AhaWorks - Improving Quality of Life » Life Lessons

Defining – Sound of Silence

Wynn Tran — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 17:45:41 +0000

What is silence? We know it as the absence of sound. If we removed sound, do we have silence? If you sit with your eyes closed with no noise around you, can you experience silence or does your inner voice begin to chatter? In your mind, isn’t that chattering the same as the noise you hear? How about the thoughts floating in and out of your mind? How about the images, the smells, and the emotions from those thoughts? Don’t these things create noise in your mind? True silence is the absence of all thoughts, emotions, senses, stresses, and desires from your mind.

Today, life has many distractions and obstacles to keep our minds occupied. Our lives are filled with noise and it has become a part of who we are. How can we turn that off? This is why silence is hard find. It can’t be bought with money. Its price is practice and persistence to experience it. Millions are willing to pay with a lifetime of practice to experience it and to find clarity in life through it.

Some things to think about:

Why do we want to experience silence?
Have you noticed that our thoughts control the body? Fear increase our pulse, make our hand sweat, and make our breathing quickens.
There are dozens of thoughts going through our mind each hour. What happens to our mind and body when we are caught up in these emotions and thoughts?
If we spend most of our time working in stress or fear, what would happen to our mind and body? Don’t we develop anxiety and illnesses that need medication?
What would happens if we can let go of these thoughts? How would our mind and body react? Would you feel calm and at peace?

Habit – Secret to Improving Eyesight Success

Wynn Tran — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 17:35:51 +0000

Starting to do the eye exercises is easy, especially when we are excited to see the results. Enthusiasm, however, does not last. I managed to do the eye exercises for about three weeks before getting distracted by something else.

I was inspired one day as I walked away from my car. After ten steps from the car, I stopped and asked myself, “did I lock the car?” I walked back to check and I had locked it without realizing. This habit was so ingrained in my mind that I didn’t need to think about doing it. I had an Aha! moment. I need to transform the exercise into a habit. When it’s a part of my daily routine, I don’t need to allocate time to do the exercise and more importantly, I will do the exercise without having to think about it.

What did I do?

I started doing the eye exercises when I was waiting for something or wasting time. I did the exercise:

as I was on the toilet
as I stopped at a traffic light
as I was working
as I was reading
as I was watching TV

by making the exercise a part of my daily routines, it became a habit. I’m always doing the exercises so I didn’t worry about finding time to do it. This helps me to improve my eyesight without it turning into a chore.

Defining – Ego Our Self Image

Wynn Tran — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 17:29:53 +0000

What is the ego?

As a man, I expect and I am expected:

to have a job to provide for my family
to have authority and influence in work and in personal life
to be clever and intelligent
to look and act manly
to defend my country
to want to make a difference in the world
etc.

There is a long list of things that culture and people demand in a man. This list influence our thoughts, behavior, and actions. Together it creates an image of how we will eventually see ourselves. We become this self image. We see the world and act through this self image. This self is our possession or property. We will defend this property against anyone who dares to damage or steal it. Our ego encompasses a large part of who we are, and what we do.

Some things to think about:

Why is it important to understand the ego?
In order to see who we are, we must understand this fog of self image that surround us. If we can fan away each part of the list and allow the fog to slowly clear, what do we have left that makes up our self?
Can our ego exist without this list?
Should we maintain an ego?
Have you defended your thoughts or ideas before? Did it cause tension and anger? Why must you defend it? Did you want to be right? When did your ego come in?
Does the ego separate men and women’s role such as job, house chores, caring for children, and cooking? How does this affect the man and the woman?
Does this separation apply to skin color, culture, wealth, age, etc.? What does this separation do to humanity? How much killing and destruction has it caused?

Defining – Aha! Moments

Wynn Tran — Wed, 06 Jan 2010 17:08:15 +0000

Ever been stuck with a problem you can’t seem to solve? You’ve been trying your best, but you still can’t make heads or tails of it. So, you decide to take a break. As you walk into the kitchen, you see the coffee dripping into the pot and suddenly, the solution hits you in the head! It is so obvious! You can’t understand why you didn’t see it before. That is the spark or moment that bridged the gap between being clueless to clear understanding. That is an “Aha!” moment.

This moment of clarity is like having a flash of light giving us a glimpse of the layout in pitch black room as we try to navigate around all the fixtures safely. In just one glimpse, all our uncertainties and worry about maneuvering through the room is lifted, and we have a good sense of the layout and how to reach our destination. These Aha! moments may help us with our small problems or it may reveal something that changes our lives forever.

Welcome to Aha!Works

Wynn Tran — Fri, 01 Jan 2010 06:03:42 +0000

I had intended to develop this site for many years. However, writing about something meaningful and life changing isn’t easy. Life lessons takes time to brew and mature before it is understood.

I worked as a web application developer and project manager. I have helped companies share information and conduct business on the web. It was about time I use these skills to develop a site to share my interests.

As a developer, I worked long hours, and ate lots of fast and junk food. As a result, I was getting minor problems like headaches, back pains, knee pains, overweight, etc. I felt unwell and decided to do something about it. I spent my spare time learning to take care of my body, changing my diet and changing my habits. After a year, the minor problems vanished. Happily, I continued to learn.

By chance, a friend introduced my wife and I to chi gong, a slow moving meditative practice to heal the body. I practiced chi gong an hour each day for a few years, and felt a some improvement. More importantly, I began to understand how our mind influence our body and our view of life. We spend years studying to get a job, traveling to see the world, and struggling to live our lives, but we neglect the one thing that influence every aspect of our lives – our self.

These are some of my thoughts on health and life.