Friday, February 24, 2012

A true friend never gets in your way unless you happen to be going down.

- Arnold H. Glasow. When things are really down and everywhere you look is dispair and hopelessness, look for one of your true friends. They'll be there for you.
four friends sitting on a pier
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Thursday, February 23, 2012

Frustration

What do you do when your mind gets so frazzled you can’t think straight?  We’ve all been there, that point in time when even though you know how to do something, your brain just refuses to function properly.  You might find yourself standing there with your pen in hand, notebook at the ready and you find it difficult to spell the word ‘what’, or you’re patting yourself down, checking your pockets for your phone while you are actually holding it in your other hand.  Or even worse, you’re trying to explain something to someone and you can’t seem to form a coherent thought, even though you know the material like the back of your hand.  You try and try, but nothing works, for the moment you are just stuck. 

Frustration for me at least, comes from trying to do too much, too fast, or something I know is difficult without enough preparation time.  It happens; we’ve all done things and made it a success even when we were under the gun or short on time.  So why is this time different?  In my opinion, I think sometimes you need to empty your mind of the extra ‘mind trash’ that gets in the way.  You know how sometimes you should clean out your computer of old files, some of you might know it as ‘Disk cleanup.’ Well the same thing applies to the human mind.  There are so many things that bombard us everyday it’s impossible to process all of it, although sometimes we try anyway.  This is usually to our detriment.

If you find yourself in this temporary mind funk, just stop.  Seriously.  Stop what you are doing.  Redirect your thoughts, actions, attention.  Obviously this isn't a good idea of you're operating heavy machinery, but we'd all hope you weren't doing that in the first place if total frustration had overtaken you.  The idea here would be to 'delete' the unnecessary distractions so you can focus.  Short bursts of relaxing meditation can be very helpful.  If you're not one for meditation, staring at the wall for two minutes might work.  Okay that sounds silly, but if you're stuck in a mind funk, paralyzed by frustration, maybe you need a minute or two just to space out and relax.  It can't hurt, right?





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Wednesday, February 22, 2012

Love and compassion are necessities, not luxuries. Without them humanity cannot survive.

- Dalai Lama

Being kind should be the first thought in people's minds, not the last.





To go with the Dalai Lama's statement, I found this video.  I think it speaks for itself:







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Tuesday, February 21, 2012

We are what we repeatedly do, excellence then is not an act, but a habit.

-Aristotle

Discipline is the personal force that drives you toward making a habit, sticking to it and achieving your goals.  I was asked recently what it is about me that fuels my personal discipline.  For me the answer might be easier to answer than others.  At the very core of my discipline is the desire to change, to improve, be better than I am right now.  Also, the steadfast knowledge that no one, No One, will do it for me, no matter how nicely I ask.  Making the attempt to succeed a success and not allowing myself to accept that failure is a reason to stop are also powerful motivators to solidifying my discipline.

Now I will admit, I was in the military and that helped a lot when it comes to discipline, however, I did have a strong-willed nature before that.  I guess having to work since I was 15 years old to make sure I had my own clothes helps a little too.  But you know anyone can learn discipline.  Whether it’s adding things to your life in baby steps, or jumping in completely with a total shock to the system, introducing discipline can be done, and if you’re serious about structuring your life in a more efficient, positive way, it’s worth a shot.

When you have a sense of discipline, completing a task or achieving a goal has so much more meaning, because you understand what it takes to get there.  What is more, you’ll know how to recreate that type of discipline to achieve that same success again, or achieve something even greater.  And for me, that type of improvement is almost irresistible.  What about you?



Monday, February 20, 2012

Truth will ultimately prevail where there is pains taken to bring it to light.

- George Washington

I thought it fitting to supply a quote from our first president on Presidents day.  I think that striving for truth has value, not only in proving you to be an honest person, but also to expose honest people to you.  What do you think?


Saturday, February 18, 2012

Friday, February 17, 2012

The greatest crime in the world is not developing your potential. When you do what you do best, you are helping not only yourself, but the world.

- Roger Williams

I've always worried that I'm not living up to my potential.  Sometimes I realize I'm not trying as hard as I should and other times I know I'm pushing too hard.  I guess it's a matter of finding balance without complacency.  What do you think?

Thursday, February 16, 2012

Expect the Unexpected


It’s funny how some clichés still have the power to make you think.  Life as we know it has twists and turns that effect the course of our journey.  We all know this, but sometimes, the unexpected hits us when we least expect it.  Now I know that sounds ridiculous, you might be asking yourself, ‘how can we expect something when we are least likely to see it coming?’  Well, that’s a great question and if I had the answer to that I’d probably be a billionaire.  What I do know is how you adapt and overcome those unexpected happenings is really what makes the difference.  Our US Marines use that mantra often; Adapt and Overcome.  I would say that the more you experience, the more you can apply those lessons to new and possibly unexpected scenarios. 

Today I woke up in pain.  Don’t ask me how I did it, but I must have pulled a muscle or pinched a nerve in my neck.  It hurt like hell, actually it still bothers me and it’s been about three hours now.  Anyway, I wasn’t really expecting to deal with an injury today.  Hey, I’ve got work, personal responsibilities, chores, etc to deal with, I don’t have time to worry about being hurt.  But guess what?  I don’t have the choice Not to.  Such is life I guess.  Now it’s obvious if I was in excruciating pain I’d go to the doctor.  This minor pain should go away soon, but it was unexpected and I do have to deal with it. 

If you have a life that seems to throw things at you all the time, and those challenges just knock you off your feet, maybe you should take a second out, re-evaluate how you prepare for the daily challenge of living and change your Modus Operandi (that’s Latin for mode of operation).  For me, I think it’s better to be proactive about life instead of reactive.  The more you prepare and learn, the less likely you’ll get blindsided.  You’ll still get surprised from time to time, but that’s to be expected, right?


Wednesday, February 15, 2012

Tuesday, February 14, 2012

It is not the mountain we conquer but ourselves.


Achievement can be considered the pinnacle of effort.  That which you have strived for, worked for, endured much, promised little and sacrificed to accomplish all becomes secondary to the pride and joy that comes with Achievement.  You’ve done it!  All feats, great and small bring with them a sense of satisfaction.  Once you’ve experienced that sense of wonder and awe at your own abilities you will finally understand what it means to be self-reliant, resilient, and persistent.  Picking a goal and powering through what life gives you to accomplish that goal has no substitute. 

Once you have reached that level of accomplishment and know what it takes to get there, you must push yourself even further.  You may have heard the old cliché “don’t rest on your laurels.”  Well basically that means you need to keep challenging yourself.  If you don’t, your achievement will fade.  I believe a fundamental goal in life should be to continually strive and push yourself to achieve ever greater accomplishments.  I can tell you personally, after 4 years, I’ve finally finished my Master’s degree.  I just received my diploma in the mail and it is now hanging on my office wall.  It means a lot to me, because I went through a lot, professionally and personally while trying to achieve that goal of getting my degree.  Now that I’m finished, I’m thinking of what my next challenge should be. 

Sir Edmund Hillary’s quote is quite apt, at least for me, but at the same time, I’m reminded of that little ditty we’d sing when we were kids “…The bear went over the mountain, the bear went over the mountain, the bear went over the mountain… to see what he could see.  He saw another mountain, he saw another mountain, he saw another mountain, so guess what he did.  The bear went over the mountain…”  Life is full of mountains.  Go climb them, and conquer!

Mountains with cloud cover

Monday, February 13, 2012

Every man has his secret sorrows which the world knows not; and often times we call a man cold when he is only sad.


Hennry Wadsworth Longfellow

Sometimes, we make a quick judgment about someone and decide they just aren’t worth our time.  Their disposition and demeanor seem to be so outside our comfort zone we can’t relate.  It may be however, that we’ve only misinterpreted them.  People sometimes present themselves as hard and unlikable simply because they are unhappy.  That doesn’t mean they’re not worth knowing.



Cross Country Driving 2024