Why Do You Travel?

Why Do You Travel? by Ryan Murdock

Some people travel as a vacation: to decompress from life's stresses, to shut down and escape. Others view travel as a vocation in itself. I'm one of the latter. Every journey is like a life in microcosm. At the beginning we're energetic and naïve, filled with wonder at the strangeness that surrounds us. By midway, experience has dulled our shine; we see a little less, perhaps gripe a little more. At the end we're weary, a little wiser, ready to go home.

Time thickens on the road: years of experiences are crammed into a few weeks or months, while back home life plods along and nothing changes. Growth is accelerated: you live a lifetime in a moment, and you come back changed.

The first journey is especially momentous. You'll always hold a soft spot in your heart for that place because it was there that, for the first time, you looked intelligently upon yourself. It was there you first saw yourself unencumbered by the filters of the social boxes and mental constructs of your structured life back home.

Travel teaches us there's more to life than tick-tock, nine to five, television on weeknights and Hollywood on Friday. Life looks different on a sandspit island in the middle of blue nowhere, or on windswept dunes at the edge of a great desert. Primal screeches from the heart of the lowland jungle resonate deep within in a way that TV never does. A long life is not a question of years.

But travel also comes with a hidden danger. Once you've set out upon that path you can never turn back. You can't "un-have" those experiences. Nothing will ever look the same again. If you've been bitten badly enough you'll despair at the workaday shallowness of the life that's foisted upon us: manipulative duty, hand-me-down moral codes, life goals chosen by someone else. You'll be unable to tolerate it, and you'll ease yourself off to the margins of your society. You'll realize in a visceral way that all our lives are just footprints in sand. Better to live them to the full.

The choice is yours.

This life is short and it's the only one we have. Jack Kerouac, Beat Generation Bodhisattva, envisioned "a great rucksack revolution" where people walked away from the system of work, produce, consume, work, produce, consume. They grew tired of living lives of "middle class non-identity" in "rows of well-to-do houses with lawns and television sets in each living room with everybody looking at the same thing and thinking the same thing at the same time..." They picked up their packs and voted with their feet.

While I don't suggest everyone become Dharma Bums and go off tramping, I do suggest you shut off the TV, or better yet, kick it in. Stop vicariously living other people's lives. Time is short, and you can't get it back.

Of course, it's up to you to find your own path. Travel is only one possibility. Just choose a path with meaning. It's the process that matters, not the arrival, and the journey is in the meetings along the way.



Ryan Murdock's pursuit of travel literature has taken him to some of the world's most unforgiving places, including Mongolia, Tibet, Nicaragua, and North Korea, by Russian jeep, motorcycle, dugout canoe, horse and camel. Please visit http://www.ryanmurdock.com to learn more about his adventures and to follow his Road Wisdom blog.


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Yoga And Fasting For A Lifetime Of Health

Yoga And Fasting For A Lifetime Of Health by Jimmy Cox

Many people are curious about the idea of yoga and fasting and want to know how this applies to ourselves. Much has been written, along rather spectacular lines, about how Yogis sometimes go without touching food for days and even weeks. This is true, but it is nothing for the Western student to experiment with. Prolonged fasting, unless one has been trained for it, can only be harmful.

On the other hand, just as it is advisable to learn to eat a little less at each meal than we think we need, to leave the table always with a slight feeling of "room for a bit more," so it is good occasionally to skip eating for a day.

In fact, if you can arrange it without fuss, try making a practice of giving your stomach a day's rest once every month. This automatically will help keep your appetite in check, promote healthy elimination, and will force your body to burn up whatever unneeded reserves it may be accumulating. Naturally, however, on fast-days you are free to drink all the fruit juice you want along with plenty of water. Another good plan is to go on a diet of nothing but milk one day out of the month.

Fasting, or cutting down drastically on food, is also often recommended when one is ill. But actually the decision as to whether or not to eat at such times may be left largely to your own instincts. "Feed a cold and starve a fever" is a safe generalization, but only a generalization at best. A sick animal will not touch food. Neither will you if your system warns you not to.

But if you have enough appetite to feel hunger pangs, food is probably just what you need. The main thing is never to eat simply because mealtime has rolled around. Never stuff. Do not be afraid to skip an occasional meal.

All in all, a frugal, balanced diet rich in vitamins, minerals, proteins, calcium and roughage will soon begin to pay off in improved health and a sense of well-being and will have an effect on your appearance as well. You will find your weight adjusting to the optimum for you, whether you start out too fat or too thin. yoga and fasting in moderation can only benefit you.

If you have been suffering from constipation, you will experience relief. Your muscle tone will improve, your skin and eyes will become clear and youthful and the hair will begin to take on new sheen. Nutrition itself invariably plays a large role as a beauty aid. Moreover, you will sleep better and feel more relaxed, for your very nerves will be better nourished.

A well, but lightly nourished, body also results in a new alertness of mind, a serenity and a positive attitude toward other people which the average Westerner rarely experiences. Around us, too many persons live to eat. The Yogi, on the contrary, eats to live - but even while he lets his mind soar above the earth, he does not allow himself to be superior or indifferent to its products, food included.

Sama, tranquility or control of thoughts by withdrawing the mind from worldly affairs, is the final aim of yoga. It need not be the aim of the average student. yoga and fasting should be kept in perspective. It is enough for you to remember that food is provided for your benefit, and that it is well to take an intelligent attitude toward it. Food, like friends, must be chosen with discretion.



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It's Almost Game Time

It's Almost Game Time by Soophott Lert

Football fans are gearing up for another great football season. There is less than a month until the preseason games start. Then the regular season will be in full swing. From now until January, fans every where will be talking about nothing but their favorite teams. Preseason games only give an idea of what is to come. Just because a team does well in the preseason, does not necessarily mean they will do as well in the regular season. However it does give fans a good idea of how their favorite teams will do. These games also allow the coaches to see where their strengths and weaknesses are for their team.

If you are a true football fan, then you probably do not care whether it is a preseason game, or a regular season game. True, die hard fans, will watch every game as if it is the big game itself. Ticket sales for preseason games are usually just as good as regular game ticket sales. This shows that true fans are always there to cheer on their favorite team.

Despite the struggles in the economy, season tickets are still being bought with the same frenzy as in the past few years. This is an obvious statement that football fans are still putting football as one of their top choices for recreation. Many fans feel there is no place like the stadium to watch their favorite teams. And while ticket sales are still up, compared to other sales, many fans are choosing other options to watch their favorite teams play this year.

Tailgate parties, cookouts at home, and watching the games in sports bars are other options that fans have been participating in for years. It is believed that many of the fans who normally attend one game a year will choose to participate in these other options instead this year. This is because there has been no significant reduction in the prices of single game tickets. Football fans should not be discouraged this year though. There are many ways to support your favorite teams, without attending the games live.

Football officials are trying to think of ways to get fans more involved with the season this year. However, without a reduction in the price of game day tickets, their efforts may be in vain. The majority of fans that do go to a game, it is safe to say they will not be spending as much money at the stadium as they had in previous years. That is why many people are suggesting a reduction in prices for the tickets.

No matter what your style of supporting your favorite teams may be, it is especially important for football fans to continue to support their teams. Because no matter how the officials look at it, football just is not football with out the fans. And with out fans buying the merchandize the salaries for the players can not be justified. So, fans get out there and support your favorite teams in what ever way you can this year.



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Create a Learning Plan for Employees

Create a Learning Plan for Employees by Pat Brill

Today's business environment is based on 'knowledge' and creating a learning culture is critical for the continued growth of a business. What does that mean in managing employees - you have to promote learning for yourself and your employees.

Companies that support continuous learning are usually successful because training affects the bottom line of a business.

Since there is a shortage of talent with the necessary skills and knowledge to meet business demands, why not take your internal talent and grow them. Compensation is important but if you follow employee surveys, you will find that 'learning' is critical to an employee's satisfaction and to the overall retention within a company.

Manager's first reaction to providing training is that the employee will then move on to another company. We know that long-term loyalty is not offered by employee or employer, so the goal is to maintain higher retention levels for the effectiveness of the business. Training is one tool that works.

Employees respond favorably to employers who provide advance training. Just make sure that the training can be applied to your specific business. Guide your employees in their training efforts by informing them of the business goals so they can make suitable educational choices.

The 'x' and 'y' generations expect to be challenged and look for opportunities to develop their careers through new projects, promotions and access to formal learning benefits. Employees want the certificates and advanced degrees and are willing to do the work and consider training a required benefit to working at a company. They recognize that advance education is critical to their future employment.

==>What needs to be done?

**Create for each employee a 'learning' plan based on his or her current roles as well as their career growth within the organization.

**If you don't have the budget to provide a tuition-reimbursement program to your employees, spend time brainstorming on how to create your company's 'learning' culture.

Here are some ideas that you can start your brainstorming with:

==>Internal Learning

**Business knowledge - create a training that presents the business basics so each employee can understand how their responsibilities support the business.

**Career paths - yearly review of the employee's career growth within the company.

**In-House Training - subject matter experts can share their expertise to build and enhance the depth of industry knowledge within the company.

**Library - build the company library by creating a book allowance. You can allocate a certain amount for each employee to spend each year for business-related reading materials. They would have to put in a 'book request' with justification. You reimburse the employee for the book and then add it to the company library. This way you encourage your employees to build their industry knowledge as well as add to the library so others can increase their knowledge.

**Mentoring - this is a classic program that is part of succession as well as management training programs where you partner strong performers with more senior management to learn the 'ropes' of the business.

**Stretch projects - provide employees with 'stretch' opportunities with project or leadership work.

**Subscriptions - bring in appropriate business related magazines or journals for the continuous growth of employees.

**Training Manuals - create appropriate learning manuals for specific procedures within the organization.

**New Employee Training Programs - this is critical in the success of an employee. Even if you are a small company, have a program in place that successfully integrates the new employee into the work environment.

==>External Learning

**Formal educational resources - colleges and universities

**Professional organizations offer specific classes on industry information

**Business organizations - For example, American Management Association

**E-learning training on specific topics

**Online degree programs are providing advanced degrees to meet the demands of time and information intensive environments.

==>Note:

If there is a performance-related issue, sending someone out to a training session may or may not be the answer. What is critical in creating a 'learning' plan is that the training matches the individual. Performance-based issues can be attributed to a lack of knowledge, interest or an inability to perform the essential functions of the job. So use your training efforts and dollars wisely.

==>Final Thought

Make learning and development part of your conversations with your staff. Even if your employees are non-exempt, encourage them to take on more challenges, to increase the quality of their work and to learn something new.

Continuous learning keeps the employee fresh and interested in their performance. Otherwise, they become stale in their work and performance becomes 'average' or 'mediocre.' Every employee influences the bottom line.


Copyright (c) 2009 Pat Brill



Pat Brill is the author of the blog "Managing Employees" http://www.ManagingEmployees.net . You can reach her at pat@managingemployees.net.


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