Over the rainbow

The old fashion saying goes, when life gives you lemons, you make lemonade. What if you don't like lemonade. Yes, I know the saying is a proverbial phrase, it does not really mean lemons. What it simply means is when life gets tough, you think of the positive and make great things happen.

If I said think of a tough time in your life, and I gave you 15 seconds to remember one, what would that one tough time be? What was the outcome if that tough time is now behind you? Were you successful with overcoming the challenges in place? Now, take 15 more seconds and think of another time when life gave you a lemon. Which was the most challenging between the two you just came up with? Was the challenge involving finances? Was it about a friend, coworker, or family member?

Chances are your most challenging moment involved another person, and was not related to your finances. Why is that, you may ask? Every person on this spinning globe is of course independent, we all think different. Some of us are more forthcoming with issues that are present, others are willing to pass it off and just dropped the moment in the trash, awaiting for the pile to fill. We are hard to deal with. We expect everyone to act just like ourselves, we pride ourselves on our determination at the task on hand.

What we fail to realize is the importance of every person we encounter. That guy you accidentally cut off in traffic, that trash pile could be just about to over flow, and now he is raged. A typical mild mannered man, who is now face to face with you ready to swing his scrunched up fist. Maybe it was the lady at the store, who you happen to jump in line, not realizing she was next. Her trash, just added another sheet, but she is calm and moved on.

One of my favorite sayings from my days in retail is "Treat others as you would like to be treated". Respect is what Aretha Franklin was singing about. And in today's quickly moving world we all fail at respect on a weekly basis. Sometimes we do it on purpose, other times we accidentally say something or act in such as way which offenses another.

What was the purpose of this post? It was to make you think about your own personal feelings. Are you the cause of the moments that may be in someones trash? How can you ensure this does not happen anymore? The next time life gives you that lemon, you toss it over that rainbow and challenge yourself to be a true intelligent human.

The water is hot.

Our human emotions are amazingly similar to a pot of water. We continue to turn up the temperature whenever an aggressive moment arrives. We defuse moments and lower the temperature down a few degrees.

Some people are able to maintain the thermometer better than others. They may get extremely heated at one point, where the boiling water is ready to flow over the edge, and within moments can bring that temperature right back down.

Others keep a steady temperature on the outside, but are raging on the inside. These people turn to social media for attention. We are brave on social media, we know that most people we engage in conversation with online, we may never see physically. It is the confidence of having the upper hand. We can push people to that boiling point and never have any physical conflict in our direction.

Most people in current society are willing to attract attention through social media to vent any frustration they may have with employers, friends, family and pretty much anything else. The outcome this age of technology has brought forth is the lack of leadership, and the lack of face to face serious conversations.

Kids will break up over social media, or via a simple text message. We receive automatic emails saying we did not get the job. Your spouse will commit adultery and you will find out on Facebook. Even the simple thing such as the local media, will all be sought out by social media. We comment our thoughts on this situation, behind a touch screen phone or a computer. We are willing to address our needs in a safe environment and not willing to address it directly.

Bravery is key. It was lost with the invention of social media. Our forefathers spoke with great attorney, they fought for what they believed was correct. They spoke in mass gatherings, speaking what they believe was the truth. Let us gain that bravery back, let us keep the water from boiling over.

Your Canvas

What will your final Canvas look like? You are the artist, you draw what inspires your everyday movements. If your chapter closed today, what would that final drawing entail? Would you be proud of the result?

As much as we in society complain about our life, most of us are content. We settle with what we created for many reasons. Some simply enjoy what they created, others are afraid of change. We are always in control of our outcome, we make our decisions, whether or not we believe any pressure was on the choices we made, ultimately we made the choice. We had that fork in the road and decided to take the path to our current Canvas.

Life is not always easy, but that is not a bad thing. Think about this, if life was easy, if you simply were born, knew how to speak, read, and take care of yourself, what would be the purpose? We grow up always learning, thriving for additional knowledge, it could be knowledge from a book, or from another human, but somehow we gain this knowledge. We want to know as much as possible, in the topics of interest.

Chances are, your hobbies are the topics you know the most about. This is what keeps you sane, when the rest of the world is spinning ever so fast. You keep calm and you turn to your hobbies to comfort you. This topic will settle your nerves and allow you to relax and enjoy life. At the same time, this topic would easily cause you distress and anger. Why? Because you want to be the best, you want perfection.

What are you confident in? What can you tell the world hours about, without blinking a lash? That is your hobby, that is your Canvas. Use that Canvas to direct you in the path of redemption.

Regrets!

In the world we live in today, one of the biggest regrets we may have is posting something to a social media outlet. We have become such a social butterfly, whether it’s with an actual human interaction or posting a status update, we strive to keep everyone up to date with our hour to hour progress through life.

I’m almost 31 years old. I have been called Anti-Social by many people. I have heard the term “Hermit” several times to explain my willingness to stay home and partake in some gaming. This can date back to nearly 15 years ago. What changed back then? What made me become a “Hermit” or “Anti-Social”? Short answer would be the computer. The computer was given to me by my Grandmother when I was roughly 13 years old. The first few years I hardly touched the machine. I pop in a game or two, and eventually learned the internet.

Do I regret every getting a computer? Of course not, the computer changed my life for the better. At a time when I needed something to look up to, something to challenge my skills, the computer gave me guidance, it kept me away from the drugs and alcohol, it protected me from the aggressive peer pressure.

Am I anti-social, am I a hermit? Doubtful as much as I believe I may very well be, I surprisingly enjoy interaction with those who I trust. Those who aren’t the social butterfly, those who aren’t looking for pity, or looking to produce another round of drama. I enjoy spending time around the laughter, the jokers, and the classroom goof. It’s what makes me enjoy what I do for a living, and what keeps me getting up in the morning for another day of chaos.

This is what this blog is all about. It is not about how my day went, or about how upset I am at a friend. It is not about the pity I’m looking to receive, or the depressed status I may be in. It’s about the reason for laughter!

Your feelings!

I'm sorry world. I'm sorry for thinking about myself at times. I'm sorry about thinking about my time, and my life. I'm sorry about the time I was not thinking about you. I'm sorry about washing my hands before asking you, if you wanted to go first.

We live in a world that has become filled with selfish individuals. When did it become all about you and not about what is right? Do you blame the parents, that always seems to be the first line to attack. Get those guns out, blind fold the parents and prepare to fire. Oh wait, maybe it is the friends. The group of social peer pressure friends. You know the ones who, if I jump off the roof, you need to follow me or else you are not cool.

Speaking of peer pressure, what is this so called myth? I heard all through my youth, this ancient art of seduction. This powerful mental strength, convince someone to do something by simply doing the act or simply talking about it. I must learn this mighty force, maybe I can pick up a book at Barnes and Nobles and use this "Peer Pressure" to convince the clerk to let me have it for free, you know because its all about me.