Fully aware of the fact that its been ages since I’ve posted, I find that I’m really skilled at convincing myself that inspiration will come “tomorrow”.  A nasty habit/trait that I’ve instilled  into my being by, ironically, doing nothing.  Apathy can be a harsh mistress when provoked.

Guilt aside, I came across an awesome quote that has inspired me out of melancholy and into a weekly blog-post goal (Can’t set the bar too high as my attempt at high jump has proven before).  Without further ado…

Check out more of his awesome sh** at www.jaymug.com

- Steve Jobs

It would appear to me then, that according to this model, we can never fully achieve the designation of grown ups.  Well rounded emotional and logical individuals would probably be a better label.  It is the person that can learn from their experiences and subsequent emotional responses that understands life better than most.  This point can only come after moments of pure ecstasy, frustration, melancholy, romance, rage, heartache and indifference.  Understanding these and all other emotions matures us, typically occurring in those pesky life lessons.

I have always considered myself more mature than others.  But in that proclamation was an inherent flaw that I’ve only just recently realized.  Where was the humility?  By pretending to be above situations or choosing to be devoid of emotions about various drama in my life I was limiting myself from true learning that comes from dealing with these issues.  I’m not advocating to deal with every minor drama in your life, and in fact some can be detrimental to becoming a better person.  However don’t turn completely off either.

I guess what I’m trying to say is you can not know an emotion until you’ve fully experienced one.  Causing heartbreak and feeling heartbreak are two completely separate feelings that will educate you quickly on what it means to love.  Getting a present and giving a present both invoke a level of happiness but for completely different reasons.  Watching someone vomit and actually vomiting…well you probably get the point.

I’m currently attempting to make a life choice that if nothing more will help me understand pure self-satisfying joy better or the depths of a meaningless existence.  That sounds a lot heavier than what it is but sometimes a little pazazz can’t hurt.  Im on a quest to determine what to do with my life.  It lead me to write this post.  I want to realize what my true passions are and go after them with vigor.  Its a hard “grown-up” decision to make but a general malaise existence isn’t cutting it anymore.  We are all capable of achieving what ever we want as long as we can wake up and stop making excuses.  This decision, I believe, is the closest one can come to being a grown up.

Live Fiercely (and keep the noise down while your at it)

To begin with, what exactly is going on with the “Occupy Wall Street” movement?  It started as a small demonstration meant to mimic what the Arab Spring demonstration did for the countries of Tunisia, Egypt, and war-torn Libya.  In my opinion, the whole idea and what they have accomplished already is genius.  There has been until recently, a suspicious lack of media coverage, often dismissing the whole thing as a hippie movement with no real demands.  However I would argue that their demand is simple and broad because it has to be.  99% of the public is tired of dealing with the greed and corruption of the 1%.  Why is it that politicians are allowed to take any money at all, whether it be a campaign “donation” or through lobbyist of certain bills, from corporate entities or motive-driven super rich?

There is currently 14 million people unemployed in America, a number that seems very disturbing to me, whilst banks are still delivering million-dollar bonuses to executives.  I’m not entirely sure where the movement will go next but now that major labor unions and celebrities have joined the cause I’m sure they will be getting more attention than anyone previously expected. Alan Moore would be proud.  For more information visit the website at http://occupywallst.org/.

Elsewhere in the world, and equally cool, scientists believe to have recorded neutrinos moving faster than the speed of light.  Approximately 60 nano-seconds faster to be precise.  The implications are numerous and I’m sure they will be working hard to discredit this discover, but until then…HOLY $H!# BALLS! This news coincides perfectly with the release of the limited edition “Back To The Future” Nike Air Mag.  I for one can see where destiny is going with this.  Einstein determined the speed of light as the metric that are concepts of relativity and time are based off.  Now if that is no longer the fastest point, then we can now open the door for further space travel and possibly time travel.

Now for my thoughts on the iphone 4S.  But before that let’s watch Hitler‘s point of view.

I would have to agree with Hitler here (I hope worse words have been uttered).  There has been a lot of hype about Apple coming out with iphone 5.  I myself am a huge Apple nut (no pun intended), often referring to myself as a member of the cult.  So I must admit I was a little disappointed that instead of getting a newly designed tech masterpiece, I got what felt like the same phone with cooler software.  Is this a reflection of Apple’s new management?  Who knows the answer, but I am positive that I don’t want to feel like the company I have so much love for is pulling that “Warner Bros. split the final Potter movie in two crap.”

"An interpretive method of sleeping?"

This is my dog Sergeant or “Sarge” for short.  He is an English Lab that mocks me every day with his “care-free lifestyle”.  Aside from the fact that the complexities of his life include learning to “shake” for a treat or where to hide the chewed up remains of an Indiana Jones Collection Box, he remains stress free.

He also has this remarkable ability to make whatever I feel stressed about seem completely ludicrous.  Work, school or relationship drama all seem insignificant when he persists on placing his sopping rope chew toy in my lap, despite my best attempts to ignore it.  This inevitably leads me to think about how he sees the world and how playing tug-of-war for five minutes is enough to make him happy.  How cool would the world be if we all carried around our favorite toys and could stop anyone to play for awhile?

Answer: Very Cool

It sounds cliche` but I really do believe that we as humans tend to get caught up in our own lives and the drama we create.  This, as I understand, is why meditation is so important.  Intuitively, the idea of shutting everything out probably has associated health benefits.  We are an over stimulated culture, who will escape one stress by replacing it with another stress.  Imagine being awake, but not thinking about anything but breathing for 30 minutes a day.  Stress creates a chemical response in the body that if unchecked can cause physical damage.  Meditating for 30 minutes gives your body a break from that chemical response which might be all one needs to be calm about stressful issues. Genius I Say!

I think I’ll start by assuming the position Sarge uses when bored.  Unorthodox but effective in clearing my mind of any stress outside of having to explain myself to any intruders of my “meditation”.  I hope your meditation methods are equally “unique”, otherwise I’ll be left with having to find a more normal pet to imitate.

(Currently Reading “The Adventures of Kavalier & Clay” by Michael Chabon)

The movie begins with the younger of the two brothers (Tom Hardy) the movie centers around returning home.  His father (Nick Nolte) is a 4-year sober and recovering alcoholic.  Immediately the viewer is made aware of the estranged relationship between the father and his two sons.  In a unbelievably calloused way, the son enlists his father to be his trainer for an upcoming MMA tournament with the largest cash prize in the history of the sport.  I say calloused because of his intense and downright cold responses towards any attempt his father makes to reconnect with him.

Parallel to the younger brother’s story the movie introduces the older brother (Joel Edgerton) who is simultaneously an underpaid physics teacher and loveable husband/father in the movie.  These ingredients along with the eminent foreclosure on his house make for the perfect underdog.  He reaches out to a friend from his UFC fighting days to begin getting back in shape for tournaments.

As the trailers show the brothers end up fighting each other in this main tournament each with what can only be called equally moving causes.  You really don’t know who to root for and the fight itself doesn’t make that any more apparent.  I won’t spoil the ending but will say that it was the best movie I have seen this year.  It was one of the most moving stories I have seen that wasn’t drowned out by the “reality” or in this case fighting of the movie.  Five-Stars, Two-Thumbs Up and a personal guarantee that you will thoroughly enjoy this movie.

I want to end this post with an appropriate quote and I think Mr. Stallone fits the bill.

“Then the time come for you to be your own man and take on the world, and you did. But somewhere along the line, you changed. You stopped being you. You let people stick a finger in your face and tell you you’re no good. And when things got hard, you started looking for something to blame, like a big shadow. Let me tell you something you already know. The world ain’t all sunshine and rainbows. It’s a very mean and nasty place and I don’t care how tough you are it will beat you to your knees and keep you there permanently if you let it. You, me, or nobody is gonna hit as hard as life. But it ain’t about how hard ya hit. It’s about how hard you can get it and keep moving forward. How much you can take and keep moving forward. That’s how winning is done! Now if you know what you’re worth then go out and get what you’re worth. But ya gotta be willing to take the hits, and not pointing fingers saying you ain’t where you wanna be because of him, or her, or anybody! Cowards do that and that ain’t you! You’re better than that!”

- Rocky Balboa

“I’ve been known to work too hard on assignments”

There are at least 2 problems with this response.

A) What the hell does that even mean?  Are you passing out from exhaustion?  Maybe your some quack-job who snaps at anything interfering with them and their deadline.

B) This sounds like an same archaic BS response that career councilors have been feeding to the masses for more years then I’ve been alive.

I’ve interviewed with many companies and I can honestly say that creative answers and a stress-free demeanor are far more important than sweaty foreheads and textbook replies.  This wasn’t an overnight epiphany either.

One of the first full-time positions I interviewed for was with a woman who looked only four years older than me. Needless to say I was nervous like a presidential candidate hooked to a lie-detector test.  At the end of the interview she asked if I had any questions for her and in my stress-addled state I decided to tell her how young I thought she was…as for the result, her face said it all.

The point I’m trying to make is simple.  Having a “nothing-to-lose” attitude going into an interview will give you a calm state of mind.  When your at this point you can get a lot more creative with your responses to those BS questions.  Get personable, interviewers eat it up.  I’m talking real “bleeding-heart” kind of answers.  Let them know with PASSION about how you pacified that irate customer at Quiznos.

Hint: Exaggeration can be a useful tool as long as it sounds believable or cannot be disproved.

As for me, “Well, I would say that my biggest weakness is identifying personal weaknesses when I could be applying this solid work ethic and determination to blowing the pants off of your expectations.”

I have come to realize that letting go of everything that bothers you can drastically change your outlook on life.  It’s not an easy task but the more you practice the better you get.

Take for instance that guy that shouldered you earlier to get closer to the stage.

What was his deal?

Why was he drenched?

Was that a pacifier in his mouth?

These are the kind of questions that could ruin a moment for someone.  I would say don’t waste time worrying about the walking Oedipus Complex.  There is never any other moment than the one your experiencing now.  Letting someone or something else control your emotions for that one moment is like having time stolen away.

It isn’t quite indifference, a word that in my mind connotates lazyness, so much as being in control of your emotions.  Unwavering in the face of reality’s drama.  Thus the real fight here is on the mental field against your own ego.  You know, that thing all of us have that is supposed to be our “identity” but more often than not ends up being that wet blanket that dictates all of our actions.  Fighting you own ego is and will always be a struggle, however it becomes manageable with each new victory in controlling your emotions.

The take-away here is that to be a happier person you must choose to be happy.  It really is a lot easier then most would imagine.

You must first focus on only the present moment you are in.  Doing this will rid your mind of any concerns from the past or future.  If provoked physically or emotionally it is important to observe your response.  Once you choose to perceive this from an “outsider’s” point of view you can gain control over the emotion quite easily.  The third and most important step in being happy is by being happy.  Focusing on having only happy thoughts and responding to people/things in a happy way will make you happy.

As Leo Tolstoy said “If you want to be happy, be”

Planning.

These are people who account for all possible risks and make moves accordingly.  In this way paranoia is actually a good thing because of the extra scenarios, however outlandish, your mind can prepare for.  In this way perhaps the Boy Scouts of America will be the future leaders of the world with their all knowing motto “Always Come Prepared” emblazoned on their Golden Swiss Army Knives.

In all seriousness though, planning really is one of the keys to achieving anything you want in this life.  Whether it be a vacation or business idea the proper planning will yield exactly what you are looking for.

Now you might ask, “What exactly is this planning you speak of and for that matter how does one gentleman or lady such as I go about using it?”

Well prepare for a generic but well rounded list to step-by-step you through the process.

1. Define your goal…If you can’t do this one you might want to accept your life as it is.
2. Understand Your Investment…Time and Money are indeed as important as they say
3. Account for Obstacles…Your boss saying no and Hurricanes should be treated equally
4. Determine Milestones…This can be a monthly (normal) or daily (anal-retentive)
5. Contingency Plan…You missed your milestone, are you going to quit?!
6. Realize Goal…This would be the happy-fun celebrate part