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Monthly Archives: March 2019

Daily Ramblings – Series Sunday – Character Trait – Humility

31 Sunday Mar 2019

Posted by Dave Gardner in Series Sunday

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For the month of April, I’ll be working on the character trait of Humility. That means I’ll continue to work with previous character traits. As a reminder, here they are: discrimination, tolerance, forgiveness, contentment, and detachment. Thus, I’ll be monitoring discrimination, tolerance, forgiveness, contentment, detachment, and humility.

Here is a list of accomplishments for the first quarter of 2019:

Courses

  • Maps of Meaning – Dr. Peterson
  • WWII Course – Hillsdale College
  • Personality and Transformation – Dr. Peterson
  • Congress Course – Hillsdale College
  • WWII Course – Harvard

Books

  • The First World War
  • As a Man Thinketh
  • 10 Simple Steps Easy Research Writing
  • The Art of Non-Conformity
  • Thresholds of the Mind
  • Past Live, Dreams, and Soul Travel
  • The New Science of Super Awareness
  • Known and Unknown
  • The Art of Letting Go
  • Amber Skies
  • 17 Ways to get Self-Discipline
  • The Templars
  • Unit 731 Testimony
  • Understanding Plato
  • The One Thing
  • Beyond Good and Evil
  • 2136

Writing

  • Completed Rough Draft Technical Recruiting Book
  • Completed 2nd Rewrite Technical Recruiting Book
  • 90 Blog Postings
  • 532 followers Blog – March 31 2019
  • Purchased Scrivener to Begin Rewrite of technical Recruiting Book
  • Purchased ProWriting Aid for NonFiction Book project

Exercise

  • 15 Fat Burning Workouts
  • 15 Ab Workouts
  • 15 Leg Workouts
  • 15 Chest and Arm Workouts
  • 15 Pilates Workouts
  • 15 Yoga Workouts
  • 3 Elliptical Workouts (Started Friday – 20 minutes)

I’ll update you again on my progress toward my goals at the end of the 2nd Quarter. I hope all of you are enjoying your weekend! We got snow in Michigan (about 2-3 inches where I live). Looks like winter isn’t done with us yet.

Well, that’s it for now.

Until next time…

Dave

Daily Ramblings – Spiritual Saturday – Self-discipline

30 Saturday Mar 2019

Posted by Dave Gardner in Spiritual Saturday

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Tags

Balance, Harold Klemp, Holy Spirit, Key Areas, Love, passion, Self-discipline, spirituality

Self-discipline is an absolute necessity if one is to have a productive spiritual life. Replace old tastes and preferences with new, better ones. But do it in the name of the Holy Spirit, with love and a sincere heart, or nothing will come of this experiment.

—Harold Klemp The Language of Soul

Self-discipline is nothing more than doing what you agree to do. These agreements can be about your exercise routine, your diet, planning your day, and any other topic you can think of that requires effort. A person who can evaluate themselves and come up with a game plan to improve weaknesses or bolster their strengths are powerful people. They can do anything because they are willing to commit and stick with it.

Change is difficult. Evaluating yourself is difficult. Holding yourself to a new standard is also difficult. Self-discipline enables these and more.

So many people just ramble through life. They occupy their time with meaningless activities with no forethought. Think about all the people who literally live on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat, or Pinterest. What are they accomplishing?

Are you happy with your life? If so, change nothing. Keep doing what you are doing. It’s your life. If you’re happy and fulfilled, why change anything. This article is for the rest of us that are not happy with our current circumstances. We want to lose weight, get in better shape, eat better, and build skills that will garner us the ability to make an income throughout our lives.

Where do you start? This is probably the hardest thing to do—decide. We only have so many hours in the day. What will you spend your time on? Do you want to write a book, start a blog, or create poetry? Do you want to learn a new language? Do you want to start an exercise program? Do you want to start a business? What other things can you do each day that will contribute and build?

I started my search online. I wanted to know what I could do to improve my life, make lasting change, and build skills that would provide me with an income as I pursue a third career. I chose specific areas of my life to look at. These areas are Physical (eating right, getting enough sleep, and exercise), Mental (reading and learning every day), Social (staying connected with friends and family and make new friends and connections), and Spiritual (daily meditation, religious readings, attending spiritual events and retreats).

The areas I want to learn are two-fold. Write books (nonfiction and fiction) and learn how to write computer programs. Once I began my investigation into these areas, I found all kinds of resources to help me on my quest. These are now daily habits that I dedicate my time to. I write every day for this blog and work on my books. I also code every day. I have made great strides in both areas because I do a little each day to add to my abilities.

I need a little discipline in these areas because I love both. I love writing and I love coding. They are closely related because a programming language has rules and a whole new language to learn to enable my code to work. Book writing is a combination of actual writing every day and learning the craft. I try to read a writing book daily and find courses online that can teach me the various aspects of writing whether these classes are on grammar, style, or the specifics of writing a book. There are books on plot development, world building, and character development. The learning never ceases.

What are your passions? What would you like to do with the rest of your life when you retire? Do you want to keep working? Do you want multiple streams of income? Take time on a weekend and think about some of these things. Once you have discovered what you’d like to do, add that to your day. Do a little on these areas each day. How long does exercise need to be to be a benefit? How much writing do you want to do each day? What can you fit into your schedule after your workday is done and you’ve attended to your home responsibilities?

When you start out, put in a half-hour or so to each thing you’d like to try. I would recommend grabbing one item you’d like to add to your day. Then, once you’ve solidified your newfound habit, add another and another, until you are hitting all the things you want to pursue. You’ll be amazed how many things you can do by chipping away a little at a time.

Well, folks. I hope you are having a great Saturday! Enjoy your weekend. If anyone is interested, comment on this thread. I am more than happy to give you some ideas to help you move forward.

Until next time…

Dave

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Daily Ramblings – Funny Friday

29 Friday Mar 2019

Posted by Dave Gardner in Funny Friday

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

Chess, Computers, Emo Philips, Funny, Giggle, Happy, Kickboxing, Laughter

“A computer once beat me at chess, but it was no match for me at kick boxing.”–Emo Philips

I wanted to spice up this Funny Friday with a quip that would entertain my techy followers. I hope all of you had a terrific week!

Until next time…

Dave

42.997350 -82.507366

Daily Ramblings – Thankful Thursday – Gratitude Journaling and Changing Your Focus

28 Thursday Mar 2019

Posted by Dave Gardner in Thankful Thursdays

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Focus on the Good, Grateful, Gratitude, Gratitude Journaling, Napoleon Hill, Positive Thinking, Thankfulness

“If you attain fame and fortune, and do not attain gratitude along with it, the chances are that you will not enjoy that fame or that fortune.”―Napoleon Hill, Success Habits: Proven Principles for Greater Wealth, Health, and Happiness

Do you practice gratitude daily? It is hard some days. You wake up; you feel like crap; you don’t feel enjoy going to work. How do you find that place where you are thankful for what you have?

I like to journal first thing in the morning. When I get to my gratitude journal, I write in it until I feel that all is right with the world. When I first began my gratitude journal, I was going through the motions. It takes time to develop feelings of gratitude. Over time, however, I achieved a state of peace and calm. It snuck up on me. You find gratitude by writing what you are thankful for and acting grateful. These feelings of gratefulness will come. Give it time.

Gratefulness is a way to express your thanks for what you have. You can be grateful for your life, your job, your skills, your situation, the good times you had yesterday with a friend, the quiet time you had with your cat or dog, drinking tea, and enjoying a good book. You could be grateful for a good meal, a nice outing with colleagues, or just for having a job. Each of us are unique. What you are grateful for may differ from what other people are grateful for.

How do you start a gratitude journal? Start small. My gratitude journal started when I found The 5-minute journal. You can Buy the 5-minute journal here. I am not affiliated with this journal; I am merely suggesting it to you if you do not understand how to start. In this journal, it will require you to write 3 things you are grateful for in the morning and 3 things you are grateful for in the evening. At first, you might have difficulty finding 3 things. Once you do, you’ll feel something you may not have felt in a long time. The best time to do your gratitude journaling is in the morning as soon as you get up and around. The best time in the evening is right before you nod off for a good night’s sleep. This is how I got started.

Now I use Microsoft’s OneNote for my gratitude journal. You can use a diary app, you can use a handwritten journal, you can use the 5-minute journal. Whatever works. Gratitude journaling is all about training your mind to focus on the good things in your life and ignore the bad things. Whatever you give life to will overwrite what you stop feeding. This is the premise of gratitude journaling. Thinking about what you are grateful for will help you avoid thinking about what you are unhappy about. It’s a psychological bait and switch.

Try this out. You have nothing to lose. If you are a person unhappy with your life, this will help turn that around. Once you focus on what is good in your life, you’ll think about other positive aspects of your existence. This thinking will bring you better results and re-write that part of your mind that has dominated you with negative, unresourceful thinking. Your mind is a powerful creator. It will create whatever you focus most of your time on. Thinking negatively will cause your mind to only filter the negative things around you. Your mind will create what you think. Turn this around and think about positive things—things you are grateful for. Your life will take on new meaning and you will feel terrific!

Until next time…

Dave

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Daily Ramblings – Wisdom Wednesday – Divine Spirit Steps In

27 Wednesday Mar 2019

Posted by Dave Gardner in Wisdom Wednesday

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Tags

Assistance, Dao, Divine Spirit, God, Guidance, Harold Klemp, Help, The Universe

You do what you can to make your life right. And when you have done 100 percent of everything you can do, Divine Spirit steps in with the miracle.

—Harold Klemp The Language of Soul

Have you ever had this happen? You work your tail off on something. It’s coming together but you need another person or another thing to come into place for your pet project to take off. Then, out of nowhere, you get exactly what you need.

I am a firm believer in persistence. I believe when we set ourselves to a project, we’ll get ideas for making it better. These ideas come from divine spirit, God, the universe, whatever you designate the higher power I believe exists. Our reality is about creation. When we create something, it aligns us with divine spirit, which is also a creator. This alignment opens us to divine spirit, which provides what we need, when we need it.

For some, this may be a little outlandish. For others, this is common knowledge. In my religion, we call divine spirit, the ECK. You may call this divine spirit, the Holy Ghost, the Dao, or many titles. The ECK is pervasive, eternal, and exists in matter, energy, space, and time and without these lower world phenomena. The ECK, like divine spirit is the communication medium used between God and Soul.

Like all things, the mind is our filter. We need the mind to live in this reality. Whatever your mind believes, you are right (Henry Ford, paraphrased). So, if you believe in God and divine spirit, you are right. If you do not believe in God or divine spirit you are also right. This posting is not designed to change your mind about these things, just my humble explanation of what I believe to be true.

Keep your eyes and ears open when you engage in something. You could be solving a problem, pursuing your dreams, or taking on a big project. Watch what happens when you really put yourself into these things. The right people will show up, the right ideas will reach you, and you’ll take the right actions to accomplish it. If you make a mistake, you’ll think about how to correct it, learn from it, and keep moving forward. Everything will fall into place. Just keep pushing forward. There will always be one more door to walk through, one more step to climb, or one more bit of polish to add. If you keep progressing, divine spirit will keep sending you ideas, options, and new avenues to take.

I hope all of you have a terrific Wednesday! I’ll be working on writing, reading, learning, programming, exercising, and meditating. See you at the finish line!

Until next time…

Dave

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Daily Ramblings – Ted Talk Tuesday – Creative Genius

26 Tuesday Mar 2019

Posted by Dave Gardner in Ted Talk

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Tags

Creating, creativity, Elizabeth Gilbert, Genius, Learning, Muse, Ted Talk

 

Elizabeth Gilbert muses on the impossible things we expect from artists and geniuses — and shares the radical idea that, instead of the rare person “being” a genius, all of us “have” a genius. It’s a funny, personal and surprisingly moving talk.

Until next time…

Dave

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Daily Ramblings – Motivation Monday – Making Adjustments

25 Monday Mar 2019

Posted by Dave Gardner in Motivation Monday

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Exercise, Goals, Learning, Losing traction, Reading, Resolutions, Slipping, Writing

Hey, folks!

What’s the game plan for my week? I’m glad you asked. I’ll be working on the 3rd re-write of my book, shooting for a chapter a day. I’m hitting it hard in the home gym with a mix of cardio, abdominal work, leg work, chest work, Pilates, and Yoga. I’m also taking a Neuro Linguistic Programming (NLP) course on Udemy. I’m still going strong with intermittent fasting. This week I’m also learning AJAX within the Web Development Path at Codecademy. Finally, I raised the bar on my meditation practice. I’m up to an hour daily.

What do you have scheduled this week? How are you progressing on this year’s goals? Are you on track or are you missing milestones? If you’re off track, don’t lose sleep. Figure out where you are, retool your plan and get back at it. You can’t lose if you don’t quit, right?

I lost my motivation for book writing a few weeks ago. I discovered my motivation fell away because my process lacked detail. The rewriting process was the culprit. So, I sat down one day and thought it through, retooled, and got back to work. Since this is my first book, my process still needs to ironing out, but I’m back on track again.

If you’re stuck or losing momentum on a goal or resolution you set in December, try this. Think about why you set the goal. Think about what caused you to resolve to do whatever you resolved to do. You still have 8 months to achieve it.

Striving for goals or changes in your life are hard. If they were easy, everyone would accomplish what they set out to do. Don’t be a quitter. Don’t stop. Don’t come up with excuses. You wanted to achieve a goal. Achieve it. Maybe you are doing too much. Maybe you need to whittle down what you’re doing every day. The way to keep going is to keep taking steps towards your goal. Even if they are microscopic steps, continue. It may take you a while but you will succeed. You have it in you.

I hope all of you are making great strides toward your projects and goals. I’m cheering for you! See you at the finish line!

Until next time…

Dave

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Daily Ramblings – Spiritual Saturday – Acting As If

23 Saturday Mar 2019

Posted by Dave Gardner in Spiritual Saturday

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Acting as-if, Deleting, Distorting, Generalizing, Internal filtering, internal map, spirituality, Visualization

“A person who has a high degree of spiritual unfoldment will be balanced in his everyday life. He will use common sense and common courtesy with the people around him.”—Harold Klemp The Language of Soul

What is spiritual unfoldment? The easiest way to explain it is to use the analogy of a map. Initially, we start with a folded-up map. We see some map but miss the details that are in it. As we unfold the map, we see more of the surrounding territory and have a better view of how to move to the places we want to go. The more unfoldment we gain, the higher and more detailed our map becomes. When our internal map improves it gets us closer to the true terrain. This truth, once we recognize it, helps us live our lives better.

I find the topics of psychology and cognition fascinating. Over the years I have discovered that each of us use our own map to negotiate life. Some parts of the map are like other people’s maps. Some parts are not. These maps are unique to us. As we move through life, our maps change to adapt. I recently learned about filters. These filters do three things. They distort, generalize, and delete. These filters are necessary because they help us interact. Imagine having to relearn common, everyday tasks like walking to the mailbox, going out to eat, and anything else you can think of. This automatic filtering saves time and energy.

The downside to these internal filters is what they do with inputs we receive through the senses. Let’s say you have a bad boss and you are traumatized by your interactions with him or her. The part of your filter that generalizes could generalize that all bosses are bad. This causes us to “expect” to have bad bosses. If this auto filtering becomes strong enough in our internal wiring, you will delete or distort anything that differs with your belief that all bosses are bad.

Our beliefs are powerful. They are hard to circumvent or change because of the internal map we possess and the filters we used to analyze new information. We can change, however. We can short-circuit this cybernetic loop by changing our behavior or our beliefs. The beliefs we should target are called “limiting beliefs”. Limiting beliefs are those beliefs that cause us to doubt something or make it appear unsafe. Beliefs like “no one will love me”, “I’m horrible with money”, or “I can’t find a job” are all examples. How do you change these limited beliefs? One way is to behave differently. Act as if. Acting as if is like making pretend. We pretend we can do something we think we can’t. Since the mind can’t tell the difference between what it perceives and what it imagines, it can be fooled into believing that it can do something it couldn’t do before. This is quite a revelation, right?

I’ll leave you with this thought. You can change whatever you want if you can act your way into believing it. Once you believe something, your auto filtering system will do the rest.

Have a great Saturday!

Until next time…

Dave

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Daily Ramblings – Funny Friday

22 Friday Mar 2019

Posted by Dave Gardner in Funny Friday

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Tags

Bob Hope, Chuckle, Friday, Funny, Giggle, Happy Hour, Laughter, Netflix, Smile

“A bank is a place that will lend you money if you can prove that you don’t need it.”–Bob Hope

Today’s the day we clean up our office and head out for the weekend. You may go to a happy hour with colleagues, have a nice family dinner, or plop down on the couch and enjoy shows on Netflix. Whatever your plans are, have a great Friday night!

Until next time…

Dave

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Daily Ramblings – Thankful Thursday

21 Thursday Mar 2019

Posted by Dave Gardner in Thankful Thursdays

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Aesop, Appreciation, Conversations, followers, Gratitude, Learning, Reading, Thankful, Thanks

“Gratitude is the sign of noble souls.”—Aesop

Thank you for following Daily Ramblings. I am honored, humbled, and blessed by all of you. I hope your week is going well.

This week has been terrific, so far. We had friends over yesterday. It was nice to catch up and hang out over coffee in our living room, watching the rain on the first day of Spring. Have I mentioned how much I enjoy snow and rain? It is so comforting to hear the rain pitter patter on the window and roof as I enjoy a warm cup of coffee and my new slippers.

On Saturday we are heading to Flint to hang out with another family friend. He enjoys Thai food, so we always meet with him at his favorite restaurant and hang out for a few hours catching up and enjoying our conversation with a great Thai meal. They have the best homemade ice cream.

I really enjoy reading. I put my kindle through is paces. I enjoy reading multiple books at once and strive to continue this throughout the year. I find reading to be informative, relaxing, and joyful. When I read, I am transported to a new world, learn new things, and revisit past battlegrounds and places.

I also enjoy reading because I can see how an author uses the language to describe scenes, dialogue between characters, and move these characters through their plot. I learned last week that an author should read books within their genre. This allows them to see how their fellow authors put together stories and learn about the various ways they build their fantasy worlds, crime stories, or outer space adventures.

I enjoy learning and grateful for the many resources that are available today. Websites like Hillsdale.edu, Coursera.com, and others provide access to schools like Harvard, Yale, and the University of Michigan. It is a terrific, free resource that is beneficial. I also enjoy a website called Codecademy, which I am using to learn HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. Thank God for these programming sites so guys like me can pursue my 3rd career.

I’m also thankful for some folks that interacted with me this week. I really enjoy comments on my postings and interacting with others in the blogosphere. I look for new blogger sites and comment on Sundays. It is a lot of fun to read the posts of people worldwide.

Well, that’s all I got today folks. Thank you to all my new followers this week. I appreciate your patronage.

Until next time…

Dave

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