“Some men are morally opposed to violence. They are protected by men who are not.” -Nick Lavery This quote came up in one of my social feeds and, as so many thoughtful posts do, made me stop and think. I don’t know Nick Lavery personally, but before I used his quote, out of respect from…
As I write this, not that long ago a close friend of mine passed away. As part of everything that happens when a loved one or close friend passes, there is much conversation as “the arrangements” are made. In this case the friend was a man of the cloth, having served as a minister for…
Long time readers know that while I’m not much on structured religion, I am big on spirituality, and as such I like to study a variety of different religious philosophies. One of the most valuable things I’ve ever read is the Serenity Prayer. For those not familiar with it:
I always thought the phrase was “random acts of kindness,” but then I saw the movie, “Evan Almighty” and somehow building an arc… or doing Acts of Random Kindness (ARC) stuck with me. In today’s world I feel like there is always a need for more acts of random kindness. And I say that while…
As so often happens, something came up in one of my social feeds that gave me pause to think. It was a picture of a tree growing up through a boulder, literally having split the boulder in two as it grew. The caption said, “Plant the seed.” It seemed a simple concept and we’ve all…
I always thought it was ironic that people assume soldiers and police officers are somehow ignorant or less educated than others. Just recently, as often happens, I came across a couple memes that made me consider how ridiculous that outlook could be, but also how important it is for soldiers and law enforcement professionals –…
It’s been said that no one is just one thing. Even Hitler liked dogs. It may seem a simple thought, but it got me to thinking: what am I besides the obvious? What have I done in my life that might seem incongruous or inexplainable to anyone who wasn’t there in the same time frame?…
Way back in the latter half of 2001, I had someone ask me this: “If you got on a plane with someone from the middle east, would you want to sit next to them? Or far from them?” My answer was that I wanted to sit right next to them. I saw it as an…
A few years back, almost 30 now I guess, I was a firearms instructor and was at the range with several officers who needed to complete their annual qualifications. Keeping in mind that most shooters, in my experience, paid attention and tried to shoot their best, with understandable concern about their score. After all, if…
There was a time in my life, quite a number of years ago, when I was still aspiring to be a published author/writer. It was the 1980s and a person I knew assured me that I would never be a writer; that I had no hope; that I should stop wasting my time; that I’d…
Past experience has shown that all of us have times in our life where we feel like we’re “close to the edge.” That edge is usually visualized or shown in images as a cliff, most often with an ocean or other large body of water at the bottom. In a variety of conversations held with…
I have always loved dreaming. No, not daydreaming, although I’ve done my fair share of that (and then some); I’ve always enjoyed dreaming in my sleep. I feel bad for those who don’t remember their dreams and I know one person who swears they never dream. I don’t believe that. I believe all humans dream…
A very wise man once said, although I argued with him about it for quite some time, “Everything is a matter of perception.” I argued with him because I believed, at the time, that some things were not open to interpretation; that they weren’t open to perception; that they simply were. While I still believe…
Something a lot of my friends have heard me repeatedly say is, “We don’t stop playing because we get old; we get old because we stop playing.” While I still believe that is, to some extent, true, I’ve also observed enough behavior from a few friends to believe that some people simply decide it’s their…
Full disclosure: When this image popped up in my social media feed, I was only four months away from being sixty anyway. So, that’s kind of a big cheat: Would I be willing to give up four months to get $50M? The real question is: would I be willing to gamble any time I have…
Awhile back I received an email, forwarded from a friend that apparently originated with John Farnam. I’d like to thank Mr. Farnam and my friend, Chief Jeff Chudwin, for having sent this along. Each of the below statements was contained in the email with a few words expounding on the meaning. I’m being arrogant enough…
No, this article isn’t about abortion, or anything have to do with the debate between “Pro Choice” or “Pro Life”. This article is about an entirely different choice that may well impact everything you do in your life – as well as how you perceive life itself. The choice is how you ask and answer…
In 1964, in the western hills of Maryland, a boy was born into a relatively poor family and was immediately taken away from that family by the Welfare Department in the county. Assuming that the boy had a life laid out ahead of him that was similar to that of his siblings (or at least…
In today’s world, it’s near impossible to get through a day without feeling the impact of social media in some way. A media on the big social media outlets is all but mandatory for most companies. For those running their own businesses, social media is a valuable marketing tool but also can serve for research,…
The first SHOT Show I remember attending was in Las Vegas in 2004. At that point I had no idea that the show had been anywhere but Las Vegas, NV or Orlando, FL. Taking a look back at the history of it the show had also been in such cities as Dallas, TX, New Orleans,…