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Tag Archives: Heroes

Daily Ramblings – Memorial Day – Remember

25 Monday May 2020

Posted by Dave Gardner in Memorial Day

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America, Freedom, Heroes, Memorial Day, Remember, Sacrifice, The Fallen

Decoration Day

Sleep, comrades, sleep and rest
  On this Field of the Grounded Arms,
Where foes no more molest,
  Nor sentry’s shot alarms! 

Ye have slept on the ground before,
  And started to your feet
At the cannon’s sudden roar,
  Or the drum’s redoubling beat. 

But in this camp of Death
  No sound your slumber breaks;
Here is no fevered breath,
  No wound that bleeds and aches. 

All is repose and peace,
  Untrampled lies the sod;
The shouts of battle cease,
  It is the Truce of God! 

Rest, comrades, rest and sleep!
  The thoughts of men shall be
As sentinels to keep
  Your rest from danger free. 

Your silent tents of green
  We deck with fragrant flowers;
Yours has the suffering been,
  The memory shall be ours. 

—Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Henry said it better than I could have. Today, we remember the fallen—those that made the ultimate sacrifice for our country. Take a few moments and remember the brave souls, who gave their all so we could be free.

Until next time…

Dave

Daily Ramblings – Wisdom Wednesday – Using Your Imagination

15 Wednesday May 2019

Posted by Dave Gardner in Wisdom Wednesday

≈ 4 Comments

Tags

Athletes, Einstein, Gravity, Heroes, Imagination, Neural Pathway, Olympics, Relativity, Visualization

“Imagination is more important than knowledge.” – Albert Einstein

Did you know that most of Einstein’s Theories were thought experiments? A thought experiment is using one’s imagination to conduct an experiment. Can you imagine that? (no pun intended). I often picture Einstein sitting at his desk with pipe smoldering, eyes closed, and thinking up the theory of relativity or gravity bending light? What a mind!

Another topic this quote brings up for me is the act of visualization. Do you realize that a good portion of our Olympic athletes and professional sports players visualize exactly what they will do before they do it? I remember a Winter Olympics a few years back and watching a member of the U.S. Ski team visualizing her entire run in her mind before she did it.

Visualization is a powerful tool for any of us. You can use visualization to replay a scene in your mind you would like to fix. The late Dr. Stephen Covey, in his book “The 7 habits of Highly Effective People”, describes how he helped his son perform better in football by visualizing passing the ball perfectly. He also worked with his son on a tactic that would help him drop a bad play that just occurred by snapping his wrist band. Imagine how powerful that is. Dr. Covey calls this process, “…rewriting the script.” He was referring to the scripts we have playing in our mind. Another name for these scripts is a neural pathway. You see your brain is so efficient at conserving energy it automates everything. It automates your thoughts, your feelings in certain situations, how to open a door, how to drive a car, and how to use a knife, spoon, and fork.

We can use the power of visualization ourselves. We can envision something we want and visualize how that future scene will look like, smell, feel, and sound. In fact, the more senses you can imagine in this desired scene, the more powerful it is. Another aspect of the brain is that it doesn’t know the difference between these visualizations and reality. Do you doubt that? Imagine biting into a lemon and see how much you salivate. It works.

I am a fledgling author. I visualize myself at a book signing. A simple visualization with a stack of books on either side of me. I can feel the pencil. I can smell the newness of my books. I can taste the coffee I have next to me that I bought at the Barnes & Noble cafe in another part of the store. I see the smiles of the people that are in line and exchange pleasantries with the people marveling at my book and wanting to shake hands with the author D.L. Gardner (this will be my pen name). This is all it takes. Visualize your most important goal every day and your mind will work night and day to help you achieve that goal. Why does your mind do this you ask? It is called cognitive dissonance. When your mind sees a difference between what you have now and what you want or visualize, it begins working on strategies and action steps you can take to eliminate this dissonance. This dissonance occurs when your brain recognizes differences in the present with the visualization you give it of the future. Your brain sees this visualization as “real”. Subsequently, it will do all it can to alleviate the stress that this dissonance causes.

You can use your imagination to create anything you want. I have a few fiction authors who I interact with. How do you think they create meaningful prose for their readership? You guessed it—they create their worlds, the scenes, the scenarios, their characters, and the dialogue with their imagination. For some of you this may be a HUGE no-brainer. Think about the imagination of the greats like Disney, Faulkner, King, and Tolkien. Imagine creating the worlds they have created. It is possible.

Your imagination is a powerful tool for creating poetry, books, new devices, and programs. It can create a new business that serve untold thousands. It is all available to each of us. We only have to use it and let it run free. Then, it takes the courage to pursue these creations despite our self-doubt, the naysayers, and all of those boogie men we create in our mind to defeat ourselves.

When I am deeply involved with a visualization or use my imagination, I feel like a kid sometimes. I feel like I can do anything I want. It really is a wonderful thing to imagine and visualize the future you want for you and your family. It is one of those human powers that allowed us to utilize fire, build the steam engine, and exploit the electron.

Try this out with something you want to do. What have you got to lose?

Until next time…

Dave

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Daily Ramblings – Thankful Thursday – Heroes

18 Thursday Apr 2019

Posted by Dave Gardner in Thankful Thursdays

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Tags

Grateful, Gratitude, Heroes, Masters Tournament, Thankful, Tiger Woods, Video

“The joy I get from winning a major championship doesn’t even compare to the feeling I get when a kid writes a letter saying: ‘Thank you so much. You have changed my life.” – Tiger Woods

Read more at: Brainy Quote

Viral Video – Tiger Woods

If you’re a golf fan or just curious about Tiger Woods’ recent comeback at the Master’s golf tournament, this article (link above to a USA today article) is worth a read. The embedded video in this article is worth a watch too. It is a collection of videos trashing Tiger Woods as he watches. Sports heroes like Tiger Woods is what I am thankful for this week.

There are so many examples of wrongdoing in this world. Open the paper any day of the week and you are bombarded with mothers killing their children, crazed teens contemplating shooting up their school, corrupt politicians bashing each other for wrong doing, natural disasters and other horrors for our daily ingestion. Negativity sells. Our heroes take us away from the horrific, showing us time and time again that the impossible is possible.

When I was growing up, one of my heroes was Bjorn Borg. I played tennis as a young man and became captivated with the exploits of Bjorn Borg, watching him dazzle crowds across the globe as he won one grand slam after another. Our heroes beat the odds. Our heroes overcome diversity. Our heroes can do things that are difficult and make them look easy. I still remember watching Bjorn Borg in a Wimbledon final on a Sunday morning and being locked to the television screen.

I am thankful for the example our heroes set. They show us how hard work pays off. They show us how persistence wins the day. They show us that despite human weaknesses, they can overcome any obstacle and win. They also show us that the important things in life are still the little things. A letter from a fan, their family watching them win a tournament, the small human interactions that are meaningful in our lives.

Who are your heroes?

I would like to close out today’s posting with a “Thank you” to all my new followers this week. It is a real joy to check on my blog and see new followers. It is an acknowledgment that someone enjoys my writing and follows along with my postings. It is a joy to interact with people in this medium. Without followers my blog would be less enjoyable. Thank you for your patronage and time.

We are approaching the Easter Weekend. I hope all of you who celebrate have a terrific weekend and enjoy some time off from work. My sister is off for four days and coming up to visit for a couple of days. It’ll be great fun catching up on a television show and movies, going out to eat, and hanging out.

I hope each of you is having a terrific week so far.

Until next time…

Dave

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Daily Ramblings – Bonus Content – The GOYA Principle

10 Sunday Feb 2019

Posted by Dave Gardner in Bonus Content

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Albert Schweitzer, Analysis Paralysis, Friends, Heroes, inspiration, Slumps, The GOYA Principle

“At times, our own light goes out and is rekindled by a spark from another person. Each of us has cause to think with deep gratitude of those who have lighted the flame within us.” – Albert Schweitzer

We all experience a slump. Nothing seems to work well. We lose our motivation or desire to do what we set out to do. We begin to doubt what we are doing is worth doing.

How can you get yourself out of a slump? Use the GOYA principle. If you are unfamiliar with the GOYA principle, you can thank Tom Hopkins. Tom is the author of How to Master the Art of Selling. In this book he describes a slump in his life. He was a fledgling real estate salesman and was having a tough time of it. The story about how he got himself out of his slump involved his boss taking him on a ride to cool off. Once they had driven around for a bit, his boss told him to get out of the car. He then told Tom to knock on every door of every house on his way back to the office. By the time he got back to the office he had a few leads and some potential homes to sell. The moral of the story: Use the GOYA principle. What is the GOYA principle you ask?

G-Get

O-Off

Y-Your

A-Ass

When you let your mind and emotions get in your way and over-analyze what you are doing, you will begin doing more analysis than work. Slumps come when you stop doing the work that works in your field of endeavor. We all do this from time-to-time. We sabotage our own efforts when we stop doing what we already know works.

In this example, Tom’s boss was the catalyst that rekindled Tom’s faith in the process of selling homes. Who is your go to when you are in a slump? Is it a boss? Is it your wife or significant other? Is it a good friend who knows you better than yourself? For me, my catalyst has always been the many great authors of the world.

I discovered this this morning as I worked through my morning journaling. I obtain inspiration from the books I read. I obtain inspiration from the stories of heroes taking on challenges and overcoming them. I read about others who have struggled with their inner demons and conquered them. My heroes are the scientists, philosophers, explorers, generals, writers, artists, musicians, and poets. I am also inspired by quotes. I pass along the quotes I find to my followers with the hope they will do for you what they do for me. Quotes inspire, motivate, and awaken us to the wisdom of the ages.

Slumps come and go. Work through them. Get back to basics. Stop analyzing. GET OFF YOUR ASS.

Until next time…

Dave

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Daily Ramblings – Bonus Content – Happy Memorial Day

27 Sunday May 2018

Posted by Dave Gardner in Memorial Day, Thank you

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Tags

First-Responders, Heroes, Memorial Day, Veterans

Folks! Today is my “do-nothing” day, but I would be a total dirtbag if I did not acknowledge the many veterans that have paid the ultimate price for our freedom and security, since the founding of this country.

Tomorrow is the day we pay tribute to these heroes.

Since some of my audience is not from the United States, I would recommend looking at your own country’s heroes and take a few moments to remember them.

To all veterans and their family members:

I hope all of you have a terrific Memorial Day and enjoy time spent with loved ones, reminiscing those that have fallen. There has been so much military action over the last couple of decades that it is unthinkable that anyone of my friends or colleagues is without some connection to the military.

I truly wish those that are hurt, heal quickly. Those that have died are remembered for their sacrifices. I would also recommend remembering the family these heroes left behind. They have born a great deal of sacrifice as well.

I would also like to thank our first responders. They make sacrifices every day to make our lives better. Whether you are a member of the firefighters, the police, or the many who have answered the call in the numerous medical fields, you too, make daily sacrifices to make our society safer.

You will always be remembered.

Until next time…

Dave

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