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…
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…
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,…
Throughout our childhood we are taught what’s good and what’s bad, or at least we’re taught what our parents teach us is good or bad… what behavior is acceptable or not. We get punished for everything we do outside of the rules they put in place for us. Those rules and behaviors become the foundation…
A friend shared this with me and gave me permission to use it. It is… thought provoking. – – – – – It was a beautiful spring morning in mid-May. As the CEO pulled up to his reserved spot in front of the headquarters building, he took particular notice of all the flowers blooming in…
Author’s Note: This article was originally published in June of 2008. There are references in it to ‘recent events’ and the reader needs to understand those recent events were recent in June of 2008. But you should still remember there and the observations still all apply. – – – – – – – – –…
Fair warning: This is going to be a short rant about assumptions people make pertaining to age. Just recently I had someone tell me that I should, “Grow up and act your age.” My first reaction was to tell them to pay attention to their own behavior. After all, if they felt I was so…
This entry is a combination of an updated version of two blogs I wrote about 15 years ago. They have to do with reliance, self-reliance and how America’s original values (at our founding) may be related to them. These have been edited only to make them current-society appropriate.
Throughout the course of my law enforcement career it has constantly caught my attention how many of my fellow officers – most especially the ones that seem to perform on the street in ways that demand respect – have played contact sports. Given that most of my contemporaries are 45 years of age or older,…
Criticism:1. the act of passing judgment as to the merits of anything.2. the act of passing severe judgment; censure; faultfinding.3. the act or art of analyzing and evaluating or judging the quality of work Critique:1. A critical review or commentary, especially one dealing with works of art or literature.2. A critical discussion of a specified…
Ah, it’s that time of year. For the past week people have been building up to and celebrating Christmas. For the next week some folks regret all that they’ve eaten, losing another year of not improving themselves the way they’d like to have, and generally making false promises to themselves (called resolutions) that they swear…
A great many people believe that motivation and discipline are the same things. In reality they are drastically different. Motivation is something you feel; discipline is a skill… it’s learned. Those folks who believe that discipline is an automatic follow-on to motivation as it wains need to learn the difference.
I know that we all have heard these three rules before, but it seems like every time they pop up in my social media feeds or they get referred to by someone I know… I’m reminded of different parts of my life and when I learned these lessons. It’s interesting (to me) to see where…
This morning, as happens all too often, I saw a social media post that argued planning over improvisation or “winging it.” I saw another one that suggested winging it was always better than planning. Both arguments seem sound to me and I came to the realization that to be truly successful you have to do…