Grrrrrrrrrrr

I'm angry ... well .. just a little bit and at myself !!

A few years ago, I left the place I worked to concentrate on the web design and on the whole it's been ok. Two main problems though .. firstly, I probably make about 85% of what I NEED to earn and have subsidised through loans/credit cards etc and it's got to the point where I need to do something about it ! .. The second thing is that basically I live the life of a pensioner, sometimes not going outside for days !!

Last night I just got really pissed off with myself and stuck a big note in front of my Gohonzon basically saying 'get a life' !! So this morning, instead of my usual getting up around 10am (or later), I got up at 8am with the intention of working more, though the reality is that I'm blogging and faffing about but I'd probably have done that anyway. I do need to get in the habit of getting up earlier though so I'll try to stick to that.

Re the money side, I definitely need a second income and would also like to be more selective about the web jobs I take on. I'd like to go back to when I enjoyed doing web design rather than having to do it to pay the bills !! So with that in mind, I'm currently going through the process of doing some online tests for a company that does business research via the web and then inputting the data on their database. If I do 4 hours a day of that and with even just half of my usual web income, I'd be just about ok, and the reality is that my web income would probably not drop much at all so I'd be a lot better off financially which would be a weight off my mind.

The problem with that though is that I'm still going to be stuck at home, though I suppose the income would mean (providing I keep getting up at 8!) that I can pop out for a couple of hours in the afternoon, which will be nice with Spring not too far away.

I'm also setting up a few web sites using amazon associates so that when people click a book (like on the right of the blog) and buy something from them, I get a few % of the sale ... probably won't bring in large sums but if I do a few sites it might work .. apparently some people earn 1000s but I'm sure they study it carefully ... Hopefully I'll bring a couple of hundred in eventually though it definitely takes time.

Anyway .. that's 1 1/2 hours wasted now so better actually do some work :-)

I'll keep you posted.

and wow .. how 'karmic' is that .. I was just looking for something when a Buddhist book opened up and I read the following quote:

"Intertia is subtle, it creeps up unnoticed. One who forgets about daily renewal and improvement, snugly content with the status quo, is already in its grips."

mmmm time to change methinks !!!!

Taplow part 2

And another trip to Taplow at the weekend but for a single day this time for the HQ and Chapter Leaders meeting. The morning was a regional one and generally fairly practical rather than inspiring but a few interesting things did come up.

The afternoon was more a general meeting and was absolutely packed which I guess shows how SGI-UK is growing in numbers.

Just a few pints from it (arrghh I mean points .. a freudian slip there :-) .. I've still got to type up the previous weekends notes too but for now anyway !!!

1. There are 2 types of daimoku (chanting) .. 'Offensive' (as in attacking) daimoku which is where we put our own personal goals and determinations in line with others happiness and there is 'defensive' daimoku where we simply chant for our own desires. The latter tends to shrink our lives more whereas 'offensive' daimoku expands it.
   


2. Important to encourage others (as well as ourselves of course !) to attend Study meetings and to get engaged in discussion meetings and to take an active rather than passive role in SGI-UK.
   


3. Yas encouraged us to be ourselves and never to 'pretend' that we understand something based on someone else's belief .. he encouraged us to understand things personally and if we didn't, then to talk to others about it to understand more.
   
4. Be aware of our own negative thoughts and challenge them before they determine how our lives will be.

That's kind of it .. a lot of the stuff was practical really for leaders etc so not really for here.

And that's it for now I think .. need to work again ... but have just made a perfect cup of Greek coffee so I took a photo :-)

Ooops .. update

Just a daimoku update for my own record while I remember !

days 4 - target (mins) - 1148 - done so far (mins) -- 949

(behind by 199 mins)

Tired after Taplow

Well .. actually not too badly tired as I was lucky enough to share a room with only one person ... and they didn't snore so got a reasonably ok nights sleep.

The course itself was really good and I definitely feel that I learned a lot on it and one thing especially about my own practise .... but that can wait for a discussion meeting ;-)

I'll be typing up some notes and will post any appropriate ones here when I get round to it.

Had a couple of good nights in the canteen afterwards .. especially when one member produced some whisky .. though I didn't think so the next day !!

Anyway ... here's a few photos for now, including one of Taplow at 7am .. see .. I do see that time sometimes .. also Alan and Annette playing at being 11 again sending each other dirty text jokes ... and I'm NOT posting those here lol. I'll post some better pics when I get them from a couple of people who took some on the course itself.

All my bags are packed ..... (pt 76)

Just a quick post really as I'm away for a few days and I know there are a few of you looking forward to my exciting installments .. yaaaaawn !!

Should actually have something to post worth posting (I hope) next week as I'm away at our Buddhist HQ & Chapter Leaders Course at Taplow this weekend .. which should be interesting ... and also usually means lack of sleep and early mornings .. no weekend lie in for me this weekend .. sob :(

Anyway .. looking forward to it and though it's pretty, I really hope Taplow doesn't look like this !!!!!!





















More next week

days 9 - target (mins) - 738 - done so far (mins) -- 597

Yum and eeeuch too much sugar mannnnn

Yesterday was our HQ kick off day ... not really a lot to report though it was a good day .. generally pretty relaxed.

It was also close to the guy who established SGI's 80th birthday so an excuse for a bit of a cake fest ... I felt so sugared out, I came home and actually made a salad .. in winter !!!!




















days 8 - target (mins) - 656 - done so far (mins) -- 512

Daimoku Target Update

Just an update as much for my records as anything until I find some better way to do it !


days 5 - target (mins) - 410 - done so far (mins) -- 260

New Year

Happy New Year all ....

Well I guess this is the bit where I put down my determinations for 2008 though they don't really differ from last year to be honest. The only newish one really is the amount of daimoku to be done. For the last 6 months of last year I chanted an average of 1 1/4 hours a day which was more than double what I was doing (though it took a marathon at the end to hit that target !), and on the whole, it wasn't too difficult so I'm setting a year long target this year of a nice round 500 hours .. which works out at 1 hour and 21 or 22 mins. I'll have a look round to see if I can find some sitre or other to log my progress and keep it as a permanent link on the right but for now I'll log it at the bottom (already 45 mins behind lol).

Anyway ... I reckon these are my key determinations for the year:

1. Finally sort my finances out and get some sort of order
2. Find a relationship
3. Chant 500 hours during the year
4. Keep going to gym but increase a bit (more swim less jacuzzi !)
5. Have some sort of holiday

That's that .. but I've also decided to have a monthly concrete determinations and for January they are:

1. Hang on in there financially .. it's going to be a really tough month (tax man !)
2. Enshrine my Tokubetsu Gohonzon one way or another !
3. Spend 20 mins per day at least to flat sorting (throwout/clean)

So that's it so far and with a target daimoku after 2 days of approx 2.75 hours, I;ve done 2 so a bit to catch up on already :)