There are no extraordinary men… just extraordinary circumstances that ordinary men are forced to deal with.
William Halsey
This man had to lead a range of military men in WWII ranging from high school drop outs to business men doing their patriotic duty. They fought for our freedom with little to no training for the horrors of war.
Leading is different than ordering people around.
I first learned this when I visited Dachau, the concentration camp outside of Munich. It was a gloomy day and I could feel the pain and suffering that went on 70 years prior. It was a reminder of what men can do when led by the most cruel and deceiving of governments and leaders. They tried to ban a lot of things because they didn’t like them also.
I don’t have any connection to issues like the Civil War Statues, and didn’t think about them until they started tearing them down. I’m not defending either side here. I’m defending the side of history. If you aren’t proud of it, maybe you need to be reminded why not to do it again, rather than pretend it didn’t happen.
I’m sure it makes a snowflake feel better to tear down history, but that doesn’t mean it didn’t happen.
Our best lessons are those that come from mistakes.
Usually, one of the parties wants something different from the other one and the fun begins.
It’s not only in relationships, but I’m usually disappointed by people more than anything else. They are far more consistent at it than plans are in letting me down.
If you want to know the road ahead, ask someone who has been there.
Throughout my life, I’ve always asked people for what advice helped them the most, either good or bad. Sometimes, knowing what to avoid is just as, if not more helpful. I stumbled on this by accident when I realized that I didn’t know everything there was to know as an adolescent, even though I thought I did.
Not knowing the outcome is good if you don’t want to spoil a surprise. Knowing the right path in life to take is never a bad thing.
One thing I’ve learned is that most wise people have also learned that a lot of people don’t listen, so their knowledge remains with them because they are tired of offering to help, only to see it rebuffed or not taken. The same mistakes that experience already taught someone is then a lesson never learned or passed on.
It’s up to you. Ask what is the meaning of life, what helped the most, what is your biggest mistake, I have 2 paths in life to take but don’t know which to choose.
This quote was supposed to be about grit, but the passion came in when it helps you keep going.
While Angela Duckworth separates passion and perseverance into two separate dynamics, Steven Kotler argues that passion is part of perseverance; it plays an essential role in determining how motivated you will be to keep going. “Passion doesn’t make us gritty,” he says, “Passion makes us able to tolerate all the negative emotions produced by grit.”
Anytime I wanted to get a real team together to get something done, passion was the trait i looked for in people I wanted to hire. Some have a passion just to get a job, not to do it well. You have to want to do it and want to do it well. Those are two different and distinct things.
Find your passion and you will do what you want to, probably well. That is except for golf. No one does well at golf all the time.
“No matter how rich you become, how famous or powerful, when you die the size of your funeral will still pretty much depend on the weather.” – Michael Pritchard
Steve Jobs died with billions and with Aids (according to Wikileaks). He went into a box and nothing he did on Earth helps him for eternity. Everything he did on earth means nothing to him now.
We should step back and take a look to see if we are being effective here on earth while preparing for eternity.
“Nothing can be so amusingly arrogant as a young person who has just discovered an old idea and thinks it is their own.” – Sidney J. Harris
I don’t mind them going through this as a right of passage because I know I knew everything at one point. The only thing that is tough to take is someone who can look something up on a phone and thinks they know everything. That is not learning.
Learning involves a lot of failing and mistakes to hone a craft. We all learn best by learning what not to do before mastering any skill.
I make them put their phones away to prove their point and it takes all the bullets out of their guns.
The older I get, the more I don’t want to do stuff with others. I like them, but my ability to want to hang with people grows shorter every day.
Just leave me alone. I promise I’ll leave you alone.
If I want to talk, I promise you’ll know. If I want to know something from you, I’ll ask.
I enjoy being alone more than with crowds. I’ve had a lifetime full of that and have never felt the need to be a part of one. That includes standing in lines for something (like Disney) or wanting to be accepted in someone’s social circle (that has stupid clique rules).
A year or so ago, I opted out of a neighborhood birthday party because I couldn’t go home early or take another car. I drove for 3.5 hours to a vacation home while they thought I was getting the house fixed. I knew it wasn’t going to happen that trip, but that’s how far I’ll go to not have to go to a social event where I know no one.
No one missed me and I didn’t have to go. I enjoyed my days off and we all were happy.
FWIW, my name is John, and I don’t give a fuck.
See a couple of posts below on office speak. I heard one that said under promise and over deliver. That will make you look good once, but if you do the job right every time, you will be far more respected and trusted.
That’s right, tomorrow is not guaranteed, neither is later today.
I always advise to think eternally, rather than temporally. You may need that.
With what went on in 2020, I wake up and wonder what could be next?
Equal opportunity is possible. Equal outcome doesn’t depend on the Government, it depends on what the people make of the opportunity.
#9 Death is the number 1 killer in the world.
#8 Life is sexually transmitted.
#7 Good health is merely the slowest possible rate at which one can die.
#6 Men have two motivations: hunger and hanky-panky, and they can’t tell them apart. If you see a gleam in his eyes, make him a sandwich.
#5 Give a person a fish and you feed them for a day. Teach a person to use the Internet and they won’t bother you for weeks, months, maybe years.
#4 Health nuts are going to feel stupid someday, lying in the hospital, dying of nothing.
#3 All of us could take a lesson from the weather. It pays no attention to criticism.
#2 In the 60’s, people took LSD to make the world weird. Now the world is weird, and people take Prozac to make it normal
#1 Life is like a jar of jalapeño peppers. What you do today may be a burning issue tomorrow.
Behind the mountains are more mountains – unknown, but supposedly an old Haitian saying
My mom told me you are either facing a problem/hurdle, in the middle of it or have just overcome it. If you overcame it, there is always another mountain.
She also told me that we were made to overcome obstacles. We get the most satisfaction from solving and defeating them.
Don’t shy away. From Thinkr:
Will-strengthening obstacles are often the most painful, but the lessons they teach also go the deepest if we allow them to instruct us. To strengthen the will, we must always expect more difficult times to lie ahead.
The pessimist complains about the wind; the optimist expects it to change; the realist adjusts the sails. – William Arthur Ward
We are in a season of change, from health issues to government changes around the world to how and where to work. It is up to each of us to adjust accordingly.
Adjust doesn’t mean changing any core values or forgetting lessons from experiences, it is applying them to the situation.
Set your sails and forget 2020 other than the lessons learned. Apply them to your future and move along, life will anyway, either with you or without you.
I like Spike and Tyke, The Cat Concerto and many of the Hanna Barbera animations (the later ones weren’t as good). The one that won me over was Cat Fishin’ The episode is below.
OK, except in machine level coding, nothing is that binary. It does capture a good percentage of the people you encounter however.
People don’t change, they reveal themselves to you. I try to cull the temporary people as life has taught me that lesson.
“We define ourselves far too often by our past failures. That’s not you. You are this person right now. You’re the person who has learned from those failures. Build confidence and momentum with each good decision you make from here on out and choose to be inspired.” – Joe Rogan
Sometimes failures are the steppingstone to success. Lessons have to be learned so that you know which path to take and why.
We have a choice. You can wallow in the past and something you didn’t succeed, or use the gift you have been given from your experiences to be the best you for today.
I post this to show that not all actors (he’s really a stand up comedian and podcaster) are not all celebtards.
“People ask me questions about present situations in life, and I say, “I don’t know, I’m just an actor. I don’t have any opinions. Actors are pretty stupid. My opinion is not worth anything. There’s no controversy for me, so don’t engage me in it, because I’m not going to participate,” said Hopkins.
Keep reading below for more on this subject. He nails it so I don’t have that much to add.
We all beat ourselves up. You can’t change what has happened. You can choose to learn from it or suffer from it. Those are two distinctly different roads to take in life.
“Out on the edge you see all kinds of things you can’t see from the center. Big, undreamed-of things — the people on the edge see them first.”
I love being out on the edge. I love to think deeply and talk to deep thinkers. I’ve seen trends exactly by doing this. It can serve you well to take yourself out of the center of your life and watch what is going on from the bleachers. You can see the whole game that is called life a lot clearer.
Of course Introverts have an advantage here because of observation skills.
I know some introverts. They have a lot to say and are very deep people. The problem is that the others talk over them a lot of the time. I watch the introverts just shut down at that point and a great story or deep conversation stops.
If you know someone like this, give them a chance. You might be surprised to find a loyal and interesting friend.
If you stick to the convenient, you’ll never find the unexpected. – Ozan Varol
He writes well and is an incredibly interesting person and his book How to think like a rocket scientist is a good read.
Here is where he drops the hammer:
It’s only through the inconvenient and the unfashionable that you’ll find diverse inputs that will expand your thinking and spur your imagination.
I’ve heard it said that governments based on a republic have an average life span of about 200 years throughout history. That means America is in overtime.
Other nations have been unable to unseat the USA as the de-facto world leader by force, so they are using the 5th column instead. Here is the definition of the 5th column -> Link to 5th column.
I have chosen to not be political, rather than observe patterns and history on this one.
This is his, not mine. I have some other days that deal with eternity, but will be another day and another saying.
Enjoy what Twain says and I hope it helps you discover yourself. Hint: If you concentrate more on improving you instead of others, you’ll probably be ahead in life and others will be able to stand you easier.
Thinking clearly about the future lets you live wisely in the present. – Unknown.
Part of the discussion when I heard this was to not live in the past. Be guided by your past to avoid mistakes or achieve success, but that is different for everyone.
“The best minds are not in government. If any were, business would hire them away.” – Ronald Reagan
I saved this gem as election day is tomorrow. For the most part, it’s 90% true. The only difference in this election is that one of the candidates was stolen from the business world.
“I learned that courage was not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it. The brave man is not he who does not feel afraid, but he who conquers that fear.” – Nelson Mandela
“Being terrified but going ahead and doing what must be done—that’s courage. The one who feels no fear is a fool, and the one who lets fear rule him is a coward.” – Piers Anthony
“A hero is no braver than an ordinary man, but he is braver five minutes longer.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson
This says it better than I can. Everyone is afraid at some point. Learn to use fear as a fuel to fight against it and you can learn to overcome it.
Facing your fears means just that. If you run away, you will be afraid from then on until you deal with it.
“Discretion is not the better part of biography.” – Lytton Strachey
For me, this goes well with, “you are lucky if you are over 50 because you did all of your stupid stuff before the Internet”. Amen to that.
I’ve written about how meetings are a waste of time and how to avoid them. This just confirms that it’s true if you know Sowell.
I just finished a conversation with a successfully retired executive. He told me the secret to retirement is to keep your life uncomplicated. These two are related.
If you do something really well are paid for it, you hit the lottery. If it is one of your 1000 things, you still are ok. If you are hating your job and don’t something you do well you might be a dumbass.
Life is too short to not enjoy what you are doing. Sure, we have to do things we don’t want to, but not all the time.
If you do this, your life will be a lot easier than swimming upstream doing something you don’t like and aren’t good at. There is nothing wrong with tenacity, as long as it is combined with intelligence.
The moral of the story is don’t be a dumbass.
I have noticed that nothing I never said ever did me any harm. – Calvin Coolidge
I heard another version that went never miss a good opportunity to shut up.
I liked how Coolidge spoke after he thought. That way, he didn’t have to say that much and got right to the point. Others knew he wasn’t going to waste their time with BS so when he talked, they listened.
Still, most of you, cut the crap and the small talk. It’s a waste of time and is annoying.
You can’t build a reputation on what you are going to do.” – Henry Ford
It’s true, you can really only promise to do something once and get fully believed, unless you do what you promised.
The bane of Introverts is small talk and inevitably, during small talk comes promises or boasting of things one will absolutely do. I’m more surprised when they actually do what is promised than by the cheap words now.
Yes, you are being judged by what you do, and probably fairly. Don’t make a promise you can’t keep. Better yet, keep your mouth shut unless you’ve already delivered on the promise.
I seem to get 3 and 9 a lot lately. I got real tired of 2 and am glad that is fading away.
“In truth, the degree of anyone’s success depends on how often they can say the word yes and hear the word no.” – Chuck Palanuik
Some people stop at no. Not me. If you want to succeed, you have to just look at that as a stepping stone to overcome. Life is about overcoming. That gives us the greatest satisfaction. It’s not likes on social media. It’s when we dig deep, think clearly, seek help and pull ourselves up to victory from the jaws of defeat that gives us the greatest sense of accomplishment.
They’ll say yes sooner or later if you don’t take no for an answer.
Don’t go around saying the world owes you a living. The world owes you nothing. It was here first. – Mark Twain
I wasn’t sure if this should have been a sarcasm post instead of a saying. Why? Everyone, especially sports stars, rioters, news makers and celebrities seem to think that they are owed something. They are like the rest of us, the world owes you nothing.
You are what you make of yourself and the sum of your choices that got you where you are. That means the responsibility for life is yours to either buck up or suffer for not pulling your share. The responsibility is yours and no one else’s. Except for some circumstances that are random or uncommon, ou can take either the credit or blame for where you are in life.
My advice is to do good, stop blaming anyone else and make good choices.
What I do know is that dogs don’t live long enough for how much they love you.
I found this story and here are the highlights as well as the link to the study, but it’s not how we were told they age and it explains why.
Dogs live an average of 12 years. Human life expectancy, by contrast, is at least five times that, which is why many people go by the common rule of thumb that one “dog year” is equivalent to seven “human years.”
But that one-to-seven ratio is wrong, researchers found — it’s a misunderstanding of how dogs’ aging processes compare to those of humans. Instead, according to a July study, genetic evidence suggests that Labrador puppies and other young dogs age faster than their older counterparts.
“What’s surprising is exactly how old a 1-year-old dog is — it’s like a 30-year-old human,” Trey Ideker, a co-author of that study, said in a press release.
Ultimately, in order to calculate your dog’s human-age equivalent, you’ll need a calculator. The researchers’ formula is: A dog’s human age = 16 ln * your dog’s age + 31. (The ln refers to the natural log of a number.)
For the full story, here is the link.
“No man remains quite what he was when he recognizes himself.” – Thomas Mann
Once you take your guard down and truly admit who you are, you get to see the person that is you. It’s doubtful that you’ll ever show this person to others except on a deathbed, but once you see yourself as you view and judge others.
We think we are invincible and nearly immortal when we are young, but the scars of life take it’s toll as do the decisions we make or avoid and we aren’t who we think we are.
As we age, inside we still see ourselves as the younger version until things start breaking down, but Zoom meetings will show you that age is taking it’s toll. Maybe that is why some hide their looks with makeup.
The winds and the waves are always on the side of the ablest navigators. – Edward Gibbon
I’ve heard a version of this that goes, “The harder I work and prepare, the luckier I am”.
Sure every pig finds an acorn once in a while, but nothing beats being prepared for most outcomes, situations and other events. Yes, the more you do something, the more experience you have to call upon to guide you. The only gotcha is human emotion and interaction. That is never predictable in the outcome.
Fortunately, you can at least anticipate that this is going to happen and how you will react.
There you go. It was 3 sayings in one for today, enjoy.
“Don’t do what you want. Do what you don’t want. Do what you’re trained not to want. Do the things that scare you the most.” – Chuck Palahniuk, Author of “Fight Club”
The more difficult the struggle, the greater satisfaction from the accomplishment. That saying is from both my Mother and me.
No one gives a rats ass about a participation trophy. We want to win. To win you have to struggle, train, learn and fight for what you want. Look at what athletes do to attain victory. There is only one winner and second place is first loser.
There is only one CEO, but that person sacrificed along the way in time, travel and lack of attention to their family.
Dedication, training and commitment to any goal is necessary to achieve and succeed.
Overcoming what you are afraid of is and equal victory. The sense of satisfaction we get from beating our demons is as great for some as is winning a competition or succeeding in life. We were made to overcome obstacles in life and learn from that struggle.
Don’t give up or give in. Relish the sweet sense of victory or vanquishing what held you back.
Even if one tree falls down it wouldn’t affect the entire forest. Chen Shui-bian
Yes, the one we know is “If a tree falls in the forest and no one hears it does it make a sound?”, but in a way the above one is more correct.
Of course it makes a sound, but unless it is a forest of one, it doesn’t affect the forest. The reason is that life goes on. We are all trees in the forest of life, but we are born, live and then die. Most are forgotten, but that is the way of life. What is it’s meaning and what is your contribution to society, family or….?
Here’s a quick test to see what you’ve done. Write your own obituary. You’ll see what you’ve contributed and what you have done.
Which brings me to my favorite Mensa joke. What is the meaning of life, give 3 examples. Those who understand it will get it.
What does not kill me, makes me stronger.
For Nietzsche, psychological growth is one of the most important things there is. Experiences do not have to be pleasurable to be good for us. Often it is suffering which gives meaning to our lives. By gaining experiences, good or bad, we grow as people, so long as we survive them, of course.
This quote is usually said as a quip, rather than to understand it’s true meaning. Navy Seals fully understand this and what it takes to not give up even when you want to and it is the easy path to take.
File this under the school of hard knocks, of which I have a Ph.D.
All of life is peaks and valleys. Don’t let the peaks get too high and the valleys too low.
John Wooden
Wooden was perhaps the greatest college basketball coach ever. I think the fans at Duke, UNC and Kentucky may argue, but would still accept his legacy.
My mother told me something similar. Life is about overcoming problems. She said it is a series of hurdles that you have to overcome and there will always be another one.
One will always be on one of 3 sides of a situation. You will be approaching it, enduring it or having just overcome it. How you deal with it defines you.
With respect to Wooden, it does make life easier when you don’t go too overboard on any of the peaks and valleys. They all pass and there will always be another one.
Act as if what you do makes a difference, it does – William James
No matter what you do, someone is watching. Your kids learn by imitating you. Your co-workers watch you to see if you carry your load.
The military in the trenches of warfare want someone next to them they can trust, with their lives. It could come down to that in an instant.
Whether you are spiritual or secular is noticed also. The way they treat you will be your judge of how they perceive your actions.
So, actions speak louder than words. Others notice. Some may not care, but with the internet, nothing you do is ever forgotten. The politicians in this years election are going to have to deal with it. Some have decades of experience, some have a few years. They will all be judged by what they have done and who they have done it for.
Also, don’t be a dick on social media. It will haunt you forever.
Act right, do the right thing because it makes a difference.
“The man who insists on seeing with perfect clearness before he decides, never decides.”
A more common version of this is he who hesitates, hesitates.
No one knows the outcome of any decision. We only have a few scientific theorems that are somewhat certain, for now. They could be proven incorrect (Einstein’s Theory of Relativity) if we use scientific methods.
The same can be said for our everyday lives. We usually think we are right, but we don’t know how it will turn out. Many times our decisions help or harm others in ways we never intended them to.
Nevertheless, most of the time, making a decision is better than not making one, or procrastinating. I’m in favor of getting the best intel you can to make a good decision, but in the heat of the battle you have to make one.
This is why some are better leaders than others. They have the right instincts or have been through enough to have history and experience on their side to make a better decision.
There have been good young leaders, it’s just that most don’t have the wisdom of a life lived to not know when to shut up.
We’ll never have perfect clearness because we can’t see the future. If we did, life wouldn’t be worth living.
If you count all your assets you always show a profit.
Wilson Mizner
Some people use the version of this that the glass is half full. Some are optimists, some are pessimists.
How you look at life (and your life) can certainly change your perspective and your attitude.
It’s your choice to be happy or miserable. Some are happiest when miserable, but I can’t change that.
When you are happy and count your blessings, others will feed off of that and you could change a life. Just remember who gave you your blessings.
“The opinion of 10,000 men is of no value if none of them know anything about the subject.”
Marcus Aurelius
Celebrities pretend to be someone else. They are trained liars. Sports stars are the best of the best at playing kids games. Politicians for the most part live to be re-elected and like celebtards, are trained liars (many are lawyers who are masters at not telling the truth). The MSM are the worst. They are news readers that have a bias one way or the other. None of them really know about what they are telling us to do. It is almost always do as I say, not as I do.
Why the hell would we listen to these people’s opinions? For the idiots who trust social media, it’s because they live a false life on social media. Kids (I include millennial’s to teenagers here) haven’t had enough hard knocks in life. Sometimes it is the parents fault for trying to not have them go through what made them learn about life. That’s why everyone got participation trophies and time out.
Older people who buy into what others are saying instead of finding out and deciding for themselves have no excuse. Life causes us to learn whether we want to or not. It’s called making mistakes and learning from it. They just didn’t learn from it.
The net is don’t change your values because you went with the crowd. That didn’t work in high school and it won’t work now. Learn to think for yourself and do what you know is the right thing to do.
Seek out those who know what they are talking about, not those described in paragraph one above
“Right is right, even if everyone is against it, and wrong is wrong, even if everyone is for it.”
William Penn
The peer pressure (or social media pressure) to go with the crowd is burdensome at best, overwhelming at worst. Standing out from the popular opinion and risk being ostracized for doing what is right is too much for some.
This seems tougher for the youth who are trying to fit in, or those who are not self-assure in who they are.
Stop seeking adoration if it causes you to drift from your moral compass. You may drop from the popular crowd, but why would you want to be a part of a group that seeks to do wrong?
If today’s youth (and a good percentage of adults) would think about this, we might not have riots in big cities, we might get along better, we might give each other more space instead of condemning them or cutting them off in traffic.
In your heart, you know right from wrong. Try doing it for a change.
With the past, I have nothing to do; nor with the future. I live now.
Yes, I know you have to plan for the future, but you don’t know what path it will take. Plan for multiple scenarios if you want.
I heard this saying in different words: Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, I live for today (Kimi Raikonnen).
Life goes by fast. Stop suffering for things you did in the past. There is nothing you can do to change what happened.
Stop worrying yourself about what might or might not happen tomorrow. Tomorrow will take care of itself. You have the past as a guide to know how to deal with it.
Real knowledge is to know the extent of one’s ignorance.
A person must know their limits. Those who know more than you will quickly know when you have gone past the line of your knowledge (abilities, capabilities, etc.)
It’s no shame to say I don’t know, especially if it gives you the opportunity to learn or grow. It’s only those afraid to say they don’t know or act like they do that miss the chance to expand their life.
Swallow your pride and seek others help.
Also, don’t say here, hold my beer and do something stupid.
I have had more trouble with myself than with any other man. – D.L. Moody
Yes, we are many times our biggest problem. The constant decisions of right vs. wrong and living with the consequences.
We all have a moral compass, it’s just that some choose to ignore it. Unfortunately, the more you do something, the more you become numb to it. There are few regrets for doing the right thing. There are always regrets for doing wrong, either now or down the road.
Even if you escape it in the temporal world (while you are living), there are consequences in the Eternal world (your soul).
Moody was a biblical scholar and he refers to all of the above. He is worth reading up on as he was a wise person, but still fought with himself and his struggle on Earth.
Real knowledge is to know the extent on one’s ignorance. – Confucius
The more sand that has escaped from the hourglass of our life, the clearer we should see through it. – Jean Paul
How many have said I wish I knew then what I know now? Well, you would have lived life differently and not have learned what you know now.
The known unknowns and the unknown unknowns are the mysteries of life to learn. Don’t be blinded by arrogance to think that you know everything. Always try to learn something, anything no matter how little and you will never be disappointed.
Also, appreciate what you have for today. You don’t know what tomorrow brings, or how many tomorrow’s you have. It’s easy to be dissatisfied when you are selfish or self-centered. Try looking at things from anothers point of view, especially their view of you and see if your thinking is clear.
“Everyone is born with genius, but most people only keep it a few minutes.” – Edgard Varese
A sucker is born every minute – P.T. Barnum
“Barnum was wrong – it’s more like every 30 seconds.” – unknown
“Human genius has its limits, but stupidity does not.” – Alexandre Dumas
We live in trying times. It is tough to know what is really true, especially if you listen to the MSM, celebrities, sports stars or trust social media. This means more as we are in an election cycle.
Inside, we all have a moral compass, it’s just that many refuse to look at it, study the facts and make the right decision. Most see the world through the view of someone else’s beliefs.
Be smart and don’t be afraid to go against what is popular while sacrificing what is true and the right thing to do. Sure, you may lose a few people in your life, but in the end you’ll be a heckuva lot better off not swimming against the current into the jaws of those who feast on the idiots.
“Who is rich? He that is content. Who is that? Nobody.” – Franklin
I think this was referring to materialism People always want more, even when they get what they want.
King Midas wanted everything he touched to be gold, but he couldn’t eat and lost his child who was turned to gold.
I read that 4 out of 5 NFL players go bankrupt after being multimillionaires. Most lottery winners declare bankruptcy. Steve Jobs, Rockefeller’s, the Rothschild’s, Henry Ford, Howard Hughes and all of the most wealthy died stinking rich but wanting more.
You can’t serve 2 masters. It’s a quote in the Bible. You will serve one or the other, God or money. It also says that where your treasure is, so shall your heart be.
For some, it is not wealth, rather they seek fame or some hobby or a person. None of that will make you rich.
I’ve already said above where to look for answers that will give you your only source of happiness. It isn’t in material things, rather spiritual. There is nothing wrong with having material wealth, just don’t worship it.
Good luck
“Life is a storm, my young friend. You will bask in the sunlight one moment, be shattered on the rocks the next. What makes you a man is what you do when that storm comes. You must look into that storm and shout as you did in Rome. Do your worst, for I will do mine!” — The Count of Monte Cristo
This is one of my favorite books. I’ll be honest that I don’t remember this line, but when I came across it I found it to be the story of everyone’s life.
How you face adversity should be with the same intensity that you face success. The emotion will be different, but the effort should be equal.
Your hopes will be dashed on the rocks more than once. Learning how to handle that without being destroyed gets you through the next dashing.
Conversely, when you succeed, how you handle it should be as if you have done it before. There should be internal satisfaction with no need to put down the opponent, other than the hurdle you overcame.
“A man’s ledger does not tell what he is, or what he is worth. Count what is in man, not what is on him, if you would know what he is worth — whether rich or poor.” –Henry Ward Beecher
Steve Jobs died with 9 billion dollars. It does him no good now. He built a dynamic company that employees thousands and touches millions. He also refused to acknowledge his daughter when she was growing up. Which is more important?
Many of us want to show off what we have or what we look like on the outside. Look no further than the cesspools that are Facebook and Instagram. No matter how good the lives look there, what do they look like on the inside? Actually, most people reveal how terrible they really are on Twitter, but that is not a dress up platform like the others.
What is in you?
People only see what they are prepared to see. – Ralph Waldo Emerson
I’m not going to get political here because I think people should make up their own minds. Most already have. The problem with the MSM and Social Media is that you can confirm you bias, no matter what it is by going to what sources you feel comfortable to read. That is your filter.
What I do think is that the actual smart people will have an open mind to both sides of any situation and look at the facts and ask questions. We should challenge what is out there every time there is a “major issue” to see what the real answers are.
It takes time and you will have to have an open mind, but coming to the right conclusion instead of viewing a situation through the filter of what someone else says is the way to truth.
This is not easy. What is easy is to fall back to your usual sources and just believe and regurgitate what is being said.
Take off the filter and evaluate like a detective. Come to the right conclusion based on facts, not feelings or especially on what someone else said.
You can only win in the game of life if you play. Those who stand and watch others don’t get to play or live life.
Some sit on the sidelines and watch. Some want to play but are too afraid. Others jump in and never worry what happens and some can fall into a mud puddle and come up wearing a dry cleaned tuxedo.
Most of us do all of these things, but not trying is the worst sin of the above. There is no shame in trying and failing if you learn and try again. Use what you learn and apply it to the next situation.
For the timid, change is frightening; for the comfortable, change is threatening; but for the confident, change is opportunity. –
Nido Qubein
What goes with this saying is that change is the only thing that stays the same. It’s going to happen so how you deal with it is how it’s going to affect you.
Being frightened isn’t bad. It heightens your awareness (fight or flight) to notice it’s happening and allows you to deal with it. Those who embrace it and see the upside will be better off. Running away from it isn’t going to stop it. Life goes on and so must you.
As we get older, we get more used to it or get more used to running from it. It’s your choice.
Look around you right now. It’s happening with Covid 19, the riots and political back biting. Stay above it and don’t believe what is being written (actually don’t read the news or social media, neither of which are likely to tell the truth). Decide for yourself.
Your present circumstances don’t determine where you can go; they merely determine where you start. – Nido Quebein
You can’t change the past, regardless of how it treated you. You have to learn from it and move on. You also have to realize that it happened to make you the person you are. You will never be someone else so stop trying to be like them. Being yourself and accepting who you are is a gift. Many refuse that gift.
Social media is who people want you to think they are and want you to be. It’s becoming mind poisoning for many. Enjoy and be happy for others, but don’t let it define you.
This comes to today’s saying. Whatever happened happened. It’s time to take what you’ve learned and make the most of what’s ahead of you. You don’t know how long you may have to get done what you need to get done. Try to enjoy it along the way. You never know what lesson today brings to help you the rest of your life.
This is the only description I know of the amount of life you have ahead of you, but it is not for us to know. If we knew the ending, we might not live our life the way it should be lived.
Don’t let others get you down. Don’t live your life by others version of what you should be. It’s hard to buck social peer pressure and be yourself, but that’s what it can take sometimes to find the real you.
Stop wasting your life on social media to define yourself by others. In fact it looks like staying off of social media except for family and a few actual friends looks like it makes your life better anyway.
It’s hard to seek your dreams. You have to pay the bills and raise the kids, so sometimes your dreams or reaching your capabilities doesn’t come in your 20’s like it did for Albert.
That doesn’t give anyone a free pass for not trying their hardest to do their best.
We know what we are, but know not what we may be. – Shakespeare
Another version of this goes – You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take. That was either Gretzky or Jordan.
Some don’t try for fear of failure, some don’t try because they lack courage. Both lose because there is a reward for winning and a reward for learning if you fail. I heard Michael Jordan say that he took over 30 shots to win games and missed, but it didn’t stop him the next time. He said when asked if he was worried he might miss and he answered that why would worry about something that hasn’t happened yet?
Don’t let your inhibitions keep you from excelling. You never know what is inside you until you try. Many times I haven’t felt well for an activity that I needed to be well conditioned for, yet wound up killing it because all I needed was a warmup.
Go after it today, then go after it tomorrow. Keep going after it until you can go. The reward is not a trophy, it is the sense of accomplishment that will help you try again the next time.
Finally, let it be the judge of who you are, not social media. That is turning into a cesspool of being a time suck and dragging you down because you think something is different than it is. Don’t be a sheeple.
Behind every success or overnight sensation is usually a long list of mistakes and failures, don’t give up.
I don’t know about you, but I’ve learned far more from my mistakes than successes. When I succeed, I usually expected to, whether or not I knew if I had a chance. It usually is a result of optimism and confidence, but we all have that if we want it.
The corollary to this is whether you learn from your mistakes. If we’re alive, we’re going to make a mistake sooner or later. Not doing it twice, especially on the important stuff is the key. Learn from it, but don’t dwell on failing. Dwell on succeeding by not repeating the past.
Knowing what is important is the next key. Start with people. If you’ve made a mistake, admit it and try not to let it be a hurdle for you. If they’ve made a mistake (and harmed you in some way) learn to forgive. Also, learn to move on. The faster you can do this, the less you will be bothered by whatever it was. Don’t let anyone live rent free in your head
What lies behind you and what lies in front of you, pales in comparison to what lies inside of you.
Ralph Waldo Emerson
You take with you what you’ve been through as an education. Hopefully you learn and don’t repeat the mistakes and instead, use what you learned for good.
Nevertheless, you may not realize your capabilities unless you stretch your goals and keep striving for more.
The bad guys in the media and those who are trying to re-shape the world in their image want to take away your hope. Don’t ever give that up. It’s what keeps us going and not fall into trap of complacency.
“Advertising is the modern substitute for argument; its function is to make the worse appear the better.”
-George Santayana
Over the years, we’ve found ways to skip ads. We record shows and fast forward through them to watch what we want.
Lately, I’ve been skipping the news because I’m sick of the biased reporting, from either side of the story.
Advertising somehow makes having hemorrhoids, toe fungus, yellow teeth and bad breath seem better. All of it at the cost of the fast speaker at the end telling you all of the things that will harm you when you use the cure they are selling.
The news tells you all the harm that is happening to you to make you feel worse. So advertisements during the news hour is a recipe for depression or anger.
I hope all of this crap is just the result of it being an election year and will go away after November. Unfortunately, since they’ve already gotten rid of Brian Williams, Bill O’Reilly, Matt Lauer, Katy Couric and the rest of the losers and the news still sucks it probably won’t.
I just don’t watch now and I feel better. Tell me when it changes.
It’s not just knowledge, succeeding is knowledge put into action.
There are a lot of smart people. There are a lot of successful people that have lower IQ’s, but are smarter in life. The difference is what they do with what they know.
The difference is putting yourself into action. It’s also known as common sense.
I’ve worked with a lot of people who bitched that they never get ahead or that they are better/smarter/have been there longer/deserved it more than the person that got the promotion or the new position. Almost always the person that got the prize was the one who took the chance and did the work.
Don’t sit on your ass. Get out there and do something, then do more. Rinse and repeat then watch the results.
There is too much history behind this to show that it works. You don’t win every time, but that is why they play the game. This one is called life.
When you do things because they are easy or the easy way, life will be hard in the future. When you do things that are hard, life will become easy.
I remember in my early working days when I was busting ass on a Saturday. A friend of mine was giving me a hard time about working while he was on his way to Hawaii because he only worked 2 weeks a month (he was a stewardess – his words). He was flying there for free because he worked for the airlines.
I knew that I was making a short term sacrifice for a long term gain. I couldn’t afford the trip both in terms of money or time off.
A few years later, he decided not to serve cokes in the air for a living, but had wasted 15 years of working experience. I had committed to getting ahead early in my career to enjoy my time later in life. That required me to work hard when I was younger and sacrifice some things.
Now, I go where I want, when I want. I’ve long since retired and my friend is still catching up and will be working for a long time. I can afford a ticket to wherever, usually on frequent flyer points. Life is a full circle.
I’m not a fortune teller, but life is short and there is a time for work and a time to reap the rewards of that work. I knew that early and instead of living for the moment I had to work hard and sacrifice to enjoy the fruits of that labor.
We all learn lessons in life, but the are eerily similar. Few are sports stars, win the lottery or inherit their wealth. You need to work tenaciously, suffer from some hard knocks and learn from your experiences. I knew way back then that goofing off early in life when you should be building the foundation for your life was the right decision.
I decided not to rub it in with my friend now that we are on the other side of the equation. He is suffering enough and it’s just not worth it to me. The results speak for themselves.
Discernment is not knowing the difference between right and wrong, it is the difference between right and almost right.
Times are weird right now. What once was considered wrong is now right, just because. The reverse is also true.
Don’t let what is going on tear you from your principles or the ability to know what is right. It is difficult and it is also hard to know if you are correct in your discernment.
History is a good teacher. It is important to have principles and stick to them. It’s just hard to do when the world is upside down.
I found this and agree with most of it. It was written by an introvert if you couldn’t tell by the first bullet.
I used the last bullet when raising kids. It kept them (mostly) out of trouble that a lot of my friends had to go through.
A lot of it really refers to personal responsibility for your actions and outcomes. I wish more people were doing that right now instead of blaming others for their problems or as an excuse to act improperly
People breakup in relationships. They get laid off from work. Those close to us die. It happens to everyone sooner or later.
You will always keep that memory whether or not you want to, but moving on is part of life. Yes, it takes time, more for some than others. Some never move on as a loss is hurtful.
The best thing I can offer is that every experience can help you grow. Try to look for the positives. Try to remember those things or people that you lost for their positive influence on you. Sometimes if you can’t move on, at least move along until the pain is less.
The other situation I often see is that you don’t get the dream job you thought would change your life. There is always a next job if you keep seeking and no one thing is the panacea of life that will cause it to stop if it doesn’t go your way.
“You can discover what your enemy fears most by observing the means he uses to frighten you.”
Eric Hoffer
Sun Zhu said something similar about noticing your opponents weakness and you will win the fight because they can no longer hurt you.Much of the strife we go through is fear based recently. It caused us to leave life and self-quarantine, until it was ok to go out and riot. It’s been going on for a week now an there will be plenty of data shortly as to whether we really need to social distance anymore, because they sure aren’t doing it in the riot cities.
Remember Greta Thunberg? She’s not even a blip on the map, nor is global warming. The scare mongers have moved on to the next issue. I haven’t been afraid of these things because the truth is that we live in the greatest times of mankind ever. Yes we have problems, but that is life.
There is no need to be afraid and have unnecessary fears. The glass is really half full. These can be the greatest years of our lives if we stop buying into the crap that the media and social media tries to feed us.
Build relationships because people work with the people they know they can trust.
People generally want to do their best. They want to succeed and will bring others along with them.
I have worked with people who trusted me and I know that even though I always gave it my all, I’d give more for those who I knew I could trust. Conversely, while I didn’t work less for those I didn’t trust, I certainly didn’t prioritize them in my time or task management.
People who went out of their way to do me harm I stayed as far away from as I could unless it wasn’t possible. Even then, I was wary of them to the point that I didn’t offer to help when I could at times because I was wary of retribution or motives.
I can’t be that different than anyone else.
Build trust and people will trust you back. Be trustworthy and others will notice.
“The universe is a big place, perhaps the biggest.” – Kilgore Trout
I didn’t label this as great. It is however, a break from the anarchy going on right now.
About the only positive I can take from the rioting is that we’re going to see real quickly if social distancing is necessary anymore. It’s surely not happening in a lot of places at once.
It seems like history is repeating itself. There were protests in the 60’s at the same time we sent men to the moon. Space-X just had a successful launch on Saturday.
If the phone doesn’t ring, it’s me.
Good songwriters are clever with words. This song is really about how you can’t re-live the past, but it’s also about introverts.
First, if the past was so good, why did you break up? You can never go back because it won’t be the same. Just try to remember the good times. You’ll have others in the future, just different.
Next, there are many times I don’t call, text or start a conversation. It’s not because I don’t want to or don’t have something to say, I just don’t want to get stuck in a small talk situation that is meaningless. It doesn’t devalue my feelings on our relationship/friendship/acquaintanceship that we have, I just would rather talk if we really have something to say. It is the life of introverts.
People don’t realize it, but introverts tell better stories. There is way less going off the path and including unnecessary details and the timing of the punch line or the moral of the story is far more effective.
I doubt anyone thinks about me or other introverts not calling, but if the phone doesn’t ring, it’s me.
I always changed the saying at the bottom of my work email. Some of them are ones that I have posted recently. This was the last one I had when I retired from IBM.
Life is hard; it’s harder if you’re stupid.
Failure is but a paragraph in the book of each human life. It is the pages that follow that ultimately define us.
I don’t know who said this, but will give attribution if someone knows.
Some give up, some use it as motivation to try harder and some invent failure for extra motivation (Michael Jordan on rivals).
We are all going to go through it. When you do, you should already be thinking about how you are going to deal with the aftermath.
Try telling this to the Press, celebtards, sports stars who try to cram their opinion on those because they are good a games or career politicians. They are the worst offenders.
No one would wish what happened to us with the China/Wuhan/Covid-19/Kung flu/Corona virus this year. I wonder if there is any silver lining?
WE’VE LEARNED THAT YOU DON’T HAVE TO BE IN PERSON AT WORK
First, the essential workers should be commended. Those putting their life at risk for the rest of us or to keep us able to stay away but help keep the economy going do need to be there. They don’t get thanked enough and deserve more accolades than they are getting. I can’t list them all, but you know who you are as do we, especially when we go out or are in need and you are there.
There are a group of desk jockeys that can work from anywhere, including home, the coffee shop or anywhere that has WIFI. Many companies are still getting along just fine without everyone in their cubicles or open office space being babysat by next level of ladder climbers and wannabees.
Yes, some of them are goofing off, but they goof off at the office also. They self-sort themselves out of their jobs after a while anyway. The other workers know who is carrying their load and who is carrying a load of bullshit without them being there.
We have been forced into a higher level of trust to get the job done. I’ve worked for some who didn’t trust their employees if they weren’t at their desk. If you treat people like grownups they will be. If you treat them poorly or like monkeys, like managers I’ve had they will eat bananas.
Now, those who want to work at home or remotely had the chance to prove that they could get the job done and don’t have to go into an office to do the same thing.
For introverts, this is a blessing. They don’t have to be sentenced to the jail of in person meetings or having to have their day ruined by HR regimented nonsense that can be done in non-critical hours.
PRODUCTIVITY
This is a unique time to get more work done, or to refine our work habits. See above about goofing off in the office and you have now eliminated water cooler BS sessions, meaningless meetings that can be done on email or chat and time to actually concentrate.
I know those in sales have to talk, but if they concentrate more on selling, they too will be more productive. A lot of them are too chatty anyway.
The USA works more than other countries and it appears that we like to work. You can tell by how much we’ve achieved, but also the lack of vacation we take vs. other countries. Hey, but how many countries have landed a man on the moon?
We have the opportunity to open up (re-open up) and unleash the greatest economy and workforce that has ever existed. There are people dying to get back to work that may be furloughed. I only hope the politicians haven’t put onerous rules in place that hurts the economy and the ability for small businesses to thrive.
TRAVEL
You can now go anywhere you need to if you want. I imagine that travel will be light at first, although some with pent up demand or anxiety will leave as soon as it is allowed. The downside will be the TSA security check lines if we have to stay 6 feet apart. The line will be out of the building and into long term parking.
I read that the bookings for Cruise ships are in high demand, something I just don’t understand. Cruise ships are petri dishes for viruses and have been for a long time. Why you would want to be in basically a jail cell that travels with limited escape time to buy a T-shirt doesn’t seem desirable, but I have friends who love it. They mostly like to eat though and say it’s a cheap way to travel. At least they won’t be on planes for those of us who want to get where we are going and then actually see the country/place we are visiting.
You won’t have to worry about getting stuck in the middle seat for a while on an airplane. That is the designated social distancing seat, like it’s going to matter when you are in a tube for hours and well within the reach of a cough or a sneeze. I love this one as the airlines have made travel less enjoyable year over year. The armrest fight for position will be solved for now.
I imagine there will be a lot of deals at first. Travel costs should be down as well as tourist traps will have good prices to make up for the time we’ve spent in our quarantine jail. Get ’em while you can. There will be less tourists everywhere you go and businesses dying to offer deals to make up for the faux shut down.
BE POSITIVE
One can look at the downside and think that the world is going to end and that we might die from Covid-19. The statistics say that it is mostly in a few concentrated places (NE corridor and elderly care facilities) and affects those with a co-morbidity. The odds are in our favor that we won’t get it or that it won’t be as bad as the media is trying to shove down our throats.
When this passes (hint: watch how soon it passes after the November election is over regardless of who wins) the opportunities to better your life and enjoy some things in the work/life balance that have been either ruined or complicated for us.
We have been in quarantine for a while now. Most are dying to get back to their life of being busy. I’ve observed that those who want to get out the most are the ones who are trying to escape from themselves. It is a time of introspection. If it weren’t an election year, it probably would have been lifted in a lot of places by now.
The extroverts have to talk to others. The introverts don’t mind being alone, but are bothered when they are quarantined with an extrovert that makes their life miserable thinking that they have to talk all the time. They can’t wait for it to be lifted so that they can be home alone again.
Those of us who are truly comfortable with ourselves can enjoy the solitude without distress. The needy are those who have to have others as a salve for their issues. It is a good time to learn to deal with your issues. That is when you are finally free.
Delusions of Adequacy 