Angry Birds or Roosting Chickens? The Whole World is in Our Hands

Posted on December 26, 2010 by jc

ANGRY BIRDS or ROOSTING CHICKENS: The World in the Palm of your Hand

I was at a Christmas gathering the other day and the conversation turned to Angry Birds, you know the mobile phone game that everyone is addicted to playing. Only I had to make a shocking confession and admit that I had never played Angry Birds.

I know, just like most of the people at the party you’re probably gasping in horror, “Oh, my God, what kind of detached misfit are you!?Everyone MUST play Angry Birds!”. Yes, I do have an iPhone and yes, I do know how to use the iTunes store. In fact, I had a smartphone back when they were grayscale, non-color screen devices that didn’t have web browsers, so I’m a bit of an early adopter of technology products. But not just because I wanted to be one of the first to have ‘it’, whatever ‘it’ might be that particular week, but because I thought a particular product would be useful and make my life a little easier. Still, why no ‘Angry Birds’?

I think because I’ve experienced the evolution from PDA’s (personal digital assistants), cell phones, to smartphones, and now have the iPhone, I can really appreciate just how amazing and revolutionary these devices are. Although I have an iPhone, I’m sure that the other smartphones made by other manufacturers are probably just as incredible. I just happened to be with AT&T when the iPhone come out, I got a discount, so I got an iPhone.

But back to Angry Birds. Like I said,  many people have raved about Birds to me and said that it’s a fantastic, addictive,fun game, and I have no doubt that’s true.The reason I don’t play it, or any of the popular mobile games is because to me having this revolutionary,world-changing, life-altering piece of technology in the palm of your hand and spending lots of time using it to play games is crazy. It’s kind of like if, after Gutenberg invented the printing press, the main thing that is was used for was printing comic books. I love comic books, I spent a lot of my time as a youth reading them, but I’m certain that I learned a lot more from reading Shakespeare, Vonnegut or history and math textbooks, than I did reading Spiderman or Archie comic books.I still find it somewhat awe-inspiring and humbling to realize that with just the press of a couple of buttons on my phone keypad, I have practically the entire output of human knowledge, in the palm of my hand. Wow. Just think about it. Practically anything and everything you ever wanted to know and learn about, at your fingertips. Books on any subject, video lectures from the best universities in the world taught by the best teachers, directions to anywhere, expert advice  on any problem or subject, apps that tune your guitar, scan barcodes, diagnose
illnesses, keep you healthy.AND you call can call anyone in the world. AND play Angry Birds.

Don’t get me wrong, we all need to relax, have fun, and not be so goal-focused all the time, and if playing games on your smartphone helps you do this, more power to you. I just think that we are truly in the Information Age and our smartphones give us never before imagined access to information,knowledge that is NECESSARY if we want to compete globally, improve or even maintain our standard of living, and remain innovative and viable. We really do have the whole world in our hands. Angry Birds may help us pass the time, but Roosting Chickens are nothing you want to mess with. And they’re coming home.

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The Three Things in Life We Can Control: The DEA Triad

Posted on December 21, 2010 by jc

The Three Things In Life We Can Control

There are only three things in this life that we can control, which I call the DEA Triad (don’t worry, it has nothing to do with the Drug Enforcement Agency!). They are:
1) Our Diet:What we put into our bodies (what we drink and eat).
2) How much we Exercise:How well we take care of our bodies (how much we exercise, move)
3) Our Attitude.
That’s it. Everything else is out of our ultimate control, being influenced, shaped and determined by external forces, happenings or circumstances.
Now many of us are under the impression that we control lots of other things in our lives, such as how much money we make, how loved we are, where we live, or how successful we are in our careers. But if we really just thought about it we would realize that none of these things are in our direct control. A person could be the most thoughtful, loving, exciting, perfect spouse and their mate could still decide to leave them. A person could be the most brilliant, creative, innovative, talented musician and still have a hard time making a living. A person could be the hardest-working, dependable, creative and profitable employee and still lose their job due to outsourcing, offshoring, catastrophic accidents (see BP) or layoffs. The sooner we accept that we have limited control over our life circumstances the better.
Of course when I say ‘we’, I’m referring to most normal, relatively healthy adults, and not to children or people who are extremely disabled( although many of them are more self-responsible than the ‘normal’ ones). So, where does these  leave us?

Most of us spend the majority of our lives focusing on trying to control things out of our control, and this always leads to disappointment, frustration, anger and self-pity. We tell ourselves,’ I was a good person’, ‘I was a hard worker’,’ I was a good student’,’ I was a good spouse’, ‘I played by the rules’, etc, so “Why didn’t things work out the way ‘they should’ or ‘fairly’? Why, oh why me?!?”

Instead we should focus on controlling the things we can control. If we pay attention to the quality of the things we eat and drink the chances improve that we will be healthier and feel better. No guarantees ,of course, but we are moving the odds in our favor. The same thing with exercise, movement-The more we exercise the better the chances that we will feel and look better. And if we are really honest with ourselves, we will acknowledge that we do have control over what we eat and how much we exercise. We just find it easier to rationalize that we really would eat better and exercise more but we don’t have the time, the money, we live in the wrong place, our spouse is not supportive, yada,yada,yada.
But it’s really the third thing in our control that is really the Key. Cause once we realize that it’s our attitude about life, about circumstances, about problems, that determines how happy and content we are, and that WE CONTROL OUR ATTITUDE, then we no longer have to worry about all those things we can’t control. If, when something goes ‘wrong’ in our lives, instead of feeling self-pity, frustration or anger, we remind ourselves that we are mentally, spiritually and emotionally strong and that we have survived hard times before, we will not only survive but thrive. Once we let go of trying to control everything in the world and just CONCENTRATE ON THE THREE THINGS we can control we will finally find peace.  We can then stop fighting all the time and start enjoying life. Remember, that no one else can make you feel happy or unhappy, it’s all  your control. Watch your Diet, Watch your Exercise,Watch your Attitude and Watch your life improve.

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Misery Loves Company, Joy Loves Opportunity

Posted on December 13, 2010 by jc

“I got so much trouble on my mind” — Rare Earth

MISERY LOVES COMPANY, JOY LOVES OPPORTUNITY

Sometimes (actually, oftentimes lately) you feel overwhelmed by the amount of problems in this life. Just turning on the TV, it can make you sick, all the bad news and problems. The economy, the wars, the cyclones, floods, the diseases, the tainted drugs and toys, terrorism, steroids, layoffs, the plunging dollar, lack of adequate healthcare, global warming, I could go on and on.

You ask yourself, or God, or anybody, how can I see all this never ending, can’t-catch-my-breath trouble as opportunities, when I feel so overwhelmed I just want to lie down? I know I sometimes pray to God, “Lord, can I just catch my breath?” Sometimes, it’s enough to lead you to despair. How can I stay positive in the face of so much negativity?

The first thing we must realize, and learn to believe in our hearts and minds, is that problems are just a sign of life, because only the dead have no problems. That peaceful, blissful, problem free life that you may be looking for is called being dead. That state of bliss is being dead to others, too. What I mean by that is when you desire to be problem-free, you desire to not know of, or care about, the problems of others. You
may have health, wealth, and happiness but if others are suffering and you don’t want to know about it because it messes up your bliss, then you are ‘dead’ to the suffering of others. And these other people are the people who are the citizens of places where the worst things happen, like dictatorships, genocide, eugenics, and other unspeakable, horrible acts. ‘Dead’ people stand by passively and let evil run free.

Life is not easy. This is a truism that we must learn. But, ‘not easy’ doesn’t have to mean unpleasant. If we can see that problems always present us with opportunities, to profit, to learn, to connect, to become better people, that feeling of dread we have when problems occur will lessen and gradually turn into grateful acceptance. Yes, I have problems, but that’s because I’m alive.

If we stop letting ourselves be distracted from the challenges we face, by television, or movies, or games, or drugs, or food, or the other things that are used to make us passive victims of injustice and hardship, then we can make our lives better. We see every day, the power of the creativity of the human mind, in medical breakthroughs and new technologies that were unimaginable not long ago. But someone ‘imagined’ them, and through focused thought and hard work, created new solutions to problems. It can be done. It’s not easy. But, again, who said life was easy?

Our minds have become media trash bins. Let’s turn off the TVs, put our minds together, and use the gifts that our brains are for something more than just media trash receptacles.

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Survival of the Fightists

Posted on December 2, 2010 by jc

Conflict is good.

‘I get tired of fighting. All the time, 24/7, I have to fight or prepare to fight because someone or some company or organization or illness or bad break is attacking my peace of mind. I just want to live my life in peace and tranquility.’
WAKE UP!!!!

Wake up and smell reality. If you want a life of peace and tranquility, what you really want is to be dead!! You want to know the difference between the people who have made a lot of money and are still making lots of money and the majority of people who are struggling day after day, year after year, lifetime after lifetime?? The ones who are making lots of money have learned to love conflict! Not like it, or merely tolerate it, they love it!! They realize that fighting for yourself and your loved ones is a good, right thing, that if you don’t stand up for yourself you will be taken advantage of by people. It is Survival of the Fightists.

I know many of you don’t want to hear this , you want to hear how if you treat others kindly, they will be kind to you. Goodness will be repaid with goodness. Sorry, but the
world doesn’t work that way. The facts are that there are a lot of unscrupulous, mean, dishonest, heartless, cold, calculating, and sometimes evil people in this world and all they care about is fulfilling their own needs, wants and desires, and too bad, if you aren’t tough enough to stop them from taking advantage of you! It’s the truth and we all know it.

Now, I’m not saying that just because there are a lot of selfish assholes out there that we too have to become selfish assholes to protect ourselves. Being selfish and mean is wrong and being mean to others will definitely come back to haunt you. The fact is, standing up for yourself and your right to be treated with fairness is not selfish. You have a right to be treated fairly and with respect, and when you truly realize and believe this, then you will be on the path of happiness and tranquility.

The truth is most of us don’t want to fight, for anything, even our own rights and happiness. We have been taught that “Fighting is wrong”, “Be nice to everyone, so they will like you”, and “Being unselfish is good”. Bullshit! When you let others take advantage of you, they don’t like you, they don’t respect you, and every time you let others take advantage of you, you lose respect for yourself!! Every time you don’t stand up for yourself, you add to your unhappiness with life and you push yourself closer to death!

Standing up for yourself doesn’t mean you have to be on the defense all the time, that you have to be hard and uncaring to others, or that you have to become an asshole. What it means is that when you feel you have been wronged, you let others know that you will not take it. Notice, I said “feel”, because we all know that there is a difference between when someone makes a human, honest mistake and when they are being careless or mean. A good example is when you get a piece of mail that is addressed to someone else in your mailbox. You think, hey, the mailperson just made a mistake, it’s understandable given the thousands of letters they handle every day. You just take the letter and drop it in your neighbor’s mailbox. But, if you get the wrong mail every week, then you assume that it’s not just honest mistakes, it’s someone’s incompetence, apathy or just being mean. Don’t just keep taking being disrespected. You deserve better and when you let others know it they’ll respect you and you’ll feel better about yourself.

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PAO and Plan B (What If…?)

Posted on November 14, 2010 by jc

It’s hard to believe in your dream. Sometimes it’s because of external forces, be it family, “friends”, coworkers, telling you to “Be practical”, “Be responsible” (To whom? To what? Not your own happiness and peace of mind!), “Grow up” or just blatantly saying “You’ll never make it. Just give up and accept your fate”.

But most of the time the voices telling you to give up on your dream are not coming from the outside, they’re coming from inside. You know, the all-too-familiar little voice (although, sometimes not too little) that’s constantly in your head, rationalizing, compromising, judging, criticizing, doubting, always asking “What if I fail? What if something bad happens? What if…, What if…?” . Even when all the evidence points in our favor, all the stars are lined up in our direction, all the odds are with us, that internal ‘What If’ voice is still trying to dissuade us, to make us do the safe thing or the easy thing,  to take the familiar route to the illusion of security and the reality of disappointment, regrets, and death. That little voice will see a road that is all clear ahead, with every light a steady green, and tell you to slow down, keep your foot near the brakes, and look out for potholes. With a backseat driver like that, no wonder you never get where you want to go.

It’s easy to say ‘Don’t listen to that voice, throw caution to the wind and go full out for your dreams!’ But that’s not wise, especially for people who are older, who have families to be responsible to, or have other obligations. If you are a young person with no responsibilities or obligations, I say to you, ‘If you have a dream, a passion, go for it, with all your heart and soul!’. It won’t be easy, nothing worthwhile is, but if you are really passionate about something, that hard work is not work at all. Do it now, while you have the freedom to go for it.

But if you have responsibilities and obligations, you have to be more deliberate in your pursuit of your dreams. You Must pursue them, because not to is to reject a gift given to you. Our dreams are given to us for a reason, they are not accidents, and when we are pursuing them, doing what we love, what we are born to do, we are in harmony with ourselves and with the world. And harmony produces greatness, joy, peace and abundance.

The pursuit of goals and dreams for people with responsibilities and obligations involves:

  • Defining exactly what steps are necessary to achieve that dream/goal.
  • Make Firm deadlines for each step and stick to them.
  • Focus on one step at a time. Don’t try to look ahead, to work on another step while a previous one is not complete. The surest way to sabotage your dream is to skip the completion of the necessary steps in the process. It’s like trying to build a house, and before the foundation is completely set, dry and cured, starting to put the upper floors on the house. Chances are pretty good that you will have problems later with your house, serious structural problems that will cost you lots of money and headaches later. The pursuit of goals is the same way. Each step is a necessary foundation, a building block, upon which all subsequent steps are built upon. Skipped or incomplete steps will lead to future problems.

Remember, when you are pursuing your dreams, you use the gifts YOU were given. These gifts were given to you for a reason. Don’t Take Them For Granted, enjoy them, and be thankful for them.

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Relationship Problems Are Opportunities

Posted on November 14, 2010 by jc

We all have relationship problems, to some degree, in our lives. It’s just the nature of humans, each of us being unique, to see the world in our own way; and since we have different outlooks on things and unique perspectives and interpretations of things, misunderstandings are inevitable. I think that for some reason some people are inclined to be hateful and hurtful to other people they come into contact with, and those people should be avoided if you want to keep your sanity and health. But in most cases, relationship problems are not caused by deliberate meanness, selfishness, or cruelty. The fact that no two people see the world in the same way is a great thing but it also means that problems are inevitable. If we assume that everyone should have the same outlook, values , opinions and habits that we have, we will spend our lives in a constant state of disappointment, conflict, mistrust, and loneliness. In fact, most of humanity’s long-standing conflicts have been caused by the simple fact that one group of people thinks another group of people should see things the same way they do.

So, if relationship problems are inevitable, how do we learn from them? Well, one thing being in a contentious, difficult relationship can teach us is forgiveness, which is an important thing to know how to do. When we are wronged by another, for many of us, the natural reaction is to attack, to try to get even, to hurt them like they have hurt us. But, as our parents taught us (hopefully), two wrongs don’t make a right. Now, I am in no way advocating for people letting themselves be used, abused, taken advantage of, and for granted. Forgiveness doesn’t mean forgetting when you have been hurt. That is foolish and potentially dangerous. The lesson of forgiveness in relationships is to learn not to let anger, hurt, or hatred linger because they end up hurting you much more than they do the person you harbor these feelings against. I’m not implying in any way that it is easy to forgive, because I personally struggle with forgiveness myself. I do know that the more we get into the practice of forgiving others when they hurt us, the easier it gets, and the better we feel.

Other possible opportunities presented by relationship problems include:
Begin a relationship counselor/expert career
Write a nonfiction book about relationship problems
Write a novel about relationship problems
Explore the single life
Start a group that discusses relationship problems
Write a blog about relationship problems (Sex and the City, anyone?)

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Career Problems are Opportunities

Posted on October 29, 2010 by jc

If you are reading this and you are in serious financial trouble, you’re about to lose your home to foreclosure (as are millions of others today, unfortunately), you can’t afford health insurance, you’ve got collection agencies harassing you for past-due bills, you’re trying to figure out how to pay for your kids next semester at college, or how to pay to heat your home, or put food on the table tonight, my thoughts and prayers are with you. Do what you must (within the law and within reason) to take care of you and yours. You are probably saying, how is this misery I’m going through an opportunity???

Well, as hard as it is to see any light in all the seeming darkness you might be in right now, trust me, it’s there. After you get your situation, if not stable, but at least not worsening, when you can catch your breath, breathe. Then it’s time for reflection. To grow and prosper from your situation it’s just a matter of changing your mindset from a PIE mindset to a PAO mindset. The PIE mindset is short-term, it only sees what’s happening now. It has no perspective, it only cares about what’s happening to itself, it can’t, as the saying goes, see the forest for the trees. The PIE mindset is what has gotten our country into the current state of indebtedness to the rest of the world. We see limitations instead of abundance, we minimize our capacity to overcome and create, so we think Pleasure, Immediately, Extinction!

Here’s a perfect example many of us have gone through. We lose our jobs, and the first thing we think is, ‘I got a find another job quick, I need some income, or I’ll lose everything!’ So, we end up taking the first job we can find that pays the most we can get. We tell ourselves, ‘Oh, this is just temporary, until I get back on my feet, then I’ll try to do what I really want to do’. A few months pass, a year, and that weekly or biweekly check keeps coming in, you get used to that ‘security’ and you tell yourself, ‘As soon as… (fill in the blanks), then I’ll start doing what I really want to’. A year turns into two, then five, then 10, and before you know it, your dreams have been sold for a regular paycheck, maybe some benefits, and a  few weeks of vacation each year.

When you were free, when you were at that fork in the road, one path leading to freedom, one path leading to dream killing wage slavery, you chose the latter. Why? Why do most of us choose the path of giving up on our dreams?

We choose this path because although we see and hear about happy, successful people who chose the dream path, we are programmed by the media to believe those people are ‘special’ and ‘exceptions to the rule’. We are told, if we struggle, if we suffer, we will break, we will fall apart. We are told our minds are limited, that our creativity is limited. We are taught to doubt ourselves and those around us.

If you look around you, EVERYTHING you see, hear, can touch, is a result of either divine creation or the result of the dreams and goals of someone just like you. Everything. The house you live in, the clothes you are wearing, the book you’re reading, the music you listen to, the food you buy, the company you work for, it’s all because someone said “I think I can and I’m going to try”. And everyone of those people like you, those inventors, creators, entrepreneurs, dreamers, faced obstacles just like yours, and sometimes even worse than yours. The only difference between them and most of us is that when the obstacles appear to, they kept their focus, kept their faith, and kept trying. There is so much that brings us joy and makes our lives easier, music, movies, books, art, sports, automobiles, computers, air conditioning, electricity, that is the creation of human beings just like us. If those people had just given up when things got tough or problems  arose in their lives, the world as we know it would not exist. In fact, we would not exist, because if we didn’t strive, adapt, and create, we would be extinct. So, your dreams, goals, and aspirations are not just the foolish luxuries of selfishness and leisure. Your dreams are Necessary to the continued existence of humankind. No dreams, no progress, no life.

So, if you get that lay off notice, as many people have and will, yes, you must be concerned about keeping yourself and your family housed and fed. But also, take some time, before you take any job, to reflect and ask yourself, “How can I learn from this? What opportunities does this difficulty present? Is this problem a sign that maybe I am on the wrong path?”

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Political Problems Are Opportunities

Posted on October 13, 2010 by jc

Political Problems Are Opportunities

Political problems are opportunities because they give us a chance to get involved in our government. Instead of being passive pawns in the hands of our political leaders, we are forced to be active participants if we want to have a voice in how we are governed.

Some, if not most, of the greatest acts in human history were spurred by the reactions to political injustice. The American Revolution, Gandhi’s and Martin Luther King’s nonviolent protests against their government’s, and the anti-apartheid movement in South Africa are just a few examples of people seeing political oppression as an opportunity to change their lives, and not to just accept their fate. Political change is very hard, and is usually met with forceful, sometimes deadly opposition by those in power. But, change is the one thing that is certain, as we can see from the fact that no political system, or party, stays in power forever. And that change always starts in the mind of one person.

That person takes action, sometimes by just sharing their thoughts with others. Or, the action might be an individual act of defiance against the government, such as when a tired but determined seamstress named Rosa Parks decided that she didn’t have to give up her seat on a bus just because she was black.

She was arrested but this lone, humble woman set in motion the civil rights movement and changed the course of history.

The key is to get out of the brain-dead, brainwashed comfort zone that the media, and the government through the media, wants us in. Right now, our economy is in a near depression, with double-digit unemployment, crashing stock markets, home foreclosures at record levels, state governments and multinational corporations going bankrupt. Despite all this, do you know what? No one is out in the streets, demanding accountability from the government that led us into this mess. No one is refusing to give up their seat on the bus. Why not?

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Health Problems Are Opportunities

Posted on September 25, 2010 by jc

If not now, when?

We all get sick. If you are not sick now, you have been in the past, and will be in the future. It’s just a fact of life. Now, I know some of you say “I never get sick. I’m in great health.” But, trust me, your time is coming. You can do all the healthy things, eat right, exercise, avoid unhealthy environments, not drink or smoke, but you will still become ill in your life, probably numerous times. Hopefully, you illnesses will be minor ones and you can live a normal, active, healthy life. But some of us will face illnesses that are not minor, that are life-threatening and/or life altering, and the question is, how do we use such health problems as opportunities?

My mother is on dialysis, because of kidney failure, brought on by high blood pressure and diabetes. Because of her health problems she is taking numerous prescribed medications, many of which have side effects that make her feel worse, not better. Ever since she started dialysis, I have seen her health and appearance deteriorate, which is the opposite of what her doctors told her what she began. I see her struggle through each day, her quality of life diminished, and like many of us, I think it’s not fair that someone so kind and unselfish should have to suffer so much.

Many of us have loved ones who are suffering from life threatening/altering illnesses. When these illnesses strike it is natural to ask, ‘Why me?’ or ‘Why them?’. But perhaps we are better served asking ‘What can I learn from this? How can I help others who are also suffering as I am?’

The only use of suffering is to help us become better people. We must be able, as much as it goes against our ingrained propensity to automatically complain about problems, to begin seeing problems as positive events that keep us going as people and progressing as a society and a race. Yes, cancer is a horrible disease, but if not for its existence, many other helpful drugs, treatments and discoveries would not exist. The same applies to any other disease such as AIDS, Alzheimer’s, heart disease, the list goes on and on. If it wasn’t for the disease of alcoholism, Alcoholics Anonymous would not exist, and millions of people would not have met others who became close friends, or would not have learned that through helping others you become a better person.

Whenever illness befalls you or your loved ones, you have an opportunity before you. You can choose to use the experience to grow closer to people, to learn more about life and the world, to develop a deeper appreciation for all the blessings you have, to become a better person. Or, you can complain and feel sorry for yourself. The choice is yours.

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Confidence or Faith: Which do we need more?

Posted on September 16, 2010 by jc

Confidence or faith?  Which do we need to solve our problems?

Actually, it is not an either/or question.  We must have faith/belief that all problems/difficulties/challenges that we encounter are:

  • ultimately beneficial/educational/spirit deepening/wisdom building
  • ultimately winnable/solvable
  • ultimately meaningless (we all gonna die!)

But, in addition, we must have confidence in our ability to:

  • physically withstand/tolerate/overcome the discomfort/pain/toils of difficulty
  • mentally withstand/tolerate/overcome/handle the discomfort/pain/toils of difficulty
  • spiritually and emotionally handle inevitable difficulties

We lose confidence, and thus become afraid to try and solve our problems or reach our goals, when we feel that we don’t have the ability to handle difficultly or adversity.

Just like a boxer who gets in the ring, after a couple of hard blows we may want to quit, to say “No mas, no mas”. Or we may say to ourselves, “Yeah, that hurt but I can take it and it’s not going to stop me from fighting”.

A question: From where I am now, what should I do to move toward happiness?

  1. Accept yourself
  2. Love yourself
  3. Trust [God, life, others]
  4. Be vulnerable.  Be open.
  5. Slow down.  Watch the birds.  Talk to others.

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