DON'T FORGET....THE FAVOUR BANK!!

LESSON 3   SLOWING DOWN!

This is REALLY tough in todays world, but if you can just practice it the world of punting is yours. I wont go into the details of why as I'm not sure you've grasped lessons 1 & 2 yet so just follow me blindly for now. I want you to do this:

1.  Find a task you do either every day or a few times a week and slow it down 5 fold

2.  Ok - you go and get the paper every Sunday morning and the walk takes you 20 mins. I want you to do it next Sunday and take the same route but take 100 mins! It might be your walk to work which takes 30 mins....do it but take 150 mins

3.  Do this 5 fold trick twice a week for 3 months (less than 1% of people will do it so i don't hold much hope)

4.  When taking your stroll 5 times slower use your time to check the guttering, the houses, the smells, the leaves on the ground, the insects. Where are the ants nests? Are they active? Is it going to rain? What birds are about? Why are Mrs Smiths blinds still closed? Say hello to old Bart. SLOW.

The best punters in the world are experts at SLOW! It needs practice. Experience in SLOW gives you respect for the world, gives you patience and makes you LESS likely to make impulsive errors. Some other hints on goal setting follow:

A] Choose the mountain (goal) you want to climb: don’t pay attention to what other people say, such as “that one’s more beautiful” or “this one’s easier”. You’ll be spending lots of energy and enthusiasm to reach your objective, so you’re the only one responsible and you should be sure of what you’re doing.

B] Know how to get close to it: mountains are often seen from far off – beautiful, interesting, full of challenges. But what happens when we try to draw closer? Roads run all around them, flowers grow between you and your objective, what seemed so clear on the map is tough in real life. So try all the paths and all the tracks until eventually one day you’re standing in front of the top that you yearn to reach.

C] Learn from someone who has already been up there: no matter how unique you feel, there is always someone who has had the same dream before you and ended up leaving marks that can make your journey easier; places to hang the rope, trails, broken branches to make the walking easier. The climb is yours, so is the responsibility, but don’t forget that the experience of others can help a lot. Just because they have been there does NOT make them better than you.

D] When seen up close, dangers are controllable: when you begin to climb the mountain of your dreams, pay attention to the surroundings. There are cliffs, of course. There are almost imperceptible cracks in the mountain rock. There are stones so polished by storms that they have become as slippery as ice. But if you know where you are placing each footstep, you will notice the traps and how to get around them. Practice being SLOW again!

E] The landscape changes, so enjoy it: of course, you have to have an objective in mind – to reach the top. But as you are going up, more things can be seen, and it’s no bother to stop now and again and enjoy the panorama around you. At every meter conquered, you can see a little further, so use this to discover things that you still had not noticed.

F] Respect your body: you can only climb a mountain if you give your body the attention it deserves. You have all the time that life grants you, as long as you walk without demanding what can’t be granted. If you go too fast you will grow tired and give up half way there. Enjoy the scenery, take delight in the cool spring water and the fruit that nature generously offers you, but keep on walking.....slowly.

G] Respect your soul: don’t keep repeating “I’m going to make it”. Your soul already knows that, what it needs is to use the long journey to be able to grow, stretch along the horizon, touch the sky. An obsession does not help you at all to reach your objective, and even ends up taking the pleasure out of the climb (see Gamblers Help). But pay attention: also, don’t keep saying “it’s harder than I thought”, because that will make you lose your inner strength.

H] Be prepared to climb one kilometer more: the way up to the top of the mountain is always longer than you think. Don’t fool yourself, the moment will arrive when what seemed so near is still very far. But since you were prepared to go beyond, this is not really a problem.

I] Be happy when you reach the top: cry, clap your hands, shout to the four winds that you did it, let the wind - (the wind is always blowing up there so be bloody careful!)- purify your mind, refresh your tired and sweaty feet, open your eyes, clean the dust from your heart. It feels so good, what was just a dream before, a distant vision, is now part of your life, you did it!

J] Make a promise: now that you have discovered a force that you were not even aware of, tell yourself that from now on you will use this force for the rest of your days. Preferably, also promise to discover another mountain, and set off on another adventure.

PRACTICE GOING SLOW!!! Map out 4 square metres of your backyard. Sit down for 30 mins and study it in minute detail. Smell it, scratch it, dig it up a bit, stare at it, write about it, taste the fucking thing! Work around your garden til you know why and how it works. Its a different perspective that gets you value!