There is a push in certain circles to SIMPLIFY. There are simplify t-shirts, simplify bumper stickers, and simplify billboards. For some reason simplifying doesn't seem to be enough for those who seem to enjoy it. They need me to simplify too. I think they mean to encourage us to simplify our lives. To get back to the basics. To focus on what's important. I for one think that simplifying can be a lot of work.
We're busy people, living in a busy world. Jobs, families, hobbies, clubs, civic organizations, second jobs, third jobs, kids' activities, committees. It never seems to end. So much to do. So little time. Around my office, you could apply the same template to most people's daily work to-do lists.
I think all too often great, talented, well-meaning people are derailed from making great, productive, wonderful accomplishments by one little thing. Actually it's lots of little things. And those little things are. Drumroll. Distractions.
I recently read The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch. Good book. You may have seen him on Oprah. He is the professor diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, that gives a "last lecture" on what he had learned in life, and what he thought was worth mentioning to pass along. Lots of meaningful ideas.
Here's one thing I know (and yes, it may be the only thing); nothing is ever gained by waiting to go to the doctor. Whether it's a routine screening or you suspect there might be something wrong; nothing is ever gained by waiting. Do yourself a favor. Get in there.
I'm a Minnesota Vikings fan. They lose a lot of games. And it seems that a lot of those games come down to one close call (and often a bad call) by a referee at the end of the game that costs the purple people eaters the victory. This is not just a Vikings thing. Happens to all teams every now and then. Ref blew the call and cost us the game!
I was watching an episode of House this morning, and to make a long story short, Dr. House was visiting with a patient who said, "Time has a way of changing things." Dr. House responded, "Time doesn't change anything. Doing changes th
Last weekend I read "The Dip" by Seth Godin. It's a great little book about quitting. The general idea is that we probably don't quit things often enough. (Or worse, quit the wrong things at just the wrong time.)
Just a quick question. Why would anyone spend the time going through the following process? Decide it's important to recycle. Spend time and effort separating recyclables from non-recyclables during the week. Throw what's been determined to be trash into the garbage. Save what's been determined to be recyclable in a recycle bin. Load the recycle bin into a vehicle once a week. Take a trip to the recycle drop-off point.
Mark Cuban is the controversial owner of the Dallas Mavericks NBA basketball team (along with a bunch of other stuff including a chain of movie theaters and cable TV networks). Some people love him. A lot of people don't. I'm pretty sure he doesn't care one way or the other.
My wife and I play a lot of cribbage. Sometimes I win. Sometimes she wins. Sometimes it's a close game right up to the end. Other times it's a blowout. Sometimes when she's way ahead, she'll ask me if I want to concede and start a new game. Never. Being way behind is a different kind of challenge. Sure the odds are against my comeback, but you never know unless you try. It becomes a different way of playing the same game we've played thousands of times. The only thing I know for sure is that if I quit, I will not win. Every now and then I do come back to win. Most of the time I don't.
If today were my last day on earth, I think I would go without any real regrets. That feels pretty good. Now don't get me wrong, I am very much opposed to going today, but I am certain that we have almost no say in the matter. It's comforting to think we do, but we don't. Sure, we can be careful, and avoid dangerous situations; but the truth is, we don't get to chose how we die; we chose how we live.
