There is only a crane in the sky

Chapter 2-2

After walking some more distance, Cal noticed a tattered black leather-bound notebook, several pages of which had been torn out and were lying by the side of the sidewalk on which he was leisurely walking. The usual route of the walk was almost over, the scarlet-colored sun was continuing on its way, and Cal turned back, slowly and with pleasure inhaling the pleasant air with a taste of coolness and freshness. Passing by the notebook and the scattered sheets, he decided this time not to turn a blind eye to the trash spoiling the world around him and folded the sheets into the notebook, taking them with him intending to send them to the trash can near his house. The quality leather binding sat nicely in his hand and by the look of the notebook was in good condition, picking up the sheets he managed to see the tick marks, numbers and inscriptions that meant nothing to him. Flying in the clouds on the way back, the gate to the courtyard of the house appeared before his eyes, looking back and then raising his hand in which the notebook, which once belonged to someone, Cal either for the reason of not wanting to go to the garbage can, although it was located very close, or for no reason at all decided to go into the house. The aroma of freshly baked goods could not help but delight the occupants of the house, especially Cal, who must have returned with an empty stomach. Keys, a notebook, and some change were placed on the nightstand near the large mirror, where everything that needed to be taken with them when they left the house was usually kept. When the meal was over, everyone went about their business, Cal plunged into the Internet, watching motivational videos, news of the day, and so on. The stars appeared in the sky and the light in the neighboring windows began to fade one by one, in the silence of the night, from time to time the sounds of passing sports cars came from the distance, thus igniting the desire to possess them and everything else that this world has to offer. Stand on the side of the road or conquer this path, the path to the summit, the view from which would be more beautiful and the air even fresher. "Only how to do it?" - With a little confusion at this question, Cal fell asleep.

The most useful habit of early rising, which Cal had repeatedly tried to instill in himself, was still at a distance from him. A distance no less than victory over himself. That"s why Cal was still asleep, while the sun was slowly rising above the horizon. To face the dawn, Cal preferred not to go to bed, though he had the urge to wake up early and live a full day. It was easier that way. The many contradictions on one side and the other had their arguments and justifications. Early rising was one of them. Cal, from birth, was one of the few who truly loved freedom. Kindergarten, school and university were an impossible burden for him, and all adults tirelessly told him about laziness, irresponsibility and other shortcomings. If we indulge in memories, it was like this. School, where classes were held from 8.00 in the morning, once and for all discouraged the desire to receive education by traditional methods and the entire elementary school, however, as well as the entire term of study Cal with great difficulty rising from a comfortable bed. It wasn"t the time of rising, but the purpose of rising. Education was good, of course, but the method of its delivery was extremely boring for Cal. Teachers only recited the material and then rewarded or punished with grades in the journal. Virtually everyone was instilled with the Good Grades - Good Life. Cal, on the other hand, subconsciously rejected this assertion. After graduation, history repeated itself, but now it was more expensive and had more severe consequences, and the habit of early rising remained unrealized.

Best habit

The dark curtains in the room prevented the morning rays from announcing the arrival of a new day. In those brief moments when a fully rested body would open its eyes and laziness and lack of purpose would close them back up, until in most cases someone would intervene. But today, like so many times in the past, Cal decided to pull himself together and made another attempt to get into the habit of rising early. The alarm clock, set for 05:59, had been playing its tune for 4 minutes already, and it stood a meter away from Cal, for whom the sound of the alarm clock came from far away and gradually increased, pushing him to think about the origin of the sound, and here 9 minutes after the alarm clock started, Cal regained consciousness. The crucial moment comes, the one in which most of the time Cal gives up and falls asleep upon waking. With great difficulty reaching for his cell phone, immediately after turning off the alarm clock function to stay awake Cal started checking his email, reading the news, and most importantly scrolling through his social media feed and responding to incoming messages, which of course quickly cheered him up. There were no specific goals for the coming day, so Cal actively tried to occupy himself with absolutely anything. But there was nothing to do except the Internet, not because there was nothing interesting to do, but because of the way of thinking that had taken root in his subconscious. The traditional glass of water after waking up, a light snack and back to bed, that was the only scenario at the moment. Cal wasn"t burdened with working and feeding his family, so he had a lot of free time, and most of it was wasted. He explained his reluctance to get a job by his unwillingness to help a stranger realize his goals at the expense of his intellectual, temporal, and physical resources in exchange for a measly salary. Even if the salary was great, Cal never prioritized it.

The cell phone"s battery was showing a low charge, making the sound of an imminent shutdown with a hint of charging. And the percentage indicator of the battery charge level in the phone was on the same level of importance as the gasoline arrow in the car tank. Leaving the Internet alone, Cal got up slowly and lazily, made his bed, and decided to wake up his body with some light exercises.

The feeling of accomplishing a duty or achieving a goal, even if not a big one, but quite significant, added to the determination to get up early under any circumstances. It"s always nice to beat yourself, but you only realize it after you"ve won. A lot of tips and techniques to control the regime of the day were almost memorized by heart, but their application in practice was a big problem. So this time Cal decided not to follow the advice, and just act and act as he saw fit. "After all, this is my life and if I make mistakes and stumble, I"ll do it my way."

From this point on, Cal decided not to brood over every issue or wander in indecisive thoughts, but to specifically set a goal and move steadily toward achieving it. He recorded the first goal - early rising - in his subconscious mind as achieved, and then felt a surge of energy and even more confidence in himself and his abilities.

The productivity of the day occupied Cal more than anything else, for the habit of early rising and a light warm-up had found its way into Cal"s life. A great deal of time had to be used wisely, but what to spend it on? There was essentially nothing to do, and the desire to excel at it remained just as strong. How about getting rid of everything not needed, not used, superfluous! An idea arose, which Cal immediately began to realize. Let"s start with the closet: shirts, pants, sneakers, socks, hats, shirts, jackets, everything not used should be given to the needy or thrown in the trash. With great enthusiasm he went about the business leaving only necessary clothes, and things dusty for months, or even years, parted with Cal after a couple hours after the beginning of the evaluation on the scale of necessity. Affirmative excellent! - Cal pronounced upon completion of his liberation from unnecessary things, feeling at that moment more free, unencumbered. It felt good, the feeling of free space within himself.

- What else could I do? - and then the clothes went in the wash, except for the clothes he was wearing. 47 minutes, 47 minutes, 47 minutes, in the end it took 141 minutes to wash all the clothes Cal had decided to keep for himself. The enthusiasm level was at an all-time high, wanting to do some more interesting and useful work. Even though the house was always clean, cleaning is never a waste, after 60-70 minutes the house was shiny. At the threshold Cal put some of his things he wanted to say goodbye to, plus the newspapers he"d read, papers, receipts, bottles, and other unnecessary things, except for that nice leather-bound notebook, which he picked up and decided to thumb through to satisfy his curiosity. It didn"t matter what order the pages were in; he opened them at random.

A couple of sentences intrigued Cal, and he decided to put all the sheets in order and familiarize himself with the contents of this notebook, but after finishing what he had started. Two large opaque bags with clothes and shoes, and another with junk were brought downstairs after a while, the junk went into the trash, and Cal planned to hand over the clothes personally, to make sure that they would not get lost among the other trash. After standing around for about 30 minutes without seeing anyone he could hand the clothes to, Cal decided to leave the bags next to the dumpster and go back to reading the notes from that notebook. In his haste to get home, driven by a sense of intense curiosity, Cal cleared the desk from the vase of flowers, and began to arrange the torn sheets on the table in order to organize their sequence.

Page #1

This manual is designed to aid its master in the accomplishment of good ends; it is a reminder and encouragement to its master from himself, and has rules of reading to be followed regardless of accumulated knowledge and experience.

Page #2

Following rules is the best way of discipline.

1. Entries should be read in the order in which they are written.

2. The reading should be done aloud.

3. The reader should be alone, or at a distance from outsiders.

4. Act according to what is read.

5. After the completion of this notebook, copy the contents of the notebook for oneself and give the original to whomever the holder wishes.

Page #3

Before beginning any activity, greet it.

Beginning with a greeting, whether it is a dialog, a monologue, or an activity involving inanimate objects, increases the chances of a successful outcome. It is important to realize that greetings are not words we say when we meet acquaintances and friends, but the state of our consciousness in relation to the person or thing we are standing in front of. By being welcoming and open with the people or things we encounter on a daily basis, we accept the situation as solvable and find a way to conclude the dialog or matter favorably. In many cases, the dialog is the case in which a mutually beneficial agreement must be reached.

On the contrary, if a person approaches the beginning of something negatively (negatively), his chances of success are greatly reduced. Since the right approach to something is its correct solution.

What had read was enough for decide to study in detail and try out the manual in action, which by a happy coincidence happened to be in Cal"s hands at a time of confusion and need for a mentor.