Preparing to fight the Winter War: Just they hymn "Oi, Suomi, katso, sinun päiväs' koittaa..." 2 Quote We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit. -Aristotle Arian, arian, zehetzen da burnia. -Basque proverb Frisian Shieldmaiden level 12 (STR:16) (DEX:16) (STA:23) (CON:22) (WIS:17) (CHA:15) Challenges: 11/12.14 - 1/2.15 - 2/3.15 - 15.4/5 - 15.6/7 - 15.7/9 - 16.1 - 16.3 - 16.4 - 16.5 - 16.10 - 16.11 - 16.12 - 17.1 - 17.2 2017 Goals: Maintain BW BS, 100kg DL - Muscle Up - 1/2 Marathon Condition - Abs Link to comment
forkboy Posted January 3, 2015 Report Share Posted January 3, 2015 Love it. Sub'd for more awesomeness of course. Thanks for the link and reading on sisu! 1 Quote Current: reorient Old: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | a | b | battle log Older: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 myfitnesspal | epic quest Link to comment
Shello Posted January 3, 2015 Report Share Posted January 3, 2015 Can't wait to see your goals and glad to see the beast is back. I know the end of the year was difficult. Subbing to watch your gritty awesomeness. 1 Quote Race: Amazonian Ogre Princess | Class: Ranger | Profession: SuperHero | Affiliation: Doodlie and Pancake for Life Respawn Challenge Arcs: 2021 | 2022 I am not saying I am Wonder Woman. I am just saying no one has ever seen me and Wonder Woman together in the same room. Original Spawn Challenges 2014 - 2020: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12 , 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, ?? Roadmaps: 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 Starting weight = 290.4 (2014); Current weight = 241.2; Total pounds lost: 49.2 Link to comment
starsapart Posted January 3, 2015 Report Share Posted January 3, 2015 I love the concept of sisu - I've read about it before - and I think you're going to do awesome!!!! Also...... that is a lot of antelope, oh my! And I really should write more, here is where I slink off with my tail between my legs........ 2 Quote 🎪current challenge🎪 challenge archive: 19 | 18 | 17 | 16 | 15 | 14 | 13 | 12 | 11 | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 instagram | goodreads "Let us read, and let us dance; these two amusements will never do any harm to the world." - Voltaire Link to comment
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