Interesting week in the world. Was able to come home and things radically shifted during that time. No more than a block away from where I was staying in NYC were there major protests. The tone of our nation has radically shifted from COVID19 to the injustices associated with race in the United States. I’m not sure I have anything useful to provide around the situation, except I pray that we come out of this in a better position. I hope that one day all Americans will have the same confidence I’ve been afforded in believing that the US is the land of opportunity and a place that freely allows life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.
I’m considering to additions to this website. A checklist for health, which will be updated over time. The other thing that I would like to do is blog about injuries that are typical in BJJ/Combat sports. At times I’m not sure there are great resources for those two things.
Source: The Drive Podcast – #112 Ned David, Ph.D
Lesson: the importance of diversifying, dreaming, then reverse engineering the process
I loved the conversation around cellular senescence and the potential applications in osteoarthritis. However, I found more value in the brief conversation in the translation of bench science to clinical application. Dr. David presented his thoughts on diversifying options, dreaming an end outcome, then reverse engineering the process to make it a reality. I’ve found this framework to make big dreams a reality a reasonable manner to perform the task. The translation can take place in almost any operation. You also see this in goal setting in athletics. This is the determination of point B, where you want to go. After you determine point A, where you are, you are then capable of creating smaller achievable steps to reach the end outcome.
Source: Living 4D w/ Paul Chek EP 87: Aubrey Marcus
Lesson: importance of not dismissing behaviors based on our personal dogma
Aubrey Marcus is the founder of Onnit and reminds me of one of my best friends. Roughly 6 months ago he was having multiple conversations around the concept of open relationships. Initially, this concept was extremely off putting to me as I support monogamous relationships based on my Judeo-Christian background. Then I had to shift the context to our cultural norm of dating. Just 2 generations ago my grandmother was dating several men simultaneously. She did not stop this until her and my grandfather were engaged. I found this to be a humorous story as it provides insight into the courting process that took place not long ago. As our culture has shifted to “dating” we do this in the context of exclusivity. As youths we try to reflect the relationships we see, which was often a married monogamous relationship. There is importance in practicing relationships, which gives us insight into who we ultimately want to be with and how we want to be treated.
Source: Acts 20:1-16
Lesson: the challenge of discernment between short and long term payoffs
This was the devotional scripture from this morning. It is speaking on Paul going to Jerusalem at the end of his life. There are several people who speak to him about the likelihood of him facing significant hardships and death pending he travel to Jerusalem. Paul elects to go and ultimately is martyred. Should Paul have avoided his death and continued to preach the gospel or should he have gone and died in the name of Christ Jesus? The perspective of many of his friends were to avoid death. The economic parallel would be many people have strong views on what Warren Buffet should do with his wealth. He ultimately has decided that he will be donating the vast majority of his wealth. The question is how does he distribute this wealth over time. Does he donate all of his founds now or does he let his funds compound and do “more” good at the time of his death? He stated that he is currently projected to donate $100 billion at the time of his death. Had he waited until the time of his death to donate the fund him and his wife could have donated approximately $300 billion. Given the impossibility of predicting which means of donation will lead to the greatest global impact, it leads us to the question “What is the best thing we can be doing at any given time with the means and abilities we’ve been gifted?”
God bless, vigilance and virtue
Dan
Seeking Progress 