Life's Purpose

For each of us, life has a purpose/meaning. If one doesn't believe that there is a purpose to each action then I believe it just your purpose to create opposition and question wonder. A necessary part of life and a part of the overall balance of nature. If you do believe that your life has purpose you see things very optimistically, however, we tend to forget that we believe every action has purpose when we suffer. We miss that suffering is necessary to be happy. That by suffering, we are taking a step that much closer to complete freedom and blissful joy in every aspect of our lives. There are moments of suffering that last months, even years. But no matter what, it always passes and suffering ends. Either temporarily or permanently, is your choice.

When we are aware of what we want and who we are, there is little that stands in your way. Every obstacle, every challenge, is created by yourself. Realize that and you can take steps to detach from it. Detachment from the physical world is the only true was to avoid suffering. By physical world, I mean anything that affects your 5 basic senses. If you choose to be attached, make sure that it's worth your own self because that is exactly what you're giving to that person/thing. There are plenty of people/things that are worth being attached to.(Just make sure you're not trading a dollar for a nickel.)

In conclusion, I believe we have purpose in our lives. I believe that we can't control anything in this life but ourselves and our response to situations/experiences. So regardless of whether or not you choose to better your surroundings or just yourself, it all has an effect on everything in your inner circle. Time is short to those who pay too much attention and too slowly for those who don't pay enough attention. Find the middle, the balance, and there you will find the peace we're all so desperately eating at each other for.

Coming to the Terms

I have progressed so far since the beginning of 2013 and I am so happy to see the doors close on the year. Personal reflection should be as important as new years resolutions. I've gone through the lowest and highest points of 2013, I understand where I went right and where I went wrong. With that I will improve myself beyond my previous limitations and boundaries as never before and further live my life to it's fullest capacity. That is what new years resolutions are all about, right? Improving ourselves and growing, expanding. I hope all of you have a great year and will take all of your new skills from last year and apply them to be better individuals. To those of my friends, I am proud of all of you. I surround myself with the people that motivate and push me, and I am glad you all have stayed close to me. And to those who I don't personally know, this is your chance to be everything you want to be. Take any step that puts you close to your goals and future self. Good luck! Amituofo.

`Ace

Yin and Yang

Light and Dark, Good and Evil, Right and Wrong, regardless of who you are, the natural balance of life is impossible to escape. What comes up, must come down. What goes around, comes around. All of these saying are based upon the foundation of Balance. Our existence wouldn't be worth living without balance. Because of balance we have good, light and right. Which in turn, creates evil, darkness and wrong. They go hand in hand. The further I continue down this journey of mine, the more I realize how important Balance is. The key is moderation and simplicity. Do things lightly, without confusion. When you do something, commit yourself to that action completely. The best thing about Balance is that you don't need to do anything for it to exist in your life. We can focus on doing things the right way or wrong way. We make that choice. Life presents us with the opportunity to make choices. There is always more then 1 option and there is always a natural balance. Two roads to choose from, left or right. What we choose will lead us to two outcomes which are perfectly explained in an old Cherokee tribe story which goes;
"One evening an old Cherokee told his grandson about an internal battle that goes on inside all of us. He said, "My son, there is a battle between two great wolves inside of us all. One is evil, it is a liar, filled with hatred, greed and ego. The other is good, it expresses joy, love and compassion and is filled wit happiness and love. The grandson thought about his grandfather's words for a minute and then asked, "Grandpa, which wolf wins?" The old Cherokee simply replied, "The one you feed."

It is up to you to choose which road you go down, what choices to make, or which wolf you feed.

-Ace

Honestly, we know nothing.

I am a strong pursuer in the betterment of myself and my surroundings. I am obsessed with being the best I can possibly be. On my search for perfection, I have found some truly extraordinary things. First off, our perception of reality is warped. We trust the information that has been passed onto us and we accept it fully as correct. Whether this be out of laziness or ignorance or social acceptance, it doesn't matter. We still accept it. Why don't we fly off the planet? Oh, because of Einstein's laws of gravity. But we can't prove gravity. It's just a theory. Do you personally know? No, of course not. It's an absolute mystery. One more thing, did you know that there are people in this world that believe the Earth is hollow and made up of columns that lead to a hidden society underground? We can't even prove them wrong because we haven't gone to the center of the Earth before. We just disregard this as insanity because our "laws" tell us that the Earth is made up of molten lava that circulates, which creates a suction, if you will, that creates Earth's gravitational pull. Throughout history, we have tried to logically explain all of Earth's mysteries without really knowing what we're talking about. Life cannot be logically explained. If our brains have come up with some type of answer for life that makes sense to us, it's probably incorrect. Our brains cannot process the magnitude of life. Just as we cannot fathom the depths of the universe. It's like a 5 year old trying to understand what it's like to be 90 years old. They can't. They can see a 90 year old, talk to them, know them, even try to be like them. But they will never truly understand what it's like until they are 90 years old. This post has really no point other than to make you question what you accept and believe without reason. If you believe in something, and truly believe in it, you better have a good reason to do so or else it can be easily manipulated. Our beliefs are incredibly strong and important. Just know why you believe in something. It will strengthen your soul to know why you commit yourself to ideas or others beliefs. Don't just think. The only difference between knowledge and wisdom is that wisdom is just applied knowledge. Wisdom is knowledge in action. Be careful with what you have faith in.

Goals

I recently read a quote that said, 'If you don't plan your life, someone else will for you." And that got me thinking, what are my plans? What do I intend on doing with my life? I have answered these questions plenty of times but only in mind. Never on paper, I never wrote down a step by step list on how I would attain these goals. So, I sat down, armed only with pen and paper and began to write out my ladder to my own personal view on success. It made me realize how I could take small steps towards my goals each day, which is great. I truly feel accomplished knowing I took a step forward with my future. It's such a good feeling that I decided to share it. I encourage any of you who haven't done this to take that first step towards your future. Start big, with only the big picture stuff in mind. Who do you want to be, how do you want to look, how do you carry yourself, what will your profession be, when will you get there, where will you be and why do you want to do/look/be that way? Then work down from there, from personal, to health, to professional, everything must be analyzed. Say you want to be healthier, look healthier physically, then that would be a big picture goal. Eating an apple everyday would be a small picture idea. It's still a step forward, with the big picture in mind. Regulating your life and planning your time will only help. Try it before you knock it.

-Ace

The Alternating Senses

As we grow older, we learn. It's inevitable that our experiences will undoubtedly teach us more about ourselves and our environments. It's crucial for us to grow, but we shouldn't forget where we come from. It's an important exercise to remember what being a child was like. If you can't remember that, then spend some time with kids. As humans, we have a craving to discover the unknown, it's always been that way. Unfortunately, because of that reason, we are losing more of life's mystery. Life NEEDS mystery in order to fascinate, inspire and create. As we grow older we tend to define and judge everything around us and I am beginning to realize the cause and effect this has. It's come to the point where we are uncomfortable if we're staring into the unknown. Kids don't have that type of experience yet and to be honest, we don't either. We just think and assume that what we know is right. I implore you to assume you know nothing about your environment or the world. If you were to walk through a fresh garden during spring time after every flower had began to bloom, what would you see? Flowers, right? What you're missing is life's beauty and perfection. We can name each flower, we know why it's in bloom, and how to do it ourselves. In fact, it's not even that difficult. That's the problem. We aren't really seeing whats in front of us. We are letting our minds analyze and interpret our surroundings for us. The mind is an incredibly useful tool but it is horrible at Seeing, Feeling, Hearing, Smelling and Sensing. It is not the brains responsibility for those sensations. Get in tune with your other senses and realize that they are just as important. The Earth will open itself up to those who appreciate her.

Journey with the Ronin of light (Part 1)

This is a short story I wrote, just wanted some feedback to see what you all think. Thanks for the help guys!

~Ace

I began to collect my thoughts, I tightened my grip on the hilt of my sword and took a deep breathe.  In front of me my opponent stood beneath the faint moonlight. He was a massive creature, with no facial features. From a distance they almost looked like men, but their movements gave them away. They moved with the shadows, gliding over complete emptiness. I hated every part of these damned creatures.

 My shirt was torn, my hair ran through my eyes and the mark his blade left bled from my shoulder. This is not how I wanted things to go.
Rain began to pour from the heavens. Our eyes met and I rose to my feet. Rage boiled inside my heart but I had to keep a cool head. Emotions get you killed in this world. I focused on my next move and began to see the blade cutting through this creature in my mind's eye. But before I could execute my perfect attack, my opponent lunged forward, his sword high, ready to end this fight. I was more than ready. He thought because he was larger than I was that he posed some type of threat to me. The fool. All samurai knew that the only true power comes from the heart. But this thing was no samurai. I would show him just how strong my heart  really was and these creatures will learn to fear that strength.

In an instant, his blade came down my center. I side stepped against the blade and sliced through his abdomen, in one motion I turned back to face him. You would think a blow like that would end any man's life and normally you would be correct, but these were much darker times than you have endured. These creatures came from shadow. They had no remorse, no compassion, no heart. I watched the beast smirk as black smoke began to seep through the cut I had just made. Once again, rage began to swell inside of me, an ever growing fire that was howling for the end of this creature. I would not control my anger this time. I leapt into the air with a shout and cut through it again.

Instead of black smoke coming from the wound, light began to stream from it like a small river. Now the creature wasn't smirking. Now, it was my turn to smile as the creature became a ball of light and vanished. I don't really understand why I have this power, no one I have ever crossed could defeat these beasts. I'm not even the strongest swordsman. I have only practiced this art for 18 years, from the time I was 6 years old. There are masters that have been perfecting this art their entire lives that would put my skill to shame in seconds, my father among them. I tried not to question why I was the only one who could eradicate this darkness from our lands but I would find out why. There had to be a reason, there was always a reason, always a purpose behind every action... Right?

 It has always been in my nature to be curious. I have lived as a ronin for quite some time, it's the simple life I have always wanted. Traveling from place to place, practicing my martial art under waterfalls, on mountain tops, and deserts, experiencing life and nature was who I was.  I have always been content with my life and myself but unfortunately, that time was over. Now, I lived in a state of constant attack. I didn't rest, I didn't have companions or loved ones here, the only real things to me now is the heart in my chest and the blade in my hand. That is all I needed and all I could rely on anymore. 

Darkness was seizing our lands, taking everything we held most dear. But I knew light still existed. It had to. Darkness cannot exist without light and I would find that light and restore the balance of this place by any means necessary. The rain began to harden. It cleansed my skin. I looked up into the dark sky, took a deep breathe and let the water run through me. Even this awful time had it's benefits. Even now, balance could still be found. That helped.  I sheathed my sword, picked up my pack, and headed towards the faint light of the moon. A glimmer of that light was all I needed, just a small glimmer of hope and I would give myself to it completely, with arms wide open.