I’ve Noticed

Social media is a place where everyone can bitch and moan about stuff. It doesn’t have to be important stuff. It’s more about a venue to vent without repercussions. Sure, there will be opposing comments, but everything is done by a faceless society. It’s easy to bitch, moan and criticize when you’re in your kitchen and the person with the opposite viewpoint is an invisible opponent.

     We live in a world with an abundance of opinions and that’s not a bad thing. What concerns me is the way we speak to each other when voicing our opinion. Everyone appears to be angry. Why is that? Personally, I believe as a whole people are not happy with their life and they blame others. When in truth the person that controls your happiness is you. 

     What is the world coming to? Have you heard anyone say that? I’m sure you have, but we are the most privileged society around. I was born in 1948 and I remember people asking that question every decade when they heard or saw something they disapproved of. 

     I feel very positive about the future despite what I hear from the news media. I’ve seen a lot of presidents, a lot of good and a lot of bad policies, but life goes on and mine has been good. Attitude and outlook have a big impact on your life, much more than who’s running the country and the polices they are promoting. 

     If you find this to be different for yourself, try changing your future by changing your attitude toward life. Some will say I don’t understand because I am living a privileged life. Say what you want, but looking at life in a negative way won’t help achieve your dreams. Living in the past will not change the future. Do your best with what you’re given and stop whining. No one’s listening. “Just Saying . . . ”

Car colors

White, black, silver and utility grey are the majority of car colors I see today. I think car manufacturers have lost their mojo. I was told that insurance companies are pressuring the car companies toward these color choices. According to their records certain color cars are move prone to be stolen, promote speeding or distract other drivers. I don’t know if the insurance companies have fueled this trend, but it doesn’t make any sense to me. I think statistics will show that car thieves steal cars, maybe certain colors are stolen more often. But I’ll tell you one thing if all the cars are white, black and grey the thieves will continue to steal cars. Assuming that’s true then maybe it’s better to have those colors so the police can narrow down the window of cars that might be stolen. We saw a new Mustang yesterday in utility grey. It’s a sin to have a Mustang in some boring ass color. This muscle car needs a bright color like the peacock to attract attention. 

     It’s the same thing with speeders, they will still speed no mater the color of their car. The thing is it will be easier to notice them if there in a red car. What if you were to tell the police there’s a crazy guy driving recklessly down I270 in a white car. That doesn’t really help much, since every other car is white.

     Let’s talk about distracted drivers. There’s so many on the road now that I can’t imagine color cars affecting that statistic. 

     My wife, Mimi, and I used to try to guess the age of the driver by the color of their car. Burgundy or maroon and  champagne were dead give-aways for an old person. But with all the nondescript boring colors, the game isn’t fun anymore. Shame on you Detroit, for dumbing down our car game.

     All I know is that the dealers lots are filled with cars sporting bland colors. Finding a brightly colored car is like searching for Waldo. Mimi, thinks upper management at car companies took the crayons away from the designers.

     This could be why everyone is depressed. We need colors to uplift our sometime boring life. Here’s a new slogan for you, “Make America Colorful Again.” Just saying . . .”

When do you start listening?

I’m seventy-seven so I’m sure my hearing isn’t as good as it used to be, but it’s not terrible. At least that’s what I believe. The thing is I’ve been listening to conversations my whole life, and some are more interesting than others. As a result, I’m not always in the listening mode, sometimes I’m just zoning out. So I think it would be helpful to have a lead in phrase, before the real question or conversation. You know something that triggers the mind to start listening. This could be a lot of different things, maybe a shout, “Hey! Listen up” or “Watch out”. There are an endless number of phrases, you’ll have to decide what works for you. 

     Truly, zoning out is something I do more of lately, so the first five words are gone before I hit the listening button. It’s not really my hearing it’s just that I haven’t gotten into my listening mode. Sometimes using a key word in the lead in phrase might be enough to jar the person into a listening mode. Key words to consider for men are beer, guitar, cigar and sports car. Use any of these key words as part of the lead-in phrase and you should get an immediate response. “Honey, can I get you a beer?” or “Don’t you need a knew guitar? Women on the other hand might respond better using words like diamonds, dinner or cruise. You’ll have to learn what works best by trial an error.

     Also, it’s extremely difficult when a conversation is continued from an earlier one. To men it’s always a new topic, not one from an hour or even five minutes ago. Remember our resting position is zoning out. A women’s brain is always active. It’s not a bad thing just different.

     I guess the bottom line is don’t write off the other person as someone who’s hard-of-hearing just because you haven’t started the conversation with an interesting phrase or key word. “Just saying . . .”

Acceptance

All our life we are told to never give up, keep trying, don’t give in. Movies are made about people who achieve greatness through perseverance. Usually, a physical challenge that seems unattainable in someway. This is good advice but it’s not always the right advice. 

     Sometimes you have to accept that you can no longer do what you did in your thirties or forties. This should not be considered a fault or failure and it won’t happen to everyone at the same age. It’s one of life’s changes, one of many. Don’t worry you will always have challenges, physical, mental and spiritual, but there will come a time when you might need to let go of old challenges to take on new challenges. This is acceptance, consider it growth. One of these new challenges may lead to the greatness you seek. 

     Never give up seeking challenges, but don’t hold on too long to an old one or you might miss a new one that will take you across the finish line. “Just Saying . . .”

Time Traveler

I dream of things no one mentions 

Life unbounded by time 

A life I designed

World of adventure

Intrigue

 

I travel alone with Past and Future as my friends

Looking for problems and solutions

Anxious for the future

While knowing the past

I see endless possibilities

 

Challenges are many

Changes come slow

Rewards justified by results

Time is always moving

I have no bounds 

 

The Future is forward

Past is behind

I am part of both    

Each with struggles 

Victories too

 

Life untethered by time

No beginning or end

In-between

I live life unstructured

In the Past and Future

 

Words and their Intentions

Using words like racist, nazi, bigot and white supremacist are aggressive words that are intended to offend a person and invoke anger. Most times this method works and you get a volatile response. This is not a surprise because these days everyone is ultra-sensitive and offended easily even if the words used are not intended to offend.

     My first suggestion is not easy, because it’s opposes your knee-jerk reaction to return fire, so to speak. But I am suggesting that you don’t take offense if someone uses aggressive words (intentionally or unintentional) against you. Doing so will defuse their attack and deflate their argument. Speak calmly deny the accusation, then walk away. Debating someone that refuses to listen to an opposing viewpoint is futile.

     The second suggestion is directed to President Trump and our politicians on both sides of the aisle. Stop using aggressive words and phrases. They have no place in an advanced society and they make you look and sound uneducated. You represent our country, do it in an honorable way. 

     Changes are needed in this country, we can all do better. Let’s start now and come to the table to talk about our differences, like adults. Charlie Kirk was murdered this week because a misguided young man didn’t like his opinions. In this country we have the right of free speech. Both Charlie and the students were on a college campus exercising their rights. Don’t let our rights be taken away. “Just Saying . . .”

What makes life so difficult?

Life starts out with struggles. Being born is a struggle, learning to talk and walk. Everything is new but a child’s determination drives them toward independence. They don’t see things as struggles but challenges.

     It’s not until we get older, that we make life more difficult by wrong choices. You’d think all those years of experience would teach us better. Sure, we all make bad decisions. That’s just part of life, but if we continue down that path, it becomes the baseline for our life choices until we no longer recognize or care about the difference.

     Each day gives us new opportunities to make better decisions. Don’t let the repetitive behavior turn on the auto-pilot guiding you down the wrong path. It’s easy to blame someone or something else for the predicament you’re in, but that’s weak. Your influence best serves you when it’s used to direct your life, not other's. Yes, you can have influence on others, but your success rate will be far less than changes you can make to yourself.

     Bad decisions will get you notoriety, but not positive. Life is hard enough, don’t make it harder than it needs to be. Just Saying. . .”