My Riffs

A new year is an opportunity to reset a few things. That's why so many people make New Year resolutions. But many resolutions aren't kept. So use the opportunity to reset, but don't set unrealistic expectations. Make the goals and resolutions attainable, or else you're setting yourself up for failure! Happy New Year!

We all have masks. Sometimes we need to put on our brave face, even when we don't feel it. Sometimes we need to put on our confident face, even when we don't feel it. This isn't about being fake, it's about making ourselves point in a direction when we don't feel it. Some masks are fake though. And we have to make sure to get rid of those. Sometimes it's okay to let people know we feel weak and vulnerable. We don't need a mask that makes us appear smarter or more put together than we actually are. There's a line between being brave, and being something we're not. It's worth examining our masks and seeing which aren't needed.

The rules of life are very simple rules. Be kind, be honest, work hard, love. and maybe a few other. But they're quite simple. Reading the list above it would seem quite a simple task to undertake. But then life jumps in. And being kind if challenging, telling the truth may not be the easy decision and sometimes being lazy feels like the best course to take... Keeping things basic isn't by any means easy. Keeping things simple is actually difficult. Getting things wrong is easy. If we can reduce our actions to the simple rules we should be following, things will be better for us. If we can remove the emotion from out actions, we should be able to easier make the right and simple decisions.

Humans are generally very creative. We're all inventors. We all invent different things. Some people invent systems and codes. Some people invent art. We have to be careful with our inventive natures. We can also invent completely fabricated memories. Or we can invent problems that don't really exist. The time to be grounded in reality is when we're inventing problems. The time to be freed from reality is when we're inventing solutions.

The focus can become on things that may not be worth it. We may be wanting to make a big splash, or to be a big deal. But that shouldn't be a focus. The focus should be on doing small things greatly. Dream and aim big, but don't make "being a big deal" part of the dream. Achieve greatness by doing small things great. And doing "small things with great love" as Mother Teresa said.

We live in abundance. We don't need much of what we have. So what do we do with the abundance? Because we have have abundance of, someone has need of. Just being aware of those around us, and their needs is a good way to help deal with your abundance. If we can give away the things we don't need, we can help meet the needs of those around us. What potential value is something sitting unused in our home or garage? There's no value while it sits unused, but there's someone out there who can make use of it. It will also help to de-clutter our lives to go through and get rid of the abundance.

Merry Christmas everyone! Wishing everyone the best today!

Christmas is the season of giving.  Where have you given the most this season?  That’s what you love. 

Some decisions you make in advance of needing to make them. That’s so, in the moment when the decision needs to be made, it’s already made. Because in such moments it may be hard to make the right decision. So some things, decide them in advance and then the wrong decision isn’t even an option. * this is from a conversation I had tonight with someone wise.

Have you ever noticed that the most joyful things in life can’t really be explained? How do you explain the joy found in a great friendship? How do you explain the joy found in a spouse and children? How do you explain joy in viewing something majestic like the Grand Canyon? If you can explain it it may take away from that sense of awe and wonderment.

If you don’t dream big, you won’t accidentally walk into great things. So make your dreams larger than life, and you may just create them. For sure you’ll create more than if you hadn’t dreamed at all.

Be careful where you find your validation. You may need to keep going back to the same source to revalidate.

There's times when it's best to wait and delay, and then there's times when it's best to act quickly. It seems if it's a difficult tasks and less than desirable task, it may be worth doing immediately. If its a task that you just can't wait to do, it may be one worth delaying. Gratification often seems better delayed and hard work is better confronted head on.

You never come out poorer when being generous. Generosity always benefits the giver as much or more than the receiver.

If you accept abuse you allow it to continue. Abuse comes in many forms. You don’t have to be unkind, but you don’t have to accept it. Reject it and stop its spread.

Things can be created from both chaos and order. Some things need order in place to be able to be created, but some things need chaos for them to be created. When things are chaotic, look for opportunities of new things to be birthed. Don't discount the chaos, it's not all bad. Out of chaos some of the most important and biggest things have been born. Order creates things that require stability. Chaos creates things that overthrow inefficient or malfunctioning systems.

If you like it, you'll find something good in it. If you dislike it, you'll fine what you don't like. So examine your results, they may be a confirmation of your bias rather than a fair viewpoint.

Accomplishments are great things. But they're in the past. It matters more where you're going. The same way a changed persons past doesn't matter so much as their future, past accomplishments don't matter as much as future ones.

What you love will become evident. Check your spending habits. Check your time investments. Check your thought investments. Check you speech patterns. Do these things and you will figure out what you love.

Those tasks that we really don’t want to tackle are the ones that hold the most value. So many things I really don’t want to do. But in doing them I get much more value than doing the easy tasks.

You can’t hide your true colours indefinitely. You can paint a layer over them, but eventually that layer will peel back and the true colour will be exposed. If we don’t want our true colours to be exposed, we have a great option. We can change our true colours. Rather than attempt a cover up, it’s better to change colours.

Repetition can be a good and bad thing. One way repetition can become bad is when we end up believing something we repeat. We can repeat something so much we believe it. So if we’re being repetitious we need to make sure we’re saying good things.

The critic (not the critical) is an important role. The critic actually opens themself up for criticism. I’m not talking the negative person who only sees the bad. I’m talking about the critic who wants to make things better and who uses their voice to do so. That person doesn’t have an easy job. But it’s important. Things don’t improve if there is no criticism. When we make the critic the villain, we lose something valuable. This should be the role the media plays in the world today. It’s turned into political activism, but in theory the media should play an important role in making things better. The critic is valuable. As long as they’re not a critical person and only point out the bad with no solutions or positivity.

If you have something important to say, you will offend someone. So, we can't hold back important ideas just because it may offend someone. Conversely we cannot speak something to offend somebody. That doesn't help move the conversation forward. But speaking something true may offend someone, but it will help move the idea forward. So unless you never say something, you will offend someone. Even being silent will offend someone though. So, it's safe to say you will offend someone. So don't let that hinder speaking your important ideas and truths.

Our greatest fears seem to rarely manifest in reality. But we sure do obsesses over them. The energy we invest into our fears doesn't move us ahead, it keeps us back. Fear is a tool. But it's not one that needs much energy invested into it. That energy should be put into good possibilities rather than fears.

Sometimes we don’t know what to do. In those moments, it’s usually safe to do nothing. Action that is aimless usually causes more problems.

One of the most destructive forces in the world is lies, or half-truths. Lies and half-truths damage ourself when we spread them, and they flow out and damage things far out from ourselves even. Truth and love are the most powerful forces on earth, and they are intertwined. So the message is, speak the truth, in love. There isn't anything more powerful than doing that.

Not financial investments. Cause you don't always get what you put in there. But watch what you're investing into life. Bitterness, hatred, distrust will only reap the same. Love, mercy, kindness, gentleness will only reap the same in large. There may be some weeds pop up from time to time, but the harvest will be in large what you've planted.

Sometimes in problem solving we can really become blinded. Very often in problem solving, the best solutions come from a different perspective or a paradigm shift. So taking a break from the problem (however that looks in a given circumstance) can actually be one of the most productive things to do. Another good thing is getting different perspective on the problem from trusted sources.

If satisfaction cannot be found, chances are it's being sought in the wrong place(s). The other factors could be the wrong expectations for satisfaction have been set.

You win or lose by the way you choose. Winning and losing in life has less to do with what happens to us and more to do with the things we choose. You get to choose your destiny in many ways. Don’t let life dictate your wins and losses. Choose the wins.