Understanding your opponent is vital, misunderstanding your opponent is detrimental to success. Information inaccurately sourced or evaluated can lead to great struggle and strife; can lead to confusion and defeat. Avoid quick assessment or popular belief, dig deeper and be prepared to admire your opponent even as you prepare to defeat them.
Obstacles, physical and physiological, can’t always be planned for in advance. Sometimes it takes running, walking, and hobbling to make it to the finish line. The speed in which we finish the race is never as important as the obstacles we tackle on the journey. If we overcome the obstacles, we have success. If we have enjoyed the journey, we have won.
It is not the need to be liked which causes me anxiety, it is just I don’t want to be disliked for being me.
Today I begin my Master’s Degree. No cautious dip in the pool, but rather a headlong dive into deep water. Sink or swim it is a dream finally realized. A dream to navigate the second half of my life without floundering when my children swim away from home.
Living in a world where good news is hard to find can lead to a feeling of frustration. At some level, most rational humans recognize that tough times are part of life. In our personal lives we overcome our frustration by looking for the positive amongst the negative, you know the rose in spite of the thorns. We smile at puddle jumping kids, fuzzy kittens and babies. We take heart that our frustrations are temporary, knowing fully well that the negative will make the positive seem all the sweeter when it comes.
War, recession and disease can adversely affect the levels of individual frustration spurring the growth of collective frustration. Collective frustration can then lead to action. The American Revolution is a case of collective frustration turned to action. Where collective frustration differs slightly from individual frustration is in the constant build up due to media coverage.
In a household, it does not benefit the members to harp on what cannot be changed or changed quickly. A wise family soon learns to downplay the negative and highlight the positive. Sadly this wisdom is not present in the collective populous, at least not today. While many would like to blame the media for the escalating the levels of public frustration, the truth is they are a creature that must be fed by others. Corporations, lobbyists and yes, politicians feed the media beast. In some cases the media is fat on the information being fed to them by those with an agenda, and in other cases they have become scavengers searching for tasty morsels dropped unintentionally by those in the limelight. The public becomes the hungry chicks awaiting the food and keeping the demand high. Regardless of how the media obtains their food, their information is the result of the attitudes and desires of those seeking fame, fortune or power.
With each negative story, the collective frustration grows. Soon with pitchforks in hand, a mob forms looking to take action. In 2008, frustration due to war and recession led many to vote for a change, but opposition to the voice of change was great. Whether due to political affiliation, ideology, or chance of birth, rather than being a symbol of hope, the president became a symbol of division. Even within his own party, unity was not achieved and hope diminished. This led to a rally of frustration in 2010. Sadly, hope was not the objective of this rally, and more frustration was the result.
Now as we approach a new presidential election, frustration is boiling over as can be seen in the Chick-fil-a controversy. Boycotting or supporting Chick-fil-a allows the frustrated populous a way to expend their frustration, and as long as the pitchforks are left at home, no lasting harm will be done. Some will argue this point saying there will be an economic impact on the franchise, but it is just as likely to be a positive one as to be a negative one. When the rallies are over, maybe those mobilizing to protest or support Chick-fil-a will feel better, feel a sense of action and accomplishment when the day is done. Hopefully this will allow them to feel they have been part of a positive movement. Maybe they will again be able to find the beautiful rose and not just the painful thorns. The pot of public frustration might then return to a simmer rather than a boil.
It is bound to be an interesting day when the first thing your daughter says is….
While many may feel big government is the boogieman threatening to take away our freedoms, I worry that big business is the greater threat. Their money makes for a loud voice, and when they decide to buy speech, little seems to stop them. Unlike a government which is bound by borders, they are international citizens purchasing and often dictating policies throughout the world. They speak to an international crowd. Their voices drown out reason. Their products seduce us in to acceptance or denial. They become our masters.
Okay, I really don’t think capitalistic doom awaits us around the corner, but it cannot be denied how corporate influence is at the heart of many of the economic ills plaguing us today. It makes me wonder, how many of the attacks on the US government, or other national governments, are being paid for by corporations who love deflecting attention from their own role in our economic woes?
Accountability should be shared, but in a world where speech can be purchased by the highest bidder, it is far easier to buy out the market, to sell a pretty package, or promise a miraculous future rather than to acknowledge responsibility for risky mistakes and ventures.
While governments must try to care for their people, corporations are not bound by the same constraints. It is easy to find examples of harmful or wasteful products being sold to the masses. The boogieman is artful in his disguise and sells an enticing product, but beneath all the glamour, sparkle, and loud noise, the big business is focused only on one thing – profit. People become expendable resources on a spreadsheet of greed.
These ponderings I share have been meandering through my brain for a while, but an article concerning Olympic marketing brought them to the forefront today. While much attention is directed at “draconian” governmental control, the underlying boogieman is the corporate sponsors who do not want even grandma to stitch the Olympic rings on a sweater, or junior to wear a competitor’s t-shirt.
Maybe this is why corporations are considered people by so many wealthy leaders. If the corporations are not people, then governments no longer can say they serve the people.
So who is the boogieman, and who is stirring up the pitchfork wielding crowd? I will let you decide, for now I must return to playing with my techie toys, and eating my yummy junk food all while I get ready to watch the Olympics this weekend.
I think I need a vacation from the foolish remarks, ignorant attitudes, and rude comments of others. Does anyone know of a good rock to hide under?
Comforting words from a survivor.
This week I was invited to speak at a PREVENT training event.
I was asked to speak about my experiences and how I have been able to use those experiences in a positive way to contribute to preventing such things happening again in the future.
I have amended my speech to protect individual identities and protect confidentiality, but I thought I would share it with you and also some of my reflections following the event. It was certainly a thought provoking two days and I have lots to think about after listening to the other speakers and participants at the event.
On 7th July 2005 I left the house early to take a journey that would change my life forever. My intended destination was Angel Islington. Of course I never expected it to be a life changing business…
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Today the tragedy in Aurora, CO came too close to home. We feel isolated where we live, but Aurora is not so far. It is were my husband works. It is where we shop.
Today we learned that a young woman my son knows was wounded. We learned that most of his friends lost someone this week or are standing vigil for those hanging on to life.
My son was only a toddler when the Columbine shootings occurred. That tragedy could not touch him. He remembers clearly 9/11 even though he was young. But this horror has touched his world, and will change him.
We are the lucky ones, we hurt inside, but we were not in the nightmare. I ask you to please pray for those who were there that night, pray for their families and close friends, pray for their rescuers. Pray that their suffering is comforted, that the nightmare will fade and the healing will begin.
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Blessed be God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies, and the God of all comfort;
Who comforteth us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble, by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God.
2 Corinthians 1:3-4
King James Version of the Bible
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Pithy Ponderings 