We have all been there, a situation comes up and we want to do one thing but allow our selves to be convinced to do another and then we regret the not going with what we originally thought we should have done.
There is nothing wrong with stopping and taking stock of a situation and making a decision. The average person will make about 35,000 decisions a day. Most of the decisions will be small and the outcomes of the decision will seem inconsequential however there will be some big ones that you will need to make and the outcomes will make a huge difference in your life. For those decisions you should make a sound judgement in your heart and then go with it. If possible always do the good or moral thing. Never let criticism or judgement of others be your guide find the truth and do that.
Do what you feel in your heart to be right – for you’ll be criticized anyway.”
Eleanor Roosevelt
When you wake up and the morning and go to bed at night you are left with yourself and that is the person that you must make sure is ok with whatever decision you have made. It seems like people have strong opinions about the actions of others and will always be critical no matter what happens.
The best thing you and I can do for ourselves is find the good decisions and make them at least 35000 times a day
My wife gives the greatest gifts and that’s because she loves me. When you love the person you are giving a gift to it shows and the gifts tend to be more treasured than a gift given out of obligation or reluctantly.
Giving gifts is something humans have done since the beginning of time. The ancient Egyptians were the first to give gifts on birthdays, The Greeks and Native Americans gave gifts during religious celebrations.
One of the greatest gifts ever given to any man or woman alive today is their life. The odds of you being born are 1 in 400 trillion. A lot of things had to happen to make you happen and a lot of people were involved. The easy way out is to say that you were gifted life by a creator or the universe and I am not here to argue against that concept however consider this your life is a gift from your mother and father. Their lives from their mother and father. If you think about it the reason you are here is because of everything everyone in the world did prior to your life so your life is a result of the whole world. Are you treating your life as a special unique gift from your ancestors? Imagine if we did do that…
What would a life lived as if it were a gift from previous generations look like? I think that life would be less rushed’
Life is not a race, it is a gift. Enjoy it, don’t rush through it.
Daniella Kessler
A few weeks back my wife and I went to a restaurant with our dog to eat. We were but on the list because the restaurant was full and the three of us waited out on the restaurants patio. Maybe it was the company of two of my favorite souls, the drinks’ or the beautiful weather but I was not in a hurry to go eat. I loved every moment the three of us spent waiting.
I think the life would be more grateful.
If you’re awake, you are blessed/ Life is a priceless gift, appreciate every minute of it(:
Unknown
8 Years ago I did participated in a grateful exercise. I bought 50 blank cards and envelopes from the store and wrote out to 50 people in 50 days why I was grateful that they were in my life then I mailed out the cards. Time passed months even and I was at the park on a jogging trail I was waved down by the someone he stopped me and let me know that my letter to his wife made her so happy. Being grateful takes practice and it is worth it! Being grateful changes our perspective and can change our situations and even if it doesn’t change the situation it will change the affect that the situation has on your life.
I think the life would be more giving.
Life is a gift, and it offers us the privilege, opportunity, and responsibility to give something back by becoming more.
Tony Robbins
You have talents, passions, maybe even some wealth. If you are not giving that back to people the talents, passions, and wealth is wasted. Becoming more is only accomplished by charity.
Next time you feel the urge to hurry, complain, or be selfish consider how great and rare a gift you were given (1 in 400 trillion!).
On the website for International Women’s day the site asks the visitor to “Imagine a gender equal world. A world free of bias, stereotypes and discrimination. A world that’s diverse, equitable, and inclusive. A world where difference is valued and celebrated.”
As a exercise today I have really tried to imagine this new type of world. What does a world without bias, stereotype or discrimination look like? It is hard to imagine because we do not live in this world however I imagine that world would not be free of differences but celebrate the differences and work together to achieve good for all genders.
The bets way to imagine something is to practice doing it. It is small wins and steps that give us the skills to grow our imagination. Today work hard to celebrate, acknowledge and respect all genders and do as much good as you can for all people
This weekend I just finished watching the season finale of the most recent season of The Expanse. The Expanse is a sci fi show on Amazon Prime. The show follows the crew of a space craft as they navigate through discovery and a political minefield set in the future. I am a huge fan of space. I love watching and reading about how humanity has been to and is going to space. Rocket travel huge when it comes to getting to space. Rockets provide the velocity to send objects up and out of the earths atmosphere.
Liquid Oxygen is one of the fuels of choice for rocket launching. If the oxygen that has become hot it needs to vent.
If the rocket does not vent it can explode and cause catastrophic damage to the rocket and crew or payload the rocket is sending.
People are the same as rockets, we need to vent sometimes. If we just take all the emotion dumped on us from the world we may explode (especially the negative emotion).
Everyone vents out the unneeded, some call toxic emotions it is how, when, and how long that seems to make a huge difference.
It can be very tempting to vent to good listeners every time we see them, this should probably be avoided. No one wants to be a “buzz kill”. Our relationships are defined by our interactions and even though venting is needed it is also toxic. If we are always venting to that good listener we have inadvertently created a toxic relationship.
Venting takes place before a launch. If you find yourself constantly venting about the same situation and make no changes then you are not really venting in the sense of venting to create action and this is also toxic. There is a fine line between venting and wallowing in something toxic.
Wallowing is when you roll around and relax in something. The last thing we want to do is roll around and relax in negativity.
The trick is to be like a rocket, vent and rise above toxic situations and negative emotions. You can accomplish so much when this happens.
So today is Martin Luther King Jr day in the United States. I cannot express the change this man made and what it cost him and his family! The United States has a long way to go but the progress so far was hard fought. Thank you Dr King!
Today is January 4 2022 C.E. That is a fact. I started my work day with my daily list and on the opposite page of that list I wrote down 6 new year resolutions. I have a friend (yes only one (ha ha )), he does not seem to like resolutions. My friends reasons for the disdain of resolutions is the same as the others. Let’s see… no one keeps them, it is just an arbitrary thing, they are stupid, they set you up for failure and so on and so on. I have always liked resolutions and starting over. Ever since I was a child.
I was the kid who would build a city out of legos destroy it and rebuild it. I love the act of rebuilding doing something over and over again with just small changes and for me that is what a new years resolutions is like. I know, I know that we don’t get to reset our lives I realize that we do things that build over the years and time and the things can bring us good or bad results and that is why I try my best to make good new years resolutions and not bad ones. I choose resolutions like read 10 books instead of read 0 books (reading is so good for us!(it really is )).
My wife was speaking with my step daughter about doing something she was scared of and my wife told her that she has regretted things she did not try more than anything she has tried. I know that many of my new years resolutions may not get accomplished however I am a Cleveland Browns fan so I am totally ok with failure as long as I gave it my best shot.
I refuse to let the idea that I will not keep a resolution stop me from making and trying to keep one.
Time is an odd thing. When you think about time is about as abstract a concept as you can come up with and it is almost impossible to measure. Ask any scientist worth their weight and they will tell you the same. Many scientist will tell you that time doesn’t really exist at all. Every scientist will tell you that time is relative at best. I think that there have been some pretty famous papers written on the relativity of time and yet, you should never make it a practice to arrive late for appointments. Arriving late is a good way to upset friends family and get fired. Despite the wibbily wobbily nature of time (wink to all the Dr. Who fans), we all agree on time and try our best to arrive on time and mark time in our own ways. I refuse to let the nature of time to stop me from making a resolution.
Take some time today to create a list of things you want to get done this year and write this list down. 2022 is going to feel long and tiresome when it does look at your list and see where you are at. You may get to scratch something off the list. Oh man I get such an endorphin rush when I do this. I make a list every day of things I want to get done just so I can scratch them off. The year will feel long but it will be over before you know it when it ends and you are staring in the face of 2023 pull out the list and see all that you have done this will also feel amazing
When I was young I learned about Hellen Keller. Hellen Keller lost both her sight and hearing when she was just a baby. Anne Sullivan taught Hellen how to communicate through reading writing and even speech.
Hellen Keller became an author activist and lecturer. She graduated from Radcliffe college with an BA. she learned to speak and became a regular lecturer. Hellen Keller inspired others and still does to this day.
“Everything has its wonders, even darkness and silence, and I learn, whatever state I may be in, therein to be content.” Hellen Keller
As I grow older I become more accustomed to the creature comforts. I like to prop my feet up and enjoy ice water, however this is not always possible and that is ok too. I don’t know the secret to happiness but it seems that happy people are content gracious and aware people.
Contentment seems to come when we can wonder and learn. Learning is growth and it’s that growth that will bring us contentment or joy or make us happy. Never stop seeing the wonder learning and growing.
This morning I read an article that detailed how 100 leaders promised to end deforestation by 2030. The promise / plan involves money and a plan for sustainable agriculture.
My office is on the second floor and the stairs leading to it open up to an amazing view of a treetop. I know it sounds silly to some but I love these kind of views. The trees are full of life and I feel like I am peeking into an amazing home when I see the view.
Yesterday I came back from lunch and as I looked at the treetop o thought about how odd we humans are. We cut down the trees to provide shelter, and warmth, and the tree itself is a source for shelter, oxygen, food and much more. The act of cutting down the trees to survive is unsound.
In Lebanon there are the Cedars of God it is a patch of land just over 20 acres that house the last of the vast forests of Lebanon Cedars. The Cedars are massive and this remnant has survived the mass deforestation attempts for 100s of years. The cedars are spoken about in the Hebrew Bible. Unfortunately climate change now threatens these cedars.
It looks like Canada, Brazil and the United States are now at risk of loosing their forests as well. Unsustainable “progress” has destroyed countless eco systems in these countries and if this pledge is not honored these nations will be just like Lebanon.
Humanity was given a rich diverse world to be a steward of and so far we have collectively failed to be good stewards of this world. We have destroyed the forests poisoned the water and polluted the sky. The indigenous people of North and South America lived in relative harmony with the world and they have been slaughtered and their harmonious lifestyle replaced by the current destructive one. We took trees and made them landscape material.
Let’s today do our best to be stewards of life. Human life and the life all around us on this earth. If we do not try we will certainly fail and our generation. Is paying a high price now for this failure but our childrens price will be higher
There was a rush as I pushed the pedal to the floor. I felt excitement followed by fear and then more excitement. I was definitely traveling faster than I should have been. The car was on the interstate but 95 was the number of the interstate not the speed limit.
Speeding killed 25 people a day in the United States of America during 2019. Driving to fast or speeding reduces the likelihood that the driver will react in time to something happening on the roadway. Speeding is selfish and reckless.
Speeding is also fun but I am convinced that speeding needs to happen in a safe and controlled environment, as safe as it can be. Racetracks or closed courses are safe because everyone there is going near the same very fast speed and there are barriers protecting pedestrians.
When you speed on a public street or road you are endangering yourself and those around you. Everyone should be traveling at the agreed upon speed and then traffic flows well. When you speed you are an anomaly causing problems for your neighbors.
The book Fahrenheit 451 was set in the future and it was a dystopian one. The writing by Ray Bradbury is amazing and if you haven’t you should read it if you have read it again . In Fahrenheit 451 the people travel at ultra fast speeds on the highway and the cars are described as dangerous and destructive.
When I catch myself speeding like this morning o think about the paradigm. Me speeding is selfish, I feel that where I need to be is more important than all my neighbors so much that I can break our contract and speed. Even though speeding may bring me to my destination quicker it will always result in a broken contract and often destruction and ultimately death for others and me.
Selfish acts when brought to fruition harm everyone to include the person that is committing the act. We do not live in a bubble and helping others is as the champ Muhammad Ali put it “service to others is the rent you pay for your room here on earth.”
Simply not breaking the law and traveling the speed limit is a good start to being a decent person and considering others as equal to you.
Let’s start being good people through simple acts like following the laws.
“Gentlemen, we will chase perfection, and we will chase it relentlessly, knowing all the while we can never attain it. But along the way, we shall catch excellence.”
― Vince Lombardi
Happiness is? Subjective right? I mean a memory from Sunday school growing up was the youth pastor explaining heaven. “My dad imagines heaven as a farm in the country and I imagine that heaven will be a beautiful city with sidewalks.” – youth pastor Block (courtesy of Johns childhood memories)
Heaven is like happiness. My happiness and your happiness probably do not line up. I don’t know many people but there are some that do not enjoy petting a happy dog (I know crazy right?)! Our idea of happiness changes as we live our lives too.
When I was younger I was happy at my friends house watching his snake in the aquarium, now the snakes kind of make my skin crawl a little. I saw one on a walk with my dog two days ago and nearly jumped out of my skin.
Some say that being happy is a choice. I am not sure about that. I can choice to pursue things that I believe will make me happy however if I do not receive these things will I still be happy? Also, what things will make me happy? Lots of questions no answers.
I find joy in the unknown and the search for the truth. I really do. I think that this is good because I spend a lot of life with unknowns and looking for truth. If we are completely honest with ourselves well all do.
Enjoy every moment as much as you can because we never know when we will not be here anymore.
The Corrigan Encore 