The Wise Man Adapts Himself to the World;
The foolish man tries to adapt the world to himself, therefore all progress depends on the fool.
I've spent too much of my life trying to adapt to the culture, the traditions, the unspoken rules, the taboos of my environment, and what I thought was right while having never evaluated them myself. Somehow I got the idea sometime in my life that everything around me is more important than me.
But then I started to lose myself. I started projecting an image of "right" on my peers and then on my own, very impressionable children. What I teach my children through my actions will stick for a lifetime, so I took a deep breath and stopped. Stopped judging, thinking, acting according to what was "right".
In effect I stopped adapting myself.
I wondered what would happen if I started just being ME and indirectly start adapting my environment to ME?
What's so bad about adapting my environment, my company, my colleagues to ME? Am I a bad influence on them? I don't think so. Could they enjoy partaking in my ideas, thoughts and initiatives? I do think so.
I feel better now. I feel like I have purpose. I feel like I have more to offer. I feel like I'm no longer walking on the edge of the cliff, but through the grassy meadow. I feel like I can spread myself like strawberry jam on the dry toast of everyday life at the office, and sprinkle myself like Tabasco on the pile of spaghetti I call home.
Let's see what happens from here on out. 
Ps. I think the kids like "foolish dad" better.
Didn’t Your Mother Tell You To Finish All Your Food?
Well, she was wrong!
The idea of finishing all the food on your plate goes way back to a time when they didn't know how to make food taste good, so they made a rule that you HAD to finish everything, otherwise you'd die of starvation!
No, all jokes aside think about this for a minute: when you feel satisfied, it's your body's way of telling you that you've had enough. When you feel full, your body is telling you that you ate too much. And what happens to excess food that's left on your plate? It's thrown away.
So let's say that you serve yourself a little too much, and about halfway through the meal you start to feel full, but then your mother's voice pops up in your head says the old familiar "finish all the food on your plate" and you obediently shovel the rest down onto your already full stomach.
What just happened?! You dumped garbage right down into your body! That's right. The food that either should have never been on your plate or belongs in the trash is now in your stomach, doing you no good there at all!
My advice is: If you make the mistake of serving yourself too much, don't make another mistake by eating it!
(And start a habit of taking smaller servings and seconds if necessary.)
I know some parents are going to protest and say that their kids DO need to eat all the food that they're served, because they don't know what's good for them. Sometimes they may even lie (OMG!) and say that they're full when they actually just don't want to eat a certain food on their plate. (sneaky!) Myself being a parent I know what you mean.
So to parents I say: Use your own discretion, but for the love of God and your children, don't make a rigid rule or habit for your child of always having to finish their plate! Or you may pay for it later (in medical expenses)
Ps. To those who would argue that it's a waste of money to not finish your plate: How does that make sense? You already bought the food, cut it up, and cooked it, so how does it affect your bottom line whether or not it gets eaten? On second thought, your "bottom line" might get a little bigger if you do continue eating it! (and you can spend all your "savings" from scraping your plate on the next "get thin quick" product)
Ten Things I Love About You
I love the way you dress when you want to get my attention.
I love the way you let other women know that I'm taken.
I love the way you love me when I'm weird.
I love when you act weird.
I love it when you melt to the music.
I love that you're never too tired for ... me.
I love that you let me feel like I'm in charge, when you're the real power behind me.
I love your mighty tornadoes that blow through and lose steam and turn into a beautiful sunset if I'm patient enough to wait it out.
I love you for letting me be a boy but treating me like a man.
I love you for believing in my dreams and standing beside me through the good, the bad, and the ugly!
I Love You
You know who you are.
Whiners are Losers!
What separates the winners from the losers in life? The list can be pretty long, but if you've ever read the book "Think and Grow Rich
This is not to say that you should go into a state of denial and tell yourself that you live in a wonderful place when your house really actually looks like a dump! See things as they are, but give them alternate, empowering meanings which will be beneficial to your personal growth.
In the book the author talks about his son who was born without ears, but he refused to treat him any differently than other children who had normal hearing. He explained to him about the advantages he had over others with things like getting special treatment from his teacher because of his lack of hearing and being able to sell more newspapers than others because people pity him, etc. Because his son was able to see every situation as an advantage instead of a handicap, he overcame his handicap and became an overachiever and a very successful salesman and businessman.
The people I encounter who are not making progress in their lives have three main things they whine about:
1. I don't have enough education
2. I don't have enough money
3. I don't have enough time
Education. If history ever repeats itself, which I believe it does--a lack of education never stopped the likes of Edison, Ford, and even Steve Jobs. Don't get me wrong here--I'm not knocking education, just don't let the lack of it become an excuse! If you feel you need it, GET IT!
Money, or capital may have been a necessity 30 years ago to start your own business, but today there are countless successful companies which were born of the internet revolution which required little or no initial capital investment. If you want a good example explained, buy the book: "You Call the Shots
Time. We all have the same amount of time and you may have heard this before, but it's so true! The things in your life that take your time (youtube, gaming, cleaning the house?) now are the things that you feel are most important to you whether or not you admit it to yourself. Why not do yourself a favor and put personal-development at the top of your list? My wife is a very busy person and has 7 kids to take care of--myself included--and she said she really did not have time to fit in a daily exercise routine (and I'll admit I was almost convinced). I had to coach her and help her put it above all else, recognizing that if her health failed, then all else in her life that depended on her health, which is just about everything, would also fail. The result? She's already started each day with her exercise routine, prioritizing it above the rest of her duties, and she's on a roll!
What's on the top of your list?
Love Your Family, Choose Your Peers Pt.2
I've received plenty of mail from my readers expressing opinions regarding my previous post titled: Love Your Family, Choose Your Peers, and I feel that it's all valid and we all have our own ways of dealing with opposition in our lives.
A lot of the responses centered around the issue that it's just not right to choose your friends, or peer group according to what suits you best, so after some thinking I wanted to offer this simple analogy:
Let's say you and your friends all somehow fall into a mud pit and you are stuck and can't get out, and after some time you all start to feel pretty comfortable there because you are getting used to it. In this situation if you are going to make progress you will have to break from your present peer group and and find others who are not in your situation to give you an outside perspective that can actually help you to get out from where you are.
Once you make the break, and get the progress that you need in your life, you can come back to your friends who are still stuck, but this time from a higher point, a place where you can help them from, and then elevate them to your level.
So I offer this simple advice: If you are not surrounded by friends with whom you are experiencing growth, and now feel fulfilled, or can see yourself becoming absolutely fulfilled, then the best thing you can do for them is to leave them.
This may sound cruel or self-centered but after you make the progress that you need to make you'll be in the position to help them, and then bring them up to your new level.
This has been repeated time and again in the Bible and throughout history from Moses and Joseph to Peter the Great of Russia.
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