Zoochblog

Humor is so good for the human psyche, and our physical and mental health.  I received an email from a friend today which included a clip of Harvey Corman and Tim Conway, television stars of the 70’s and 80’s.  In it, Conway played a bumbling dentist who accidentally injects himself with a numbing pain killer intended for his patient Corman.  As he loses the use of the hand he numbed with the drug, he can’t operate but continues trying.  His antics are so well done that Corman has real difficulty keeping a straight face and is constantly covering his mouth and face to keep from breaking character.  Sure, it’s slapstick, at it’s best and it’s hilarious.

It’s the simple things in life that are the most funny.  They are often clean, free of foul language, natural, illustrating virtues without any anger or hatred of any kind, and most of all they are kid friendly.  A lot of the shows from the earliest eras of TV provide the best examples of this type of humor and you can buy CD’s of the old shows easily any more.  I reccommend you check them out if you are finding it hard to locate children-friendly programs on TV in today’s world.

We all need humor in our lives to keep balance in our outlook.  I love my firends who tell jokes, send email’s with funny stuff and those who pull practical jokes on me.  I try to see the funny things in life during the day as well.  There are people doing stupid things all day long if you look for them.  Let them provide you with the needed entertainment to lighten your day rather than seeing the sometimes infuriating stupidity displayed in traffic or other places.  Adopting a philosophy of humor to your daily life lifts the veil of depression, anger and fear allowing you to live life more fully.

The Law of Attraction also kicks in and brings you more like-minded people who are also looking to have a happier day.  Like energies attract like energies, so the more you put humor in your life the more you will attract funny people, humorous situations and overall fun.  This type of philosophy is very powerful in gaining confidence and security in yourself and your actions. 

In other words, don’t take life so seriously, play with others, tease, joke and enjoy good, clean fun with your fellow humans.  Life will take on a whole new glow with positive thoughts and energy to tackle the tough stuff more easily.

In the end, it’s just one man’s opinion, mine.

Keith……

I don’t know about you, but I’ve always hated constructive criticism.  I know I’m supposed to appreciate it, but I’m sure when I get it people are just trying to be cruel, egotistical (my way is better than yours!) or stubborn.

Then I got to thinking, maybe, it’s me that’s stubborn. 

I love writing for clients, but when they use the opportunity to edit and send the piece around to the “committee” for suggestions it feels demeaning.  I feel like I’m back in grade school and getting slapped on the wrist if my words aren’t meeting with the approval of the class.

Am I making too much uot of this?  Probably so.  The creative arena is one that has a lot of emotion invested in the end product.  We don’t want to be criticized for what we view as a work of art.  Now granted, much of what we write today isn’t reagarded as “works of art” mainly because the high standards of writing have been lowered to sad abbreviations in text messaging for sake of time and ease.

Did you know that many schools have stopped teaching cursive writing because children will only be using computers to do homework on so they teach them to type not write? Hmm.

But I digress.  Constructive criticism should be received as in a brainstorming session where no idea is stupid or wrong; it’s just different.  It takes me a few moments each day when receiving changes to articles by the “committee” to settle into the frame of mind to accept the changes as about the piece and not about me.

So, there in a nutshell is the crux of the issue.  Don’t take it personally.  Look at the suggestions as about perfecting the work and not the perceived slap on the wrist. 

Here are a few steps to follow:

1. Step back and look at it through the eyes of the sender. 
2. Is the suggestion valid?
3. Does it add to the piece?
4. Does it detract from the piece?
5. Can the suggestion be improved upon as well?
6. Are the changes pure semantics or conceptually accurate?

  Once you’ve started to look at the critiquing with a critical eye and not an ego based one, you might find that the ideas have merit and you even like them.  Learning to take criticism is a virtue.  Taking it personally will only lead to trouble.

In the end, it’s just one man’s opinion, mine.

Keith…… 

No, I’m not referring to when your Dad had Uncle Bob committed to the asylum because he wouldn’t stop running around the back yard in the nude.  I’m talking about the power you feel when you give your word and commit to an act, promise or pledge.

You are committing to a trust.  Someone is trusting you to follow through, to act as you say you will and expecting a certain outcome.  This is the area where most of my female audience will recognize a deep-seated desire for a man to commit to them with love, devotion, and of course, the all important diamond.  So Bucky, this means they trust you to show up at the altar, say “I do” and sweep them off their feet in matrimonial bliss.

Commitment, and the power that follows, is also a virtuous act.  When you commit to something you are expressing your honor, depth of character and strength as a person to stand by your word.  Before writing this article I hadn’t thought about commitment being a virtue, but all of the characteristics surrounding how your commitment is upheld tells a lot about the type of person you are and how your are viewed by friends, peers and relatives.

The power is in the completing of the obligation you’ve signed up for.  There is tremendous personal power in accomplishment, seeing a job well done, a commitment honored and someone very pleased at your willingness to follow through.  The power is in the energy you create around you.  The mention of your name when you aren’t around conjures good remarks, possible envy and definitely trust.  The Law of Attraction will spring into action on the positive energy and bring a whole slew of good tidings you way.  Remember, like attracts like, so good work attracts good results and opportunities for more.  

When you offer a commitment, you put yourself out on the proverbial limb for all to see.  They will have the opportunity to watch how you perform.  A little like your first school play when you were a cucumber, remember?

The more you perform this act well, no matter what the commitment, the better you get at it and the more your stock rises in other peoples eyes.  They know they can count on you.  With an employer, this is money in the bank.  You stand out.  You look polished.  You look successful.  And guess what?  You are.  Soon, better employment positions will be offered to you.

The more you challenge yourself to honor your word and keep your commitments the more you will grow as a person.  Your work ethic strengthens, your personal life philosophy deepens, the more you will enjoy life and those around you.

Achieve what you can using the God given gifts you have, capitalize on your strengths, and be honorable and your amazing life will astound you. 

In the end, it’s just one man’s opinion, mine.

Keith……

Procrastination is almost a disease in my book.  It can take a task and turn it from something very simple to a stress filled, anxiety ridden burden which brings fear, sweaty palms and a dry mouth at the mention of it.  So, why do we put things off?

In our multi-tasking society it’s easy to understand how some things on our desk keep sliding down the pile instead of up and out the door.  We are over-worked, over-stressed and under vacationed.  In fact, some people I know dread vacations because of the pile they will discover residing on their desk when they return.

So, the question still goes unanswered, why do we procrastinate?

I can’t speak from any authority, I can only address the topic from my own situations.  I most procrastinate when I know the task is non-creative, laborious, boring, time consuming, etc.  It quite often includes something to do with accounting, billing, or dealing with customer service at another company like the phone company or public service.  I just don’t want to do it.

I can see this in friends and business associates who do the same thing.  With too many fires to put out sqweaky wheel syndrome sets it.

Of course, all conventional wisdom and motivational training says the we “should” tackle the tough jobs first to boost our esteem and gain a sense of accomplishment.  Sure, when you practice this philosophy continuously it works extremely well.  But, the pain of facing those tough tasks first thing out of the box in the morning just doesn’t seem fair, does it?

Well, take it from me, if you don’t, the pain of playing catch up can be far worse and have repercusions that last a long time.  You can lose clients, friends even spouses if procrastinating isn’t brought under control.

Here are four steps that have helped me:

1. Take time at the beginning of the day to prioritize your jobs on paper in two columns: “Calls & Do’s”.
2. Don’t leapfrog over tasks.
3. Finish each task completely, if possible, before moving on.
4. Cross them off your list with fanfare in red ink.
5. Celebrate in some small way that you did what was necessary, have a latte’ or fries at lunch.

Life is too short to lose sleep over work that’s not getting done, just plan to finish it with your own process, you and your boss will be glad you did.

In the end, it’s just one man’s opinion, mine.

Keith……  

I’ve been an avid follower of the new Law of Attraction work being done by the folks who produced the video and book “The Secret“.  The Law of Attraction simply states that like attracts like, so when we have happy thoughts we attract happy circumstances.  Of course, the opposite is true too, so having happy thoughts on a daily basis is a good thing. 

Esther and Jerry Hicks covered this same topic in their many books on the same subject for many years before The Secret, but the more the merrier when it comes to spreading the word.  In fact, you could also add Napolean Hill and his book “Think and Grow Rich” first published in 1937, and “The Science of Getting Rich” by Wallace C. Wattles (his book was the inspiration for The Secret).  Wattles book was written in 1910 and garnered some acclaim at the time, but nothing like it is receiving currently.

Part of the Law of Attraction is the use of gratitude to stir good thoughts to attract that which you diesire.  Another author Lynn Grabhorn who wrote “Excuse Me Your Life Is Waiting” covered this topic quite well with humor and mystery.  She wrote how she would drive down the street thanking stop signs, trees, clouds and anything else in eyesight for their contribution to her life and her day.

Gratitude is the corner stone for eliminating anger, hatred and depression from your life.  If you can dig your way out of negative thoughts long enough to see things that actually make your day good, you will over time have only positive and happy thoughts.  This in turn will attract happy situations, events and people into your life.

The more you interact with other people with happiness and gratitude the better world you will create around you and around others.  This philosophy is contagious and spreads so quickly when you start. 

The world reacts positively to happiness.  Let me say that again…the world reacts positively to happiness.

When that statement sinks in you’ll see how you can affect so many lives with a smile or kind gesture.  The old saying of “What you put out comes back to you” is what we are talking about here, and its’ true.  It works.  It also happens to be fun.

Add a little spring to your step, a little smile to your morning and some gratitude to your daily routine and watch what happens.  It is truly amazing.

In the end, it’s one man’s opinion…mine.

Keith……

For those of you who write, you really need to subscribe to “Copyblogger.com” for daily tid bits that make you stop and think about your writing, promotional activities and websites.  Brian Clark is Copyblogger and he will entertain and enlighten you.

He posted today “Three Ways to Spice Up Any Blog Post” and it really got me to thinking about how my writing had become pretty “meat loaf and mashed potatoes” as he put it.

From time to time, we all forget to use colorful language to enhance our articles, so to a new reader our prognostications may appear blah.  The trick is to incorporate creative writing each time you sit down.

Yup, I understand, sometimes you want to just get the idea down and out the ethereal door.  What a mistake on our part, to overlook how the article will be received marks it for disaster on a gigantic scale.

I wish I had the talent to write humor.  I don’t.  My ancestors were Scandinavian and Welsh and not prone to the lighter side.  We’re more the sarcastic or “just the facts Ma’am” types.  Don’t get me wrong, on a really good day I can make people laugh, but for the most part it’s kind of dry.  If you can write with humor you’ve got it made in the shade as they say.

You are what you read when it comes to writing, and my philosophical and social issues are not always jovial topics.  But, it’s like anything else the more you practice, the better you get and pretty soon you’ve mastered that allusive and pesky task which you seek.

The great thing about the Internet today is that it is chock full of sites whose sole purpose is to assist you in whatever you are endeavoring to accomplish.  Copyblogger is just a good one, try it.

In the end, it’s just one man’s opinion, mine.

Keith……

Philosophy has been a favorite subject for as long as I can remember; it seems to come out of most experiences we have in life and sets the stage for discussion about the why’s and where for’s of our existence.

For over a decade cycling has given me much fodder for thought, prior to that it was mountain climbing and before that it was car racing.  Activities often provide much in the way of examining ourselves through our abilities to perform certain tasks.

I started racing my bike in time trials four years ago, which is an entry level form where you compete against the clock over a prescribed course.  Your results are posted in order of fastest to slowest.  It is a relatively safe way to enter the sport because you aren’t in a peleton (pack of riders), you might pass or get passed by a rider to two, but for the most part you are generally alone.

Where the philosophy comes in is what you do mentally and physically when the pain of pushing yourself to your personal limit is reached.  How do you handle the feeling that you are going to throw up, or your heart is racing and it scares you, or your legs begin to burn from a build up of lactic acid? 

Do you learn to push through it?  Do you fall back only seeing the agony and not the ecstasy?  Do you train more to overcome your discomfort by raising your bodies level of tolerable pain?  Or do you give up entirely and find something that you are more suited for?

Philosophy isn’t always about our purpose on Earth, or the reason why we are here, or how ethics enters into a situation.  Philosophy is often how we perceive our own actions.  It is a way to discuss our outlook on life, our problems or difficult obstacles that we have to overcome.

I use my cycling to see how I perform under harsh conditions, sometimes in a race or like last night when out training I was rained on for almost 30 miles.  Do you find your sense of humor or find shelter?  Last night I was riding pretty hard and was hot when I was caught in a storm.  The rain felt good; it cooled me, tasted good on my lips and smelled great.

The funny thing was, I figured I was the only one out, but I came across six others, who when passed, smiled, laughed at our predicament or made a joke about the “pretty, brown, muddy stripe I had going up my back”.  We all took it in stride and made the best of it, even reveling in the experience.

Try to apply the virtue of patience to a slow rush hour commute, frustrating customer service reps who don’t seem to want to solve your problem, computers that want to give you a gift of a glitch when you least need it.  Take a deep breath or two, think of how your situation could be funny and change your attitude.  The problem will not appear so insurmountable and a solution may appear out of nowhere.

Philosophically you’ve allowed yourself to raise the bar of your tolerance and patience.  You’ve improved your state of mind for the next time when you won’t become frustrated so quickly.  Your quality of life has also improved for both you and those around you.

In the end, it’s just one man’s opinion, mine.

Keith……

The bank of clouds racing swiftly across the city were omnious, dark and roiling with dust and debris.  He was high on the dam of a local reservoir overlooking the city when he turned and saw this sight.  He knew a front was to come in later, but the last time he had looked north the sky was filled with light, fluffy clouds drifting lazily across the city on a hot summer afternoon.

The golfers on the course below were eyeing the approaching storm too.  A lady in a service cart hollared to the cyclist “You better head home quick!”  Yup, he thought she’s right.  But, he’d just started the daily ride thirty minutes earlier and really didn’t want to let a little wind and rain put a stop to it.

He decided to ride quickly down the dam to the sheltered creek area below which was filled with trees.  They would shelter him from most of the wind, and there were overpasses he cold stop in if it really rained hard.

The front was moving quicker than he estimated and the wind hit as he was half way down to the creek.  Flying dust and small rocks stung his skin, and small drops of rain instantly turned to little specks of mud on his arms.  The wind threatened to knock him over and he really had to work to control his descent.  The skinny road bike tires and spokes whistled in the wind as it roared in his ears.

What should have been a 30 mph drop was pushed back to barely over 12 by the sheer force of the wind.  The sun disappeared and darkness surrounded the lone figure as he rode fiercely to the treeline.  Once there, he was protected from the harsh wind, but the rain still came through…it actually felt good on his hot sweaty face.

As he pulled up and stopped in an underpass, he smiled at his accomplishment.  It felt good to battle the elements sometimes.  He lifted a water bottle out of it’s cage, took a long pull of the energy drink and relished the feeling of the cool liquid sliding down his dry throat.

A few minutes later, when he had gathered his breath, he walked to the end of the tunnel and looked up at the sky with renewed amazement.  The wind had stopped, the rain was gone and the sky was blue.  He was so glad he hadn’t headed home from the top of the dam.  This was going to be a great ride afterall.  Wait a minute, he thought, it had already been a great ride!

Isn’t life like that sometimes?  We can only see the dark and dreary possibilities and not what lies beyond.  If we can just get through the tough part, we get rewarded with experiences we long for.  We generally get what we focus on, so focus on the best of life.  Focus on what you want.  Focus on how to get it and then get started.

In the end, it’s just one man’s opinion…mine.

Keith

Over the weekend some friends and I (that’s me at far left above) drove almost 12 hours to race in two different bicycle races at different ends of Colorado.  I can see the expression on your face, and the question in your mind…why?  Because it’s fun, of course.

Yes, it was a lot of driving, but the comraderie of friends and fellow racers is always enjoyable.  The chance to experience a new race, which these were for me, is interesting, and you get to see parts of the state that you’ve not seen before. 

The first race was a time trial at the Salida Omnium on Friday evening.  Salida, Colorado is 2.5 hours southwest of Denver in the Arkansas Valley just below Monarch Pass where they have great winter skiing.  The course was 7.2 miles long, and I finished in third from last at 23 minutes and 10 seconds.  The fastest professional categorty one rider (pro cat 1, guys like Lance Armstrong and Levi Leipheimer of Discovery Channel pro team) did it in 15 minutes; yup, thats eight minutes faster than me, practically a lifetime in cycling, in fact, some people say they can experience growing older waiting for me to finish. 

But, be that as it may, I really enjoy racing.  Yes, I’m in the cat 4, 55+ bracket, (I’m 60 in racing age, but really only 59 until December) and have been racing for only four years, still have a lot to learn, and finally had to buy a new TT bike, which was much lighter than my road bike, so I’m actually improving:) 

The second race was on Sunday in a really little town in the northeastern corner of the state called Wray.  Deep in the farming and ranching country, Wray is rural America the way it was 50 years ago.  Quaint, friendly and quiet. 

We teased each other that this was our first multi-state race; it made it sound more important like the Tour de France.  We rode 17 miles to Haigler Nebraska and a back.  The morning was cool and misty at times which is perfect for me because I don’t do well in heat.

I was able to stay with the seven-man peloton until .25 miles from the finish where there is a small hill before dropping down into the mainstreet of Wray and the finish line.  We were steadily gaining speed as the faster riders were trying to drop the slower ones to make the finish easier.  We topped the hill at 25 mph, after averaging 21 for most of the race, and they took off.  My heart rate was approaching 185 and I just didn’t have anything else to give.  So, I slowed up and watched them race to the finish from about 75 yards back.

But, you know what?  The huge crowd, of about 20 people, still cheered when I crossed the finish line.  That feeling of exhultation nevers ceases to surprise me.  Yeah, I’m older, not a kid anymore, but for 34 miles or 1 hour, 20 minutes I gave it my all and had a ball.  And, when I finished I felt like a winner even though I came in fifth.

The sense of accomplishment is what it is all about.  It was a Sunday morning, and I was 180 miles from home pedaling my heart out with a bunch of guys and ladies for a small medal and lots of “hey, you looked great out there today’s”. (Below is Mary Gallagher 1st Place women’s) 

I don’t care what you have to do to get yourself off the couch, out of the bar, off your butt, away from home, just do it; find the self-esteem to not allow yourself to fall into the doldrums about life and not experience what it really has to offer.  Go fishing, fly a kite, take a walk with your spouse or best friend, just get out and get some exercise and you’ll feel better about yourself physically and mentally, and you will want to do it again.

Let’s face it, we all want to feel good about ourselves, but sometimes we won’t get out of our own way long enough to let that happen.  And, let me tell you about another rider, the oldest lad to race on Sunday is 74, he’s originally from England, has lost a lot of weight riding again, feels great and has made lots of new friends.  He wouldn’t give this up for a million bucks.

Be a winner, if only in your own mind.  At the Salida race, there were 18 other guys in my class and I came in 15th.  Yes, I’d love to be more competitive, and I will try to lose weight and train a little harder before races next year, because a sense of pride settles in and you just want to do better.  That will translate to other activities, and soon, you feel pretty good about yourself and what you’re doing with your  life.

In the end, it’s just one man’s opinion…mine.

Keith……

Comments? 

A couple of days ago, I received a comment to one of my recent posts that was laden with foul language.  The author attempted to insult me and thus elevate himself, but his message, which had merit, got lost in the vulgar diatribe.

It has become a tool of comedians who have no talent to swear or even those with talent to shock, of movie makers to fill a poor film with violence, erotica and filthy language, and magazines, which used to have quality and class, to increase readership by reaching out to a younger audience who find foul words exciting…as if crossing the line of decency will raise them to a new respected level.

When I was young I too found it attractive to use vulgar language as a way to appear older and hip.  Luckily, the phase passed.  But, with it being so prolific in our society anymore, it’s hard for our young to see it as anything but cool.

When a society degenerates as our’s has many things are prediciable.  Civil inhibitions disappear in ways like:

• lack of respect of others (road rage)
• loss of self-respect (higher suicide rates)
• increase in violence in games (extreme boxing & dog fighting)
• cheating (athletes using performance enhancing drugs)
• public displays of vulgarity such as nudity (Paris Hilton)
• public foul language (Bono at MTV awards)
• public drunkeness (Lindsey Lohan)
• public drug usage (Lindsey Lohan again)  

We are seeing these things in our society from those in a position to be role models with great regularity and it’s disturbing.

When people aren’t well educated they slide into these types of activities.  Our drop out rate in schools has never been higher.  The huge influx of uneducated, desperate illegal aliens strains at the educational infrastructure and lowers standards in order to just get students through school without achieving academic excellence.  I have several friends who are teachers and they say they will quit or retire early because of the foul mouths and lack of respect from their students. 

During the thirties, forties, fifties and sixties education in America was held at a high standard and consequently our communication skills were top notch.  As a culture we excelled on the world stage in the arts and sciences.  That is no longer the case.  We are rapidly falling behind as our students care less about an education and more about video games, drugs, wealth, music, Ipods and sex.

With the advent of hip hop music, text messaging and email, slang has become common place of the lazy to eliminate writing or speaking in complete words and sentences.  People feel more in touch with the ease of communication through cell phones that can send and receive more than one of these formats.  But in reality we are losing the ability to communicate effectively.

When you don’t have a broad vocabulary because of slang, texting or messaging, the situation isn’t not going to get any better.  It will only worsen to the point that it willl affect business, education, and government.  The English language is being bastardized to fit lower and lower standards of communication, in time this will diminish the standing of America in the world, if it hasn’t already.

If you want to place yourself above your competition in the workplace, school or with prospective mates learn to write, speak and present yourself with quality and a great vocabulary; you will easily standout through excellence. 

An online source that has been very helpful to me is “Copyblogger“.  Blogger Brian Clark gives great information and advice on writing and writing blogs.  But, if you look closely at his blog you see a high degree of quality craftsmanship from both Brian and his webmaster.  They communicate their message in harmony and with creativity.

There are publishers like Copyblogger that still hold themselves to high standards in writing and communication, so there is hope that we can hang onto quality if enough of us pursue it.

In the end, its’ just one man’s opinion, mine.

Keith……

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