My Riffs

There's so much fighting happening in the world right now. But are people/me/we fighting the right thing(s)? Fighting makes things worse until we find the right thing(s) to fight. Then things can get better.

My heart is heavy for what’s going on in the world right now. If ever there’s been a time to show and spread love, it’s now.

I don't have much to say today. There's so much going on in the world and it's hard to make sense of it all. There's a whole lot of talkers and probably not enough listeners. Division will cause failure. So before taking sides, know it may be causing division.

If you always have to be right, you're doing yourself a huge disservice. Newsflash: it's okay to be wrong. If you always have to be right you'll never learn.

What if we really examined our fears and checked their validity? We would find under scrutiny most of them wouldn’t hold up.  So scrutinize your fears. 

When we allow something, we set a precedent.  When we we resist something we set a precedent. A precedent always begets more of itself. So when we set a precedent we are setting a path for the future. Be extra careful in allowing something you've never allowed. Be extra careful in resisting things that could potentially help your future. Change isn't an enemy. But neither is holding onto certain values, systems, etc. Wisdom is the key in making change or not.

Many things are better left unsaid. You don't have to speak every thought that comes to your mind. You don't have to share every opinion you have. You don't have to correct every small thing that may be said or done around you. Wisdom more often is silence rather than words. And wise people's words are usually fewer and more valuable.

Cheating has at least two major consequences: 1. It devalues the system that's been cheated. 2. It hurts the cheater. Cheating isn't a shortcut to what we want, it's a destructive process that hurts the cheater the most.

Something interesting has happened recently. The world world has been fixated on one thing, a virus. The virus has killed many people and is very serious. But when you fixate on one thing, you leave many more things neglected. The costs of the neglect usually aren't worth the fixation on the one thing. This goes beyond the current world situation. I think it applies to us on an individual level too.

There’s songs and sayings about dancing in the rain. Today it rained a ton. It could depress some people. But you can always choose to dance in the rain. You will get wet, but doesn’t that beat being down? Ps. This means to dance when life rains on you too.

When things don't go as we wish, we are often stuck asking ourself "why did this happen?". And that's a very important question to ask. There's often a lot to learn from mistakes or situations that have occurred. But we/me can often get stuck on that question. The better question is "how do I make the best of this situation?". Because looking back is only so helpful. But looking forward can be very helpful.

There’s almost always an exception. But you don’t create rules and policies or live life based off n the exceptions. You make decisions based on the greatest good for the greatest amount of people.

Taking ownership of things is empowering. If you don't like something, fix it. And you can by starting with yourself. You can't wait on the everyone else to change. Want a situation to change, start with "me". Want to change the world, start with "me". Want to improve your family, it start with "me". Want to improve your relationships, it starts with "me". The more you point the finger at others, the more you give away your power.

When you're left with only bad options, you've been letting something(s) slide for far too long. The longer you wait in some situations, the fewer good options you have left. But in some situations waiting is a good thing. If you can learn to read situations (to know which require quick decisions and which can have delayed decisions) you will always be in the drivers seat.

If you have a message you're trying to communicate, you have to make sure you've connected with your audience first. If there's no connection, there's no communication.

In our current time, people can’t handle disagreement. Opposing ideas and thoughts are considered a threat. Opposing ideas should be a good thing amongst a mature group. Having different ideas is how you refine and make things better. But when the ability to engage in debate stops you stop having the refinement of ideas. And the ideas get worse. It’s values that should be most important in keeping us together. If you share the same values as someone else you should be able to handle different ideas.

Guess what? Everyone has been and will be treated wrong. My oldest daughter likes to let me know when something isn’t fair. And I always agree with with her and let her know life isn’t fair. We can get so hung up on what’s not fair and who did us wrong. But that’s just a waste of time. You’ll be treated wrong and unfair things will happen. What’s that occurs. Move on.

You can't be risk adverse and be successful. The only thing you will be successful at is being mediocre. Life is full of risk taking. Taking your first step is a risk as a toddler. Going to University is a risk. Getting in a relationship is a risk. But if you don't take any of these risks, you'll never get anywhere.

People can tend to work so hard to portray an image. Somehow though the portrayal never comes off as genuine. We're better off figuring out how we are and being the best version of ourself possible. Don't try and portray you're something that you just aren't. It's wasted time and energy.

The house next door was a deal. For over a year we had trucks shaking the ground, hammers and nails going, trades people coming and going and even a dangerous open excavation next to us. It was at best frustrating. And it went on often 7 days a week. You couldn't sit on the deck and enjoy a coffee or a nice afternoon without loud construction and people literally peering over you. But we ended up getting some really great neighbours. We couldn't ask for better neighbours. They're helpful, kind and look out for us. Sometimes you go through some real frustrating things. But in the end, you end up with some really great news things and people in your life.

Don’t look back, but know where you came from.

Tomorrow is Mother’s Day. I realize it’s not always a happy day for everyone. I’ve been fortunate to be around some amazing woman and mothers. I was brought up by a single mother who did an excellent job. Now I have a wife who is an amazing mother. I have two sisters who are excellent mothers too. I just want to express my gratitude for the mothers in my life!

One thing this pandemic has reminded me of is we need each other. We rely on each other more than we realize. Look how the global economy has changed. Look how your life has changed. It’s because everything is connected. And what I does eventually and ultimately effects you. And vice versa. We need each other. For friendship. For provisions. For keeping ourselves level. Every human is important. We need each other. More than ever we need each other.

In the last 2 months the United States has undone the last 10 years of job creation. It took 2 months to undo what took 10 years. Destruction is easy. It doesn't take as much effort to destruct something and it does to construct. This means we need to be extremely careful when destroying something. A lot went into creating it, and it will take a lot to rebuild. Make absolutely sure what you're doing is a net benefit.

Being grateful has so many benefits. You could write a book about it. One benefit to highlight is people want to be around a grateful person. You want to have friends? Yes, be friendly. Also, be a grateful person that will make you more interesting than just a friendly person.

Fear is the greatest inhibitor there is. Fear reduces extraordinary people into something far beneath their purpose. Fear steals life. Fear steals joy. Fear steals purpose. Fear steals friendships and relationships. The good news is though: fear is a liar. Call fear out on it’s lies. Don’t let it get away with robbing you of who you are.

Something bad has happened recently beyond the Covid-19 virus that has swept the globe. There is an abundance of barriers now. There's physical barriers, psychological barriers and social barriers. This is maybe the worst and most damaging thing to happen throughout the whole process. Barriers at checkouts, barriers covering peoples smiles, barriers of connection like a handshake, barriers of fear between people. It's time to break down as many barriers as possible. Maybe some of the barriers can't be removed quite yet, but we have to make sure we remove social barriers. The last thing that needs to happen is for people to further distance themselves from one another. We need to be closer than ever to move forward. The good news is, love is the most powerful force on earth. Use that force to its fullest right now.

The things that want to steal my energy usually aren’t worth it. You have to be intentional with your energy. And put it toward things that matter.

There’s so much going on in the world right now. It’s easy to get distracted from the priorities. Make sure you’re keeping your priorities right.

Division is one of the greatest tactics of an enemy. We can’t afford to let unimportant things divide us. A house divided against itself will fall.