This past Sunday evening (as I write this) my wife and I enjoyed an evening at a friend’s house. We sat on the patio with he, his wife and his son, who just happens to be the same age as our youngest son. Difficult topics were being discussed and, at one point, I commented on…
It’s no secret that I’m a huge Star Trek fan. Because of a quirk of circumstance, it’s actually documented that I was a fan when I was just three years old and the original series itself was only a few months old. In one of the movies – the sixth one for the original series:…
Inspired by Michelle Johnson-Brown, From the Cigar Lounge Wisdom series It was a mid-July evening and, as I have for many an evening, I sat at the local cigar bar and enjoyed the company of some friends. One young lady and I had previously enjoyed a contemplative conversation about the human spirit and everything that goes…
Here we are in the early years of the 21st century. It’s a setting saturated with social media. Some of those outlets I can think of off the top of my head are Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, Twitter, LinkedIn and more. The existence of these social outlets has allowed for people to become quite popular for…
Creating A Contemporary Warrior, Part One Being armed does not a warrior make. Being willing to fight does not a warrior make. Warrior: 1) a person engaged or experienced in warfare; soldier. 2) a person who shows or has shown great vigor, courage, or aggressiveness.
A long time ago a friend of mine told me that psychologists are just overpaid bartenders who don’t serve you drinks. While that’s an oversimplification of both professions, if you stop and think about it there’s some truth to the outlook. A great many people with problems talk to their bartender… and the more they…
From the book – Cigar Lounge Wisdom For much of my life I lived under a mistaken belief based on something I had been taught by my adopted mother and then reinforced by many a sergeant in the Army. That mistaken belief was this: That if I was relaxing I was accomplishing nothing; I was…
This morning my attention was grabbed by a post on social media wherein the person posting claimed that his view of a particular event was more accurate than other views being shared and when asked why he felt his was more accurate, his response was, “Because my level of education is higher than yours, therefore…
Have you ever noticed that some of your friends or family never seem quite as stressed or lacking in control of a given situation as others? Have you ever wondered why? What makes them so special? How come they never seem to sweat when something goes sideways? Here are a few reasons why they might…
In today’s computer age, days where you can’t look around without seeing someone on their “smart” phone, and times of everyone being connected nearly full time, the word “hack” has come to take on a whole new meaning. It is essentially used to mean “something that makes your life easier or an easier and faster…
So, I received a private message on Facebook from a gentleman asking, “What qualifies you to give advice on life to anyone?” I had to think about this. It’s a good question. I found myself wondering if he has a point? What DOES qualify me to give advice on anything to anyone? For that matter,…
Recently I saw an image through the wizardry of social media and, after having read through it, thought about just how true it was. The title was “Simple Formula for Living,” but that didn’t really describe the list of items included. As I read them, I felt they more described lessons to be followed for…
As happens all too often in my household, my son asked me a question that forced me to carefully think through my beliefs and values before offering an answer. I have to think carefully because I know, for sure and certain, he’s already trying to form that next question so if I’m not as specific…
I remember being a little kid… maybe six or seven years old, and my parents were “old” to me. Of course, my parents were 35 years older than I, so they were in their early forties; hardly what I would call old these days. Then again, I know a couple people today who are in…
As happens with most thoughts we consider to be deep or memorable – worthy of remembering – this one came to me in the middle of the night, as the result of a dream I had woken from. In the dream I had been discussing religion with an older gentleman and he had been sharing…
Every year around this time, as all law enforcement professionals know, suicides and suicide attempts seem to climb in number. The stress of the season, for whatever reason, seems to outweigh the happiness and good cheer that (seemingly) all of us are trying to spread. The challenge is that not ALL of us really are…
I can’t begin to count or tell you how many times my children have heard me say: Learn something new every day. The day you stop learning is the day you start dying. It’s a belief I’ve held for as far back in my life as I can remember. I truly believe that virtually everything…
– I’m old enough to know better but young enough not to care. – Right now is the oldest you’ve ever been and the youngest you’ll ever be again. – Old enough to have experience but young enough to have enthusiasm. There are so many “old versus young” statements I could probably burn an entire…
I know a few people who have a difficult time handling the criticism of others. When I talk with them, I try to encourage them to understand the difference between criticism and critique. One, criticism, is nothing more than verbal judgment with no suggestion on how to improve. The other, critique, is feedback on something…
My mind has been spinning for the past couple of hours – and it’s all my own fault. A young man who is a work acquaintance of mine posted something on facebook about depression. I think we can all agree that depression sucks. Feeling depressed is never an enjoyable thing. My outlook and response was…