Northbound / Southbound

 It seems to me that more and more people are more and more angry over "the state of things" (whatever that may be) and as a result lash out and have tunnel vision, not seeing beyond their own noses. 

I will not get political, or jump on the latest to vax or not to vax bandwagon. I will not talk about who the President is, shortcomings of any one political party etc.. If you want that argument, there are millions of far left and far right blogs out there that can keep you busy all day. It is not here. 

The main problem I see here in society as a whole, and I mean society world-wide, not just in the good ol' USA, is that we have gotten very black and white with our views on, well, everything.  We as a population have become uber-polarized. I am right, You are wrong...Period...This is not the kind of attitude that makes for harmony and loving relationships. We have spun out of control like an unruly Kindergarten class, and it is something that should concern everyone. 

How do reign this in? How do we put the toothpaste back into the tube? Can we? Do we, as individuals have the will and desire to slow the hell down and look at the big picture. The wonderful thing about freedom of thought is just that. Freedom of thought. The ability to make our own minds up. Just because we have different views on any given subject does not allow us to force our belief on others. It has never worked historically. We have no right to judge others because they have a different opinion from ours.

We have to start by getting our ego in check. The need to lash out has to do more with ego than with anything else. We have  to be right. Period. Full Stop. On the other side of the fence, that person also believes in their opinion and their ego will not concede either. What you have is two steaming bowls of crap looking at each other. 

While one sees the sky as blue, the other will say it is green, and no matter what you say, you are wrong. The sky is not blue. At that point, they refuse to listen to any evidence that shows that the sky is indeed blue. The ego of the blue skyer is now to the point that they are on a mission to sway the other person and not let up until they admit the sky is blue. To what end? Let them think the sky is green and get on with your day under your blue sky. Maybe somewhere the green sky person will do some research and see that maybe there is a blue sky after all. Of course, it may have to do with what they have been lead to believe all their life. They may have been told by everyone they get their information from, that the actual color blue (to everyone else) is green, thus making them misinformed rather than wrong. They see blue as green. If so, they are in for many arguments throughout their life, and, maybe being told a thousand times by different sources that the sky is blue, they may come around and change their definition. In the meantime, we must live and let live, and allow people to exist in their own little universes. Don't spread hate and discontent just because you have a different opinion or view of things than others.  

Be careful not to get ugly because someone does not agree with you. Don't let the little ego monster inside you get the better of you. If you feel as though you are fighting against the wind, let it go. Great saying from Alcoholics Anonymous : What people think of me is none of my business. Keep that in mind. The road has two lanes. One going North, one going South. People travel in both directions and get to the destination they are bound for. Why try to make the people in the southbound lane follow you and head North? Go to where you are going and let them go where they are going. You will pass each other along the way. Wave and smile. All the rest is bullshit.

We go into ego a bit deeper in my book The Self Help Book for People Who Hate Self Help Books, Order today and enjoy!

Have a super day...Northbound OR Southbound. 

AMAZON                                       ALL THE REST

Sometimes You are just at a loss...What to do, What to do?

We start everything with good intentions.  We go to the gym every other day for a month, then by month three we are going only when we feel guilty about not going.  We give up bad eating for a month until we lose that 5 pounds and then it's back to the Snickkerdoodles and Lattes. 

It's the same with a blog. You go into it and say, I will write every day or every other day. Something deep and meaningful.  But alas, it is not that easy... especially when you see so much crap out there, and you try to avoid being part of that big old river of crap.  That is why I felt I needed to write something today.  The problem being, I don't  really have anything to touch upon. I don't want to get involved in writing about politics, because it does not matter what side you are on, whatever you express is going to draw negative energy from one side or another. You can't win. So I chose to keep that energy out of my life. 

I don't talk religion, because that melting pot is dangerous ground as well. You get labeled as racist, which makes no sense at all, because religion is not race. 

You can't talk about crime because again, even if the facts point to a certain race or gender, you are racist. 

You can't talk about lifestyle (or life choice / gender identity) because then you are labeled "something or other phobic." 

Personally I don't care if you agree with anything I ever say or not. You are entitled to your thoughts as I should be to mine.  But, If one expresses an opinion that is different from yours, blasting a blogger with hate comments serves no purpose. Instead of spewing hate in one line comments, why not start a blog of your own and spell out your concerns. Ahhh, the problem there is you don't want to get the hate comments either. It's a vicious circle which is why I don't write too much anymore.  

Granted, I don't get a lot of hate comments, because I try to keep my blog's topics along the lines of interesting stuff rather than op-eds. 

I draw my observations on reading other people's blogs and seeing some of the comments.  It's terrible and disrespectful. I am sure if some of these people met these bloggers face to face that they would not dare to actually say some of the things they say in the anonymous world of the internet. 

So, I suppose I will limit this blog to Music industry advise, and the occasional life experience.   (Oh, and since I sell Kia, I will answer any questions you have about these wonderful vehicles).

A revamp is in order, and I am going to take a little time to figure this out. 

In the meantime. Be nice. 

Have a great day!

I Have had to take a step back

I know it's been a couple of weeks since I have posted.  With all that is going on right now, new President, people happy about it, people not happy about it, people acting like total asses as well as those making their voice heard, using their first amendment rights the right way, I thought I would just sit back and take it all in.  I have been loath to write, because I don't like to get involved in politics in my blog if I can help it.  That being said, let me express my concern with people who take an event like the inauguration of our President, (like him or not) and make it an excuse for senseless violence. We the people have the right to protest. It's a right given by our forefathers. It's a wonderful thing. BUT, if you are going to throw bricks through windows of a business whose only fault is that the building is in firing range, then you have no right to bitch when you are arrested and charged with rioting and vandalism. You should go to jail. Do not pass go! You are a punk.

There is talk of paid protestors, other countries promoting this kind of thing and celebs cheering it all on.  I never thought in my life that I would agree with Michael Moore, but his statement rings true. If you want change, run for office. Start with your school board or City Council. Run for Congress or Senate, because it's not the other guy's responsibility to make the changes that you are passionate enough about to throw bricks through someone's business and drive up the cost of their goods.  If you want change, get off your ass and make your voice heard through the right channels. Calmly and purposefully. Violence leads to fear...fear leads to hate, and hate leads to the dark side of the force.  Peaceful protest will make your thoughts known. All for that! They will bring to the forefront all you are passionate about.  Change starts with you. Raise YOUR head above the crowd. Don't think you can? What makes anyone in office different than you? Maybe THEY decided that they wanted to be the voice in the crowd that was heard.  Love Trump or hate him.  He made his voice heard. He told people what he was passionate about. God bless him for being that person.  

So, these are my thoughts watching the events of the last few days.  I don't choose sides, I am not worried about what MIGHT happen....Only what is today. 

Have a great day!

Don't Worry..You are not in control of anything..........

Each day the human mind spends over 70% of it's time over thinking and worrying.  That's a hell of a lot of time thinking about stuff that has not happened yet. 

Worry is one of the strongest "fear" emotions we have. We lose sleep, we have night sweats, we tend to think in worst case scenarios.  And it can drive us to the nut house in a hurry.  

The thing is, though, that if you look back on all the time you spent worrying about stuff, and the eventuality that the stuff you worried about never happened, what would you do with all that time that you wasted letting your brain take you hostage?  If the 70% number is true, then you spend 265 days a year worrying about stuff.  Over, say an 80 year life span, that 20,440 days, or 490,560 hours where you could be using your brain for something else. 

Life is short. We have no time for herding cats.  

The purpose of life is to be happy- Dalai Lama

We live in a world where the media works very hard to instill fear in us. Turn on the news and tell me how many happy stories do you hear in an hour?  Don't get me wrong, the world is not what it used to be. We have threats everywhere. We always have, but now we have a media that can bring it to us in real time in 4K high Def.  Our serenity is being attacked on all fronts. Here are some ways to deal with all this. 


Meditate. Get into being one with your consciousness.  Sit quietly and put processed thoughts out of your head. Concentrate of the sounds around you. The wind, the rain, the sound of the fly in the room. Live in the experience of now. Don't let the outside world allow your mind to wander.  If you hear a plane, or a fire truck, or a dog barking in the distance, just accept it as what is instead of letting your mind go somewhere else.  15 minutes a day. Not easy, but with practice, you can get it.

Don't watch the news for long periods. .... We all need to know what is going on, but don't leave the news on in the background all day while you are pottering around the house.  Watch the headlines, and get on with your day. Half the time, the news just pisses you off anyway, then you have to deal with anger too. 

Stay off facebook for a day every week. OR set a no information time.  Turn off from social media. Give it a rest. The world will continue to turn if you wait a day to like someone's post.

Sometimes, leave your phone at home.  Before cell phones, we went along our merry way, and when we got home, we had an answering machine.  We dealt with stuff then. As a result we saw more of the world around us.

Watch cartoons. No, seriously.  Who can have a shitty day after watching Bugs, or Daffy, or the Flintstones....Great old cartoons are a way to get back to a simpler time.  It really does take your mind off stuff. I believe if more adults watched cartoons once in a while, the world would be a better place. 

Go for a walk. See the world around you. (A good time to keep your phone at home) It's a beautiful place, remember?

And last but not least,  Don't worry..You are not in control of anything. 

Merry Christmas

BAD DECISIONS MAKE FOR GREAT STORIES

There is a saying...The last words a Redneck says before he dies are "Hey, hold my beer and watch this"....

Have you ever been part of a scenario where you KNOW that it is not going to end well, but you watch it unfold in slow motion just so you can tell the story later?  

As we grow older and mature, we are less Kelsoish (Ref: That 70's show) and use a bit more common sense than we did when we were 18 and knew everything.  We are no longer 10 feet tall and bullet proof.  We have all made bad decisions at some point in our life. Seemed like a good idea at the time, but now? Not so good.  It can be a life long thing like getting married to the wrong person, and not listening to that little voice in your head.  As we grow older, we start to learn that the little voice knows what it is talking about. 

Remember the old days when you used to regale your friends with the "weekend"...I know every one of us has told the story ..."I got hammered, threw up twice in the ficus tree, got into a brawl, left my pants .. I don't know where, and woke up in my car with the cops tapping on the window....................It was a blast, man" Bad decision, great story about jail.  

Many of these decisions we make involve alcohol.  The bad decision elixor. The juice of irresponsibility.  The old "Sorry I trashed your house by driving my car into your living room. I was drunk..." 

I have been sober for 34 years, so I can not use that excuse anymore.  Now I just have to say, "Sorry, I'm just a dumbass I guess..."  

I suppose all our kids and grandkids will all have great stories to tell based of really bad decisions.  It's our rite of passage from know it all youth to I really don't want to know adulthood. 

So today, with all my heart, I ask you to think twice about that bungee jump....

Have a great day!