Our place in this world

I hope you have a great autumn!

For my entire life, it seems America has been divided between liberals and conservatives who label themselves Democrats and Republicans.  One side seemingly wanting to be progressive, to change the status quo, to be socially "liberal".  The other side seemingly wanting to leave things as they were, to be socially "conservative". I feel that over the past 10 years things have gotten significantly worse, being hateful and even violent at times.  Extremists from both sides are quick to curse, name call, demean, finger point, and threaten.  It's really awful.  Neither side is willing to concede or compromise.  Both sides want the government to control more and more individual behaviors. One of the problems, as I see it, is that the government is either unable or unwilling to truly govern.  Rather than Congress doing sound research, representing the people and then writing sound laws, we rely too much on the Supreme Court to decide what's ok and what's ...

As I've written about recently, I had a bit of a blow-up with someone close to me.  I've been hurt, angry, disgusted, and even angrier.  I've tried to think of what my part in this blow up could have been.  I realize and have finally accepted that I did play a part as I was joking around and this person didn't take it well, leading to their blow up. Now that I accept that I did, in fact, play a role in all of this, I decided to apologize for the teasing.  I should not have expected anything in return but I did.  I expected them to reciprocate and apologize for blowing up, threatening, and belittling me--then we would have reconciliation.  But instead, this person proceeded to defend their position and behavior.  They took the position that they were in the right, and it was all my fault.  Now there is no reconciliation, I'm still hurt, and I still think they are crazy, but now also very selfish. So, here I am, blogging about "right or reconcil...

Anger noun a strong feeling of annoyance, displeasure, or hostility. I don't consider myself to be an angry person, and in fact, I consider myself to be fairly positive and even-keeled.  However, a recent event has caused me to become quite angry...literally over several days, I find myself still fuming a bit.  The event in itself has caused me to be angry and my anger for so many days is causing me to be angry.  Suffice it to say, I'm a hot mess. I'm angry because I feel I have been wronged.  And not just wronged but told that I am less than criminal...OUCH!  Why do words hurt?  It bothers me when words hurt others; I call those people "sensitive".  But now I am dealing with hurt feelings over <gasp> words!  Am I "sensitive"?  My recent discontentment would say yes.  Sigh. My wife has asked me why I'm still so mad.  She's asked me to think about what role I may have played in this.  She's asked me if being angry ...

jealous jeal·ous | \ˈje-ləs  \ Hostile toward a rival or one believed to enjoy an advantage: ENVIOUS His success made his old friends jealous. They were jealous of his success. Jealousy is a curious thing.  To want what someone else has, or to feel entitled to have what someone else has or is.  I've experienced this to be sure.  I'm sure all of us have experienced this.  But to be jealous to the point of anger against that person we are jealous of, that seems a bit strange, immature, and wrong, don't you think? I can think back to a time, years ago when I was younger and less mature for sure, when I was still trying to be successful, to climb that ladder, and to make a name for myself. I would become jealous of someone to the point of feeling spiteful towards them.  But for some reason, one day, I decided that rather than be jealous of that person I should be happy for them, for their success, and for their things that I thought I should have. Now...

I began running again this year after returning from a binge eating trip across Europe, yes the food in France is every bit as good as you've heard.  I had let myself go over the past seven years and had put on 25 pounds!  So in April, I began running again in an effort to lose some weight but what I found is that I enjoy it.  Running to exhaustion clears my mind and burns up any cares I had before.  To be completely empty physically, emotionally and mentally is tremendous and makes me feel so good, even though my joints and muscles don't always agree. A month ago I was nearly at the end of a run when I strained my right hamstring.  I was able to hobble back to my truck and get myself home, but there was no way I could run.  I decided to rest until I could get moving again. Fast forward four weeks and I'm itching to get back out there.  I need that release, that empty feeling, to clear my mind and get a good sweat going.  My hamstring feels pr...

Smartphones are an amazing tool.  Never have we had so much information about anything and anyone in the palm of our hand as we do now.  They truly are amazing.  However I, like many others, have found that I rely on my iPhone 24x7.  It's my phone, my text, my social media, my camera, my alarm clock, my workout reminder, my workout tracker, my internet, my Bible, my picture album, my music, my email, my shopping, my everything.  I'm on it all of the time and while I don't have "feelings" for my phone, I carry it everywhere...I am literally never without it and am lost if I don't have it on me at all times.  So maybe I do "love" my iPhone?  Weird. I've noticed for some time now that my wife also loves her iPhone.  I find that we often will sit together and look at our phones, in silence.  This is madness; so we have agreed to go on a phone fast beginning October 1 for 30 days.  We will limit our phone usage to three, 30-minute intervals...

It's Thursday and I just got back from lunch with a former colleague.  This colleague asked me to go to lunch to ask my advice but I came away feeling like I was the one that benefited.  This got me to thinking about other people in my life that have influenced me over the years.  Many of these people influenced me through their examples of how they lived their lives and conducted themselves. My Father - he was always working, providing for our family.  He made time to help others in need.  And he never quit anything he started his whole life. My Mother - she was always kind, always smiling, always singing in the car and always encouraging me and building me up.  She used to say "you can be anything you want to be if you just set your mind to it". My Wife - for the past 30 years she has been my rock, my encourager, she gives me advice, and picks me up when I need it most.  She makes me better than I am and loves me more than I deserve. My Broth...

I've been running again since April of this year, 185 miles year to date. All in an effort to lose weight and be healthier.  That's not a lot of miles for an avid runner, but it is a lot for me since I was doing nothing prior to starting up again.  I'm happy to say I feel better than I have in a long time and I'm down 25 pounds. :) In addition to my running, for the month of September, I am doing a challenge with several other friends.  Every day we do some form of push-ups, squats, lunges, planks or crunches.  Thirteen days in and I can feel my body changing, for the better, and I can also feel the fatigue setting in.  But I am persevering with their encouragement. This morning after my run, I was completely soaked with sweat, partly due to the effort and partly due to the 99% humidity.  But it was a glorious, sunny morning with blue skies and the water on the lake where I run was as smooth as glass.  After the run, I was exhausted, empty of thoug...

As I continue on my journey to determine what it is I'm supposed to do after I leave my current employer, I have been applying for jobs. Most of my applications are in recruiting as that is where my depth of experience is, but I've also been applying to travel jobs.  I've applied to jobs all around the world and most recently had a company in Dubai want to interview me but I declined.  Looking back, I'm not sure why I declined so quickly as I should have at least listened, Dubai might be nice for a time??? Anyway, as I said, I've been applying to jobs, a few local but many international.  I'm actually disappointed in my profession in providing such a poor candidate experience.  Far and wide I am unimpressed but the career sites, the applications and especially the response or lack thereof.  We, recruiters and talent acquisition pros, need to step up our game big time. I've also been applying to travel jobs.  The most recent job requires a 60 second or s...