My Riffs

Permanent glue. Permanent markers. Permanent situations. Not much is actually permanent. Almost everything is temporary. We can get overwhelmed in life and feel like some things we don’t like are permanent. But nothing in life is really permanent. At least not much is. If you can keep in mind that it will pass, you can likely endure it.

We can almost know what someone’s response will be before they ever respond. How? By how we treat them. You can handle delicate or difficult situations and get favourable responses. It’s all in how you treat someone.

I know I've posted this before, but the passing of Kobe Bryant at 41 years old was another reminder  that every single day is a gift. And no matter what happens in our day(s), we should always be grateful we have that day. I listened to where Kobe Bryant explained why he chose to use a private helicopter. And it was heartbreaking. He used the helicopter so he would spend less time in traffic and so he could spend more time with his family. It allowed him to pickup his girls from school and still do what he needed to do during the day. How sad it was to hear that. What was meant to save him time was what took his life. He had the money to fly private helicopters but that wasn't enough to give him another day beyond what he had. A sad, sad reminder that each day is a gift. I wanna spend my time wiser than ever before.

Okay. You need to know some thing about what you’re doing. You need some basic skills in it. But even more importantly you need these things to really succeed: -  Self-motivation -  A good attitude Those will take you further and open more doors for you than anything else.

Many times the way to get over something is to go through it. There's usually not a magic way to get over something and just have the hardship removed. You have to go through it, then you can get over it. The good thing about going through something is it makes you stronger and you can go through something similar again and you'll be stronger through it. Don't wish to be rid of your problems, wish for the wisdom and strength to get through them. For there's just more problems around the corner.

Today a 41 year old father and husband (Kobe Bryant) and his 13 year old daughter died in a helicopter crash. He was extremely successful and probably wealthy. But that doesn't change anything when it comes to our mortality.  Life is the most precious gift. Both our own life and the lives we're fortunate to be in contact with. Today is a solemn reminder to be thankful for each and every day we are gifted. And to be thankful for the lives we're surrounded by. There's nothing more valuable than life. (I wish society today valued life as they should. But that's a rant for another day)

We see so much inadvertent judgement these days based on identity politics. What's sad is, the dream that Martin Luther King Jr. had about people being judged based on the content of their character, is still just a dream. We may have been closer in the past to realizing that dream but we're drifting away from that as a society. Everyone is being judged based on identity politics, rather than their character. This can only change if we change ourselves. If we start looking at people based on who they are rather than all the other factors people are judging by today.

Culturally and politically the extremes are getting futher and further apart. Many things that used to be liberal and now considered conservative.  There's no room to be moderate anymore. If anyone attempts to take a moderate approach, they will be called one extreme or another.  There's actually nothing wrong with being moderate. But it's difficult today where there's no more room for moderation. But you can't let that sway you. Love people on the extremes. Being moderate may just be a bridge between them.

I took my six year old and four year old daughters for a walk today. It was a lovely +4 Celsius outside today. They both fell multiple times, usually from ice, even after I warned them to be careful. I (thankfully) didn't fall once. The difference? I've taken the falls and now know the dangers.  The older you get the more you've seen how people get hurt. You learn the dangers. So if someone older is giving you advice or warning you of something, you may want to listen. They may save you some hurt.

Over exertion means you’re running a deficit. And it will catch you. Pace is so important. Many races are won by the person with the best pace. Not necessarily the fastest. Going fast shortens endurance.

What you love is where you will spend your money. Check your transaction records to find out what you love.

If they believe it, you will see it in their actions. Our actions betray our words. Our actions almost always tell the truth about ourselves too. So if someone's actions don't line up to what they say, then they don't believe what they say.

I've made this mistake many times and seen others make it. That is, stopping what you did once you arrived at your goal. Once you get what you want, don't stop what you did to get there. At a minimum you must keep up what you were doing to keep what you have. And if you want to go further, you need to do more. Did you practice a lot to get that skill? You can't stop practicing. Did you read a lot to become proficient at your job? You can't stop. Did you work harder than your peers to get that position? You can't stop. Many a success has been frittered away because this lesson wasn't learned.

Today we celebrated my daughters 4th birthday. She’s a special little girl. She’s sweet to the core and kind. She often comes and tells her daddy “I love you daddy”. She cries if she gets scolded too hard. She’s soft hearted. It’s fun to celebrate people who mean something to you. What in life is more important than people? Stuff sure isn’t important. The only reason stuff is important (for some) is still to impress other people (because people are important) Let’s celebrate each other. Let’s be happy when someone wins. Let’s help someone when they’re not winning. Let’s share our lives with each other. Today was a reminder of this for me :)

What if we looked at our First World Problems with Third World gratitude? Most of our annoyances would be a huge luxury for much of the world. People in Third World countries would be grateful for such annoyances.

The future is nearly impossible to predict. We can make some good educated guesses though. Sometimes we will be right and sometimes we will be wrong. I've seen people destined for greatness fall short. I've seen people destined for nowhere good shock everyone and do great things. I've seen redemption, I've seen falls. Truth is truly stranger than fiction. You cannot predict the future. This isn't intended as negativity. It means, never give up on someone. And never give up on something. Believe in the worst case situations. Look to redeem the unredeemable. Don't assume the underdog won't win. Don't write anyone off, ever.

The better way to resolve something is to start with what you have in common rather than your differences.

Something needs to get done. You can get it done fast, but you sacrifice quality. You can get it done well, but you sacrifice time and spend more money. You can do it cheap, but you sacrifice quality. Two choices end up lowering quality. The other choice costs more time and money. When you start you have to decide what you are willing to sacrifice. Maybe it’s money, you are willing to pay more. Or maybe it’s quality, you’re okay with a lower quality product. Or if time is everything you either have a lower quality or you pay much more. All decisions are trade offs. And each situation can have different trade offs.

Growth isn't linear. Growth sometimes happens in fits and starts. It may involve one step forward and two back. The key is to never give in like I posted a few days ago. A step or two back won't stop someone who refuses to give in. But for a quitter it means then end. So to grow you must overcome lost battles, discouragement and seemingly overwhelming challenges. But those who never give in will grow, and in doing so will overcome. Sometimes overcoming doesn't look as we expected, but we eventually overcome when we never give in. So don't let setbacks thwart your growth, let them be launching pads forward.

To speak the truth is one of the greatest powers we have. If not the greatest. Knowing this, we should live a life with the goal of speaking nothing but truth. Truth mixed with love of course.

Everything is a risk. Stepping out is a risk. Playing it safe is a risk. Marriage, kids and family is a risk. Relationships are a risk. But not doing any of that is too. So if everything is a risk, be careful in all things. Weigh the risks.

"But for everyone, surely, what we have gone through in this period — I am addressing myself to the School — surely from this period of ten months this is the lesson: never give in, never give in, never, never, never, never-in nothing, great or small, large or petty — never give in except to convictions of honour and good sense." - Winston Churchill

For everyone there’s some things in the past we don’t like. We didn’t enjoy going through them. They maybe weren’t even fair. Some people have gone through absolutely horrible and atrocious things. And these things may effect us for the rest of our lives. But if we ever want to get past them to some degree we have to look at the past event as an opportunity. An opportunity to gain strength. An opportunity to break a chain or a cycle. An opportunity to shed a burden. An opportunity to change the narrative. If you can turn the past into an opportunity for a better future, you’ve made something good from something bad.

What if people only judged us by our actions? Here's an interesting thought experiment. Warning: it's sort of political, but also not supposed to be really about politics. I'm not making a political statement or endorsement. What would the detractors of Donald Trump be saying if Trump hadn't uttered a word while in office? What if he was only judged him by his actions thus far? My best guess is, there wouldn't be near the level of hate towards him that there is today. I'm not defending anything, but I am saying there's no doubt the words he's said have exasperated things. The point here is supposed to be, does what you say betray your actions? Our actions are more important than our words, but are we causing confusion or unnecessary issue with our loose words?

We're a week into the new year. How have the New Years Resolutions gone? How has the New Years cleanse or cleanup gone? It's not too late to keep cleaning up. I still have some digital cleanup to do: Unsubscribes, unfollows, notification setting cleanup. All these things clutter our minds and take away from the important things in life. If you haven't started, get cleaning! :)

Wisdom has many great side benefits. Wisdom usually brings along patience. And many other good things. Get wisdom. And get wisdom be being hungry and listening.

If you can be good at creativity and organization you can do some amazing things. If you’re a creative find someone to help organize you. If you’re super organized find someone creative to link up with.

It's okay to not have a response to everything.

Here's one thing that everyone should strive to be, an example. If you are striving to be an example, you will likely become something very good. You may not know where you're gonna end up, but you will make the right decisions along the way if you are striving to be an example.

I've probably posted this before, but we need these three things in order to grow properly: Rest Relationships Responsibility People who significantly lack in any of these areas will stunt their growth.

A very happy new year to everyone! Wishing everyone the best for this year! Thank you for taking the time to read my ramblings and humouring me!