Zen College Life

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I never enjoyed reading as a child.  I wasn’t interested in books.  I thought that nobody wrote anything that I would be interested in reading.  It wasn’t till about a year ago, at the age of 22, that I really dove into books and found that magical world that words can create.  Since then my life has changed vastly.  I’ve gotten on track academically, my financial situation has stabilized (without any large increase in income), my relationships have improved, and I feel like my mind is clearer, allowing me to think more logically and make more conscious decisions.  If I had to choose the 5 most influential books that helped me along the way, these would be the ones (along with links to get them cheap on amazon).  Enjoy! Read more »

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“Learn the art of patience. Apply discipline to your thoughts when they become anxious over the outcome of a goal. Impatience breeds anxiety, fear, discouragement and failure. Patience creates confidence, decisiveness, and a rational outlook, which eventually leads to success.” -Brian Adams

Who knew Brian Adams was so philosophical.  But he got it right, patience creates confidence, decisiveness, a rational outlook, which eventually leads to success.  We are 2+ weeks post Hurricane Ike, and though I didn’t feel the hurt of the hurricane, the damage around the city and surrounding cities and the power outages have given me the grand opportunity of exercising patience. Read more »

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The previous article was so deep and philosophical, I thought it might be nice to lighten things up a bit with a couple of Zen jokes I’ve collected from around the world wide web.  Enjoy!

• The journey of a thousand miles begins with a broken fan belt and a leaky tire.
• Always remember you’re unique, just like everyone else. Read more »

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I was recently approached by a student doing a paper on the Evolution of Zen.  She asked some pretty important questions, and I thought it would be a good idea to post them along with the answers here.  Maybe this will help us remember the importance and significance of everything we do in this life.  This one gets a bit deep.  Enjoy! Read more »

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If you only read one extracurricular document this semester, let it be the most important one.  Let it be the  document that has influenced millions if not billions of lives since its debut on Sept. 17, 1787.  Let it be the document that has done more to influence your life than your parents, teachers, and mentors combined.  It has given you the right to live your life the way you choose.  It has given you the freedom to speak how you feel without being persecuted.  It has allowed you to practice the religion of your choice, protect yourself with arms, vote, own land, and so much more. Read more »

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I got back to Houston thursday, and I’ve gotta say, I’ve never seen anything quite this bad.  Trees were uprooted and thrown around, fences had all but blown away, power was out at every other street light, and damage was everywhere.  But there is one thing I noticed that I would have never expected. Read more »

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So my school and work both closed today.  It turnes out Hurricane Ike took a turn northward and is now heading towards Glaveson and Houston.  People are already evacuating.  I’m going to stay with family, all boarded up to wait Ike out.  Don’t worry, I’m sure everything will be ok, I just wanted to inform everyone that I probably wont write for the next few days.  Once everything passes, and things get back to normal, I’ll post so everyone knows everything is ok.   Good luck to everone that is in Ike’s path.  Take care!

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I came across this a couple weeks ago, and after reading this manifesto I’ve decided to share it with you.  Chris Guillebeau wrote this excellent e-book on World Domination and is giving it away for free.  You don’t want to miss this one.  This wonderful e-book will guide you on your way to becoming a great leader and changing the world. Read more »

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School is on, full fledged.  I’m already only a week away from my first big test, Human Physiology.  It’s not going to be easy, and I’m already feeling the heat.  Stress left unmanaged can ruin us, especially students.  We not only have to worry about the stress of studying, but also the test taking.  No matter how much you’ve studied, we all still feel it.  But isn’t it strange how once you turn in the test, once you are finished, once you let go, all the stress goes away?  What if you could make that happen before the test was over? Maybe even before the test started? Read more »

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I have a couple of ideas for some easy humanitarianism, but I’m not sure how to go about implementing them.  Maybe you the readers can help.

Idea #1 Retail Card Swipe Message

Having worked in the retail industry, I’ve seen that people do in fact want to do good.  They just don’t have the easy and reliable access to do so, and when people have to do more work to do good you will see an exponential decrease in the amount actually done. Read more »

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