Focus

focal bridge

Focus is a great skill to have. How is it that I feel bereft of that particular skill most of the time? How do some people get their focus? I wonder though, could focus be a bad thing? There are people in this world who are so focused on one item that we call them obsessed. I don’t crave that kind of self-imposed retardation we call obsession. The obsessed give themselves up, they surrender, for what? A paltry amount of money? An item that by all accounts is temporary? For a fashion or a style, that will pass them by in a few years, in the blink of an eye? For a bottle of delusion, or a momentary high?

Obsession is the worst kind of focus, but there is good focus, and that’s even harder to achieve. Good focus is a skill that allows you to see the minor steps that will get you far along the path. It will get you building bridges to cross those chasms of distraction. Well, as I admitted before—I’m no expert on focus. I feel like I’m more of an expert on distraction. Cheers to you who are like me (who are distracted by every bird swiftly winging along, every window with something on the other side, every collection of insects, and every pebble shiny or dull). Cheers and good luck!

Spring!

spring

I love Mother Earth! She does amazing things. Several of these flowers, like the one pictured, are popping up in my yard, despite the snow. Or maybe because of it. Bulbs don’t need much water. They survive fairly harsh weather conditions: cold and icy, or dry and hot. I planted them because of their ability to withstand the weather conditions. They’re a native plant. I also have succulents that spread themselves and do just fine in the current climate. I don’t even have to water them.

I also love climate change—preferred to climate stasis 5 to 1!

On that note: It’s great that some of the agenda pushers are now calling “climate change” by a more appropriate name: “anthropogenic climate change”. It’s great, but it doesn’t change the fact that the title when simplified means: man-made weather. One of the funny things though, about this new title, is that I get to poke even more fun at the unscientific goofballs who push the agenda. Did you know that one of the favored solutions to anthropogenic climate change (a.k.a. man-made weather) is anthropogenic climate change (a.k.a. man-made weather)? Yep, things like cloud seeding and emissions control fall directly in the category. Talk about setting yourself up. How will they all decide if they’re FOR or AGAINST?

Is It Natural?

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It’s only natural to want to talk about yourself. We want to promote ourselves. We need to make our business sound compelling. However, talking about your own self all of the time can be tedious and dry, like a water polo match in an empty pool. Okay, that wasn’t the best analogy since a water polo match in an empty pool could be hilarious instead of tedious. Anyone play water polo who wants to try it? Let me know how it turns out. Aside from that funny, goofy, silly idea, the idea of promoting others is not a new one. It can be a good way to show you’re not so one-sided. It can show how you have depth enough to send accolades on someone else’s behalf. It can actually improve your ability to sell your own things. Find ten people or businesses that you would promote, take all of the adjectives you would use to describe their products or services, and chances are good that many of those descriptive words also describe what you have. Your skills aren’t so different from everyone else’s. Your products are similar to someone’s products. There’s really nothing to lose and everything to gain. Try it for a day. Try giving someone a great review. Try throwing out some positive vibes. After all, we see and hear plenty of negative; it’s time for some positive.

Good News

robot

Many of us wonder when we’ll be replaced with a robot. We worry that our job is too easy, that it can be automated. Jobs of the past have been systematically made simpler by machines, right? First the industrial revolution replaced whole crews of men with massive hydraulic systems and diesel-burning engines. Now the technology age is ready to fit job descriptions of every kind with the automaton of the day. The good news here is that the NFL will soon have robots playing football. These robots will not need to be drug-tested, paid, or fitted with padding and helmets. Concussion injuries will be a thing of the past. They won’t need practices or a physical therapist. They won’t need a mental health therapist either. In fact, there may even be a function built in to these robots that makes them only take a knee in the end zone, and then only if they’ve actually completed a touchdown. No more political statements to dull up the pre-game. These robots will always stand on the sidelines—they won’t need to sit, unless they’re being repaired. They won’t really need a coach on the sidelines, unless you consider a 21 year old computer programmer a coach—and even then, the “coach” could do the job from anywhere in the world. And of course, as you probably already guessed, the “coach” will be the one who gets paid millions, not the players. Bring it on!! Bring on the future! I can hardly wait.

Learning, Book Covers

I love learning the art of anything, whether it’s cycling, or writing, or photography. Or keeping yourself out of the downward spiral of litigation. And of course, when I learn things, I feel obliged to share. One thing I learned recently is that many lawyers dislike law suits as much as their clients. Apparently they dream of a better job. The other thing I learned recently is that it can be a long process to put together a book cover. You want it to be relevant to the book. You want it to catch the eye of the book buyer. You want it to be free of any copyrighted content such as a photo that came from an unreliable source. I learned that there are photographers out there who put their photos on the infonet without any indication of copyright (are they not legally obligated to do so?) and wait to catch someone using it—then they sue the user. Fortunately, I didn’t learn this the hard way, and hopefully you won’t either. One way to ensure nothing will ruin your ride is if you take the photos yourself. Another is to find sites that release photos that are not sole property of any one person. Still another is to hire an artist to create the book cover for you, straight out of their imagination. Think of this knowledge as putting on the helmet before you go for that ride. Ride, and write, safely!