Happy Holidays

The holiday season is upon us.  This has been an interesting year.  I started an additional volunteer project and have been working with more children. The kids that I work with are anywhere from 8-16 years old.  A child's perspective really is a lot less jaded than that of most adults.  While stress is always a factor in the holiday season, it really is a cool thing to listen to what children have to say about life, hopes, and dreams.  Sometimes you don't realize how jaded you may have become as an adult.  It kind of sneaks up on you throughout the years.

There are so many ways to cope with holiday stress.  I won't go into details in this column.  I would just mention that it is important to be self-aware, introspective, and open to change.  I know I've gotten a bit more jaded in the last few years.  I'm glad that the kids were around to help me realize it. 

Happy Holidays! 

See ya.

Breaking Routine

There are a few movies out there that I just can't seem to stop watching.  One of them is Groundhog Day.  It's been 20 years since this movie has been in theaters, but the concept is timeless. At times, I think we all might feel we are stuck in an infinite loop at various points in our lives.  After a while, most of us get into a routine that can be rigid and inflexible.  While repetition can be a good thing, it is important to break out of the routine every now and then. 


Every one of us has a different idea of what "routine" means to us.  Most people with a weekday job have a set pattern and times that they work, sleep, and socialize.  My routine is a bit different, but it still involves the same things in a different pattern.  Breaking the routine keeps all of us from feeling like we are stuck in the infinite loop.  We call these breaks "vacations."  Fortunately, I have one coming up next week.  I really need a break.

See ya.

Rambing On

The counter on this particular blog notes that this is post number 200.  I don't really talk about anything too deep on this blog.  It's just a forum for me to vent about random observations, personal rants, and anything else that I found to be interesting.  Ten years ago, I was attempting to do at least one or two posts per month, but things did get busy throughout the years.

I started blogging before it was mainstream, and continued after it no longer was trendy.  I still contribute to six or seven blogs on a semi-regular basis, and really haven't seen too much of an improvement in my writing skills.  Wit and wisdom aside, I think it's an accomplishment to keep things going for over ten years on this.  Here's to the next 200 posts!

Check out my road warrior blog too!

See ya.

Perception Is Reality

I was watching the movie Sneakers last night.  Despite the fact that the movie is a little over 20 years old, it serves as a reminder to me that our view of the world is based upon the perception of reality rather than actual reality.  It sounds really deep, but it is actually a rather simple concept.  While perception may not necessarily be accurate, it sometimes becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy.

Perception can be a tricky thing.  Things are not always what they appear to be on the surface.  It is sometimes difficult to take reality at face value.  We tend to interpret what we see against our own values and experiences.  It takes some practice to see things with a different perspective.  In most cases, it's worth the practice.

See ya.

Suddenly, 226 Years Later . . ..

A lot can happen in 226 years.  Today we celebrate the anniversary of the signing of the Constitution of the United States.  The foundation for our government and our freedoms that we enjoy were in their infancy all those years ago.   In over two centuries our country has endured thanks to the foundations implemented by our founding fathers.  In the preamble to the Constitution, it notes the purpose to "ensure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity."


Even as change is necessary in order to keep pace with technology and time, we also need to preserve our freedoms and the ideals upon which this country was founded.  Our forefathers had the right idea.  We do need to make sure that future generations are still able to benefit from the decisions that impact our freedoms today. 

Happy Constitution Day!  Let Freedom Ring!

See ya.

Changing Times

I have written many articles for different blogs, newsletters, and other media throughout the years, and somehow my focus seems to return to topics relating to change and time.  I have often spoken about various volunteer opportunities in which you can make an impact by providing a small change to your immediate environment or a small amount of change to your favorite charity.  In order to change the world, you have to start introspectively by changing your own outlook.  It seems counter intuitive that change is one of the few constants that we have to deal with throughout life and death.

Change in all its forms does require time, patience, and sometimes a lot of effort. Time is the real limitation that we all must face.  I have noticed an inverse relationship between age and the perception of time stretching to infinity.  My perception of time started as an unlimited field of dreams, but these days the burden of time is really noticeable.  Time is one of those tricky concepts that often confounds me. For the most part, the pressures and burdens of time bring forth some of the best work that I have performed.  There are some days, though, that time seems to be working against me.

I have noticed that I tend to ramble on whenever I am at one of those crossroads in life.  This post is no exception.  I have recently reduced my road warrior time and started to resume my career and a (somewhat) normal life. As I get older and my perception of time sharpens, I also find it to be more and more critical to continue writing.  A few years ago, after contemplating the passing of a couple of friends, I really started to value the importance of blogging as a way of remembering those special moments in time.  I think Tom Selleck summed it up best, "Time has little to do with infinity and jelly doughnuts."  Now I'm hungry.  Where's that jelly doughnut?

See ya.

The Groundhog Effect

It's no secret that one of my favorite movies is Groundhog Day.  It seems to speak to many people on many different levels.  For those of you who are not familiar with the movie, the main plot device is a loop in time in which the main character is reliving the same day over and over again.  As in the movie, I tend to believe that we have all been struggling find the elusive perfection within any given day.  If time were not an issue, what could you accomplish?

In my own life, I am experiencing one of those cycles when I am compelled to bring things back in to balance by rediscovering a musical instrument or catching up on literature or finding new ways to contribute to the local community.  For lack of a better term, I'll refer to this cycle as the Groundhog Effect.


Time may not be recursive in the real world, but that doesn't prevent you from accomplishing things that matter.  Thanks to the Groundhog Effect, I've rediscovered my ukulele along with  some of my old literary classics.  I'm also working on getting back into various community service activities.  I realize that you can't rescue everyone, but that doesn't mean I'm not going to give it a try.

See ya.

Limping Along

While on yet another business trip, I twisted my ankle once again.  I've done it before, but I think I really hurt myself this time.  Since I hurt myself on the way back from a business trip, I had to get through the airports to get home.  It surprises me how rude and inconsiderate both the TSA and general travelers can be, especially when you are trying to get home on a Saturday after a long work week. 

A few years ago, when I twisted my ankle the last time, I recall the TSA wanted me to lift my legs and scan under my feet.  It's a good thing we didn't have to do that exercise this time.  When you are limping along at a relatively slow speed, the last thing you need is one of those stupid airport carts attempting to run you over and honking at you.  They also didn't seem to want to give me a ride to my gate either.

It's been only a couple of days, but I am starting to get concerned that I'm still in large amounts of pain. Ankle wraps and other treatments don't seem to be working well. I suppose time will tell.  Till then, I'll continue limping along.

See ya.

Daze Of Our Lives

About three years ago, I was experiencing some changes at work which eventually led to a layoff.  I was able to commit to another position elsewhere and adjusted back to the life of a road warrior once again, but I always had that nagging feeling that something wasn't quite right. The hardest part of my job these days is dealing with the travel schedule.  I don't find the work challenging at all, even though it does require some significant skill.  I knew that the new job was temporary and other work was available in the future, but I just came to the realization that this isn't a career. 

It took a while, but I finally snapped out of my daze. This is the first time I've been home for a couple of weeks, and I finally realized what was missing.  The work is still there, but my career has been non-existent.  I gave up my career a few years ago, and I think it's time that I started on the path to getting it back.  It might take a few months or longer to get some results, but I'm going to get my career plans restarted -- today.

See ya.

Progress Without Paper

I came to the realization that I do have several things impeding progress.  Before you can move forward, sometimes you have to take a couple of steps back.  I've been buried in paper for the last few decades.   I have been attempting to scan and archive all of my important documents, but this project has been in progress for years. Real progress is truly measured in inches, as I have seen the mountain of paper slowly disappearing.

The next step is to stop the paper before it starts by using tools like PaperKarma.  I'm slowly embracing my inner geek by using IFTTT and other tools and tricks move things directly into my electronic storage.  It's time to accelerate my progress, so I can move forward with other projects.

See ya.

As Days (Or Years) Go By

Another year has gone by in the blink of an eye.  In my youth, I used to think that time was always running too slow or in a recursive loop like the movie Groundhog Day.  In the past several years, time started to overtake me, and I now find myself in the reverse position. Scientifically speaking, time is a constant and does not change.  There is a finite measurement which governs the span of seconds, minutes, hours, days, and so forth.  There seems to be an inverse relationship between age and the perception of speed at which time passes.  I never quite understood it so vividly until a few years ago.

Last month, I was roasting marshmallows with friends, and for some reason I remembered the quote "time is the fire in which we burn."  As I recall, that quote came from Star Trek Generations, in which time was seen as a predator stalking its prey.  It's an interesting analogy, and has felt somewhat accurate in the last couple of years.  Moving forward, though, I think the philosophy of Ferris Bueller works best.  Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.

Happy 2013!

See ya.