“Democracy is like love it can withstand anything except neglect.” – Unknown
 
Okay everyone get ready because here comes my big political speech. I am about to unleash my not so hidden political agenda.

Here it is…VOTE!

I really don’t care if you vote for the Democratic or Republican party, the Green party or the Independent party – just vote. I like to use the term “communist” to describe people who don’t vote. In my opinion, if you don’t vote you have officially refused your right to comment positively or negatively about our government or its leaders.

I am currently reading “Stupid White Men” by Michael Moore. I have to admit that I feel I absolutely must agree with one statement Mr. Moore makes in this book. Starting on page twenty-five and continuing through page twenty-eight the point is really pretty clear. You must get involved in politics!

A good way to start getting involved would be to vote! Better yet, become an informed voter. Do a little research about the people you are going to vote for. Read as many articles and books about the candidates and the issues as you can. Find people you respect and ask them what they think (and why they think that way!) about issues and candidates.

It strikes me as very, very sad that a country that was formed, in part, because of the injustice of “taxation without representation,” has changed into a country where a substantial portion of our population doesn’t even bother to vote!

For what its worth, remember the words of Abraham Lincoln about this being a government, “for the people, of the people, by the people,” and vote!

 

"Refuse to criticize, condemn, or complain. Instead, think and talk only about the things you really want." -- Brian Tracy

 
I know quite a few people who if kept from criticizing, condemning and complaining, probably wouldn’t have anything to talk about – not even the weather! Doesn’t that strike you as just a little sad?

Why do we allow our selves to focus so much on the negative? Why is it so easy to get stuck on these negative things in our lives?

Recently, I found myself talking with a group of people about a problem. One person joined the group with a positive outlook and attitude. As soon as that person left the group, the group had changed a little.

Unfortunately, it was not a change for the better! Instead of limiting themselves to complaining about the current problem/situation, they now added to their discussion how the person with the positive attitude obviously, “just doesn’t understand.” This situation just reminded me again how often people with a positive attitude and outlook are often thought to be stupid or lacking understanding. After that, I quickly excused myself from the group.

I’ve been trying to maintain a positive dialog with myself and other people and it isn’t always easy. But I find the less time I spend criticizing and complaining it leaves me with more time to talk about answers and solutions.

For what its worth, I challenge you to go an entire day without criticizing or complaining and see how you do.

"Two things a man should never be angry at: what he can help, and what he cannot help." — Thomas Fuller
 
I have a problem. I want to share this quote with too many people. I guess I am tired of listening to people complain about things they can change. I’m not sure why people get stuck on getting angry instead of doing something, but they do. I really think some people have made a hobby out of getting angry and complaining.
 
I guess it must be easier to be angry at something than to change it. I can’t help thinking that even though it may be more work; the benefits far exceed any amount of work that goes into changing it. For one, you might end up being happier.
 
I don’t understand how something can bother people enough to upset them and ruin their moods, and still not be motivated to change it. I have a degree in Psychology and I still don’t understand that! Perhaps it explains why there seem to be so many art critics and not enough artists.
 
In writing this I find myself thinking back to something that happened to me decades ago. I realized there was a problem and I jumped in and did what little I could to make the situation better. I didn’t receive any pay, nor did I get a medal or any type of award. I did sleep better that night knowing that I had at least done a little something. Interestingly, one of my friends at the time, laughed at me when I told him about how I participated in the solution of the problem. That was a long time ago and my friend’s reaction still confuses me. I don’t understand how you can mock anyone for pitching in and trying to help. I’m not sure what that says about our society, but I am sure it probably isn’t very good!
 
Of course it is also easy to get upset over things we cannot control. Again, I think we spend too much of our lives being upset over things we cannot change. I would hate to think how many times I’ve seen people get upset about road construction or traffic lights.
 
But I really think those things we cannot change or control are really very few. For example, rather than get upset about road construction slowing you down and making you late, perhaps you could leave earlier or take another route. But you really don’t have to just sit there and get angry about the road construction – or anything else.
 
For what its worth, Thomas Fuller’s message might be easier for us to understand by combining the advertising slogans for garbage bags and tennis shoes.
 
“Don’t get mad, just do it!” 
  

No Smoking!

I apologize for not posting updates more regularly but I’ve been doing a lot of thinking lately. This post has nothing to do with any quote, just my own thoughts. I’ve been thinking about smoking. Before you jump to any conclusions, let me assure you this is not going to be a typical message about the dangers of cigarette smoking!

When I say ‘smoking’ you probably think of cigarettes, designated smoking areas, non-smoking restaurants and hotel rooms, the Surgeon General, and lung cancer. If you are someone who currently smokes, or if you used to smoke, you might have thoughts might along the line of nicotine patches, nicorette gum, or the phrase, “cold turkey.”

There are literally millions of people around the world who smoke. Humor me for a minute as I review what should be some pretty obvious facts. Smoking is not good for your health. It stains your teeth, which means it taints your smile. It leaves behind a distinctive, unmistakable aroma. And lets not forget it’s expensive! I am amazed at the amount of money people spend on cigarettes. Cigarettes are heavily taxed, possibly as a disincentive? With every breath you are inhaling poison. In short, smoking is bad for your health and it stinks! Did I miss anything?

I know several people who smoke. Many of these people are intelligent, confident, likeable, hard-working people; the kind of people that most of us would enjoy having as a neighbor, if not as a friend. But they continue to smoke. I don’t know why, but they do. They are not ignorant of the health risks, they are not oblivious to the expense, they know it is a self-destructive habit and yet they continue to smoke.

One person I know who used to smoke says it can all be explained in one simple word, “addiction.” They have become addicted to the habit and it’s a very hard addiction to overcome. I have never smoked, and therefore have no real concept of what this addiction is like. I try to my very best to encourage anyone who is trying to quit that terrible habit.

By now you are probably pretty convinced that I’m talking about the physical act of smoking. You know, lighting a cigarette, inhaling, exhaling, etc. If that is what you are thinking, then you are very mistaken. I’m talking about what I call, “mental smoking.”

You see there are many more people who smoke mentally. These people inhale into their minds, their brains, and their consciences a different type of smoke. Instead of physically inhaling toxic air, they ingest the toxins mentally.

When I speak of this ‘mental nicotine’ I’m talking about all of the many, many little things we do every day to destroy ourselves. We say we want to lose weight while we just finish off the last bite of food, before it goes bad - here, take a little puff, it won’t hurt. We talk about how we need to get into shape and then park as close to the door as possible – have another little puff. Are you beginning to get the idea? But these things are only the beginning. These little things are like the yellow teeth of physical smoking – they are fairly obvious.

Lets go deeper and take a look at the cancer that is struggling to break free inside. The key similarity is that like most cancers the problem is invisible on the outside. It’s inside that the real battle is taking place. What is going on inside your head? That is where the real ‘smoking’ addiction is. I say this because this is where we really act like an addict.

We “smoke” by talking ourselves out of the possibilities and opportunities that surround us. We listen to the toxic voice inside that says, “its too much work,” or, “it will never work,” instead of the voice that proposed the idea in the first place. We allow our minds and thoughts to be polluted with negative thoughts about why we can’t change our lives. We feed our addiction by rationalizing why nothing will work and why we should just continue “smoking.” Besides, if you talk to just about anyone you’ll find they are doing it to!

You might be thinking to yourself that there is no way this could apply to me. But let me tell you, I am always amazed at people who smoke and how much they are able to accomplish with a cigarette in their hands. Smoking doesn’t really appear to slow them down. They drive cars, put on make-up, and make change with a cigarette in their hands. I would suggest that your “mental smoking” is much the same for you. You carry on your life apparently not being slowed down at all.

But the truth is, you are slowly killing yourself. Every day you continue the habit, you short-change your life. You limit what you are really capable of doing. When was the last time you acted on an idea that you had? Do you have any idea how many fortunes have been made by such ideas? Are you familiar with the story of a salesman who lost a critical sale because his fountain pen exploded on the crucial contract? He took his frustration and decided to do something about it. Instead of “smoking” and engaging in all the self-destructive behaviors that “mental smoking” involves, Lewis Waterman started out to make a better fountain pen and over seventy years later, the Waterman pen company still bears his name.

If you really stop to think about it, all of the little things you tell yourself to rationalize why you can’t make your life better fall into what I call “mental smoking.” If you really want to stop, its important to understand that as a human being, you never really break a habit. What we do is replace one habit with another. If you’re going to give up this “mental smoking” habit that is slowly thought by thought destroying your life, you are going to have to replace it with a different habit.

Perhaps you could start by reading something positive. Currently less than 3% of the population currently has a library card. If you read only the best selling books in fiction and non-fiction for a year, you would have read more books than the average college graduate reads in their career!

For what its worth, I would suggest you put up a “No Smoking” sign on your desk, on your mirror, someplace where you will be forced to look at it. Stop smoking – for your mental health.

"When I hear somebody sigh, ‘Life is hard,’ I am always tempted to ask, ‘Compared to what?" — Sydney J. Harris

I really believe the vast majority of people would say that life is hard. I want to know why people think that life is hard. Is it because these people have problems? Is it because they feel trapped in their lives? Why is life hard?

I suspect that life is just like everything else in the universe. It is hard until it becomes easy. How do you take something that is hard and make it easy? To start with, there are a lot of tasks that become easy if you take the time to practice. I’ve watched my daughter at her dance lessons. The teacher will demonstrate a particular dance step, then have the students follow along with her, then she has them practice it, and then they will practice the dance step again. The next week, they will practice the dance step again. For weeks they will practice the dance step again and again. Soon almost everyone in the class will be performing that step smoothly and gracefully and will be working on the next new dance move.

There are still other things in life that become easier when you understand them better. This often requires learning more about how something works. You may need to read a book, you may need to take a class, you might attend a seminar or a demonstration. However, once you have a better understanding of how something works it becomes less frustrating which makes working with it easier. I know of a person who was put in charge of an area that no one wanted because it was “hard”. What this person found out was that no one really understood how this area was supposed to work. He took the time to learn – it took a long time and a lot of effort. Once he understood how it all worked, how all of the pieces all were supposed to fit together, he was able to make some changes that improved the operation significantly. Now he is THE recognized expert and has a unique position on the corporate ladder. It was hard, but now it’s much, much easier.

Finally, a lot of things are hard because we don’t want to change. Its absolutely amazing how easy something can become if you are willing to make a relatively little change in the way you do something or the way you look at something. I teach people how to use computers. Most often I find that I teach people how to use computers more efficiently. From many years of experience I have found the same thing over and over. When someone complains how difficult something is, it is because they are clinging to an inefficient, but familiar, method for doing something. I have told my classes over and over, “if something you are doing seems hard, its because you are doing it wrong!” Most of the time, I can show people in minutes a better, more efficient, easier way to accomplish their task. The only time the new method doesn’t help make their task easier is when they refuse to change and cling to their old methods because they are familiar.

For what its worth, life is hard because of a lack of practice, lack of knowledge, and an unwillingness to change.

A great pleasure in life is doing what people say you cannot do.
- Walter Bagehot

As I get older I’m supposed to be getting wiser. I’m not sure if I’m really getting wiser or not, but as my hair continues to fall out I am becoming more aerodynamic! I can tell you that as I get older I am becoming more convinced that impossible is a word that just shouldn’t exist in anyone’s vocabulary.

In fact, I have recently started forming the ludicrous idea that impossible is just a myth. I think the problem is that we have heard this myth so many times, from so many different sources, for so long that we have begun to accept as fact that some things are just impossible and cannot be done. You might think that I’m insane for thinking this, but I challenge you to listen to the way people talk to children. I have listened to dozens of well-intentioned people tell children what they cannot do. I'm not talking about telling a child what they should not do, but what they cannot do.

I would like to leave you with some very serious food for thought. I read this in a book once and I would like to share it with you,

“And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness.”

I don’t really think being made in the likeness of God has anything to do with having ten fingers and ten toes! I think it means we were given a soul, the ability to love, to hope, and to have faith. I think it means we all have a little divine spark in each one of us. Think about it!

For what its worth, when I think about it, I think that with such gifts nothing is impossible.