Have you ever noticed, when you’re in the market to buy a new car, once you decide what kind you want suddenly you see many more of those cars out on the road? I needed a small pickup truck and settled on the Toyota Tacoma. For months before I finally bought mine, it seemed the only vehicle on the roads were Tacoma’s. They were everywhere!
Author: johnny88keys
Optimistic idea enabler mindfully seeking rapture
Pond Fish River Fish
There is a pond in the forest, deep enough for several fish. The fish are swimming around the perimeter of the pond. Around and around, always moving but never going anywhere.
Unbeknownst to the pond fish, there is a stream nearby. Playful rapids sloshing and swirling as the crystal water murmurs ever downstream.
Suddenly a fish leaps out of the river and into the pond. The pond fish are so Continue reading “Pond Fish River Fish”
Freedom From Our Past
I’ve written before how the past can hurt. Each of us is evolving and changing, and hopefully we are growing. Still, our past actions have the power to create new suffering today for ourselves and those we love.
An old action of mine that I had eradicated from memory recently Continue reading “Freedom From Our Past”
Don’t Widen Home Plate
Credit this content to Rick Houcek whose free weekly email broadcast has featured this story more than once over the years. It’s worth the read, every time.
In 1996, at a convention of 4,000 baseball coaches in Nashville, a 78-year old keynote speaker stepped to the stage to a standing ovation. Only 5 years had passed since he retired from a storied college coaching career that began in 1948.
The Fiction of Teenage Rebellion
I think it’s a common misconception that the teenage years are necessarily ones of rebellion and turmoil. In fact, I believe it’s possible for parents and their children to develop a warm, intimate relationship based on mutual love and respect. Rifts do not need to exist in families, even during the Continue reading “The Fiction of Teenage Rebellion”
11,205
I looked at the Actuarial Tables and noticed the life expectancy for someone my age who was born when I was born is, on average, 76.7 years, or 30.7 years from now. That’s 11,205 days. Now, there’s a reasonable chance that I will live longer than that. I’m in good health, etc., but it’s sobering to think of those 11,205 days. What if I were to write a little countdown program that Continue reading “11,205”
Forlorn Commute
Capturing this one for myself, for that day in the future when I need some perspective.
The drive home from work today. Residual blankets of snow from this week’s storm wrapping white vestiges over the shoulders of the mountains. Continue reading “Forlorn Commute”
Slipping and Sliding
A few days post-snow storm and the sun is doing it’s duty out on the trails. Shady areas are still snow packed but most of this morning’s running route was either wet mud, or ice, or both. A few hundred yards in I took a tumble as I completely lost my footing. This was not a day for finding purchase.
After that first slip I sensed my body tensing up, becoming rigid, doing what Continue reading “Slipping and Sliding”
What’s Luck Got To Do With It?
In honor of St. Patty’s Day. Sometimes I’ll ask a candidate during an interview, “Tell me about a time you had a positive outcome to a situation, in which you felt luck was part of it. What did you learn from that experience?”
It’s a bit of a trick question because what I’m looking for in the answer is Continue reading “What’s Luck Got To Do With It?”
The Rule of Three
If a thing comes to my attention and it seems interesting, I may spend time taking a closer look but it depends on what other priorities are tugging at me. If that same thing comes to my attention a second time by a totally different avenue – maybe a friend mentions it or I hear something about it Continue reading “The Rule of Three”
Noticeably Happier
We humans have a remarkable ability to turn happy circumstances into unhappy ones. Have you ever gone on a weekend getaway, and the room wasn’t what you expected, or the weather turned out terrible, or someone in your group was grumpy? So now you find yourself in a situation where the Continue reading “Noticeably Happier”
Look Between the Potholes
Skiers and snowboarders know when you’re blazing down the mountain, where you look is where you’ll go. If you focus on the trees, you’re more likely to hit one. Focus on the space between the trees and that’s where your body will point the ski tips, and that’s where you will go. Bicyclists and Continue reading “Look Between the Potholes”
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