February 2010
15 posts
Thanks, Tumblr.
Well, I really appreciate all that Tumblr’s been able to provide me so far. I’ve decided to rebrand things and build my website over on Wordpress because I’m more familiar with it. For those of you that have followed so far, find my writing at http://mebuilding.wordpress.com.
11 tags
The Power of Everything
Everything is old.
It has always been here. Physics tells us that a closed system, like our universe, will always have the exact same amount of energy. Further, we know it has been expanding for somewhere in the neighborhood of 14 billion years…containing the same amount of stuff. That means, in the first millisecond (about 1/40 of the time it takes you to blink) after creation...
14 tags
The Power of Something
Sometimes, you find something in the middle of nothing.
In the midst of tremendous quiet, you hear a whisper. It’s startling. It’s moving. It’s clear. The plug is in the outlet and the light is blinding. The simplicity is striking and humbling. Strangely, you find comfort with it as you wonder why you didn’t think of it before.
Something finally makes sense.
...
8 tags
The Power of Nothing
Your brain is always working.
Whether interpreting the millions upon millions of sensations affecting you every second or controlling the movement of your digestive system or contemplating the positions of galaxies, it is impossible to shut off. Death is the only event that will completely close down operations.
You can slow it down.
Sit quietly for a few minutes. Close your eyes. Feel the...
13 tags
6 Words To Make It Right
Yesterday, I gave you four words from John Wooden that I believe have led people to think misery is normal:
“Most jobs aren’t glamorous.”
My mind took an unexpected turn in the process and I ended up missing the point I wanted to make. Today I’m going to give you the six words I meant to:
“…but yours should be to you.”
Mr. Wooden is correct, the...
7 tags
Substantiated Anger
“Most jobs aren’t glamorous.” Those four words have bounced through my head several times during the last few weeks. I noticed them as I scanned a collection of notes for The Essential Wooden by one of my favorite leaders, former UCLA basketball coach John Wooden.
Though this phrase was in reference to team building and helping each person understand his or her role, it has...
5 tags
Asking Questions Unafraid of the Answers
How did I come to this?
I’ve been asking myself all day. I stood through three hours of “training” at an office supply store, staring between the assistant manager’s eyebrows to make it seem like I was paying deep attention instead of half-listening. My mind was unfocused and I found myself completely unable to tear it away from the question.
I know the reason.
I...
9 tags
Rewrite Your Code
The immutable power of your life is choice. From second to second, you are selecting one option from another. More often than not, this based on your operating system. Your brain’s Windows 7 (or OS X, for you Mac users) handles a large percentage—some say 96%—of your daily operations. Built up over years, your “neurological software” filters information to limit your...
6 tags
1 Thing To Remember
We’re all going to die.
Day by day, we move through our tasks focused on what must be done more often than the larger context of what we’re doing. We trade a sense of meaning for a myopic view of crunching numbers or approaching deadlines.
Periodically we are given shocks to our mortality. Tragedy befalls someone publicly or, more frequently, the time comes for a person we are...
7 tags
2 Words Provide Perspective On Change
Last Thursday morning, I was called to deliver some items to her hospital room so her brief stay for a routine procedure would be more comfortable. My grandmother had a severe stroke in July of 2008 that robbed her of the ability to use her left arm and leg. Over the last 18+ months, her mind has oscillated between clarity and confusion, punctuated by spells of visits from her mother, husband...
8 tags
3 Lessons of the Olympian Life
I abhor the phrase “At least he died doing something he loved.” It’s among the many platitudes that turn my stomach at funerals. In the case of young Georgian luger Nodar Kumaritashvili, though, it is an appropriate statement. Push aside the shock and sadness of this terrible event. Few, if any, could argue that 21 is anything other than “too soon” for a life to end....
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The 3 Rules of Participation
You know, there’s always got to be some boundaries. My intent is to chronicle the ongoing process of rebuilding “me.” Certainly, this blog is about the steps I’m taking to my great life and I aim to provide you an honest, no-shit assessment (HNSA) of how it’s going. In being the subject, I will share with you my passions (philosophy, science, history and music) and...
6 tags
363 Words To Finish
You give everything weight. Every experience, every possession, every relationship has a certain mass in your life, ultimately chosen by you. Each piece of material, whether physical or psychological, is given a value based on significance and emotional impact. The birth of your children and your first kiss tip the scales more than some order you placed at Starbucks or being cut off on the...
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470 Words To Continue
You must understand your life will have eras of ascension and decline, punctuated my “high” and “low” experiences. Some say they’re ordered like seasons. It’s important to figure out what creates those cycles, both internally and externally.
Sometimes you need help.
I decided to avail myself of John Assaraf’s Having It All Challenge a few weeks after...
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289 Words To Start
This is not the beginning, it’s where I’ve chosen for you to start. It is not the root of the tree, but the fork, where my life diverged from the path I had selected to that point. In time, you will learn of “before,” so that you can understand “during” and “after.”
You can remember some things perfectly clearly. The tone of voice is...