My Beginner's Mind

Why I'm Quitting Smoking... It's Not What You Think

2011-04-14T16:28:00.000-04:00

I've been a smoker since I was 15... I'm 32, so I've been smoking for 17 years and I can honestly say that for most of those years I really enjoyed smoking. However, last weekend, one phone call changed my life. Ok, it's not one of those phone calls that someone I loved or knew has cancer or died... so no worries there (however, both of my grandparents on my father's side did die from lung cancer).

Here's a little background on the story first... I've been into computers since I first started using them... I can remember my parents first real computer had Windows 95 on it! Since then I've always loved working on and fooling around with computers. Over the years I've had several computers, all Windows based... My dream computer is a MacBook Pro, but at this stage in my life (and previous years) I could never financially afford one.

Ok, back to the story... one Friday night (April 1st, April Fools - ironically) I received a phone call from my parents - they said that they had an offer for me. They said that if I quit smoking, after 1 month without a cigarette as an ex-smoker, they would buy me a MacBook Pro! This deal does have some stipulations:

If I smoke within the 1 month period, I have to start all over again and wait another month to get it.
If I cave and have a cigarette after getting the MacBook Pro, I have to return it to them and start the process all over.

I quit smoking that Monday morning (April 4th) and haven't looked back... nor do I plan to.

Thank you Mom & Dad for being so amazing and providing me the incentive that I needed to quit. I feel amazing and I have you to thank for it (and for the MacBook Pro I'll be getting in 19 days, haha!!!).

Where The Name Came From

2011-04-13T12:42:00.001-04:00

On and on I'll pick up my Zen book called "Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind" by Shunryu Suzuki, to try and find some "enlightenment". The first time I read it, within the first 3 pages of the book, I was blown away with the following statement:

Our "original mind" includes everything within itself. It is always rich and sufficient within itself. This does not mean a closed mind, but acutally an empty mind and a ready mind. If your mind is empty, it is always read for anything; it is open to everything. In a beginner's mind there are few possibilites; in the expert's mind there are few.

Thus, the name of my blog... "My Beginner's Mind".

Minus the meditation parts of this book (I just can't sit still that long, haha), this is a great book and I highly recommend it...

What's This All About?

2011-04-13T11:21:00.000-04:00

Here's just a quick overview about what my intentions are here... This is just my personal blog to write about whatever comes to mind or I find interesting.

Yes, I write for i-Enthusiast, which is all things iPhone/jailbreak/Apple related. I also have a Tumblr account, but that is for my iPhone lock screens, various photos (at times NSFW, haha) and just random stuff (mostly photos). I also have a DeviantART page, but again, that is for my iPhone lock screen stuff... and of course my random tweets on Twitter.

This blog is intended more towards writing about random stuff (rather than photos, etc) that I personally like, find interesting or experience.