My Riffs

Happy New Year! Let’s not wait for 2021 to get better, let’s make it happen!

If you love someone, tell them now. If someone did a good job, tell them now. If you appreciate someone, let them know! These little things can make someones day.

Most things are a trade off. We trade our time for money. We trade problems for problems. We trade goods for money. We trade money for other money. We trade time for growth. You have to give something to get something. Nothing is free. We have to balance all these trades to make sure we don't end up with a deficit. I'm not talking about financially or that we get from others as much as we give. I'm talking about making sure we're balancing things so we don't give too much in one area and end up with a deficit. We can give too much time and not have enough to learn and grow. We can give too much financially and not have enough to meet our needs. Realizing everything is a trade should help balance what we're trading and receiving for the trade.

Your environment effects you. I was in a mall and the loud busy environment effected me. There was little I could do to effect the environment, but the environment effected me. Your environment is important in your health and life. Living in an unhealthy environment will make your life unhealthy. Change your environment to be what you need to sustain a healthy life. Your home should be your safe place and you can change it into a healthy, peaceful and safe space. You can't change every environment to be that, but you can change your primary environment to be so.

 Here’s some good things to practice at the end of 2020. - gratitude - contentment

The day after Christmas and where is my joy. It's not in gifts or just a single day. It's in the little moments of life that we can often overlook. The fresh snowfall today or the time spent playing with kids. Those are places to find joy. We don't have to look for a big celebratory day or gifts. It's in the little things and the joy they bring.

Wishing everyone a very Merry Christmas!

Getting ready for something often takes longer than the event. We can spend our lives getting ready for something and miss out on living.

Reflectors reflect light. They absorb darkness but reflect light. That can analogous for what we should look to be. We live in a world where there is a lot darkness, but we need to only reflect the light. Darkness is powerless against light. We don't need to be afraid of the darkness, but we do need to purposely reflect light. Let's be reflectors!

I recently heard it said fear is the result of believing a lie. That means fear is unwarranted. And in order to eliminate fear, we have to identify the underlying lie.

Today was winter solstice. The shortest day of the year. This means the days get longer and we get more sunlight after today.  Every day can be a solstice if needed. It’s only a decision away that tomorrow will be different or better. 

It's hard to use proper adjectives nowadays. We say everything is "awesome" or "amazing" or "unbelievable". Very often, the things we are describing are really awesome, amazing or unbelievable though. How do you communicate something that is actually unbelievable today?  It's challenging. Maybe you drop the adjectives and become a compelling storyteller by explaining the purpose, magnitude or vision for something.

Is this worth my energy? Or is this worth my finite resources (time, money, energy)? This is a question worth asking ones’ self often. There are so many energy drains out there that aren’t worth it.  Life is too short to throw away your finite resources. Use them for things that appreciate. 

Life has a way of trying to make ones heart hard. Having a hard heart makes life bleak and hopeless. It takes the joy and life out of living. It's worth the work to keep your heart soft. Yeah, it may hurt sometimes, but it beats having a hard heart and losing out on the joy and beauty in life. You won't experience the joy and beauty in life with a hard heart.

Routines are super important. Humans need routines in order to function successfully. But we need to examine our routines occasionally to make sure they’re good ones. We become what we repeat daily. We can let bad routines slip in which will have negative long term effects. 

Is something is to be sustainable, it must be easily repeatable. It’s hard to sustain something that is difficult to repeat. 

I've noticed something about big people. (not big in physical size, big in character and heart) They draw big huge, maybe even uncomfortable circles. Small people draw lines that cut people out. Big people draw bigger circles that draw even the small people in.

Those who have control of information have the power. We’re seeing big tech hold more power than any other group.  They hold all the data and they control the flow of information.  It’s time to educate ourselves on privacy and alternate platforms. They only way these companies will be beat is if they lose their user base.  Research which search engine you should use, which email provider you should use and learn about the privacy settings on your mobile device. 

Just a reminder that everyone has something to teach us. We just need to be willing to listen and learn from them. 

I’m sure I’ve blogged this idea before. But it just keeps being at the forefront of my thinking that people are so opposed to each other. There’s sides for everything and you have to take a side it seems. And I don’t see people opposed to each other reaching the other side very often.  How do you reach those opposed to you? Simple really. By loving them. It seems facts, data, anecdotes and logic don’t sway those opposed to you. But love is greater than all those things. 

There comes a point in trying where the law of diminishing returns takes over. You can actually try too hard. People have been called a “try hard”. That’s not a compliment either.  Learning when to let off the gas pedal is an art to be discovered. 

When things get complicated, that's an indication to simplify what you can. When things get really simple, maybe you can add complexities to help things evolve. But don't add complexities to complexities. It's better to keep things simple than to add needless complexities.

The future is created by those who have a vision for it. It may not turn out 100% what the vision is, but it will be crafted by those with vision.  Everything we see started as an idea in someone’s head. The had vision and crafted it into reality.  We all have that power in our lives and our world. 

Sometimes you have to find the good. Sometimes you have to search harder than others. But you can always find good somewhere. 

This year has been a year of rash, arbitrary reactions. Mostly I'm referring to governments. There seems to be missing some sound logical and rational decision making. Fear has been the governing force over decision making. What would be different if we tested our responses and then validated the results? I'm sure our responses would be a lot more nuanced than they are. 

Where you derive validation from is where you will focus your energy and find your purpose.

Something I’ve had to learn about love is it’s accepting people where they are. It doesn’t mean I always feel good about where they are; but accepting it and loving and caring for them is true love.

Your best defence is your actions. Not your words. Let your actions speak for you. 

If you could dream, what would the best day ever look like for you? The best day ever could only be the best day ever if it involved family and friends. The best day ever couldn't be a day with material gains or even solo experiences. The best day ever is only the best because it's shared with those who matter the most. The greatest experience wouldn't be as sweet without sharing it with others. I'm sure it's quite a feeling to climb Mount Everest, but I'm also sure it's even a better feeling doing it with a friend. We can make every day the best day ever when we're sharing it with the ones we love.

I took a two week break from the news and guess what? I didn't miss it and nothing changed in those two weeks. Makes me re-evaluate how much value there is in staying caught up on current affairs. I think there's value in knowing what's going on. But news can become entertainment and a time waster just like social media. I will be setting limits to my news consumption going forward. It doesn't take long until you get diminishing returns on news consumption.

Why does bad news spread faster than good news? Why do we seem to get more enjoyment out of spreading bad rather than good news?  If each of us started only spreading good news and holding back the bad news, we would make our spheres of influence better. And those in that sphere would make their spheres better. Filter the bad out, spread the good. We don't need any more bad news in 2020, there's a shortage of good news and good news is more valuable.