Last Commented Self-Improvement Blogs (526)

I feel Sorry for people who don’t drink.

In my life, I've read a lot of bad English. Written some of it too, reaching fluency doesn't come naturally nor easy. It's an uphill battle. English is not the most logical language out there. And you really need to check before you post anything... If you don't the joke's on you.

Probably the most notorious bad English comes from Eastern Europe. I'll admit it. Did you already forget Ken Lee? On second thought, it could be that irresistible Indian accent. It's a tough one. Boris the Blade vs Bangalore pimp. I grew weary of English in the last few years and since considered it to be Latin of our time. Now, if you're a Germanic barbarian (and anyone can be a barbarian for pagan Rome) you might not develop a taste for it.

Still, it's more than useful. So I'm removing the dust from my vocabulary vaults these days. Something good knocked on my door a few days ago, and English it's all your fault... Thanks!

I want to wrap it up here, letting my good old man George Carlin say a few words about English. We couldn't agree more. If anything makes a language look silly - it's the political correctness! But pc is just a smallpox of our time, a children's disease. Languages live on in perpetual change and growth. And so will English. It survived without Shakespeare, Dickens, and Twain. English is a tough kid.

Did anyone ever told you this? Too much of other people is not good for you. Not at all. Especially their thoughts. Reading what they think about this and that. You're not supposed to know all these things. It's like television. It's not useful for you and not healthy either. Even if they offer their thoughts to others.
You get sucked in that hive mediocre mentality sooner or later. Having nothing better to do than paying attention who thinks what, instead having your own opinion based on being true to yourself.
I was in that maze for years, thinking if I relate to someone's thoughts truly it must be destiny that such people will end up being together. But nothing happens. You still chew your lunch alone, even if you read all the books by John Fante. And you exchange quotes in a short-lived amazement.
It doesn't mean anything. Nobody will sleep with you because you read a particular book. Nor books should be read sole for that purpose.

Stay away from stranger's mind. We're all intrigued by it, but it's a dangerous drug. A lottery you can't win. It will lead your astray. It will make you feel disappointed.

Go on a date. If possible. The sooner the better.

Avoid endless messages. If you like writing, then write a book. Chemistry picks your partner, not world of thoughts. Steven Hawkins has amazing world of thoughts, but he's not your dream date.

Everything is useful. To a degree, of course. So don't celebrate anything above your breath, and don't mourn anything longer than you should. Joy and sorrow are just two different ways that build you as a person. Avoid neither, glorify none. In time you learn that even things you extremely don't like have a rightful place in your life. You can't shake them off, there is a law above your will. You have to rearrange them, change their priority level from high to low. And get on with your life. People you don't like won't magically vanish. Things you don't like doing won't stop just because you're tired of repetition. Muscles don't grow stronger without effort, patience and discipline. The same goes for your personality. It's a spiritual muscle. If you want to become the person you believe you deserve to be - earn it. Forget the world, prove it to yourself. Respect is not a human right, you have to build it. It starts within you and radiates to let others know how you see yourself.

So stop demanding, and start growing.

Do you ever look at your life like someone else may look at it? Do you ever take yourself out of yourself, and look at your life from a different perspective? As if you aren't you? Like looking at yourself through a camera lens.

I do that sometimes. I remove myself from me, from all the emotions and ego, and just examine what I've been paying attention to. And I ask myself, is this worth putting any energy into? If my attention is hooked, then I've invested some kind of energy - positive or negative. If I devote any energy to it, then I must care about it in some way.

Let's face it, if we don't care about something or someone, we simply don't devote any thought or energy to it. It doesn't hold our attention for one second. It's like this blog. Have I hooked your attention? Enough to read it? If I have, then you've devoted some energy to it. Now, I can ask you, what did you feel about it? Anything? If I hooked your attention enough to read it, if it's meaningful to you, you will feel something about it, hopefully something positive.

If it's not meaningful in any way, you may feel I've wasted your time. And then you will forget it. A fleeting moment lost. But perhaps you're angry that I've wasted your time. So you write a nasty comment, venting your anger at my blog. And thus, I have hooked your attention enough for you to care to elicit an emotion and to make a comment. And if I respond to your negativity, then you have hooked my attention enough for me to care and perpetuated that negative energy.

But sometimes that camera that we look at life through, has a very narrow lens perspective on it.

I know there's a quote by Maya Angelou that says something to the effect that people may not remember what you say, but they always remember how you made them feel. Now, I do have a bit of an issue with this, because no one can 'make' us feel anything we don't choose to feel. But people do remember the energy one emits. And it's up to us, whether we choose to emit positive or negative energy. If the energy one emits is always negative, then it isn't any wonder that other's don't want to be around that kind of energy on a consistent basis.

In widening our focus, we get to see so much more than the pithiness of ourselves. That as much as our lives are about us, our own dramas, our own plays, our own tragedies, our own comedies, they really are about living wider than our own narrow perspective. About loving and accepting ourselves enough to be able to share that with others. Not in a way of trying to control what they think, do, say, or believe, but in a way that benefits them - giving them what they truly need. When we help others, we help them believe in themselves. Of course, the payoff is that we get to feel good as well.

And I truly think that's what life is about. Not hoarding who we are - but sharing ourselves. Not seeing what is wrong with everyone else, but seeing what is right. Not concerning ourselves with what others do wrong, but only in our own goals and what we can do 'right'.

And I think that's what optimism is. Living wide. Seeing life through a wide-angle lens. Seeing that everyone has something of value to offer, even if it's to teach us what we don't want in our lives. To help those that actually want and need our help. Being able to 'scan' with the wide angle lens, and then narrow the focus only on those things and people that are worthy of hooking our attention, emotions and energy.

I don't think it's ever too late to learn how to live wide. To change one's focus and perspective. To not only feel good oneself, but to help others feel good about themselves. And it's up to us whether we want to focus on the positive or negative.

We all deserve the abundance that this life offers and to share it. We all deserve to be happy and feel loved. We all have value and deserve to live the fullest life possible.

Open up the lens as much as you can. Live wide open.

That's the spirit : half a job is not a job, as a leader you do not get away............. ......... 'Dancing like a butterfly, stabbing like a bee', that was the strategy with which Muhammad Ali attacked opponents who were much bigger and perhaps also much stronger than he was.

Shine, Son..................

Look into the mirror. Not just at the face. Look into your own eyes. You are looking at the only person you have to put up with the rest of you life. Be honest with yourself. You can't lie to you. You will catch you every time. You can't steal from yourself. Be honest. Except who you are. Become your own best friend. You are the one who has to Deeside to love you or hate you. If you hate you. You will always hold you back. If you love you you will take better care of you. If you don't like who you are change. You alone can change you. If there are things you don't like get rid of them. Things you like improve soon them. Your happiness is up to you. You alone can help you. You can only depend on you. Like yourself. Forgive yourself. Ask God to forgive you and repent. Stop hurting yourself and start helping yourself. Look yourself in the eyes. Do nothing that you can't forgive yourself for. Take care of you nobody else will your whole life. Smile tomorrow is a new day and a new adventure. Your world will be better that way. The whole world would be a better place if everyone would do this.

Hey people,
Fuel went up by 4% and BOV went down by 10% and not paying any dividends this year so far. Makes me feel like Zuckerberg must have felt with his Facebook shortfall 5 days ago (ha bl**dy haha)!
Not a good start to this hot month of August. But I can still go to the beaches, albeit somewhat overcrowded. And snorkel!
Ah..... I also wrote a new poem, and that helps life remain somewhat bearable.
Peace

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