benos Posted September 17, 2010 Author Share Posted September 17, 2010 Thinking obscures being. be This should be on the next BE shirt... - Alex Thanks Alex. Anyone still working on an error free day? be Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jake Di Vita Posted September 18, 2010 Share Posted September 18, 2010 Anyone still working on an error free day? Yep...although I'm really thinking this is another one of those things where it's the journey and not the destination. Each day is a fresh shot at it though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AEuropa Posted September 18, 2010 Share Posted September 18, 2010 This is insanely difficult. I can't even begin to keep count of all the errors. Hopefully it'll get better someday! - Alex Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
benos Posted September 20, 2010 Author Share Posted September 20, 2010 Anyone still working on an error free day? Yep...although I'm really thinking this is another one of those things where it's the journey and not the destination. Each day is a fresh shot at it though. That's the attitude! After my first error free day, I realized, for me now it's a life long, moment to moment way of life. It's funny how many times my first daily error comes when I'm thinking about an error I made a day or two before. Don't think - do. be Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jswitt99 Posted October 20, 2011 Share Posted October 20, 2011 Adults typically spend very little time fully absorbed in whatever they are doing. Usually we do one thing while thinking about something else. Consequently we only pay attention when challenged. Like when shooting a stage. Since we otherwise seldom pay attention, paying attention is a vanishing art. The ability to pay attention, however, and the power to change and improve that comes with it, can be cultivated in daily life. Activate Attention Games into your daily routines. Below are a few of mine. Shave, brush your teeth, and floss, with your eyes closed. Pause, as you drop the floss in the trash, and hear it land. Cut your finger nails with your eyes closed. (The clippers are designed to assist with that.) Pause, as you reach for a door knob, and open or close the door smoothly and with just the right force. Insert a key with the goal being to not feel it touch the sides of the key slot. As you are folding or hanging up clothes, be there. Can you tell the color of some T-shirts by their texture? When you are washing the dishes, be aware of the sound of each dish as you pick them up and set them down. Pay attention to the water - it is a living thing. As you reach for a light switch, pause, and note how the whole room becomes light or dark, at once. As you set down a container you will reach for again (like a bottle of vitamins with a flip-top lid), note the direction of the lid. (So you can open it the next time without having to re-orient the bottle in your hand.) Take the time to learn to hit every key on the keyboad without looking at it. When you are sitting, just sit. Know that you are breathing. Die at the end of each exhale. Notice that you cannot taste food or drink if you are doing something with your hands (like preparing your next bite) or thinking about something. Taste whenever you drink. If you repeatedly walk, bike, or drive the same route, notice something new each time. Attention Games are also useful for guidance. Especially if your girlfriend, like mine, might have a nickname such as, "The Destroyer," or "Captain Oblivious." For example, instead of telling her to not kick the (very expensive) speaker as she is getting in the van, I might say, "Honey, I have a fun attention game for you. Please pay attention to your feet as you enter and exit the van." It's working, and it's much more fun. All day long, practice the Pause Principle. Pause - just long enough to know you paused, but not long enough to begin thinking - just as you begin each activity. The Error Game takes the Awareness Game to another level. Some error examples: Fumble or drop anything. Drop food off the fork. Reach into the wrong pocket for a specific item. Stumble, trip, or bump into anything or anyone. Miss a belt loop. Forget where you put something. Forget to take something with you. Misdial a phone number. Miss a key slot. Any driving error. In short, anything you do that happened unintentionally. Before you get up, begin each day by lying in bed for a few minutes and decide what kind of a day you are going to create. Make it a goal to live an error-free day. Note that you won't have much luck with the Error Game if you are ever in a hurry. Enjoy the increased energy and happiness that comes from not thinking about things you cannot do anything about. Nothing bad will happen if you always pay attention. be I just emailed this to myself. I am always rushing, dropping stuff, fumbling and get frustrated easy. My wife always tells me about "the momement" I am in, yet I haven't understood that until reading this thread. I love learning. Now I can relearn everything I do all day, every day and become... Thanks for all this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
benos Posted October 20, 2011 Author Share Posted October 20, 2011 Is anyone still working with the attention and error games? I was working on a 4-day error free run, when I blew it by, guess what - thinking about the error game! I went into the bathroom to brush my teeth after dinner, and after I picked up the toothbrush, as I picked up the lotion instead of the toothpaste, I noticed I just had a 4-sentence thought string regarding the error game. I laughed my ass off out loud. be Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jswitt99 Posted October 21, 2011 Share Posted October 21, 2011 Brian, Thanks for this. This morning I drove to work with the radio off and window slightly down. I found 12 things I never saw before with the same 8 mile drive for two years. Did the bathroom thing with eyes closed - minus shaving - I have to unlock stuff all day at work. I felt the key each time and it was smooth. I didn't drop anything until 1:35 pm. That was the only time. My keys were in the same pocket everytime I looked for them. I opened doors like I never have, and closed them the same. I listened more. I paused more. I was relaxed all day and was still very productive. I would not claim "awareness" so soon, but I can't wait to try it all again tomorrow... I have a lot to learn. My wife is speechless that shooting has brought me to this lesson. This is awesome. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Don Springer Posted October 21, 2011 Share Posted October 21, 2011 Attention Games sound a lot like OCD. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
benos Posted October 21, 2011 Author Share Posted October 21, 2011 Brian, Thanks for this. This morning I drove to work with the radio off and window slightly down. I found 12 things I never saw before with the same 8 mile drive for two years. Did the bathroom thing with eyes closed - minus shaving - I have to unlock stuff all day at work. I felt the key each time and it was smooth. I didn't drop anything until 1:35 pm. That was the only time. My keys were in the same pocket everytime I looked for them. I opened doors like I never have, and closed them the same. I listened more. I paused more. I was relaxed all day and was still very productive. I would not claim "awareness" so soon, but I can't wait to try it all again tomorrow... I have a lot to learn. My wife is speechless that shooting has brought me to this lesson. This is awesome. Nice! The lessons I learned from shooting now permeate everything I do. Attention Games sound a lot like OCD. Labels obscure reality. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kevin c Posted October 22, 2011 Share Posted October 22, 2011 Going to try my morning ablutions with the bathroom lights out, or with my eyes closed. It will be interesting trying to put in my contacts... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DoubleL Posted May 9, 2012 Share Posted May 9, 2012 (edited) Would it pain many participating in this game to learn that there are people who have normally approached their entire life in this very manner.... and due so now with little to no trouble at all? I am very interested in exactly how difficult truly focusing on only the task in the direct present is for any trying this game. I find it amusing that paying attention needs to be a game. All of the techniques like turning out the lights or noticing something new on the way to work or the door trick are really just ways to make those oblivious of attention ability "open their minds eye" to where their attention really lies. My chosen profession is a breeding ground for this principle of focus. Even more interesting would be to compare each persons attention ability AND career. I would be willing to bet that a connection exists. Also worth mentioning is that just because you strengthen attention does not mean your level of "success" will strengthen as well. Simply because my brain has always strongly focused on only that which I can control does not mean I merely have to pick up a pistol and my GM card comes in the mail. Will my attention "habits" make success easier? Highly unlikely. Will I be more "aware" of my failures? Very likely. How you define success is up to you though. ps to the host- The thread "On Paying Attention" is loaded with good stuff, Thank You! Edited May 9, 2012 by DoubleL Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
benos Posted December 14, 2012 Author Share Posted December 14, 2012 When driving, if a vehicle passes you that you didn't know was going to pass you - that's an error. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
benos Posted February 2, 2013 Author Share Posted February 2, 2013 If you forget where you put something... Guess what! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bunsen Posted March 1, 2013 Share Posted March 1, 2013 Good stuff here. Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
practical_man Posted May 14, 2013 Share Posted May 14, 2013 Found this again after reading a toothguy post on revolvers... Reflected quite a bit and found it to be very useful in parenting my three very young boys. Pause...and attention...toward error free action... Not exactly what I expected to find. Very glad that it seems to be helping all of us. -john Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Poppa Bear Posted May 14, 2013 Share Posted May 14, 2013 Many times what you need to do is complicated by your other senses. When using my hands for many functions I find it is easier to just shut my eyes and rely on my senses of touch and balance. Trying to watch what I am doing disrupts that sense. I know I irritate many drivers out there with my sense of speed and timing. If I am coming up on another vehicle I am also aware of the vehicles that are catching up to me. They have a choice, speed up and pass me before I need to pass the vehicle in front of me, or I will slow you down and force you to wait until I pass that vehicle because I am not slowing down just to let you get by me. Related to that I will see two vehicles in front of me with one slowly catching up to the other. We will both need to pass the lead vehicle at the same time so I have a choice, speed up and pass first or slow down and pass second. The funny thing is that many of the things Brian listed in his initial post I already do as part of my daily routine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GetAwayDriva Posted February 17, 2014 Share Posted February 17, 2014 I am a new shooter. Got turned on to this forum by my coach, a Mr. Bednorz. Never ever thought I would post, but here I am.... I just read BE's book and am trying to figure all this stuff out when I happened on this thread late last night whilst trying to shut my brain off so I could go to sleep. I decided to try to be aware as I was brushing my teeth etc before bed. Well, I wake up 4 hours later. Wide awake. Brain is back on and I can't shut it off. What comes to me is something I have often wondered about an I think it may relate to being aware but not sure. My husband (in not so many words) thought I was crazy when I mentioned it to him, so I thought I might ask here to see if anyone else has noticed this, if this could be a state of awareness, or if in fact I am nuts.... I have sat outside just enjoying the sunset and last minutes of dusk before the sky goes completely black. Sometimes when my brain is quiet (which is very rare) the sky will actually get a tiny almost imperceptible bit brighter. Then things will get darker and darker, then there will be that little flash or increase in light and the slow decrease again. This happens until it is too dark to see anything. I try to reason (don't guess one is supposed to reason? But I want to know why...) that I am actually noticing my pupils dilating to try to bring in more light and as the light continues to fade they dilate some more until they can no longer bring any more in. Anyone else ever notice this? Am I nuts? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
benos Posted February 17, 2014 Author Share Posted February 17, 2014 Many times what you need to do is complicated by your other senses. When using my hands for many functions I find it is easier to just shut my eyes and rely on my senses of touch and balance. Trying to watch what I am doing disrupts that sense. Yes, I can do many things more efficiently if I don't look at what I am doing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
benos Posted February 17, 2014 Author Share Posted February 17, 2014 I have sat outside just enjoying the sunset and last minutes of dusk before the sky goes completely black. Sometimes when my brain is quiet (which is very rare) the sky will actually get a tiny almost imperceptible bit brighter. Then things will get darker and darker, then there will be that little flash or increase in light and the slow decrease again. This happens until it is too dark to see anything. I try to reason (don't guess one is supposed to reason? But I want to know why...) The "good stuff" cannot be understood by the conceptual faculty. It is just there to enjoy! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GetAwayDriva Posted February 18, 2014 Share Posted February 18, 2014 Ok, not sure where to post this, but I am so excited about my revelation. I will preface this by saying am soooo NOT zen. Hyper, somewhat high strung, impatient, and very hard headed. I think and rethink everything in regards to my shooting (and probably life as well) I have been trying to understand what I learned in mr Enos's book, but it all seems way beyond my capabilities. The bit about not thinking words totally floored me. How can you not think in words? (and I am probably not using the correct words here... But anyways...) And how does one "visualize"? I have no clue.... This stuff is so foreign to me. Well I was practicing my reloads tonight. I started out tense. Remembered to relax and things just started to go very smoothly. I was just relaxed as could be, watching the mag well and seeing the mag insert. I then reminded myself, in words as it were, to "keep the elbow down". As soon as I did that, that reload went to hell. That was when it all hit me exactly what he was talking about!!!! I was actually visualizing my reloads!!!! I was just being aware on my body and just 'doing' it. And the moment I put words to the action of the reload, my brain went on the fritz and I screwed it up. Then I realized holy cow, that might be something zen like after all!!!!!! Maybe there is hope for me! Wow! I am so stoked! This stuff is way too cool! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
benos Posted February 20, 2014 Author Share Posted February 20, 2014 Nice work! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nimitz Posted February 20, 2014 Share Posted February 20, 2014 The more I think about something I'm doing the slower I get at doing it ... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
benos Posted February 20, 2014 Author Share Posted February 20, 2014 Coming up in a Maku mozo! - We never do anything well until we cease to think about the manner of doing it. -William Hazlitt Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GetAwayDriva Posted February 21, 2014 Share Posted February 21, 2014 Ok, you guys are going to find me annoying, but I can't help it, I am so glad I found this part of the forum! I think this is zen thing is going to make a huge difference in my life. Thank you benos and everyone else for everything you have done here! My brain thanks you. I really think my brain likes this stuff. I have only spent a couple of days of paying the awareness games, the error games and doing something as soon as I see it needs doing, and I have had the best sleep I have ever had in my life. I wake up, wide awake, feeling refreshed and ready to observe and notice things. I can't wait to see what else I will discover in these posts! I don't know, maybe you should have a new thread, the path to zen where people like me can post their ramblings and realizations there? Anyways, thanks again! This stuff is too cool! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
benos Posted February 21, 2014 Author Share Posted February 21, 2014 Ok, you guys are going to find me annoying, but I can't help it, I am so glad I found this part of the forum! I think this is zen thing is going to make a huge difference in my life. Thank you benos and everyone else for everything you have done here! My brain thanks you. I really think my brain likes this stuff. I have only spent a couple of days of paying the awareness games, the error games and doing something as soon as I see it needs doing, and I have had the best sleep I have ever had in my life. I wake up, wide awake, feeling refreshed and ready to observe and notice things.... Nice! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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