family – Page 3 – The Corrigan Encore

That’s a tough one

March 2, 2023 John Corrigan

If you could be someone else for a day, who would you be, and why?

On the surface this question seems easy to answer. Of course I could find someone who seems to have a charmed life and choose them. I could find a loved one and choose them so that I could help them and or see how they see me. But what makes a person the person they are? What would it be like to be a different person?

a thinking, intelligent being, that has reason and reflection, and can consider itself as itself, the same thinking thing, in different times and places
John Locke

Being a person means we can move with our imagination to different places and times. The question points to a time and place by mentioning “for a day”. The place would be the person. Every figure inhabits some position.

No to answer the tough question.. I would love to see what it would be like to be Super man. Super man is not my favorite super hero, Spider man is but I would love to have Super Mans powers if just for one day. All the physics that seem to inhibit me on earth wouldn’t exist for a day. I could fly to China in less than an hour without boarding a plane!

Ok non fiction person that I would choose or to be real.. I would probably love to be Joe Biden for just one day. I would love to get insight into what the leader of one of the most powerful countries in the world is privy to. I am sort of afraid that it might be boring but what if it is not? What if the president of the United States is briefed daily on the nations and worlds secrets? Man then I would love to know all of that.

secrets are pleasant to each child of eve
Hannah Cowley

It is a fun mental exercise to change places with others but at the end of the day I am pretty happy with being myself.

All I can do is be me whoever that is
Bob Dylan

Just over Broke

February 28, 2023February 28, 2023 John Corrigan

Do you enjoy your job?

I sat in the conference room and watched the presenter write the words Just over Broke on a white board. He then told everyone that the word Job was an acronym and stood for Just over Broke. The presenter let us know that he was offering a career not a job. It was a hard sell on selling. I tried the door to door salesperson thing and it wasn’t for me. I enjoyed meeting with new people everyday I did not enjoy meeting with an agenda. The agenda was to sell.

I have worked in a few industries and each business industry has its own nuances and idiosyncrasies. I honestly have not found a favorite industry or skill in the modern workplace. I have however enjoyed almost every job I have worked at. I have tried very hard to find the silver lining with every situation and my job is no different.

The jobs that I have enjoyed the most though have all the same aspects.

I accomplish things. For jobs that I have enjoyed more than others I find that getting a sense of accomplishment is important. I get such a oxytocin high from starting my day off with a list and then crossing off the tasks as I finish them. Here is a great read about the importance of accomplishment.
I worked with people who acted compassionately and kindly Jobs that I have enjoyed included teams full of positive kind and compassionate people. Work is always a team event and good teams are made up of good team members. Having a great team makes work that much better.
I have worked in companies that have singular missions and ones that have missions that are convoluted. Singular missions seem to work better Everyone at work has there own reasons for being there and usually=y that is monetary however firms have vision statements and a reason that is not just “create profit”. Firms that have all employees working towards that vision are almost always better jobs.

Collaboration is a key part of the success of any organization, executed through a clearly defined vision and mission and based on transparency and constant communication.
Dinesh Paliwal

So I do enjoy my current job and I have no doubt it is because the workplace has me working on meaningful tasks, with great people and all of that is happening with one clear vision.

That smell or ….

February 24, 2023 John Corrigan

The lobby of a movie theater, the airport concourse, a train station, and the snack bar at a ball game. These are places as a child and an adult that give me an energy from smell and sight and feel that is almost indescribable. I love the feeling while I am in these places. I get excited.

Watching a movie or play is an event. The audience gets to join the actors in an hour and half on a escapist treat for the mind and the senses. Taking a trip to a different place is an event, the passengers of the train plane or automobile will soon be at a new geographic destination. A sporting event involves watching athletes perform and a huge amount of escapism. before and during events like these there is a nervous energy and an excitement that feels and smells different than everyday activities.

Doing new and exciting things in a safe environment is healthy and needed for growth.

Did you feel the excitement of the ride to come? If so, then you have felt potential energy.
unknown

Generating that excitement comes from learning and trying new things and it is hard to describe or bottle up but it is enjoyable. There is a smell and feeling to it and I wish this for everyone everyday. Never be to afraid to do something that gives you this feeling. Make today awesome

Buy Amazon stock

February 22, 2023 John Corrigan

What advice would you give to your teenage self?

Ever since Robert Zemeckis brought the world Back to teh Future in 1985 I cannot help but imagine teenagers and adults all over the world have wondered what they would do if they could jump in the DeLorean and meet their past selves.

What would we warn our past selves off? That one bad relationship that we have scars from? The job we took right after university that had the boss from hell? If you have lived enough you are going to make missteps’.

We learn from failure not from success
Bram Stoker

The mental exercise has been done again and again. The more I consider my past the more I realize that the past has made us who we are today., not really the past but how we react and process the past has made us who we are today and I am not sure that I would want to change anything simply because I am happy now.

One thing I would of course want more of is money or maybe wealth not money. I would love to have the stability and luxury that comes with wealth. In the current pay to play system of the world money provides people security, and control of their time. I would if I could change anything get that security and control.

So if I had to tell my past self anything it would be to buy Amazon stock. as much Amazon stock as I could afford and hold onto it. Amazon opened at 97 cents per share and as of this post the stock was selling at 95 dollars a share. The Amazon stock has split 4 tines as well.

If I bought 100 shares for a little less than 1000 in 1997 I would have just over 2 million dollars! I did not buy that stock so for now I have to get back to work.

What Now?

February 21, 2023 John Corrigan

He was the king of Corinth and a brilliant man. In the Iliad Homer described the king as “the most cunning of men” (Iliad, 6:153). Sisyphus was so cunning that he cheated death twice. Sisyphus tricked Hades and Thanatos. Sisyphus got his comeuppance at the hands of Zeus though and was condemned to push a boulder up a hill for all eternity. Every time Sisyphus neared the end of his task the boulder will and does roll back down hill. Today any task that feels like it will never end or is stuck is often described as a Sisyphean.

We have all been there. The project is rolling along swiftly we are making our deadlines and then we hit a brick wall. There is one task or part that seems to never end. What do we do now? How can we handle a task that seems to never end or what do we do when we are stuck?

When you feel stuck it is important to understand what you are stuck on and why. Not why you are stuck but why the project is taking place. What business problem are you addressing? Often the answer will change the direction of a project sometimes it will not. Sometimes it will reinforce the importance of the project. The most important thing that why does with projects and life is refocus.

Photo by Andrea Piacquadio on Pexels.com

Write down. When you write something down you use the frontal lobe. The frontal lobe is the part of the brain for movement, reasoning, judgement, planning and problem solving.

Talk about it. When you speak you also use the frontal lobe. Speaking and writing will help with problem solving and reasoning.

Finally reach out for help. Sisyphus didn’t have the support structures that many of us have today. Friends, family and colleagues are often looking for ways to help and want to help we just often do not ask. Never be afraid to swallow your pride and reach out for help.

This Month

February 1, 2023 John Corrigan

Since 1976 every US president has officially designated the month of February as Black History month. In 1865 the United State abolished slavery by amending the US Constitution. After abolishing slavery, racism persisted within the United States. So much racism persisted that laws needed to be changed again. The laws needed to be changed because the racism was entrenched and written into the laws and part of the culture of the United States. The law was changed in the United States in 1964, the change in the laws was known as the “Civil Rights Act of 1964“. The Civil Rights act explicitly prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, sex or national origin.

Even with this new law racism has persisted within the United States in a systematic manner. One major system that has promoted racism, through exclusion, is the public and private education system in the United States. Black citizens contributions to the United States throughout history are excluded from the history books and curriculum within the school system.

Human beings become the stories they are told and tell. If we exclude a race of people from the collective stories what we become is less diverse and racist.

Right now in different parts of the United States of America there is an effort underway by racists to prevent curriculum changes to the public school systems that would include black folks and indigenous people.

As a society it is important to stand against racism like the efforts to stop teaching our children about black history and racism that exists and did exist.

One way to make a difference is by letting your voice be known at the ballot box by not voting for these racists. Another way to make a change is through teaching your children the truth and telling the stories that are diverse. There is no better time to resolve our will to fight racism within the United States than Black history month!

Sola dosis facit venenum

October 25, 2022 John Corrigan

I was rushed off the cattle car with the rest of the soldiers at Fort Sill Oklahoma, the drill sergeants had us line up on the concrete pad and do what felt like a million pushups and sit ups. After the exercises the drill sergeants had us drink all the water in our canteens (two of them), we refilled the canteens and were made to finish off two of them again. Some of the soldiers could not finish the canteens others vomited up the water that they drank. We were dangerously close to hyperhydration or water toxemia. Clean water can become poisonous when too much is drank within a short period of time.

Symptoms of water intoxication tend to start appearing after you consume more than 3 to 4 L of water in a few hours.

“The dose makes the poison” or in Latin, “Sola dosis facit venenum”. In the Christian Bible there is a verse in the book of 1 Corinthians And every man that striveth for the mastery is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a corruptible crown; but we an incorruptible.

There is another idiom I think of as well from Aseop which is; “Too much of a good thing “It is possible to have too much of a good thing.”

Balance is so important in our lives. I have seen people get their dream jobs and experience burn out in less than a year. Some retirees suffer from depression and anxiety from withdrawing from work to rapidly and not keeping themselves busy.

What is the secret to balance then? The secret is to understand that balance is accomplished day by day and looks different for everyone. Listen to yourself and if you need to seek professional help. Often what drives some people is unresolved issues that are not worked out in healthy ways. It is unhealthy to work more than you see your family and we are all doing this right now with the promise of more time from society but that time may never come so when you have that time you want to enjoy it. Finally take time for yourself and family.

If you want it bad enough

August 10, 2022 John Corrigan

I was recently in a coaches office and couldn’t help but notice some of the motivational posters on the wall. The poster was read desire in bright red letters and under the word desire it said “some people want it to happen…. some people wish it to happen… others make it happen”

This poster really resonates with me. I have some wants and desires so I meet the first two criteria now I want to meet the last. The last is truly the crux of it all. This is the most important point of desire getting it done or making it happen.

Desire is the act of wanting something and it is important to gaining fulfillment however unfulfilled desire is often life. We will always desire something more, this is the desire paradox. Understanding desires can help with mitigating the damage that desire does when we try to “make it happen”. Ranking our desires helps too.

I wish for a healthy happy family more than a thriving business so I will choose to attend the childrens little league games over spending late nights in my office.

I think desires matter and everyone should have healthy desires and I hope they achieve them. I just hope that we do not loose sight of what will truly make us happy and that is honestly our relationships with friends and family.

Moments

August 8, 2022 John Corrigan

Saturday afternoon was spent with my wife the dog and my niece kayaking out to a light house and an island. We stopped on the island swam tried to get the dog into the water ( failed) and then got back into the kayaks. My wife took pictures and they were saved in her phone and marked as moments.

These are truly moments, last year we did the same thing with my daughter (we left the dog at home then). At the end of the day Saturday we were; wet, tired, a little sun burnt but I felt content. Just thinking back on the time spent Saturday and last year makes me smile.

Take time every day to have these moments with family and friends. You will experience all kinds of moments and how you live it out will make a huge difference on whether or not thinking about the moments make you smile or frown.

No matter what the moment is be kind (that is a tough one because in some moments friends and families are not always agreeable). No matter what the moment is realize it is that a moment so stay present.

Its ok to be gay

June 8, 2022 John Corrigan

It is the 8th day of Pride month in 2022. Pride month is, an month long celebration of the LGBTQ community, a celebration and remembrance of the Stonewall riots which occurred at the end of June 1969.

Right now as the nation celebrates Pride month there are representatives that have and are working to pass legislation that will make it impossible for students to discuss or learn about families from the LGBTQ community. The term for the laws is “Don’t Say Gay” laws.

These “Don’t say gay Laws” are discriminatory hateful laws made with with the intention of teaching children that LGBTQ families are not as important or legitimate as other families and that is shameful.

There was a graduate at the Pineview public school in Florida who was chosen to speak for his graduating class. The speaker was the class president and because of the hateful inhumane legislation passed in Florida the speaker was told that he could not mention his experience as being a gay student. When we prevent someone from expressing themselves in a polite non profane manner a message is sent and that is that that person is not welcome. Many people feel this way about the LGBTQ+ community.

People will say things like “I am fine with everyone but I don’t want to see two people of the same sex kissing”. They are lying to you and themselves. Instead of the lawmakers addressing their own bias and hate they are redirecting this hate to our children.

Kids that are not part of the LGBTQ+ community will not learn tolerance through and quite the opposite they will learn that it is not ok to be gay. I have to tell you this. IT IS OK TO BE GAY.

LGBTQ+ children need to learn this at home, and at school. Life is tough especially if you are part of a minority and the last things our children need is for the law to make their lives tougher.

Let’s make sure that we teach all children that it is ok to be Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, Intersex or straight. Let’s focus on teaching our children that every family that is rooted in love matters.