An Ounce - For Your Consideration

Does the world really need more platypode - or platypuses - or whatever?

To answer my own rhetorical question. Maybe. But not without a second thought and some consideration.

Think before you speak. Consider before you do.  "Is this really a good idea"?

Setting goals is a great way to improve and grow. The beginning of a new year is a traditional time to evaluate our lives - to see where we have been, where we are, and where we are going. 

The new year's resolution is a common example of this. It’s a great time to think about what we want to accomplish, what we want to change, and who we want to become. 

Goals can give us the power and perspective to move forward in incredible ways, and help us to achieve amazing success.

And, unfortunately, we can also give them the power to crush us with our perceived failure.

But have we failed? Let's not be so hasty?

This episode is the final one for the third season, and for 2021. 

I get the privilege of sharing an interview with an extraordinary person, Kelli Charlton. She explores with us the concept of the 3 C’s. The 3 C's are an excellent prism to view life through. And, a great set of perspectives to view life through as we move forward into the new adventure of 2022!

Christmas is full of tradition, symbolism, and mythology. There are rituals handed down over generations, and new customs begin with family and friends.

One of the more ancient traditions is the, sometimes lauded and often dreaded, Christmas Fruit Cake. (And no – I’m not referring to crazy aunt Mable) 

Believe it or not, fruitcake has an interesting history covering over 2 millennia. And, even today there a some who still propagate the fruit cake tradition during the holidays.

If you receive one – do so graciously (even if you will never eat it). 

If you are among those who are anti fruitcake – no worries – just give it to someone else. 

Either way, rest assured the fruitcake will be around for a long time to come because the sincere sentiment of some traditions will never go out of style.

I’ve got a story for you about the life of one of the most well-known characters in entertainment history. This story will highlight some of the lesser-known facts about him. See if you can guess who it is before I tell you.

This character is probably one of the most famous 'Mama’s Boys' ever.

Though he never wrote his own music, he had an ingenious way of making the music uniquely his. 

His music was unfamiliar, new, different - it was unprecedented.

But in spite of initial trepidation and fear, he blazed forward clearing a trail in the music industry for many to follow.

And, a lot of folks didn’t like it – no not one bit.

Idioms – defined as a phrase or group of words the represent a figurative, non-literal meaning attached to the phrase -or- an expression that cannot be understood from the meanings of its separate words but must be understood as a whole.

American English idioms can be a nightmare for those learning to speak English. And, also cause a lot of confusion for those who just haven’t heard the expression before. But they are fun and add color to the conversation.

Some examples of common idioms include “Give Up” meaning – surrender – or – the ball is in your court, meaning it’s now your responsibility. Or, a more current idiom, ‘google it’ which means looking it up on the internet using the google search engine.

Idioms can come and go quickly – and sometimes hang around confusingly past their ‘sell by’ date.

Idioms and other expressions that are absolutely clear to us can be absolutely unclear to others.

Even in plain English – or even worse, in legal terms – people misunderstand and may even end up in court.

As the wind blew, the bright-colored kite sailed aloft. A lone patch of color dancing in contrast to a gray fall ocean sky.

A child in a warm coat and cap, with bright red cheeks, smiled has looked skyward and held the string that tethered the kite. 

The kite however was not at all happy. But, no one would have known. Its frustration was not visible in the beautiful and vibrant colors. Its anger could not be seen as it floated 100 feet or more over the earth and waves below.

Pride – Arrogance – Conceit.

We can pretty quickly see these things in others. And, most of the time it’s annoying as heck. We often however can be completed clueless that we are just like those we disdain for their self-importance.

Pride is funny that way.

Those of us who know it all are often annoyed by those who think they do.

You are almost never as cool, as tough, or as important as you think you are.

Who really wants to have to deal with challenges? They can so uncomfortable as to be painful, they may be so difficult that they seem impossible to bear, so definite that dreams can be crushed and hopes lost.

There is an interesting quality in hardships and challenges that is often overlooked by myself and others. And, as we attempt to push through, we see only the challenge, the struggle, the pain, and the hardship. It’s only natural – It’s really tough to see past things like that.

But, often we are in the hands of a greater power, a fate, a refining process, that in the end seems to miraculously put us right where we need to be.

The human tendency to see want we want to see is an innate condition. One that perhaps keeps us happy, by blinding us from what we don’t want to know – or just simplifying life by ignoring what we decide doesn’t matter. 

Maybe it’s an outgrowth of “Confirmation Bias” that tends to open our eyes to see what we expect – or believe. 

It could be the Baader-Meinhof phenomenon where - what one focuses on, thinks about, and put energy towards - becomes more noticeable because of the familiar neural pathways we’ve created in our brains.

Regardless of the reason – it happens. And, it can be very useful to us.

However, it may also blind us – those things we don’t expect, that we don’t want to know, or that we haven’t noticed much before – they remain hidden from our conscious mind. Like our keys laying on the side table under the key rack.

This can be a problem.