Stories - FD Thornton

Depending on what you do for a living, having these two holidays on Wednesday is either a blessing or a cause. For me it's a little of both, because when I need to find a client or call on a business you're rolling the dice as to rather they're working or not. So needless to say, I've had a lot of downtime these two weeks.  With the amount of free time I've had you'd think I would be spending time with family or a hobby or something. Well the problem with that is my family (our four) are grown and are doing what they have do. As far as hobbies, most all mine are outdoors (nature photography, hiking, and gardening) and it seems like it has rained the entire two weeks. So what I'm I left with? Reading and writing my blogs.  The problem here is the last two posts I made were pretty much my thoughts for the season and the upcoming New Year. So I feel I've done enough reflecting already. Thankfully, my dear wife is never without things to do. And, she sug

Other than the obvious gifts we receive this holiday season, there are at least a thousand and one more gifts we over look that make the season truly bright. Things like each and every sunrise get to have without a second thought or the simple acts of kindness that are sent our way we never know about.  We should be thankful for the gift of life our parents gave to us, through whatever means it came, by being able to breathe life it is a gift. Let us also be grateful for the gifts we have stored away. Because, however you look at it, what you sow is what you will reap.  Be happy for the gift of being able to see beyond the physical, because life is so much more than what is in front of you. Stay mindful of the gift that despite what you believe good can be found in the hearts of all man, if they accept it. Then don't overlook the great capacity in all of us for love. Finally, don't forget that all your blessings all come from one source. A source so powerful, yet so open,

Over the past year I've talked about obstacles and facades and overcoming this or that. It has been my goal to hopefully help someone to do better for themselves. It seems for the past few decades my life had taken an about face. Where the concerns of me, me, me, gave way to us, us, us. But now that the time to let those investments spread their own wings has come. I've more or less have turned to advancing my cause. Still as a partner and parent you never really give up that nurturing sense of yourself. Which I guess is why I write these little pieces to hopefully encourage others. As I look back at the years in rearview, I've met a number of the goals I set for myself. Each of those goals may not have been perfectly executed but the fight stayed within me to get them done. While on my journey I have met many goals, but the ambition to do more still drives me. Is the reason for this to prove something, maybe? Maybe the proving is to myself. To that voice within that says

You know I usually write about stuff I'm either familiar with or stuff I've have gone through. So being the creature of habit that I am, this should be no different. On a number of occasions I've written about overcoming and fighting through whatever it is you're going through to reach a goal in your life. Given that fact and seeing that most of the time I'm a "one trick pony" the word obstacle came to my mind when staring at this blank screen.  I looked up the word  obstacle  and funny thing, it means "something that obstructs or hinders progress" . ( Thank you, dictionary.com ) That definition really stuck out to me, mostly because for the word progress. I never really thought the definition of obstacle would be written quite that way. In other words to have an obstacle is to have something stopping your progress. Maybe we should play a game called, "Count the Obstacles". Where each of us writes down the obstacles in our lives tha

Back In 1987, I met and married my perfect mate. Not that me or her have anything in common, but when your in love you risk the investment. During the next few years,\ we had four kids, two girls and two boys. As each one grew up they developed their own personalities and unique qualities. Me and my wife have never been very well off, mostly we've spent our time and money making sure our kids had what they needed. An investment in the future you can say. Well, all our investments have completed high school and although it's not been a perfect road each has or is trying their hand at continuing their education. Unfortunately for me and my wife we've only been able to provide the bear essentials during this time. But one thing we hope that we have given them is the drive and will and example that you can do anything thing you want. Just make an investment of your own in your dreams. Well one of those investments is paying off, with the graduation of my youngest girl. She

From the time we are kids to our last breath on earth, we compare ourselves to others. Who reading this hasn't looked through Facebook and thought, "Man, I wish my life was like that."  Who hasn't looked across a neighbors yard at the perfectly manicured lawn, the 2.1 cute kids, the well trained dog, the hot wife, and hasn't thought, "Man, why can't my life be like that."   Well if you haven't, I sure as hell have. Especially, with the poor self esteem I battle with everyday. I look at Facebook and think who has time to stay that perfect. Well, I have a secret to tell you. Most of those people you look at so enviously, they have problems and insecurities all their own. The reason I know this is because I ask.  Through the years I've had the insane honesty to ask people I thought were "perfect", how they lived such a charmed life. Now mind how I do this a bit tongue-in-cheek, but honestly it's to really see how people I admir

In a month, during a week, on a day that should be pretty good, I'm exhausted. It seems the pep I used to have gives out a bit more than it used to. The refocus I once depended on has given way to, "oh no, not this again." Being one that's so used to restarting myself, lately the engine has flooded, and all I can taste is gas in my carburetor. So what do you do? First thing I tell myself no crazy life moves. Don't go and dye my hair or get a large tattoo. Accept the moment for what it is, a moment. Than walk away for a while and breathe some clear air. As these lapse of reason come more and more, I can't help but wonder. Are these hiccups in the road or giant warning signs I'm not paying attention to.  While some of my thoughts are leaning toward the tiger and serpent tattoo, my rational mind looks for the center. That place where I can let myself go and find myself here and now. To discover what it is that's making so tried. To find what it is t

One of the hardest things I had to let go of is my unending need to be a perfectionist. In my work, in my social life, in my personal life, I've worked to be a perfectionist. I've been doing it so long that I got into a nervous fit when things don't fall my way. And, it was this nervousness that at times has paralyzed me from doing anything.   A lot of people out there may think perfectionism is a good thing. That pushing to better yourself and the challenge yourself can take one to new and better heights. But when it becomes a dominating force in your life where you find no self worth without it, then it becomes a problem. So when you get to this point what can you do? For one you learn to let go. A while back I got caught up in putting a paper together for an Instructor. As usual in trying to make it perfect, I allowed myself to get lost. Thankfully, I did get the paper finished, although it was late. To be honest, I wasn't expecting to get a good grade, but to my

During my academic career I've been left holding the bag a few times. In team situations you usually start out with four or five team members. Then you set-up a list of procedures, you figure out each one's role in the project, then you hit the ground running. Well as you all well know, that last for about a week.   Slowly but steady the efforts of others on the team starts to fall. Till pretty soon you become a one man/woman team. No matter what material you have read on team building, to some degree it usually happens. One person is either driving the project or doing the project or both.  Now I don't mind taking the lead on a project. In fact while an undergraduate, following the same group of students through my major studies. I kinda became the go to guy to get projects done. But this is a learning situation and my school pushes team study. So why do so many seem to hate team course work?  In the working world team work is a dynamic you usually deal with everyday

I got some news from a family member about something exciting is going on in their business and personal life. I had known about a niche' market they worked in their business for some time. But recently news took their specialty and is bringing it to national attention. For me personally I was happy for them. I know first hand they have worked hard to get where they are and couldn't be happier. I guess the thing that concerns me is, with this being made known nationally, how will it affect their business positive or negative.  My hope is that all this was thought out and that the powers to be show that rules are followed and that this is a business transaction  like any other.  I guess the boarder picture for me is, how much of a support system is needed to help you pursue your dreams? Most everyone has a dream, but to pursue it most of us need a support system to encourage and push us along. That said, what if your dream doesn't a line with what others thought your pat

I've noticed on social networks some friends are playing a game where you list a set number of things about yourself your friends may not know. Although, I kinda' feel that's putting out too much information, I figured why not? First, in my situation, who cares. And second, I'm pretty much an open book, there not much to tell. Third, my mind has been pretty blank lately trying to come up with story ideas so here's something to get the juices flowing again. 1. I cry at emotional stories, TV shows, movies, and music I really love. 2. I always wanting to run but I can't due to breathing issues through my life. 3. My musical taste are all over the place. If it catches my ear I listen.      4. Fashion shows and soap operas are my guilty pleasure.  5. I'm fat, yet I love fresh vegetables over meat?  6. I usually read 4 to 6 books at the same time. Because, I get bored.  7. I have two college degrees and I'm working on a graduate degree right now.

A relative of mine was telling how they were stressing out at work and were worried about taking that stress home with them. That note reminded me of how much stress we all bring home from work or school. And how, if we're not careful, can allow that stress to tear apart the one place that should be our sanctuary, our home.  After being in the workforce for 30 years, I can safely say stress from work has increased a number times over since I started working full time. And if your one of the fortunate few that work and go to school, Lord help you. Over the past several years, I've been lucky to learn stress coping techniques from some of my employers, especially when I briefly worked in corrections. One of the main things I remember was to realize after a bad day the need to decompress. That your loved ones at home are not the cause of the work related problem, nor are they your punching bag. Other than drinking yourself silly at the nearest "happy hour" ( which c

One of my favorite subjects is discussing how situations can over take us. It's a timely subject because most of us seem to be getting piled on more and more at work, by family, and by life in general. Well this past week would qualify as being overwhelming for me. I got slammed by work, then there are problems at home (mostly with things backing up), and then of course there was school. No matter what direction I turned, there was a problem to solve.  So while we are all in the same overwhelming boat, I have discovered a life preserver or two you may want to use. For one stop. Allow yourself some time to breathe deeply and assess the situation. Because the life you save maybe your own. Before jumping in with both feet, create a plan. Too many times I find myself jumping in and by the time I get the fire put out, I've wasted some serious resources and man-hours. Lastly, go in with both eyes open, taking in the whole situation leaving nothing to chance. This happened to me rec

Over the last few post, I've more or less talked about focus and the present moment and how I'm trying to figure them out in my life and work. Well, at this point I'm refocusing on looking for other work besides the light weight efforts my little business is presenting me. I believe I'm ready to accept a greater challenge of my abilities. And as much as I hate to say it, I'm pretty sure it will involve a move by me and my family to find that challenge.  All my life I've been pretty bored with whatever position I've worked, rather does positions were of great or small responsibility. It's not that I hate to work, it's more that I love a real challenge mentally from my work. That to me was the purpose to my completing school then continuing with my MBA. To feed that need to challenge and better myself.  I guess the goal now is to find the right fit between me and a business that can fully utilize my unique set of skills and experiences. But from my

Living your life "in the moment", isn't a bad thing. In fact for most it's a wise move, by focusing your energies on the moment, you can open your mind to all kinds of solutions. Solutions you may not been able to grasp with a wondering mind.  The reason I bring this up is, for a very long time I have allowed my thoughts to wonder. While doing this for a while has allowed me to experience and explore many different areas of life and the world. But it also may bring about a rambling of too many ideas and thoughts, that when packed tightly together, seem to impede my focus and drive. It's the idea of this wondering that has bought me to an interesting point in my life. How do I continue to enjoy the playfulness of my wanderlust. While working on the advanced forms of business decision making, I have been trained and work to do? Can these two disciplines work together in me?   I hope I haven't lost anyone? It's been several hours since I wrote those

It's a dizzily Saturday afternoon and my teams playin' a little football. But the day isn't all leisure, I got a report to write for Monday and some other stuff to catch up on since I lost Friday to doctor's (don't ask). So after taking some time last night to recoup and sleep, I got up this morning ready to "hit the bricks".  But you know what, right now I work for me. And while things can get behind, at my age I've learned most projects are a marathon and not sprint. So that's why I'm saying get things done but at your own pace. If you can pace yourself and make forward progress everyday, your already ahead of the pack. Take my Friday as an example, I kept my appointment times, It was just unexpected delays that pushed those appointment times 2 + hours over. And I don't know about you, but just being in doctors offices wear me out.  Still, when things like that happen and your schedule is sent to hell and back, don't panic. Simply

I just walked away from my desk to take an extended lunch break. I've been at the desk since 8 am and even ate breakfast at the desk, which I never do. But unlike most other days this past week, this Monday morning has been very productive. All I can really say is, taking your breaks and understanding when your mind and body are wearing down. Will make you more productive in the long run. This is something I speak on from experience, you just can't kept pushing and pushing something. At some point, something breaks down. Then you end up with two problems, the first one and a whole new one. So the point is, when you feel out of sorts or notice mistakes being made, call for a break.  Another thing to keep in mind is, maintenance. You can only run your car so long on a tank of gas, or an oil change, or a set of tires. The same thing applies to you, you can only go so far without food, water, sleep, or even a bath (think of others around you). The thing is get in tune with your

Have you every gotten up and started your day like "gang busters"? You know, everything's running on all cylinders and you feel like it's going to be one productive day. Well that's how today started for me. I had a good nights sleep, the morning air don't feel like it weighed sixty pounds, and my morning coffee was just right. The trouble started after I went through my emails. I got an email about a job opening, I read it, it looked good, I did some research on the business, and even wrote a cover letter. The trouble began when I decided to post my resume, and cover letter, and fill out the application. It seem that every time I attempted to sign in the site it looped me back to the sign in section again and again. This went on for 30 minutes, until I just gave up. But you know, that wasn't going to let this ruin my day. I'll simply put it on the back burner for now.  On my next project I had a limited amount of time, because I had something

It's been a while since I posted, but when you don't have a lot to say it's usually better to keep your mouth shut. When you do that, you tend to stay out of trouble and out of the cross-hairs. Sometimes especially in heated situations we find ourselves saying things that are best unsaid. Today, I don't think it's that we fire off our mouths more than we did in the past. It's just that we have more opportunities to do so then we did a few years back.  Think about it, before the Internet we had to write a letter to the editor or whomever it was we disagreed. So if we took that much time and effort, we usually planned out your argument to get our point across. Unlike today, where a few keystrokes can get your F@#$-You across the planet in a matter of seconds. So with that much power to argue or disagree, wouldn't you think we should be that much more careful with the way we disagree? Think of it like this, I've been married very close to 26 years, if y

As I sit here this morning, I begin to wonder after all the resumes I've filled out over the past few years, why have I only gotten a bit or two from the businesses. You see, before I started my school adventure a few years back, I laid out a plan for my career. That plan never really changed but once, moving from Telecommunications to Business Systems Analysis. That may be a considerable jump, but it was doable at the time, and I consider myself a better fit into BSA.  That said, I realize the considerable amount of time it takes to break into system analysis. What I don't get, is considering the large amount of time I've taken to study the in's & out's of the field. Not to mention the extended research I have done on my own. Why is it so damn hard to crack this nut called "employment" in the BSA field.  I mean I'm not some "pie-in-the-sky" dreamer,  I am a realist who prides himself on taking clear logical steps to reach a goal. Jus

I decided to take a break and allow myself to work on a few personal projects. So after a fun and challenging weekend, I thought about my last post and wanted to continue that train of thought.  Over the last few months, as you have heard, I've been fighting some lingering issues. But while I've made the decision to get back into the game a little early. I still have thoughts of pulling back haunting the back of my mind. It seems for every step I make going forward, a missed step puts me two-steps behind again. These setbacks are not as bad as they once were mind you. But they do rear their ugly head at some very awkward times. But here's the kicker, while putting up with this on Sunday morning. I decided to still my mind, shave, take a shower, then take my wife to town. I know it sounds a bit simplistic, and I can't guarantee it will work every time for me or you. It's just that you have to get a handle on your situation at some point. And with me, putting "

I'm not much of a Soccer ( futbol ) fan, but I do remember the game announcer who was famous for saying "GOOOAAAALLLL" when someone would score. Which I guess is great considering those high scoring "nail bitters" they usually have after 4 hours of play ( Sorry soccer fans, but to each their own ).   But you know if you think about it, life is a lot like that. Meaning you run down the field of life kicking and positioning yourself to score that elusive goal. Understanding that, the point I want to make is, although we get a bit tried running back and to trying to make those goals. It's not so much the goal itself that's important. ( Because more often than not, we miss. ) It's the idea of having a goal that's important.  As you may have figured from my blogs, I've been on a bit of a healing / rediscovery journey myself. Which is okay, because at some point each one of us has to do that. I think what brought on some of my stress and down

It's been a heck of a week, nothing really critical just trying. Been working on a problem and when it seems we are close to figuring out, the problem has another wheel come off. So here we are tried, worn-out, chipping out at the problem. I'm sure a lot of you run into weeks, months, or years like that. And, as much as we want to wish the problem away .  There it is every Monday morning, always the first one in the office using the last packet of sugar in it's coffee.   It's at this time that we ( I ) have to remember not give up the fight and to not let the problem beat us. But staring at the problem all day may not be the answer. What I am saying is it's okay to walk away from it every now and again, even putting the thing on the self for a while. Because if you do, a solution may come to you once you're batteries recharge.      I know this note may seem short, but message is no less true. When we hit the wall with a problem, sometimes what you need to d

First off, a few moments ago I came up with a title " Shadows of Doubt ". Funny, but if you read my posts (and b y the way, Thanks! to my 6 fans ) you already know I used that title in a post. Despite that, I re-read the piece and decided to continue my train-of-thought. I have issues , hell we all have issues , still as we go through this world we want at at least enjoy ourselves and keep the issues to a minimum. To do that we got to be balanced in every area of ourselves. You see, I was raised with the mindset that we are both spiritual as well as mortal beings. So when one of those two areas get's off-balance you end up with " issues ".  One of my many issues is a lack of confidence in myself. Now this isn't to say I haven't gotten better, I mean I have a dream or two that's been fulfilled. It's just that every now and then you get a voice in your head telling you that your not good enough. Even now, I'm working through a deeper situa

Without going too much into personal details, it’s been a pretty stressful two weeks for me. It seems every so often despite the plans you make things go to hell to put it mildly. So while I was running around stomping out fires here and there I’d try and remind myself to breathe and relax. I’m sure everyone reading this knows how easy that is (you can stop laughing now). Anyway, the stress and anxiety I was allowing myself to live was really affecting my work, my family, my sleep, and my health. Let me tell you, it wasn’t a pretty picture, which is why I wanted to tell this story. Each of us faces some level of stress every day. Rather it’s in the drive to work or that deadline your boss moved up again or the child who throws a tantrum when you say no. We all have stresses and levels of anxiety we can handle. But, what if you’re pushed to the edge and even little stresses get to be too much. What do you do? First off, I claim no cure all for stress and anxiety other than

In our lifetimes we wear so many different hats, it can get hard to tell the real you from the rest of the ensemble. Because sometimes we wear the hats for so long people forget who you are under them. As for myself, I wear the hat of husband, father, businessman, friend, and relative. I’ve worn these hats for so long, I’ve ended up forgetting who I am. So the topic of my thought today is rediscovering myself and allowing myself to be. At first the title may sound like poor grammar ( like that stop me from writing before ). But at the beginning of this draft, I decided to look up the word be . What I found on dictionary.com was that be meant: to exist or live, to take place; happen; occur, to continue or remain as before . So in a way the title sounds right, because Am allowing myself to: exist, live, happen, occur, continue or remain , again. Understand that this isn’t a call to discard the hats we wear. What I’m saying is don’t let the hat become you. You see, I may be my

I noticed I hadn't made a post in a few days. I just guess that's because my mind has been running in about ten different directions lately. The reason for that is complicated, I guess it all can be chalked up to simple too many things to solve. But I'm sure none of you ever experience that problem. When I do see myself going off in several directions, I usually pull back on the throttle and coast for awhile. So I guess that's what I'm doing, I'm coasting. When you pull back you tend to leave a few things undone, kinda' like my blog. But you know what, that's OK. Sometimes when too much is heading in your direction, it's good to step back. Too many times in my own life and in the lives of my family and friends. I see them working and working and not decompressing. But much like that engine you hold the throttle to, if you don't pull back you'll find yourself heading for trouble. So as Friday is here upon us remember to that some time ou

First let me apologize to REM for stealing their line but, I can't multitask and yes, I feel fine. For a long time I tried to multitask, but discovered I was a miserable failure at it. So instead of being honest about it I hide my "problem". After all I couldn't let my kids know their college attending old man was just like all the other old people and couldn't multitask like them.  But truth  be told, no one really multitask's very well.    I recently read in Forbes Online  an interesting piece by Douglas Merrill about multitasking. In the piece Merrill points out that while we may appear to multitask from time to time, we are limited by our short-term memory to the number of things we can concentrate on at any given time. On that theme I did a little more digging and found an article in  HealthDay.com  about actual risk in multitasking.  While both Forbes and the HealthDay  discuss the risk to job performance through the lack of concentration when jump

As I'm sure you all have figured out it's the dogs days of summer. I did a little silly research and found that the dog days are between mid-July to mid-August in the "Dog Star" Sirius  is brightest star in the summer night sky. But no matter what the Sun's out and I'm burning up.  The sad part is last year where I live in South Central Georgia we were going through a heatwave last with temps above 90 degrees most of the summer. This year it seemed the temperature dropped during the spring and it rained, and rained, and it rained. It only started to get hot a week or two ago. Even with temperatures no where near last year's I'm burning up, a friend of mine in Arizona said, " it's just the humidity ", ha, ha.  So I don't know if it's me or the humidity or what, that's got me hating this summer. Like that county song, " too hot to fish, too hot to golf ", all I can do is sit in this office and try and cool off. You

Awhile back I wrote a post on people and their negative attitudes towards life called, Negatively, Speaking (1/5/2013). In it I told about how others including myself, used cynicism to justify our poor attitudes on life and other people. For many years I used negativeness to justify things I thought I couldn't change. But for the past five years I've fought very hard to reach goals I only dreamed about just a short time ago.  What I'm going to discuss here has to do with being negative, but being negative in a slightly different way. You see, it was the negative internal voice that brought on cynicism. The internal voice that tells you you're no good or not worth getting that dream. It was that voice I have to face down even to this day to achieve what I know I can achieve.  You may ask, what is your secret to facing down that voice? What is that you do to kill it and carry on? I guess the best way to tell is that I simply walk through it and face it. A good exampl

Earlier today I was watching a film called The Company Men , it's a film from a few years back about the affect downsizing has on this group of employees. For me, the film served as a reminder that only a few things in our lives aren't fleeting such as love and self.  The film itself goes into other moral and ethical issues which I'll let you watch and figure out for yourselves. Mainly the movie brought that to life that, what you put into this life is what you get back. So while money and it's trappings are nice, true content can only come from love and respect. Why I would post this to my Blog is obvious, why I'm sharing this with LinkedIn is a reminder to everyone. Serving only yourselves may fill your pockets, but what fills your soul Love & Respect. So work ethically.   

A few years back a country artist came out with a song with the line " you find out who your friends are ". To me the song speaks of seeing who your true friends are when " the chips are down ", you can say. Who out there hasn't experienced that.  My reason for bringing up the subject is recently I had a setback. Not one that laid me out on the floor but, one that pushed me back a few steps I'll say. But just when it looked like what few friends I do have would thin out even more, some stepped up to make my day. even though they didn't know I needed it.     While I am very grateful for the support, most of us would do the same for a friend wouldn't we?  I was brought up being taught to be the same no matter who I'm around. By that I mean to treat each person with kindness and honesty. I mean I wouldn't disrespect an older person or cuss in front of a stranger but, I would treat each person the same.  Another lesson I learned was not to

Have you ever gotten up and just knew it was going to be a bad day? Well today was one of those days for me. I didn't sleep well until late into the night, and while I got up feeling ok. I just knew which direction my day was going. Still, I managed to get a few things going but, the main item on my agenda barely go off the ground. Now I'm telling you this to say, while I feel a day may have been wasted ( and maybe it was ). I can't let that issue cloud my mind. Because God willing, the sun rises tomorrow, and I'll get another chance to hit the ground running. This may not be the type of motivation you want to hear. You may rather hear something like, "seize the day" or "strike while the fire's hot" or something. That may work for some, but for someone like me that is happy just to be able to get out of bed. Just knowing tomorrow will give me another chance is pretty good to know.  

This morning was rough, I had a couple of pretty tough tests to past. After they were over, I was pretty anxious and started wondering, " why am still I doing this to myself? "  After a little while, I relaxed and calmed down, realizing that every so often these feelings are going to come. And, that those feelings are going to challenge me and make me question the goals I have set. So while I sit here a take a breathe, I'm reminded that when you can have shadows of doubt, and that's ok. Because when you put a few victories behind, you it get's a little easier to tell those voices to go.   My point here is fairly simple. When negative voices come to rob you of whatever you're working toward. First accept that it's there. Then allow your mind and that stress to clear away. ( How you do that is up to you. ) Then you can refocus on the task at hand.  This may not work well the first time. But in my life allowing the negative to have it's say (to a

I'm sure we have all heard the word's in this title used before, layman's terms. It usually means, "break it down into words I understand." It's a term I know quite well to describe what I do. I run a little one-man-show that basically does that, breaks things down to terms that laypeople can understand ( or at least that's what I try to do ).  I work as a Systems Analyst, my particular focus is on IT systems and software design. But, I can use my analysis training to breakdown and analyze other areas of IT and business.  My point in mentioning this is to discuss a void that seems to exist between software creators and those that use it. Spending the better part of my college life & career learning the in's and out's of system requirements, getting to know the stakeholders, and defining what end users want and what programmer's can give 'em. My job is to basically translating terms between stakeholders and programmers. Sounds like f

Every so often I get tired  Tired of staring at monitors, tired of reading textbooks, tired of sitting down at 7:30 am then realizing it's 12:45 pm and I haven't gotten up. ( Which is never good for your kidneys .) Just get tired of being tried. When experiencing this I take myself a break, maybe for a few minutes, maybe for a few weeks. But then you know what happens a short time after I do that? I get bored out of my mind. What is it that makes me do that? I'm sure a bunch of you know what I'm writing about. Are we messed up? Are we simple workaholics? I never thought of myself as being a workaholic, so why over the past few years have I become this way?   My guess is, I like what I'm doing. And, while a lot of you may say that's B.S. A few of you may say, yeah, that's true. A few of us get to do something we truly enjoy doing. Still for all of us, all work and no play can make you a bored person.  So what do I suggest to get us out of this bored wi

You know, I don't put much value in money. I mean, I do enjoy eating and like to see my A/C running during this heat. What I mean is money is more a tool than a desire or end all. Some of you may think, he only feels that way because he's loaded or he's plain crazy. Well the first part of that statement I assure you isn't true, the last part, well the jury's still out. I suppose my reason for mentioning this is, what do we place real value on? Is it the toys we can pile in our garages? Or is it the cash we stash for a rainy day? Either thing isn't bad in itself, it's just what are we doing to create value within ourselves? Does it take money for you to measure success or are you successful for far more important things? I've had a few epiphanies in my life that greatly changed me. One was my sad divorce from my first wife. Second, was finding my true soulmate and balance from my past. Then came the birth of my children and the real meaning of maturit

Yesterday evening into this morning, I haven't felt my best. I suppose it's my damned sinuses or something. But you know what I'm talking about when you just don't feel right. Still, I struggled through my morning routine of answering emails and school stuff. But as I finished, I shutdown the main work computer and fired up the laptop so I could sit on the daybed and continue to work at a more relaxed pace.  I know many of you don't have the luxury of working from home or have a daybed in your office. But I will admit having grown kids, a wife that works herself in another room, and a live in a fairly quiet neighborhood has it's perks. So now I sit here with the curtains drawn with some meditation sounds playing. Trying to work out this tension and prepare for the remaining tasks ahead. This doesn't mean I'm totally tuned out humming com-by-ya or something, it just means I continue work at a more relaxed pace.  I well know that most all work environ

After a week of trying to shake a valuable thought out of my head. This morning this occurred to me, how do we consider others in worse situations than ourselves? Do we give charity a second thought or are we I got mine now get yours? I know it's a long ways from Thanksgiving or Christmas, but our hearts should be mindful of those who need support. I guess my reason for this is, everyday I read post from friends and love ones on social sites about taking trips or dining out. Now there is nothing wrong with enjoying the hard work you put in, the point is being aware of those who have not.  A good example of loving thy neighbor is the idea I saw were a family in a drive thru paid the bill for the car behind them in honor for their late son, I'm sure you heard that one. Well this is one simple act of kindness we can do, with no guarantee you'll be paid back. But believe me, one day you will.  So this weekend as you go online or write a check to pay a bill remember a char