Stories - FD Thornton

I was going through my emails this morning and came across a message from a recruiter I spoke with last week. It didn't take long to realize it was another "Dear, John" letter from another company, informing me they were pursuing another candidate.  After reading that very nice encouraging rejection the first thing to come to my mind was the music of the Beatles, "I'm a loser". Ironically, this song from them come off the album "Beatles for Sale" which for me lends itself well to my current situation.  Rather we admit it or not, every rejection is personal. For me it's no different than when I asked someone on a date and got that wonderful rejection, I got most of the time. But, I've learned not to take things so badly, at least after the first shock. And rather it's for my own ego or a fact (I'll never tell) I say, "Oh well, that means someone else gets me, too bad".  My point here is, rejection and having those fee...

As humans we crave stability, an anchor if you will, to tie us down. Sometimes that anchor can be a career or a hobby or even a familiar tune. Still for most that stability is home and family, our port of call, our home base, our anchor.  But over time, as the seasons change, the ones we once thought of as stable change. They may once had been our protectors, our providers. Yet as time passes, we become those things to them until one day they pass away.  So if things change what are we to do for stability? Can we ever find an anchor? You see, we have to learn in this world all things are finite, they have their limits. Rather it's a tree in the forest, the river behind our home, or the ones we love, all things physical have a set time. But for us there is hope, a hope in knowing that as the dead of winter thaws, spring isn't far away. That many years before, the ones we now mourn, mourned themselves for loved ones that had passed, and that even genera...

As you may know, I just started Graduate school after completing my Bachelor's courses last year. So for the past week I've been trying to "get my groove back", so to speak. You can sorta say it's like playing a long season of baseball. Where you finish the season on top, but your still tried and bruised from the long run. So for now this first week or so is like spring training to me, where I got to get used to working hard everyday and get my basics back down.  Life can be like that sometimes, where you have to shutdown and restart again. When you discover that your legs are a little stiff from sitting and your timing is off on your swing from not swinging. But it's spring, so you know you got to get out their and work on those things to get ready for the season. Another thing that happens is, as we grow older those muscles crap-up a little harder and our eyes are a little harder to focus, as each season passes. Still, we practice on.  For a lot of us...

Ever since my last post I've had this thought on my mind about drive. Over the last week or so I've drafted a number of post about how it motivates us and moves us to do better. But for whatever reason, I haven't been happy either what I've wrote or what I really wanted to say about it. So, here I am again with a good title and nothing else.  When thinking about this this morning, a line from one of my favorite songs off one of my favorite albums comes to mind. "Ambition bits to nails of success..." if you recall, that's part of a line from U2's song, The Fly , from the album  Achtung Baby .  I asked myself why that one line keeps popping up in my head so much.  I decided to looked the word ambition and  Dictionary.com  gave it's definition as  "an earnest desire for some type of achievement or distinction..." . So then I put that into context with  "bits the nails of success...

Maybe this isn't good for production, but sometimes life is about nothing. No agenda, no schedule, no meeting to be attended, just nothing. To some in this work, work, work world, where even play becomes work, this may sound crazy. Still believe it or not nothing has value.  Now this may sound like an easy statement to make coming from someone who isn't employed full-time. But when I did work full-time and attend school full-time, this way of thinking had even more value to me. You see, when I speak of nothing I mean during the day take a moment to pause. Let your mind empty itself and do nothing.  This may sound all Zen Buddhist of me, but even in Christian terms pausing for a moment to allow Spirit to speak is what I'm telling you, if you will. Calming down the "noise" that surrounds us is the only clear way to know if we're heading in the right direction. I myself have noticed that lately I'm allowing the noise to dictate my direction. So for the la...

First I gonna say, it's funny how when looking at this blank screen, that something profound is going to come out of my head. I have to learn that not everything I say or think is quotable or needs to be persevered. Sometimes you just gotta write. That said, as usual I cannot sleep it's 4:00 am and I need to write. Last night I thought about now that I've received my diploma, I should write a note of thank-you to all those that helped me along the way. You know, while we watch award shows we see those individuals stand there. And, even though it's them being rewarded for their work. Most all the time they take that moment in the limelight and thank others who helped, loved, and supported them. Well, here's sits my diploma and these are the people I'd like to thank. First and foremost my wife and kids, who have given me unwavering support for these four years. Who learned to knock "gently" on the door when it was closed. Even my wife knocks because ...

Recently I mentioning to someone that I was going into the MBA graduate program. And, no sooner had the words come out of my month that he replied, "All that education but, where's the job." Speaking from experience, if there's one job where we have too many qualified people, it's those of us who choose to be cynics, a career that have long held a Masters degree in. If I've learned anything about taking bold steps and improving oneself.  It's that there will be a thousand people behind you, ready to tell you, "I told you so", the minute you stumble.  Now as a holder of an MCA or Master's of Cynical Attitude, I can tell you it's easy to fall into the trap of being cynical of everything. So while being a little cynical is fine, maybe even a good thing. Letting it dictate your every response, may reward you with some laughter, but never a chance to encourage. If you don't allow others to dream, to try and do better then what they are...

I couldn't sleep, so I got up and read the front page of my newspaper, then fixed myself a pot of coffee then went outside to light up my pipe. By then it was 4:30 am of the first day of the New Year. Considering the date and time, I was a little surprised by the amount of traffic I could hear coming from the highway nearby. Plus I'd never realized roosters crowed that early in the morning before sunrise. Yet here I was hearing all this activity on the first day of the New Year.  This got me thinking back to the few New Year celebrations I have been to. They were mostly during my youth in the B.M. of my life (Before Marriage). Then I surprised myself by how many New Year celebrations I missed and was working on during my adult years in the A.M./A.C. of my life (After Marriage/After Children).  I guess that is what has shaped my idea and attitude about New Year's. That it always felt "weird" if I wasn't working. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy a good party....