31 Saturday Aug 2019
Posted in Spiritual Saturday
Enjoy today’s video by Sri Harold Klemp, who discusses how to utilize a tool to remain centered and grateful despite life’s ups and downs. If you like this video, feel free to subscribe to Sri Harold Klemp on YouTube. It’s free and has a wealth of information you may be interested in.
Enjoy your Saturday!!
Until next time…
Dave
30 Friday Aug 2019
Posted in Funny Friday
29 Thursday Aug 2019
Posted in Thankful Thursdays
Today, I wanted to express my gratitude for the decisions I made leading up to this moment. Had I not made the decisions I did, I would not have been in a position to retire early so I could return home and help out my parents.
It is nice to be home with Mom and Dad during their senior years. My Dad is 80. My Mom will be 76 on September 10th. All of us do our own thing at home. My Mom likes to sit on our deck and enjoy nature while she reads or plays Facebook games. My Dad has always been a reader and enjoys his books or a nap in his rocker. I enjoy my writing, reading, and learning while Dad sits in his chair. I typically spend most of my morning and early afternoon in the living room with Dad, while he reads or naps.
Mom likes to get out and about to run errands, while I sit with Dad. This arrangement works out pretty good. Daily, we have dinner as a family. Dad likes to watch his news while we eat and Mom likes to hear the weather report. When people come over to hang out with the family, we all gravitate to the deck. Many people comment how relaxing our home is. How calm it is. It truly is a sanctuary from the hustle and bustle present in most people’s lives.
I am grateful for this. How many people are in a position to be with their parents in their senior years? How many people get to know their parents as peers? I am truly blessed.
Today, take some time to make a call or write a letter to your folks. If your folks have passed, write them a letter. They will get it. If you are connected with your parents on Facebook, see if you can connect on Facebook messenger and have a quick video call. You’ll be glad you did.
Thanks Mom and Dad for having me, raising me, and teaching me. Thanks for all of the sacrifices you made to make my life better than yours was. Thanks for always being there. Thanks for the birthday cards, birthday presents, and Christmas presents when I was serving abroad. Thanks for the calls on my birthday. I love you both.
Have a great Thursday, everyone.
Until next time…
Dave
28 Wednesday Aug 2019
Posted in Wisdom Wednesday
Tags
Brainstorming, Changing Viewpoints, decisions, Disassociate, family, Friends, journal, Learning from the past, wisdom
Today’s Wisdom Wednesday post was inspired by an article I read over the weekend. It discusses how all of us can become wiser. Interestingly, it involves a few mind games you can utilize to invoke your inner wisdom.
The first step is to imagine you are advising a friend. Think about that. It is always easier for us to tell a friend what they should do if they ask us for advice. Why? Because we aren’t directly involved.
Another tactic you can use is imagine you are staring down at yourself from above. At the ground level you are blinded, you can only see what you see in front of you and behind you. You can’t see far enough ahead to see if something will actually deliver the best results when you make a decision. Now, imagine you are on top of a mountain and you can see what lies ahead. In this elevated position you can see what is up ahead.
You can also disassociate from yourself and make believe you are a friend giving you advice. When you are giving a friend advice, it is always easier and you will always provide them with better advice, then they could come up with on their own, because you can see their blind spots.
One technique I use is my journal. If you take the time to document what you are thinking about, including the decisions you make, you will find that you will see where you went wrong in the past. You can see the mistakes you made and avoid them in the future. By keeping a journal, you can review what went wrong and think about other solutions that were available at the time. You can ask questions like, why didn’t I do this instead? Or, you could see the options you were weighing at the time and see a better solution you can use in the future.
When you go back and review your journal, it mimics the suggestions in the article, How to be wiser (Hammond, 2017). When you are reviewing your journal, you can separate from yourself and become more objective.
Finally, you can brainstorm when you are tackling a new problem. You can write down all the potential solutions to a problem you have and weigh each one against the other. You can game out potential results with each solution you come up with. If you’re still stuck, you can take all of your brainstormed ideas and bounce them off a trusted friend or family member. In some cases, they may have already experienced what you have and may have a solution that worked for them.
Wisdom is gained over a lifetime. We can increase our wisdom by separating ourselves from our problems and attempt to view them from a higher vantage point. We can seek out advice from our friends and family. We can review our journal for previous problems we have faced and use the learning gained in our past and apply it to our present difficulties. Each of us has the ability to become wise and make better choices. We just have to become more aware of our circumstances and use all the tools that are available to us to make the best decision we can make with all the information at hand.
I hope all of you have a great Wednesday!
Until next time…
Dave
Reference
Hammond, C. (2017). How to be wiser. Retrieved from: http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20170124-how-to-be-wiser
27 Tuesday Aug 2019
Posted in Ted Talk
This Ted Ed video raises a really cool question: Would you opt for a life of no pain? The video raises some interesting questions and demonstrates that a life of no pain may not be all it’s cracked up to be.
I hope you enjoy this week’s Ted Talk installment. Feel free to drop a vote below stating whether you would want a life with the possibility of pain or a life without any pain.
Have a great Tuesday, folks!
Until next time…
Dave
26 Monday Aug 2019
Posted in Motivation Monday
Happy Monday!
I just got back from one of our annual religious retreats. It is hard to describe the feeling of the Holy Spirit, Love, and connection one receives when attending an event, free from the daily to-dos and other responsibilities we all have to deal with. I am still reeling from the experience. That being said, I am slowly returning to reality and getting back to work.
This week, I’m hitting the book writing, courses, exercise regimen, meditation, and other activities I’ve got scheduled this week. I’ll be unpacking, doing laundry, and getting myself set back up for all of my routines.
Whenever you go away on a business trip, vacation, or religious retreat, there’s always a bit of a letdown when you return to the normalcy of day-to-day living. This is why having your rituals and day-to-day tasks listed out in one of the many to-do apps is so important. Your computer or other tech devices give you the guidance you took time to set up so you can get right back at it without much delay.
Today, I’ll get most of my stuff done, but some will be put on hold until tomorrow, as I get my office set up, get caught up on emails, do some grocery shopping, and get reoriented to the daily routine. Today, will be much less difficult because I have all of my recurring tasks sitting in my to-do app, ready for me to attack.
I hope each of you has a terrific week.
Until next time…
Dave
22 Thursday Aug 2019
Posted in Thankful Thursdays
Our nephew visited this last week for a few days. It was great having him here. We went out to some restaurants, hung out on our deck, watched some shows on Netflix, and got in a little Xbox gaming. He got plenty of face time with Mom and Dad and we all enjoyed his stay. He headed back yesterday to get ready for his senior year at ASU, which started today. My sister also came up for a few days. While she was here we binge-watched Mindhunter Season 2 on Netflix. If you haven’t watched the Mindhunter series, it is worth your while.
I have been working with my wife to help her get ready for her teacher’s certification. We have been burning the midnight oil every day for the last few weeks for a few hours each night. It’s nice to help her get ready.
I am thankful for all the opportunities to spend time with family. I am blessed that I could be in the situation to spend time with my folks during their senior years. It was great seeing the nephew this week. It is also nice to spend time with my wife, while she pursues her career in Arizona. I am so proud of her.
I am also grateful for the new followers this week. Daily Ramblings is slowly creeping toward the goal of 1000 followers this year. It is nice to see new followers when I check into the Daily Ramblings blog site on WordPress. Thank you to all who have opted to follow my blog.
Over the next few days, I’ll be on a religious retreat, so Friday and Saturday postings will not happen. I’ll be too busy with the retreat and will not have time to get something up on the site. I’ll see you all on Monday!
I hope all of you have a great weekend!
Until next time…
Dave
21 Wednesday Aug 2019
Posted in Wisdom Wednesday
Tags
Challenges, Difficulty, Making Judgment Calls, Multiple Priorities, Priorities, Riding the Wave, Rough Times
Image by Doug Wilmerton from Pixabay
What is wisdom? Wisdom is what we gain when we learn the hard way. When we tackle something new, we discover problems, challenges, and resilience. This applies to everything. The greatest learning happens when we are struggling.
Sometimes we can avoid the heartache of learning about something we don’t know anything about by reading about a person who is going through the same thing. Other times we stumble across a good piece of advice when we ask others to help us with a problem.
None of us goes looking for trouble. It just sneaks up on us, when we think we are on track or think we have something figured out. We learn that what we thought we knew, we didn’t. Interestingly, we discover that the things we depend on are typically the things that cause the most pain when they break. Think about the last time your car broke down. Totally unexpected right?
Last year I had a huge problem with tires. I went to visit my sister to attend a comedy show in her neck of the woods. While we were on our way, we hit a huge pothole and blew out a tire. A month or so later, coming home from my sister’s I ran over a shock absorber that was left behind by a semitrailer. It blew out two tires simultaneously. Three tires in a matter of months. Not only was it expensive to repair, but an absolute pain in the butt because the second time delayed me for 4 hours. Needless to say, I try to avoid driving through Detroit (because of the horrific state of the highways that run through there).
One of the wisest things I’ve discovered is the beauty of taking little steps each day toward a goal I want to achieve. You’d be amazed how many books you can read in a year by reading one chapter a day. You’d be amazed by how much you can write if you write a little each day. This can be applied to anything you do. I tend to like touching a whole slew of items each day. It keeps things fresh and it allows me to diversify my attention to many things, instead of focusing on just one thing. I do not multitask; I monotask. I focus on one thing at a time, but work across numerous areas each day. I write, meditate, exercise, read, take classes, run errands, and so on. Each task I accomplish contributes to a life-goal or a short-range or medium-range goal. That’s me. You may not like hopping and skipping around. You may not have the time.
When you are setting up your day, evaluate your productivity. Are you moving forward with your goals or spinning your wheels? Maybe you’ve taken on too much or you are trying to focus on something that just isn’t right for you right now. You also have to take into consideration that there will be days you can’t do anything because of outside circumstances. My nephew was in town this last week. He only visits once a year, so I wanted to take advantage of him being here by hanging out and doing things with him. This weekend I’m scheduled for a religious retreat. The retreat starts Friday and does not end until Sunday afternoon. Needless to say, this means that my priorities will take a back seat to this event. This is one thing to consider as well. You have to prioritize what is most important and put some of your daily to-dos on hold to take advantage of rare events that have a greater impact on your well-being.
Today’s article was spurred by the article I have referenced below. Give it a look. It’s a short one and will only take a few minutes to read, but it’s worth it. It caused me to think about wisdom in a new light. We really do gain when times are hard or our schedules are thrown into a tizzy. We have to improvise and adapt. This comes when we have developed the wisdom to realize that some days you just have to “ride the wave”.
Until next time…
Dave
Reference
Cohut, M. (2018). The road to wisdom runs through hardship study finds. Retrieved from: https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/320996.php
20 Tuesday Aug 2019
Posted in Workout Routine
Workout:
See you at the finish line!
Dave
20 Tuesday Aug 2019
Posted in Ted Talk
Image by Sabine Da Silva from Pixabay
If you are a fan of exploration, you’ll love this short video talk given by Victor Vescovo about his submarine, which can get to the bottom of the ocean. Take a look. I hope this blows you away like it did me.
Until next time…
Dave
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