Don’t know why, but I have been having the craziest, most intense dreams lately.
The one I had the other night was a peach of an episode. Even though describing your dreams to others can get you labeled as a nut-job, I think I will give a little of this away to see if anyone else is going through similar mental exercises – even subconsciously.
Several reasons I won’t wear thumb-rings:
1. Fonzi has the most famous thumb in history – he didn’t wear one.
2. Conflicts with my 4-finger ring.
3. The thumb is the big toe of the hand. You don’t see people with big toe rings!
4. You’ll look like a champion Thumb-Wrestler with a Thumb-Belt on.
5. People will think you are too fancy if you hitch hike.
6. Looks like you broke the finger cuffs in two.
7. No subtle way to accomplish two-digit nose picking.
8. Double thumbs-up move makes you look like EVEN MORE of a douchebag.
Fellow Twitterers, Facebookers, Tumblrs, Flickerers, and Posterousies – Social Media is not the forum for you to clear your mental cobwebs or deep-seeded issues. Of course, the occasional “my plane is 16 hours late”, or “another one of my socks just caught on fire…AGAIN!” rants are completely acceptable. But, in general I think we should share some info/laughs/opinions but please, please cease and desist with the vomitous therapy posts.
Here’s how to tell if you are a candidate for Psycho of Web 2.0. Stand back and look at your stream of output – do you see a thread? Does that thread sound like a person ready to jump off a tall building, or take a long nap in a running car with the garage door closed? It’s time to start talking to someone else – or at least keep it to yourself.
As the end of 2009 has come and we are just getting into Twenty-Ten I wanted to take this moment to just say, Thank You.
I challenge everyone this year to say it more often and need it less. The more you thank others and expect it less frequently – the faster it will become a part of who you are, and not just something you say. Gratitude is an attitude…and a vastly beneficial one to boot.
Thank You is one of the most powerful phrases you can use to establish yourself, not only as a person who appreciates good effort and has some aptitude of manners – but a being with a depth of understanding into human behavior itself. Consider, who doesn’t like to hear those words?
So thank you – for reading this, for being a curious person, for keeping a connection with me, and for so many more things I’m sure I would love to know about you. You don’t need me to say, but I will anyway – Thank You.
Next, I’m personally gonna work on “You’re Welcome”…and meaning it.
It’s no surprise that there is a tremendous amount of negative news out there today and because of it I have decided to shift my lifestyle. Yes, I am ready to become someone else, altogether and adopt a Positive Alternative Lifestyle. It’s a difficult decision for sure, flipping over to be a P.A.L. It is so much easier to maintain the status quo and just be negative with everyone else.
Bad news hits and what do you do, rollover like a dog, cover your head with a pillow, start diving toward the end of a bottle, or turn to your faith and pray that you are saved from it all? Any way you start coping with your own set of circumstances will not determine your eventual outcome nearly as much as your attitude during the process. If you go high, or you go low – you will only gain or get through the hard times based on WHY you choose to do what you did.
So, with some difficulty, I am trying to adopt a P.A.L. not as a coping mechanism, but as a lifting device. Sure, it’s harder to do, being so much easier to bitch and moan with the lot of them, but I think it will bring me and those around me up quicker so we can look around, stop focusing on our problems and find solutions that aid in recovery.
Halloween is not my favorite event of the year – see I can’t even call it a holiday. However, this year we had a ball of a time and I think it was because we choose to do it a little different.
The whole thing unfolded one night at dinner as we talked about why every female costume seemed so “trampy”. What could we do as a family that would be fun, and everyone could laugh and just be light about. Somehow the topic of breakfast came up, and we decided to dress the boys as eggs and the girl as bacon. That left Mom and I as the Cooks , get it – we made breakfast? Great laughs from everyone all night – this is the way to do what is otherwise a scary, uhm ahh – event.
Want to be around in the next few years? Get small. Not “Steve Martin small” but smaller than you are right now. I’m working on large thinking and smaller scale – can I do what I want to do with the current set of circumstances and limited to no funds? Do we need 6 people in this meeting when only two of them will actually do the work?
Not only does it make sense from an economic standpoint, but it also stands to reason that you’ll have less grumbling and complaining if your back is against the grindstone.
My new latest favorite artist is Dan Reeder. He’s got some great songs, some off-color songs, and frankly his stuff just sounds original. No matter how late to the party I am it’s good stuff.
For one of my favs check out this youtube vid “You’ll Never Surf Again.”
Ever been to a elementary school play? Went to one a couple of weeks ago and it had many parallels to some work environments I have been in. First of all, it had my kid in it – so some parts were decent (actually was a little girl who could sing her ass off), but for the most part it sucked eggs! Here’s why: bad lighting, no discernible plot line (I know there was one, it just wasn’t discernible), crappy acoustics, poor performance, too long, and everyone got to say something. Even the janitor had a line I think.
This is why most presentations I have seen over the last few years fail. Too long, unclear direction, bad timing and performance – and we make the mistake of having everyone talk.
If they COULD have (I know why they didn’t) let that little girl sing three numbers and most of the other children be rocks or back-up it would have been killer. I think everyone would have left better KNOWING what they saw, who rocked their socks off, and where their kid stood in their chances to potentially win a Tony one day.
Just like that play we should be prepared to play the non-speaking role sometimes in our own work – and maybe suggest when other children (coworkers) should be the rocks….hmmm now that I think about it – sometimes you are the rock sometimes the rock-star.
if the marketplace had street signs, 2009 would be marked with yield, one way, and caution signage. i look forward to the day when our signs change to “men at work”, “exit”, and “no u-turn”.
Having always been one of those “pick yourself up by your boot-straps” kind of guy I am finding it harder and harder lately to find my proverbial boot-straps. The number of times I have tried to encourage people to “buck-up” and get back in the game is probably in the hundreds. So many times I have doubted my own abilities and gone forward anyway after a little pep talk. But, all that pressure and satisfaction I got from the hassle was short-lived and internal. The struggle continues, another game-day approaches and the same, or worse circumstances arose. And, while I got better at facing more strenuous circumstances – it is beginning to feel for naught – I mean, what am I actually learning?
So, I take assessment of my motivation skills and find them lacking and pedestrian. It might be that even important than WHAT words I tell myself to “get back up” is WHERE those words come from. My motivation center has been in me, and now I must look for it from On High. My hope is not to turn into a tissue-carrying-Dr. Phil-couch-sitter, but a more substantial dude without the ego to think I could pick myself up from anything.
Where does your motivation come from?
In this tough economic time I find myself often needing a boost as I face yet another troubling set of circumstances. From diminishing budgets to extinguished hopes and dreams, as a consultant inside an advertising business you get a chance to see a lot of business challenges. (Just now I unsubscribed to another companies e-blast inviting me to attend an exciting seminar on blah, blah, blah – DREAM DASHER!!)
So, in this tumultous time I have discovered my own little acronym to help me remember what I am focused on. I call it PACE.
P – Perspective: Become a perpetual outsider. Helps you gain clarity on your business, the world, and where the two intersect – if at all.
A – Acceptance: We must have the courage to face reality. We probably have a more difficult period ahead – it’s not close to over.
C – Control: We just need a new definition for this in general. Letting go of the need to control everything around you is so freeing.
E – Effort: GO HARD, GO FAST, REST – REPEAT.
Just got this in the mail (from a buddy) but it reminds me of the poll I have up on the blog. Check it out… half the response has been “Nope”, which cracks me up. 98% of the nope’s have been from the same I.P. address in New York.
Who hates me in NY?
The other nope’s have been from Tyler, TX and a couple of internal votes… both if which I probably get. Cracks me up…Haters.
Throughout my extensive travels on commercial airlines I have come to understand there are really just three types of Air Waiters or Waitresses (some people call them Stewards or Flight Attendants) that I will uncover for you here on afordrunning (your breaking name-calling source) today.
Safety Patrol: This repressed hall monitor has all the social graces of a prison guard. SP will remind you over and over that they are here for your safety – get your own damn drink or blanket – even though they are wearing high heels and or texting during take-off. By the way – “Airplane Mode is not OFF sir, just take the battery out of your iPhone.”
DJ: Gotta love the verbal skills and need for one more round of karaoke from this individual. Not only will you know the time, temp, and barometric pressure when you land in Chicago – but great ideas for a little brunch on the Northside and some potential names for pets you didn’t know you could adopt from a local shelter in need. Extra points if the pilot is a tour guide as well, “If you strain your eyes and look out the right side of the aircraft you can just make out a fat guy walking his hamster in Des Moines.”
Floater: This one could go either way – I dropped it in one category because it’s a 50/50 90% of the time (gotta love that little ditty right?). Either the greatest version of air hospitality you have ever imagined – OR some lame-ass turd circling the toilet bowl of life just waiting to be flushed. So, either Angel or floating fecal matter – need to elaborate?
That’s it…three ways to describe today’s Air Waiter and Waitress – pretty definitive no?
Somewhere – something incredible is waiting for you
Somewhere – someone is waiting to be loved
Somewhere – an old friend will be waiting for you to arrive.