It has always amazed me how two people can look at the same thing and see it so differently. I was again reminded of this earlier this week as another person and I were driving past the skyline of the city of Atlanta. Whenever I see this beautiful sight I get excited and think about all the opportunities that either exist or are about to be created in this city. My friend, seeing the exact same view as I did, thought about all the crime, poverty, and all the awful things you hear about in big cities. WOW!!
Aren't the annual political races exactly the same way? We have multiple parties running for office because folks see things differently. We have one candidate, usually the officeholder, claiming everything is great and wonderful and he/she deserves another term, while the other candidate tells everyone just how awful and dreadful everything is and how it must be improved or the world will end in disaster quickly. Usually when the dust of the race settles we the public find out both sides slightly exaggerated their viewpoints and things continue forward, maybe not to the liking of everyone, but certainly to the pleasure of some. I become amused when someone claims to be TOTALLY COMMITTED to one party or another - in my findings I seem to see a lot of good and awful in both sides of most political issues, after all, that is part of the nature of politic's. Compromise.
Think about businesses that you know, some accommodate all the changes we face daily in life and make new opportunites, while the other seems to oppose all change and continue to want to do business as it always has. One company is aggressive, fast, and opportunistic; while the other is time-bound, filled with archaic systems and structures, and is either blind to, or refuses to, accept or reconize new opportunites for growth.
I'm certainly not avocating that ALL change is good, but change certainly is a part of our daily lives and we all must learn to accept change and adapt to newer and mostly better ways of accomplishing the same tasks we were before. Typewriters gave way to desktop computers, which have evolved to laptops, which now are moving towards tablets. It seem constant, yet is actually driven by our own demands. All the social media in the world can't take the place of a personal visit with a friend. Some things seemingly won't change, and I believe it is because the good things don't need changing.
Yesterday I watched a video of my old high school being torn down earlier this year - sadness filled my heart as I remembered all the good times of my life in that building, yet I also saw pictures of the new school built next door and am thrilled for all the young folks who will have a much better facility in which to learn their education.
Yep, two set's of eyes, sometimes even within one person. All will be well with the world.........
Thursday, June 28, 2012
Monday, June 25, 2012
How to Handle Stress
How to Handle Stress
I did not write this story, just received it from a friend and thought it worthy to pass along to everyone reading my blog. I had intended on writing about vacations, seems like many are interested in that subject right now, but my take was going to be on those who avoid vacations and seem to wear that like a badge of honor - that they don't take a vacation. Well, it just isn't healthy and it is really not good for your company! They provide vacation time for a reason - I believe this below story very well points out that exact reason!
A young lady confidently walked around the room while explaining stress management to an audience. As she raised a glass of water, everyone was sure she was going to ask the ultimate question: 'Half empty or half full?' However, she fooled them all.
"How heavy is this glass of water?" she inquired with a smile.
Answers called out ranged from 8 oz. To 20 oz.
She replied, "The absolute weight doesn't matter. It depends on how long I hold it. If I hold it for a minute, that's not a problem. If I hold it for an hour, I'll have an ache in my right arm. If I hold it for a day, you'll have to call an ambulance. In each case it's the same weight, but the longer I hold it, the heavier it becomes."
She continued, "That's the way it is with stress. If we carry our burdens all the time, sooner or later, as the burden becomes increasingly heavy, we won't be able to carry on."
"As with the glass of water, you have to put it down for a while and rest before holding it again. When we're refreshed, we can carry on with the burden -- holding stress longer and better each time. So, as early in the evening as you can, put all your burdens down. Don't carry them through the evening and into the night.... Pick them up tomorrow.
"Whatever burdens you're carrying now, let them down for a moment. Relax; pick them up later after you've rested. Life is short. Enjoy it and the now 'supposed' stress that you've conquered!"
Relax today - stop and smell the roses and other flowers you pass so often without notice.
Steve
I did not write this story, just received it from a friend and thought it worthy to pass along to everyone reading my blog. I had intended on writing about vacations, seems like many are interested in that subject right now, but my take was going to be on those who avoid vacations and seem to wear that like a badge of honor - that they don't take a vacation. Well, it just isn't healthy and it is really not good for your company! They provide vacation time for a reason - I believe this below story very well points out that exact reason!
A young lady confidently walked around the room while explaining stress management to an audience. As she raised a glass of water, everyone was sure she was going to ask the ultimate question: 'Half empty or half full?' However, she fooled them all.
"How heavy is this glass of water?" she inquired with a smile.
Answers called out ranged from 8 oz. To 20 oz.
She replied, "The absolute weight doesn't matter. It depends on how long I hold it. If I hold it for a minute, that's not a problem. If I hold it for an hour, I'll have an ache in my right arm. If I hold it for a day, you'll have to call an ambulance. In each case it's the same weight, but the longer I hold it, the heavier it becomes."
She continued, "That's the way it is with stress. If we carry our burdens all the time, sooner or later, as the burden becomes increasingly heavy, we won't be able to carry on."
"As with the glass of water, you have to put it down for a while and rest before holding it again. When we're refreshed, we can carry on with the burden -- holding stress longer and better each time. So, as early in the evening as you can, put all your burdens down. Don't carry them through the evening and into the night.... Pick them up tomorrow.
"Whatever burdens you're carrying now, let them down for a moment. Relax; pick them up later after you've rested. Life is short. Enjoy it and the now 'supposed' stress that you've conquered!"
Relax today - stop and smell the roses and other flowers you pass so often without notice.
Steve
Tuesday, June 12, 2012
Control Yourself! Really?
What can you really control? In today's fast paced world it seems like very little is under our direct control anymore. Frustration is rampant everywhere. It is widely accepted that the two main things you can control is your ATTITUDE and your ACTIONS. Now I totally agree with that statement but believe there may be a few more things you really can control. How about your PRIDE and your EGO? Both of those items seem to cause huge problems also. Are you able to think of other things that you can actually control?
What I like about the ATTITUDE and ACTIONS part is that those two items cover about 95% of everything that you need to be concerned about in life. Actually when you boil it down to essentials, you discover that PRIDE and EGO are both pretty much covered in ATTITUDE and ACTIONS also. If you watch your attitude you won't end up with either excessive pride or ego! If you watch your actions you won't end up with unwanted or unintended consequences either. Those unwanted consequences cause the majority of pain in most folks lives in my opinion, so controlling your actions and your attitude will also remove much pain from your daily living.
Controlling your attitude and actions requires that you have a moral and ethical values set that you can use to guide yourself and your actions accordingly. How or where do you obtain such values? I suggest they are available all around you but it requires you to think about them and see which values are most important to you personally. My values may be different than yours, yet yours work for you just as well as mine work for me. May I suggest that you take some time today to exercise your most important muscle (your brain) today, right now, and think about your values. Write them down if you don't have them written already and use them to be a valuable aid to guiding your attitude and actions!
When you are in control of your ATTITUDE and ACTIONS then life seems just a little bit sweeter and certainly easier.
These are my thoughts, what are yours?
Steve
What I like about the ATTITUDE and ACTIONS part is that those two items cover about 95% of everything that you need to be concerned about in life. Actually when you boil it down to essentials, you discover that PRIDE and EGO are both pretty much covered in ATTITUDE and ACTIONS also. If you watch your attitude you won't end up with either excessive pride or ego! If you watch your actions you won't end up with unwanted or unintended consequences either. Those unwanted consequences cause the majority of pain in most folks lives in my opinion, so controlling your actions and your attitude will also remove much pain from your daily living.
Controlling your attitude and actions requires that you have a moral and ethical values set that you can use to guide yourself and your actions accordingly. How or where do you obtain such values? I suggest they are available all around you but it requires you to think about them and see which values are most important to you personally. My values may be different than yours, yet yours work for you just as well as mine work for me. May I suggest that you take some time today to exercise your most important muscle (your brain) today, right now, and think about your values. Write them down if you don't have them written already and use them to be a valuable aid to guiding your attitude and actions!
When you are in control of your ATTITUDE and ACTIONS then life seems just a little bit sweeter and certainly easier.
These are my thoughts, what are yours?
Steve
Wednesday, June 6, 2012
Hug and Kiss your family today
I'm saddened this week by the news of another friend of mine losing his teen aged son. The Dad is obviously heartbroken not only by the loss of his son but also because he never had the chance to tell him one last time how much he loved him.
STOP whatever you are doing today and reach out to all your family members and hug them, kiss them, and tell them how much you love them and how much they mean to you by being in your life. Tomorrow isn't guaranteed and you may regret the opportunity for the rest of your life.
I want to also tell each of you, reading this, how much you mean to me in my life. I write this blog as a release but I completely enjoy hearing from those of you who read it that it sometimes touches you and helps you make yourself a better person. For that I'm grateful and it makes me very happy. I fully love my life and the friends that surround me in this life. Yes, we all have sadness like this occasionally, but for the most part I don't want to change anything about my life as it stands - except to continue to try and improve on my shortcomings. Thanks for being my friends.
These are my thoughts, what are yours?
Steve
STOP whatever you are doing today and reach out to all your family members and hug them, kiss them, and tell them how much you love them and how much they mean to you by being in your life. Tomorrow isn't guaranteed and you may regret the opportunity for the rest of your life.
I want to also tell each of you, reading this, how much you mean to me in my life. I write this blog as a release but I completely enjoy hearing from those of you who read it that it sometimes touches you and helps you make yourself a better person. For that I'm grateful and it makes me very happy. I fully love my life and the friends that surround me in this life. Yes, we all have sadness like this occasionally, but for the most part I don't want to change anything about my life as it stands - except to continue to try and improve on my shortcomings. Thanks for being my friends.
These are my thoughts, what are yours?
Steve
Monday, June 4, 2012
Veterans
This week I'm on vacation but working hard because my vacation is helping our daughter and son-in-law take care of their new baby, our second grandchild and first grand boy. My son-in-law is in the Army stationed at Ft. Polk and therefore we are surrounded by soldiers and veterans. I've heard yes sir and yes mam all day long showing respect for everyone they come into contact with. It's not just verbal respect that I'm seeing either, they also hold doors open for people, give space in traffic and generally behave in a complete manner that shows their respect for other people.
What strikes me the most about how the Army has changed since I was in it (1969-1972) is how much more professional the soldiers have become. As usual my mind has wandered to business, and how great these soldiers will be as future employees in the business world. From my observations I believe this next generation of employees will be fantastic. They are disciplined, dedicated, well trained, flexible in their mission and certainly willing and able to obey orders. These young men and women are accustomed to working within a system and to helping to improve that system when and where they see the opportunity, yet they never show disrespect or disobedience.
As I observe these soldiers I feel a great sense of peace knowing that they are currently guarding our freedom in this great country of ours as well as a sense of peace knowing that our future leaders will come from within these ranks and our way of life will continue. As they rejoin the civilian population they will be productive and valuable to whatever position they end up working in back in their communities.
I feel very confident and excited about the future today. How do you feel?
These are my thoughts, what are yours?
Steve
What strikes me the most about how the Army has changed since I was in it (1969-1972) is how much more professional the soldiers have become. As usual my mind has wandered to business, and how great these soldiers will be as future employees in the business world. From my observations I believe this next generation of employees will be fantastic. They are disciplined, dedicated, well trained, flexible in their mission and certainly willing and able to obey orders. These young men and women are accustomed to working within a system and to helping to improve that system when and where they see the opportunity, yet they never show disrespect or disobedience.
As I observe these soldiers I feel a great sense of peace knowing that they are currently guarding our freedom in this great country of ours as well as a sense of peace knowing that our future leaders will come from within these ranks and our way of life will continue. As they rejoin the civilian population they will be productive and valuable to whatever position they end up working in back in their communities.
I feel very confident and excited about the future today. How do you feel?
These are my thoughts, what are yours?
Steve
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