“I never said

most of the things

I said.”

– Yogi Berra

Sometimes it’s who said it. Sometimes it how it was said or even, under what circumstances it was uttered. In any case the words stick. And, having stuck, they become indispensible thought-provoking tidbits that serve to boldly highlight our own perspective that we at times find so difficult to define. At a loss for words of our own, we turn to quotes. Here are twenty-five more quotes that have found a home in my memories:

These six were submitted by followers on Facebook & Word Press

From Dr. Diana Twiggs via Facebook

“If you think you can do a thing

or think you can’t do a thing, you’re right.”

– Henry Ford

From John Trent via Word Press

“I am always doing that which I cannot do,

in order that I may learn how to do it.”

– Pablo Picasso

From Holly Allain via Facebook

“Life has no remote. Get up and change it yourself!” 

(I found several versions of this quote. It doesn’t appear to be attributed to anyone specifically)

From Mark Dennis via Facebook

“An investment in knowledge always pays the best interest”

– Benjamin Franklin

From Mariah Lovin via Facebook

“I can resist everything except temptation.”

– Oscar Wilde

From Deborah Roberts via Facebook

“Do or do not… there is no try.”

– Yoda

And here are a few more of my favorites

“You’re never as good as everyone tells you when you win,

and you’re never as bad as they say when you lose.”

– Lou Holtz 

“We can’t solve problems by using

the same kind of thinking we used when we created them.”

– Albert Einstein

“Who is the most powerful member of your sales team?

A satisfied customer.”

– Jeffrey Gitomer

“Until you value yourself, you won’t value your time.

Until you value your time, you will not do anything with it.”

– M. Scott Peck

“There are no constraints on the human mind,

no walls around the human spirit,

no barriers to our progress except those we ourselves erect.”

– Ronald Reagan

“Son. . . You can do anything you want to,

if you just put your mind to it.”

– Mom

“I am looking for a lot of men who have an infinite capacity

to not know what can’t be done.”

– Henry Ford 

“If you don’t know where you are going,

you might wind up someplace else.”

– Yogi Berra

“Most people have the will to win.

Few have the will to prepare to win.”

- Bobby Knight

“What you don’t know is how much you know

without knowing that you know it.”

– Patrick Jayne

“In the long history of humankind (and animal kind, too)

those who learned to collaborate and improvise most effectively

have prevailed.”

– Charles Darwin

“The majority of men meet with failure

because of their lack of persistence in creating new plans

to take the place of those which fail.”

– Napoleon Hill

“Go as far as you can see; when you get there,

you’ll be able to see farther.”

– J.P. Morgan

“Change will not come if we wait for some other person

or some other time. We are the ones we’ve been waiting for.

We are the change that we seek.”

– Barak Obama

“It takes 20 years to build a reputation and five minutes to ruin it.

If you think about that, you’ll do things differently.”

– Warren Buffet

“You will become as small as your controlling desire;

as great as your dominant aspiration.”

- James Allen

“My greatest challenge has been to change the mindset of people.

Mindsets play strange tricks on us. We see things

the way our minds have instructed our eyes to see.”

– Mohammad Yunus

“And, did you exchange a walk-on part in the war

for the lead role in a cage?”

– Lyrics from Wish You Were Here by Roger Waters

CLICK HERE to see the Original 25

COMING NEXT WEEK:

We’ll take a look at “the end of the world as we know it” in a posting entitled –

The End of Daze

Follow Splinter In The Mind’s Eye on Facebook to catch weekly “Way Back When’s Day” postings.

“The components of anxiety, stress, fear, and anger do not exist independently of you in the world. They simply do not exist in the physical world, even though we talk about them as if they do.”

- Wayne Dyer

Safety rides in the crowd. Strength flows in numbers. But when all is stripped away, we are who we are at our core when we are alone. It is in these times, these cycling vacuums of solitude that we are subjected to the raw side of life. It is in these moments that we fall prey to the thundering voices of Giants and the whispered persuasion of Thorns.

Giants

Giants traffic in fear tactics. They intimidate and threaten. They bully. Stalking from a distance, they silently scream directly at us from across the valley and send us cowering behind the cover of rocks and in the seclusion of caves.

Unwelcome intruders, though they may be, they defiantly proclaim themselves as king of our mental battlefield and display the insurmountable strength to rip asunder our emotional tapestry. Just when we feel we have everything under control and have tied down the last loose end, they storm over the horizon and run roughshod over our confidence without warning.

Giants are cloaked in many garments. Their shadow can be cast by the mailbox that most certainly contains correspondence we dread, by the ringing phone that signals another harassing call, or the knock at the door we prayed would never come.

Giants live as skeletons that we desperately strive to keep locked tightly away in closets. They are stains in our character from earlier years, irrelevant now; but blemishes we prefer to keep hidden nonetheless. Giants wrap themselves around us with the skill of the most deadly constrictor choking life from us as we fall victim yet again to our one controlling habit that seemingly cannot be broken.

Giants feed on fear and anxiety. They serve up heavy doses of “What if?” with regularity. They march boldly, daring us to stand against their power and might. They are vicious!

Thorns

Thorns live within us. They’ve broken the skin at one point in time and we’ve allowed the wound to callous over rather than heal. Their poison is trapped beneath the surface and eats at us in the silence of the night. We run and hide from giants. But thorns, thorns we hold close; finding a strange comfort in clinging to the pain.

Thorns embody the overwhelming grief of a lost loved one or bitterness borne from memories of a painful break up. Thorns take the form of deep-seeded anger from having been used and taken advantage of by someone we trusted. Thorns personify the loneliness that comes with feelings that we just don’t fit in, or the anguish of having failed someone we care about when they needed us most.

The strange thing about thorns is the vivid perception of anxiety, which serves to paint a picture of distress that will flood to the open wound immediately upon removal. Lodged against a nerve initially, we’ve sheltered it long enough for a callous to form, for the sharp sting to deaden to a numbing throb. We’ve learned to live with the thorn and in some cases it has become a badge of honor or cross to bear.

Giants & Thorns are invasive beasts capable of crippling our potential on every level

They were fast. They were strong. They functioned as a finely tuned machine running wide-open at all times. They had not been beaten in sixteen years. SIXTEEN YEARS! They were the Soviet Ice Hockey team. 

From 1964 to 1980, they emerged with top honors in every world tournament. In exhibitions against highly regarded teams from the National Hockey League, they had a winning record even though every game was played on NHL ice. They were deemed unbeatable.

Lake Placid, New York, played host to the 1980 Winter Olympics and the United States boasted their best Olympic Hockey team in years. Yet in a string of exhibitions against the Soviet Red Army, the USA was soundly defeated without exception.

On February 22, 1980, Herb Brooks walked into the locker room and addressed his young team just before they took the ice for a semi-final match against the team that had embarrassed them repeatedly.

“Great moments are born from great opportunity. And that’s what you have here tonight, boys. That’s what you’ve earned here tonight.

 One game. If we played them ten times, they might win nine. But not this game. Not tonight. Tonight we skate with them. Tonight we stay with them. And we shut them down because we can.

Tonight we are the greatest hockey team in the world. You were born to be hockey players. Every one of you.  And, you were meant to be here tonight.

This is your time. Their time is done. It’s over. I’m sick and tired of hearing about what a great hockey team the Soviets have. Screw them. This is your time. Now, go out there and take it.”

The tiny hockey arena only held 8500 people, but you wouldn’t have known that by the thunderous cheers as Al Michaels counted down the final seconds and crowned the astonishing victory over the Soviets with the phrase, “Do you believe in miracles?”

Bedlam reigned. Americans celebrated in living rooms from coast to coast. Cars pulled off the road nationwide, as drivers stood beside their vehicle honking horns in spontaneous celebration. It was an unforgettable moment of ecstatic delight.

Coach Brooks left the ice, made his way back to the locker room and scribbled one word on the chalkboard prior to leaving:

- FINLAND -

While the victory over the Soviets was momentous, it only provided the young USA team an opportunity to play for the Gold Medal. There was still a giant left to slay. Finland stood between the team and the prize they had collectively worked so hard to achieve. FINLAND.

* * * * * * * *

Giants source their strength in our willingness to submit to their bully nature. Thorns fester because we hold them tightly, refusing to let them go. They convince us that they should take up permanent residence in our emotions. Both Giants and Thorns rely on us. They count on us to play our part, to excel in our role.

They aren’t crushed with one resounding effort. They can only be defeated moment by moment. String some small victories together and the battles become less frequent, but Giants and Thorns will still come calling.

Giants, they’re not vanquished forever. Thorns, they don’t heal without leaving scars. With Giants and Thorns, victory comes in realizing that they are of our own making; which means they are also ultimately at our mercy.

“If the facts don’t fit the theory,

- Albert Einstein

February 1, 2009 – The Arizona Cardinals were making the first appearance in franchise history under the brightest lights the National Football League had to offer: The Super Bowl. It was the forty-third edition of the NFL’s big game to crown a league champion. By contrast the Cardinals would be facing a franchise that had made more visits to the grand stage than any other – The Pittsburgh Steelers.

Created as a game pitting the establishment (Old NFL) versus the upstarts (New AFL), The Super Bowl has grown into the biggest annual media event in the world.

The first Super Bowl, played January 15, 1967, was broadcast by a pair of networks out of obligation to each league (CBS & NBC respectfully). Today a network will pay exorbitant fees for the broadcast rights, knowing that it can bring a financial windfall of advertising revenue.

February 1, 2009 – A company made its debut among one of the most highly anticipated and competitive Super Bowl byproducts: The Commercials.

Hoping to “reconnect” their brand with the American public, the Denny’s Corporation set out to make a big splash that would leave lasting ripples.

The 17 second spot featuring “Nanerpus” offered everyone in America a chance to enjoy their signature Grand Slam Breakfast for FREE on the Tuesday following the game. Consumers were invited to show up any time between 6am and 2pm for Pancakes, Eggs and Bacon on the house.

Denny’s CEO, Nelson Marchioli, proclaimed it an extraordinary day. “We were hoping to reconnect with millions of Americans today, and we did.”

“The moment a person forms a theory; his imagination sees in every object only the traits which favor that theory.”

- Thomas Jefferson

Over 1.5 Million meals were served to folks who waited over an hour on average. Consumers walked away with the memory of long lines and poor service. There were food shortages at some locations and no doubt a shortage of patience filtered among employees and patrons across the board.

People liked the idea of a FREE breakfast more than the executives of Denny’s had anticipated. The restaurant had reconnected, but unfortunately not on the wave length they had foreseen In Theory.

Denny’s Stock Price had risen sharply between late January and Super Bowl kickoff in anticipation of the promotion. By March 2nd the stock price had fallen to an all-time low of $1.19 per share.

In June 2009, facing a rising swell of contention from shareholders who claimed that executives had mismanaged the company, Marchioli resigned.

* * * * * * *

The launch of a new year sparks hopes and dreams of a fresh start for all of us. Unfortunately, many of those dreams are never broken down into easy-to-swallow-bite-sized chunks. And, even worse, some of them aren’t thought through to an accurate vision of the end result.

It sounds good In Theory, but is it actually the first steps towards the destination we desire?

There are two absolutes when it comes to planning:

The picture doesn’t get clearer as we walk through the fog. “Big and Fuzzy” stays BIG & FUZZY until we draw in the definition. Our brain knows what to do with precise information. It has no idea how to process instructions that are vague.

The sum of the parts always produces the outcome of the whole. Break it down. Break it down. Then, break it down again. If the bits and pieces aren’t all there before you start, they’re not going to magically arrive as you build.

Taking time to put all the right pieces in place before putting all the pieces together makes it more likely that In Theory will lead to the Indeed that we have in mind!

“A man can be looked upon as truly great, when he is no longer compared to anyone else.”

Without question, he was one of the most brilliant visionaries of his time. He was incredibly gifted in many arts and given to genius level insight in matters of math, science and engineering.  Yet he wrote in his journal, “I have offended God and mankind because my work didn’t reach the quality it should have.” His name was Leonardo da Vinci.

 In another self-admission he wrote, “I have wasted my hours.” 

 Born April 15, 1452, in Florence, Italy, da Vinci lived 67 years. Few would assess his accomplishments as anything other than greatness of the highest magnitude. Yet da Vinci felt that his work fell short of Divine expectations and societal approval. While his portfolio was overwhelmingly impressive, in his mind it was always one project shy of acceptable.

 Finding a measure of success, small or great, after striving for a period of time against various levels of difficulty can be euphoric. It brings with it reasons to rejoice and should be celebrated.  But, it also brings entrapments that can lead to setbacks and downward spirals. 

* * * * * * *

The Take-Away

Success can make you Lazy

In the late 60’s Eastern Airlines built their marketing pitch around the catch phrase, “We’ll be your wings.” In the early 70’s the company combated a lackadaisical, carefree pop-culture swoon by announcing that they were making their vast employee base part owners in the company and launching their new slogan, “We earn our wings every day.”

Success can make you Over Confident

Thomas Edison said, “The successful person makes a habit of doing what the failing person doesn’t like to do.” I find it interesting that Edison didn’t say the failing person couldn’t do those things, only that they really didn’t like doing them. Just because you’ve arrived, doesn’t mean that consistent hard work  is no longer required.

Success can make you Careless

In 1989 DC Comics signed off on the production of a series of movies, featuring their ever popular creation: Batman. Tim Burton directed. Michael Keaton was an amazingly dapper Bruce Wayne and mysterious Batman. Jack Nicholson won acclaim for his role as the arch-villain, Joker. The solid script and quality cast was a hit at the box office. The movie was followed in 1992 by Batman Returns. Tim Burton and Michael Keaton returned as well. Joined by Danny DeVito and Michelle Pfeiffer, the movie theme once again drew an audience.

Sequels: Batman Forever (1995) and Batman & Robin (1997) played out with shoddy scripts, poor direction and actors who most likely wish they had skipped the opportunity. Both films soundly bombed at the box office. The writers and producers had gotten careless with the storyline and development of characters. Comic Book success became comical flop.

In 2005, Director Christopher Nolan took over the storyline with Batman Begins. Deep character development was revived with the help of Christian Bale, Michael Caine and Morgan Freeman. In 2008 the late Heath Ledger played mind games with a riveted audience with a masterful portrayal of a psychotic Joker in The Dark Knight. The detail that led to the original success had returned, and success followed closely on its heel.

Success can make you Despondent

It is said that once Alexander the Great had achieved ruler ship over the ancient world he often wept bitterly and wrestled with depression. It seems that he no longer felt a dynamic sense of purpose when there were no battles left to fight and no worlds left to conquer. In his later years he is attributed with the quote: “A tomb now suffices him for whom the whole world was not sufficient.”

Is that all? Is that all there is? Sometimes success can do that.

So what then of our dear, underachieving Leonardo? His final assessment:

“You can have no dominion greater or less

than that over yourself.”

“Change will not come if we wait for some other person or some other time.

 We are the ones we’ve been waiting for.

We are the change that we seek.”  

The next time you find yourself in a place that sells lottery tickets, invest a dollar. A computer generated set of any six numbers will do, because none of the numbers need to be present in the next drawing for “this ticket” to be your winner.

This ticket, this simple piece of paper with six randomly generated numbers and a $1 price tag, is your guidepost to making this year better than the last. This ticket is a map to greater success and more consistent achievement.

If you have the courage to enter into an agreement in principle,

this ticket can get you to wherever you want to go.

This ticket has powerful potential, but is powerless unless purchased and prominently displayed with purpose. You can make this year better than the last and this ticket can be your most powerful ally.

* * * * * * * *

Once purchased, display the ticket in a place where you can see it daily along with these four basic principles of productive goal setting. Write them out by hand and display them with the ticket! (See Mine)

Number One: For any goal to be a productive goal, it must be clearly defined.

By nature, vague tasks are more often avoided than clearly defined actions. The mind’s first instinct is to avoid things that are confusing. The clearly defined goal represented by the ticket is: “Win the lottery”.

Whether your goal is personal, business related, self-directed or imposed by a higher authority, it must be clearly defined. This may seem overly obvious, but it is of utmost importance and all too often glossed over carelessly. The more clearly defined the goal, the more attainable it becomes.

Without clarity, it becomes impossible to determine if you are moving in the right direction. Without clarity, it becomes difficult to determine direction – period.  

Side Note: When it comes to clarity, it is of great importance to word your directive as a positive action as opposed to negative. The mind does not comprehend negative thought. Even if you are trying to reprogram a bad habit into a positive behavior, the mind cannot envision the act of not doing something. Wording your actionable directive in negative tones makes compliance a much more difficult uphill struggle. We are wired for action as opposed to stop-action.  See some insightful comments from Judy Dunn in the post, “In Search of Happy Endings” for additional details.

Number Two: For any goal to be achieved, there must be a plan of action that is simple to execute and easy to monitor. 

Even building a bowl of cereal for breakfast involves easy-to-follow actions. In this case, the plan of action is: “Purchase a ticket”. Granted, there are a few other details involving the when and where; but the overall plan of action is simple and clearly defined. Without a ticket in hand, chances of accomplishing the goal established in step one are not diminished; they are eliminated.

You must put together a clearly defined game plan to have any hope of achieving your clearly defined goal. People who “fly by the seat of their pants” tend to fly in circles more often than not.

Everything we purchase that requires assembly on any level comes with step-by-step directions from the manufacturer. We need directions. We need a blueprint, a schematic, a simple written phrase that tells us when and how to insert Tab A into Slot B. That is why manufacturers include directions with their products.

We are built to think in progressive steps. Without progressive steps in place, we are left to wrestle with our own basic impulses; which leads to confusion, frustration and abandonment of the task.

“If you don’t tell someone what to do next,

there’s no telling what they might do.”

                                                                     – Stacy Karacostas

Number Three: For any goal to have value, it must include a predetermined investment.

In the case of our lottery ticket, the investment is only $1; but don’t sleep on this aspect. The risk involved should never overshadow the anticipated reward of success. With any action, there is a “price to pay” for having taken that action.

Don’t be so driven to succeed that you fail to put preset boundaries in place. My mother used to use the phrase: “Don’t cut off your nose to spite your face.”

Taking time to count the cost of what will be required to fully reach our goal (Money, Time, and Priority) is an important part of the process. There are various parts and components involved.

Certain pieces to the puzzle have to be in place if our stated achievement is to be reached. Reflecting on the breakfast analogy; if we determine that there is no milk in the fridge, a bagel might be a better option.

You’ve no doubt heard the phrase, “Spend a dollar to make a dollar.” If that’s your current line of thinking, then you should put that dollar back in your pocket and search for a better return on your investment. If the cost of investment outweighs or equals the benefits of success, you are not making progress.

“If your output exceeds your income

then your upkeep will be your downfall.”

                                                                                -Anonymous

Number Four: Success should lead naturally to another clearly defined goal.

What would you do if you won the lottery?

You know you’ve thought about it at least some and some people I know actually have a set of clearly thought out plans in place, which isn’t a bad idea if you play regularly. What would you do if your ticket, the one you bought to display with these four basic steps, actually matched the numbers on all six ping pong balls from the next drawing?

Does achieving your clearly defined goal from step number one include a natural progression to another clearly defined goal? It should! If it doesn’t, it’s too broad or too vague. You need to spend some more time breaking it down.

If you were constructing a Bookshelf, the next phase would involve books. If you had a BBQ Grill in mind, it might involve hotdogs, hamburgers or chicken eventually; but charcoal and a match have to come first.

This IS Your Life:

    Some Assembly IS Required!

You’re writing your basic booklet of directions as to how to reach your stated goals for the days, weeks and months ahead. Inserting Tab A into Slot B is a starting point from which to build, not a finish line or cause to celebrate.  

Construct your plans with the next logical step in mind. If you do, success won’t be a surprise. It will become an expected part of your day.

Oh, and if that lottery ticket does happen to have the right sequence of numbers, feel free to cash it in and buy another one to pin to the wall, but don’t stop setting goals! 

* * * * * * *

“Change will not come if we wait for some other person or some other time.

We are the ones we’ve been waiting for. We are the change that we seek.” 

- Barak Obama

– Vernon Howard

Several years ago I sat in the home of a friend totally fascinated as I watched him work. He sat in the floor, legs folded, a small vise in front of him and a high-intensity lamp glaring through a magnifying glass. I peered over his shoulder as he decorated a tiny fish hook with yarn, metallic thread and a few carefully chosen strands of chicken feathers. He worked meticulously, with only the occasional sound of a deep exhale escaping as he plied his craft. Within minutes he produced what he referred to as one of his favorite streamers and declared it to be a phenomenal temptation for any trout on the prowl.

Was it the real thing? Please! It was chicken feathers and string wrapped around a sharp metal barb – not exactly what any free swimming trout really wants to find when hungry.

Was it similar to the real thing? Did it represent? Suffice? Fill the need? Or, even flash a hint of “might-do-in-a-pinch” quality? According to my friend, it was all of those things and more. 

“Accept No Substitutes”

There was a time in American History when the greatest enemy to the dollar was the threat of highly skilled counterfeiters. Legal Tender, the stated value of which was offset by gold or silver held by the Federal Reserve, was at times lost among vast quantities of replications backed by neither. The numerous variations of counterfeit bills so closely resembled the government issued authentic that it became more and more difficult to tell the difference.

So how did those charged with the task of separating imitation from genuine sharpen their skills? The answer was simple: Be able to recognize the real thing when they saw it.

It was impossible to learn, recognize or keep up with the various markings of counterfeit bills. The best possible solution was deemed to be studying, handling, examining, and feeling the texture of actual bills so thoroughly and so often that anything other than the legitimate government issued bill produced an immediate reflex reaction upon first glance or touch.

Recognizing counterfeit bills wasn’t a matter of identifying what was specifically wrong, but rather sensing in general that something just wasn’t right.

* * * * * * * *  

Various aspects of day to day life traffic in this same Bait-n-Switch whirlpool. As a result, we are slowly separated further and further from the ideal that we had envisioned. Swimming against that current, can be a challenge; but the inability to recognize the currents in which you swim, can be deadly.

My fly-tying friend had created a beautiful streamer, suitable to lure even the most cautious trout into a strike; but there was more to the story. It seems that having a vest loaded with colorful streamers doesn’t guarantee a strike, a hook up, or a photo opportunity with even the hungriest trout in the stream. There’s a secret to fly fishing that extends beyond the large round magnifying glass and bright lamp in someone’s living room. The final knot must be tied to the RIGHT fly at the RIGHT time.

He called it “matching the hatch” and explained that nature triggers what a fish distinguishes as food and what is merely ignored as trash floating down stream. It seems that even the most highly-crafted flies, those that represent an insect native to the area with the greatest degree of detail, are never given a second look if they are “presented out of season.”

The fish instinctively knows what it is looking for and as such, things that are out of place are coldly ignored as undesirable. Unfortunately, we don’t come with those same built-in, made-to-order filters. We are given the free will to set our own parameters as to what is and is not acceptable in our world.

In this case, generalities prove more beneficial than specifics. We can choose the person that we want to be, the values we desire to exhibit and the attitude we wish to cultivate. More importantly, we have the power to set in place the filters that move us closer to being that person.

Want less stress in your life? Start filtering out the PPT&H (People, Places, Things & Habits) that bring stress to your doorstep. Want better health? Start filtering out unhealthy PPT&H. Want better financial stability? Start filtering out the PPT&H that erode your cash flow. Go ahead. Fashion your own question. The same PPT&H response can be plugged in as an answer.

It’s a simple, yet effective process. And whereas you may not eliminate all stress, unhealthy habits, or financial pitfalls; if you are able to remove even a few, then you’ll begin moving towards your chosen direction.

It’s not a matter of identifying every little thing that is specifically wrong, but rather becoming so acquainted in general with those things which move you forward that your reflexes immediately sense when something needs to be allowed to continue drifting down stream because it just isn’t right.

* * * * * * * *  

“Success comes from knowing that you did your best

    to become the best that you are capable of becoming.”

- John Wooden

Originally posted on January 9, 2011

Shared as a “Way Back When’s Day” flashback on December 28, 2011

“Those who dream by day are cognizant of many things which escape those who dream only by night.”

– Edgar Allan Poe

It is the trappings of approval. And, who doesn’t want to find acceptance? We mimic what works and gravitate towards that which meets with broad scale endorsement. The “Next Big Thing” or “Hottest New Trend” is hard to resist. None of us want to be left out or fall behind the curve.

Unwrapping Internet Explorer on Christmas morning, I was greeted by a headline touting the Hottest Jobs for the Year Ahead. On Christmas Eve, the top story was about Supermarket Villains and the promise that I would find better health if I would simply Eat This, Not That in 2012. Who knew that “Healthy Choice” was an UNhealthy choice?

It has begun. You are about to leave the “Ber Months” (SeptemBER through DecemBER) behind and enter the Days of Decision & Commitment (New Year’s Eve through January).

Father Time is holding the hourglass extended as the final grains of sand from 2011 continue to fall slow and steady into the bottom half of the crystal vacuum. In just a few days we will stand at our annual crossroads, etch something in stone and take our first steps towards making this year better than the last.

In some magical way, January 1 brings us all face-to-face with a clean slate. The year has taken its toll. There have been good times and bad. We have tasted victory and defeat. But, as the clock ticks down, we face midnight with a deep breath and the hope to start anew.

Group hugs everyone!

It seems that at this time of the year, more than any other, something within each of us yearns to be freed. We’ve played by the rules, colored within the lines and kept off the grass long enough.

We’re often encouraged to think outside the box, but we’ve been warned that living outside the box may be the first step towards living in one. So, while our thoughts may soar and our imaginations may surge forward like a thoroughbred in the starting gate; we keep our feet firmly planted on the path.

In the early years of our nation, groups of people banded together to establish community. Resources and responsibility were shared. Safety and purpose were group provisions. Land was cleared. Shelter was built. Food supply was developed. Assimilation brought strength.

Some never settled. Driven by an unquenchable hunger, they left the settlement in search of something new and fresh. Challenging themselves each day, they carved the path deeper into the wilderness. They were pioneers.

An inner restlessness kept them on the move. As soon as a comfort zone had been established, they grew uncomfortable. They lived to press on to the next thicket to be cleared, cross the next river and climb the next mountain. Status quo just didn’t suit them. They became known as Mavericks.

 There’s a part of me that believes there is a little “Maverick” in all of us. It’s why self-help books are top sellers. It’s why we chase the next life changing diet or get itchy to seek out another option along our career path. It’s why we conjure resolutions on December 31st in hopes that January will launch a brighter day.

“I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream.”

– Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

The speech by Dr. King that echoed from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial wasn’t just about a movement towards racial equality. It was the dream of the human spirit screaming to be heard. It was the thumping of the heart within each chest, providing a drumbeat to which we must march. It was the voice of a Maverick, speaking for all who dream.

Dr. King dared to speak that dream out loud on August 28, 1963, and his “I Have A Dream” speech is regarded as one of the greatest in American history.

 Your dream may beat softly within, but it’s loud enough for you to hear and that’s all that really matters. It’s your dream. Chase it! Give your inner Maverick freedom to run in the year ahead!

“Wide diversification is only required when investors do not understand what they are doing. Risk comes from not knowing what you’re doing.” 

- Warren Buffett

Last week’s post, This Is Your Life: Some Assembly Required, closed with a quote from Lou Holtz, and the warning that part two was scheduled to arrive between Christmas and New Year’s Day.

The quote was a simple witticism: “When all is said and done, usually more got said than done.” Now the challenge of tipping the scales towards a little less talk and a lot more action begins and the quote from Buffett becomes the first block from which to build.

There is a philosophy that encourages the slinging of hefty amounts of mud against the proverbial wall in hopes that some will stick. I’m really not sure why we want a muddy wall, but it stands to reason that percentages would prove the theory true to some degree. The question still remains as to what actually sticks and, having stuck, is it positioned in our best interest. Such is the haphazard result of diversification.

There is also a prevailing philosophy that doing something, even if it’s the wrong thing, is better than doing nothing. Unsure where this vision of productivity was borne, I evoked my crafty googlization skills and found that the majority of references lead back to military origins, with some dating as far back as WWI. Pardon me while I engage in a brief shudder and head shake.

One of my college professors often brought heated discussions back to thoughtful exchanges with the phrase:

“Man is the only participant in all of creation who possesses the instinct to run faster when he is unsure of where he is going.”

The inference – Stop and think about what you’re thinking about!

If we are going to DO, it seems we would be best served to fashion our DOING with a purpose in mind and a plan of action in place. Even building a bowl of cereal for breakfast starts with a clearly identified goal and follows a specific plan of action to produce a desired result.

• Having a desired destination identified, PROVIDES DIRECTION. We know where we’re going.
• Having a simple plan to get there, PROVIDES GUIDANCE. We know what to do along the way.
• Having identified that which equals success, PROVIDES ACCOMPLISHMENT. Reaching the finish line feels good and breeds confidence.

* * * * * *

In late 2008 I rented a DVD entitled, Flash of Genius. Based on a true story, the drama featured Greg Kinnear as college-professor-slash-inventor, Robert Kearns. It’s a slow-moving snoozer that serves to detail Kearns’ battle with the automotive industry over his patent for what we know today as the intermittent wind-shield wiper. It takes a while to get Ford Motor Company into a courtroom, but once there an interesting bit of testimony plays out between Robert Kearns and Professor Irwin Chapman, the lead witness for the defense. A workable definition of creativity and invention is at stake.

Professor Chapman asserts that Kearns merely used common components available to him and simply rearranged their functions into a different pattern. Thus, he is not an inventor at all and created nothing new, certainly nothing worthy of a patent or ownership claim.

Kearns defends his inventor status and creativity:

Kearns: I have here a book. It’s by Charles Dickens. It’s called, A Tale of Two Cities. Have you ever read this book?

Defense Atty: Objection, Your Honor. It’s not relevant.

Kearns: Your Honor, please, if I could just continue?

Judge: How long will it take to get to the point, Doctor?

Kearns: Not very long at all.

Judge: Okay. Let’s see what happens.

Kearns: Have you ever read this?

Chapman: Yes. Read it in high school. Very good book.

Kearns: Yes, it is. I’d like to read you the first, few words, if I may. “It was the best of times. It was the worst of times. It was the age of wisdom. It was the age of foolishness.”

Kearns: Let’s start with the first word, “It.” Did Charles Dickens create that word?

Chapman: No.

Kearns: What about “was”?

Defense Atty: Your Honor, is Mr. Kearns gonna go through the whole dictionary?

Kearns: Please, if I could just continue. I do have a point.

Judge: You may answer the question.

Chapman: No.

Kearns: “The”?  “Best”?  “Times”?

Chapman: No.  No. And, No.

Kearns: Look. I got a dictionary here. I haven’t checked, but I would guess that every word that’s in this book can be found in this dictionary.

Chapman: Well, I suspect that’s probably true.

Kearns: Okay, so then you agree that there’s not probably a single new word in this book.

Chapman: Well, I don’t know. But, that’s probably true.

Kearns: All Charles Dickens did was arrange them into a new pattern, isn’t that right?

Chapman: Well, I admit I haven’t, thought about it in that way.

Kearns: But Dickens did create something new, didn’t he? By using words, the only tools that were available to him. Just as almost all inventors in history have had to use the tools that were available to them. Telephones, space satellites all of these were made from parts that already existed, correct, Professor? Parts that you might buy out of a catalog.

Chapman: Technically that’s true, yes, but that does…

Kearns: No further questions.

* * * * * * *

We’ve all been here before, this end of the year crossroads of assessment and resolution. We know the routine. The Process. The Components. The Steps and the Time Table. Knowing is only the starting point though.

It’s not enough to know all the components, to know about transistors, capacitors and circuits. Nor is it enough to know how they work. We must deliberately set ourselves to arranging them into a pattern so that they serve our needs. We must apply. We must do.

“I have been impressed with the urgency of doing. Knowing is not enough; we must apply. Being willing is not enough; we must do.” 

- Leonardo da Vinci

 Part Three: “The Baby Steps of Doing”

“Fella, if you can hear me, I’m just looking for your identification and as soon as I find out who you are, I’ll give you a lift back to the mall.”

–Scott Calvin, standing over an unconscious man in a Santa suit from the 1994 movie The Santa Clause

The tradition of exchanging gifts at this time of the year dates back to 217 BC. It was an integral part of a weeklong festival stretching from December 17th through December 23rd called Saturnalia, designed to honor the youngest of the Titans – Cronus.

Cronus (not to be confused with Chronos with an “H”) was recognized as God of the Harvest and always pictured with a Scythe. Chronos with an “H” is not one of the Gods, but rather the Greek personification of time and origin to the personage: Father Time.

Perhaps the confusion of the two through the ages resulted in the modern day Father Time being pictured with an hourglass (accurate) and sickle (misplaced). We’ll get to him in a couple weeks.

The Saturnilia Festival was wildly popular throughout the Roman Empire and is thought by some to be the origin of many traditions that have become a part of our modern-day celebration of Christmas.

Festivities included:

• Public Banquets & Parties (at the office and popular restaurants of the day, no doubt),
• The Cessation of War Activities (Peace on Earth)
• The custom of Masters providing table service to their Slaves (Good Will to Men)
• And, Private Exchanges of Gifts on December 23rd (Trees actually trace back to 16th Century Germany and the celebration of Yule)
• It was also customary to send “Notes of Verse” (Hello, Greeting Cards) 

In the Middle Ages, the Catholic Church banned the giving of gifts, citing the pagan origins of the celebration. They had sound reasoning, validated by plenty of historical tradition.

The giving of gifts and celebration was once again approved by the church years later. The new tradition was associated with the generosities of Saint Nicholas and the Biblical record of the Magi bringing gifts to Christ. We celebrate our modern traditions with the church’s blessing (all denominations).

The exchange of gifts is always an exciting time and I’m sure we all have fantastic stories of gifts given and gifts received; but it has always been my belief that the greatest gifts were never attached to a price tag, nor wrapped with a bow and brightly colored paper.

Here’s a few of my favorites –

My mother gave me the Gift of Life. I was born to her in her later years and my father left us when I was young. Mom sacrificed in more areas that I may ever know so that I could have opportunity. She reminded me constantly that I could do anything, if I put my mind to it.

Life, in and of itself, is an absolute miracle gift every second of every day. Unfortunately, it is often under appreciated.

My older brother (by 14 yrs) gave me the Gift of Curiosity. Apparently I sat mesmerized as a baby while he put together model planes, cars and boats. Mom says I used to tear them apart, just so I could see for myself how they went together.

I continued this habit as I got older; taking apart every toy mom ever bought me to see how it worked. Neither my mom, nor my brother were thrilled that I was overflowing with Curiosity.

I was given the Gift of Education by a vast array of talented and dedicated teachers from Kindergarten to Graduation. I’m very fortunate that most of them were demanding and refused to let me get by with mediocrity.

In college, I was given the Gift of Learning by a number of professors who insisted that answers to questions were of no value, unless they could be supported with reasoning. I’m sure that I drove a few to a higher dosage of blood pressure medication.

I have been given the Gift of Love by someone who understands me and accepts me as I am, without reservation. She exceeds all hopes and dreams daily.

I have been given the Gift of Amazement by my Daughter who never ceases to make me proud. I have been fortunate beyond words to watch her grow up and excel.

What Gifts have you been given?

“The fact is, we have all been a good deal puzzled because the affair is so simple, and yet baffles us altogether.”

We are thinkers. Some are deeper thinkers than others, but we are all thinkers. As such, we read. We contemplate. We attend seminars (even host them). We imagine. We discuss. We slowly construct and reconstruct our pathway to where we want to go.

* * * * * * *

There is a date looming on the calendar in the not-so-distant future that brings with it an amplified tendency to examine and analyze the many components that comprise our current mosaic of life. Herd mentality lures us to this annual drawing board, and most often we stroll into the early weeks of January to the beat of a different drum, mirroring the Counting Crows refrain, “This year will be better than the last.”

In reality, by the time stores are pushing chocolate hearts our way, just in time for St. Valentine’s Day; 2012 will look very much like a continuation of 2011. Insider secret:  2012 IS a continuation of 2011.    Sorry.

So, why do we habitually isolate a single day at the end of each year to muster a new-found resolve to make the next 365 better, different, more fulfilling, etc. with one solemn promise to our inner self?

Most likely, we do because it’s traditional. And, since there are a lot of people participating in this grand activity all at the same time, we have the benefit of an instant support group & pressure release served up in a nice, neat package. 

We’ve also found that counting backwards from ten at midnight is a transcendent thrill, unlike any other.

 At this point, three options dangle:

1. Easy – Repeat the process one more year
2. Also Easy – Skip the resolution part and just enjoy counting backwards at the appropriate moment
3. Not So Easy – Refine the process slightly, in hopes of making this year “better than the last”

The opening quote was lifted from Edgar Allan Poe’s, “The Purloined Letter” a short story penned in the shadows of Baltimore, circa 1845. The story is about a letter that has been stolen for the purpose of blackmail. The person being blackmailed not only knows who took the letter, but watched as it was stolen, unable to call attention to the theft at the time.

The blackmail continues unabated for well over a year, while the authorities are stumped at every turn in their efforts to retrieve the stolen document and set the afflicted party to liberty. The short read, as it is masterfully woven by Poe, provides a fascinating study in human behavior and reasoning. The powerful premise unveiled in the opening paragraphs provides a marvelous secret that is often discarded.

 -  -  -  -  -  –

“The fact is, we have all been a good deal puzzled because the affair is so simple, and yet baffles us altogether.”

“Perhaps it is the very simplicity of the thing which puts you at fault.”  

 - Edgar Allan Poe

 -  -  -  -  -  -

 To set ourselves to aspirations, without simplistic methods as to how these aspirations, regardless how basic or how lofty, may be attained; is but an exercise for the sake of exercise.

Legendary football coach, Lou Holtz, once said:

“When all is said and done, usually more got said than done.”

Here’s to those with the dedicated will and persistent work ethic to daily tip those scales in the opposite direction. May I possess the determination in the coming year to do so as well.

- Part One of Two -