It's that time of year again. I came home from work to find that my wife had packed away all of the regular dishes, table runners, and normal household items and replaced them all with the Holiday trimmings that will adorn our home for the next month. A fire had been started in the fireplace, a miracle in my absence. The noise of the TV had been replaced by a CD of traditional Christmas music, and if you get in any of our vehicles, you'll find the radio tuned to the local "Christmas Songs" station. The decision has been made, "We are doing Christmas".
Isn't it amazing how we can just "decide" to do Christmas? It doesn't matter how the finances are going or not going. It doesn't matter if the temperature outside is 40 or 80. It doesn't matter if I had a great day or a horrible day at work, the decision has been made. For the next month, everything will be wonderful.
We will fight hard to protect the celebration of Christmas from those pesky worries and concerns that plague us all year long. We will decide that we are in control of what does or does not occupy our thoughts during this time of the year, and we'll realize that no matter how big that obstacle may seem, it still can't move us without our permission.
We will fight against all enemies, foreign and domestic to preserve the joy of Christmas. We will be on guard for anything that would rob us of that childlike joy that we all felt on Christmas morning when we got out of bed and ran to see what Santa had left under the tree. It may be hard sometimes, but in the end, we will win!
So here's my question; When Christmas is over, and my wife puts all of the usual household items back in their places, the fire goes out, and the radio quits playing Christmas music, does that mean that I have to go back to allowing my life to be run by all of those things which I fought so hard against in order to enjoy Christmas? The things that I realized I have power over.
Is there any special power that I have during Christmas that dissipates after Christmas?
I think not.
Sunday, November 22, 2009
Thursday, November 12, 2009
Let It Flow
Fluidity of thought is a wonderful thing!
Have you ever paid attention to how many thoughts you have in a given moment and how random some of those thoughts are? This is part of the incredible mind that tracks our memories, plans our steps, inventories our surroundings, processes the information we are taking in through our eyes, nose, ears, and hands, balances our weight and makes adjustments as we walk, run, sit or stand, and gives commands to the body to breath, smile, cry, laugh, frown, blink, swallow, and smell.
This same mind does all of this without so much as a strenuous breath or anxious thought. Of course this list could be exponentially expanded into all of the many cellular functions that are performed thoughtlessly.
The bottom line is that if anyone ever calls you dumb, stupid, idiot, or dense, you can confidently reply that your very existence contradicts there baseless accusation.
Society measures intelligence by cognitive recollection of taught facts and information which is an incredibly narrow and ambiguous way of measuring the capacity of the most complex and creative supercomputer on the face of the planet, your mind.
Never forget, YOU are incredible!
Have you ever paid attention to how many thoughts you have in a given moment and how random some of those thoughts are? This is part of the incredible mind that tracks our memories, plans our steps, inventories our surroundings, processes the information we are taking in through our eyes, nose, ears, and hands, balances our weight and makes adjustments as we walk, run, sit or stand, and gives commands to the body to breath, smile, cry, laugh, frown, blink, swallow, and smell.
This same mind does all of this without so much as a strenuous breath or anxious thought. Of course this list could be exponentially expanded into all of the many cellular functions that are performed thoughtlessly.
The bottom line is that if anyone ever calls you dumb, stupid, idiot, or dense, you can confidently reply that your very existence contradicts there baseless accusation.
Society measures intelligence by cognitive recollection of taught facts and information which is an incredibly narrow and ambiguous way of measuring the capacity of the most complex and creative supercomputer on the face of the planet, your mind.
Never forget, YOU are incredible!
Friday, October 23, 2009
Stop Thinking about IT
The first big hurdle to clear is the endless "thinking" about how to begin. In order to write a book, you have to have a story. If you have a story, the most important thing to do is to "get it out of you!"
Don't worry about what it will look like, what it will feel like, or how it will flow. Editors are wonderful and they make their living helping you craft your story into something pleasing to the reader. It's like a stream of thought, you just have to get it going and it will flow.
If you are serious enough to be reading this blog about writing, then you need to make up your mind and start writing your book! Getting the story out of you is only the beginning, trust me, the process of publishing is a whole other challenge. But that's another blog for another day.
Remember, you can do this! Don't be bullied by the unknown, instead launch into it and trust that you will be able to weather the storm.
Don't worry about what it will look like, what it will feel like, or how it will flow. Editors are wonderful and they make their living helping you craft your story into something pleasing to the reader. It's like a stream of thought, you just have to get it going and it will flow.
If you are serious enough to be reading this blog about writing, then you need to make up your mind and start writing your book! Getting the story out of you is only the beginning, trust me, the process of publishing is a whole other challenge. But that's another blog for another day.
Remember, you can do this! Don't be bullied by the unknown, instead launch into it and trust that you will be able to weather the storm.
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
In the Beginning
There are so many ways to start a blog. Do you write something serious, funny, instructional, inspirational? Where do you begin? Probably with the realization that what you have to offer is no better than the next guy and that your pipe dreams of an incredibly successful blog that people are jamming the server to view is just that...a pipe dream.
But, that being said, it's my pipe dream. Honestly, I'm doing this at the behest of friends who seem to think I have some kind of way with words. The key word there is friends, they are blind.
What would I really like to do?
I would really like to inspire someone else who has a pipe dream of one day writing a book because that is one dream that I have seen come true. It was a lot of work, and a lot of late nights, but it was worth every drop of energy I put into it, and it was an incredible experience. Seeing your name on a book in print on a bookshelf is amazing! If something inside of you jumped when you read that paragraph, then you are who I want to help and inspire. It's an old cliche', but it's true, "If I can do it, anybody can do it."
The secret is not in the talent of the writer but in those the writer chooses to surround himself with and listen to as he embarks on the most incredible journey of his life.
But, that being said, it's my pipe dream. Honestly, I'm doing this at the behest of friends who seem to think I have some kind of way with words. The key word there is friends, they are blind.
What would I really like to do?
I would really like to inspire someone else who has a pipe dream of one day writing a book because that is one dream that I have seen come true. It was a lot of work, and a lot of late nights, but it was worth every drop of energy I put into it, and it was an incredible experience. Seeing your name on a book in print on a bookshelf is amazing! If something inside of you jumped when you read that paragraph, then you are who I want to help and inspire. It's an old cliche', but it's true, "If I can do it, anybody can do it."
The secret is not in the talent of the writer but in those the writer chooses to surround himself with and listen to as he embarks on the most incredible journey of his life.
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