Monday Morning Quote - November 9th

"To free us from the expectations of others, to give us back to ourselves -- there lies the great, singular power of self-respect." - Joan Didion

Thursday Morning Quote - September 3rd

"Sometimes we strive so hard for perfection that we forget that imperfection is happiness" - Karen Nave

Let my dataset change your mindset

Doctor and researcher, Hans Rosling, presents a fascinating, and at times humorous, talk that shows how data can both break myths and clarify the world. Definitely worth the 20 minutes to watch.

Overwhelmed is not a good feeling

Have you ever had a feeling that you were just overwhelmed? You know that feeling like your list of things to get done is long and growing and the time to get things down is short and shrinking? It's not a good feeling. I'm in the middle of this at the moment.

I'm that person looking a bit haggard, juggling a dozen things, constantly looking at my task list and calendar. This has got to stop, but how? I've got stuff to do?

An former boss used an old phrase, "Too busy chopping wood to sharpen the axe." Yes, that would be my current situation. I want to step back review the processes to make them better, more efficient so that I can avoid this situation. But how can I do that when I have all this stuff to do?

Rock and hard place. Catch-22. Insanity.

I just need to look at my list and determine what is least important, what can be put off and make the time. Easier said than done, but needs to be done or I won't have any axe left and all I have is bludgeoned wood.

Monday Morning Quotes - August 31st

"If you're starting out or trying to get to the next level, surround yourself with people who keep you motivated and energized - people who inspire you to achieve your best every day. When you do this, you can't lose." - Anthony Famiglietti

Monday Morning Quotes - August 24th

If you learn only methods, you'll be tied to your methods, but if you learn principles you can devise your own methods. - Ralph Waldo Emerson

Hurtful Accusations

Have you ever been accused of something you did not do? How did that make you feel? How did you react? How did you convince the other person that the accusations were not true? And most importantly, what damage was done to the relationship?

Recently, I was accused of something I did not do. The accusation was pretty serious and given with a lot emotion. I was caught off guard and stunned and they would not listen to anything I tried to say.
I had some time afterward and went through a range of emotion. First, disbelief, then anger, then sadness. Sadness, because I feel that the accusation has severly damaged our relationship. I spent a lot of time trying to figure out what happened, where the accusation came from and how I can show this person that their accusations are unfound.

I keep mulling over the thought that everything I do to prove my innocence will fail. Like the man accused of murder. The facts point to him and he is convicted because the fact that proves without a doubt that he is innocent is not or cannot be presented in court.

I'm at a loss as to my next step and hurt about the entire thing. It's not something I can just ignore and hope it will go away; I have to address it. I just hope reason and calmness prevails. As to the relationship, I am not sure how it will come out on the other side.

Thursday Morning Quote - August 20th

A man can fail many times, but he isn't a failure until he begins to blame somebody else. - Steve Prefontaine

Blogging Vacation

I've been on a blogging vacation. Life has been a bit crazy lately and I had to focus on my family. As much as this blog is therapy for me, I had to set it aside for a few weeks until things settled down.

Even though things here are still a bit chaotic, it's calmed down to the point that I can once again get all these thoughts out of my head and out there for the world to read.

So, I've begun to write blog entries again, but probably at a much slower pace.

BTW: The picture doesn't really tie to this post, but I just cracked up when I saw it and had to share javascript:void(0)it.

Simplify Your Life: End Your Dependence On Stuff

I've been a huge proponent of simplifying my life by de-cluttering, open space and just doing more with less. However, having a family that did not follow my example has been an issue. I think that is about to change.

Now, I'm not perfect, but I am always looking at what I have and am doing that creates complexity and stress in my life and how I can change it. One example is my music. I am a huge music fan (check out my music blog, Hoi Polloi Music) and have a large collection of CDs and eek! cassette tapes. These are sitting in two boxes right now. However, I listen to almost all music on-line or on my MP3 player and when I looked at all those CDs I got nostalgic: 'I haven't heard this in years', 'I forgot I had that' and 'Did I really buy that?'. So I am in the process of ripping all those CDs to MP3s and storing everything on an external 750GB hard drive. I will be able to access them easier, clear up a lot of physical space and have a nice process to catalog them in an on-line Google Spreadsheet - yeah, I'm a geek. Now I can sell all the CD's I really don't need or want to keep and can keep a handful of 'classics' (e.g. Kraftwerk's Autobahn, Mile's Davis' The Birth of Cool, Grateful Dead's American Beauty). Simplicity!

This is just one example. Now back to my story. My wife saw an episode of Oprah where they put out a challenge to families to simplify. Many of the things that these families were doing hit home, since our family is guilty of several of them. The main point was that we are teaching our children to be out of control consumerists who are obsessed with 'stuff'.

Several things hit home: Buying so many groceries that many are thrown out because they expire/spoil. The buy 2 get 1 free is not a good deal if you throw out 1 or even 2. We've been guilty of buying more than we normally use because, it's a 'great deal'. Another example is buying more toys/DVDs/clothes than we use. My kids don't play with the majority of their toys, they watch a DVD once, they grow out of clothes before they ever wear them.

So how do we change? Well that's the simple part. Buy what you need and will use. Buy less processed foods. Give away toys to charity organizations, subscribe to Netfix or spend only $3.99 on a Video-On-Demand movie (low environmental impact), buy only clothes you need now and take care of the ones you have.

The hard part is committing yourself to doing it.

I really would like to know what others are doing. Please comment. Thanks. (BTW: Here are two great sites: www.unclutterer.com and www.idealbite.com)