February 2012
2 posts
Secrets
Over the years I’ve had a lot of secrets that I kept and tore me up inside. I was in a loveless marriage, had low self-esteem, perfectionism, food issues, didn’t ask for what I wanted, didn’t talk about what I was really feeling, feeling judged, loneliness. I’ve admitted all of these, made a lot of progress in dealing with them, and talk about them with others. I found...
The Universe
I receive “notes from the Universe” each morning in my inbox. I signed up 2 years ago by providing my name and a little bit about what I wanted to work on (something like, “get better at communicating” which is what I was working on at the time). I get a daily email from the Universe with something to think about. I get that a person is deciding what I’ll receive...
January 2012
3 posts
Gifts
The greatest gift we can give is to be present in whatever it is we chose to do.
Perf (ection) vs. Progress
Perfection is attainable and rarely happens. Think a pitcher who throws a perfect game in baseball and disappears into obscurity.
Progress is eminently more attainable. Think the pitcher who starts with 5 wins his rookie year and improves his win total by 1 each year throughout a 20 year career.
Which player is revered, remembered, and enshrined in the baseball hall of fame?
It really is a...
Where the Wild Things Aren't
Fear can be a strong motivator and driver of actions. It’s a common situation to want to move in a particular direction and be paralyzed by fear. We’ve got tens of thousands of years of evolution working against us. Cave(wo)men knew that if they experienced fear they should run the other way or risk getting eaten by a saber tooth tiger. That’s what I call cave(wo)man fear. ...
December 2011
4 posts
A Christmas Miracle...with An Extra "e"
The old apartment had a breakfast bar and the new one has nothing so I’ve had two stools and no table for the last 4 months. Not having a table is a huge pain in the ass. Eating on an end table for 4 months is less than human. Even when I was a broke-ass college student we had a kitchen table. Without a desk chair, I really had nowhere to work in the apartment.
I checked out pretty...
The Simplicity of a Smile
My friend Jenny the Z was having a bad couple of weeks. She kept telling herself she couldn’t do anything right, life was tough, things weren’t going to get better. She was wallowing in her own self-imposed misery as we human’s sometimes do.
Wallowing away, she went to eat and the employee behind the counter, whom she’d never met before, smiled at her. She smiled back...
Become a CSI today for only $19.99!*
Did you ever want to be a CSI like on TV? Surrounded by the glitz and glamor of Vegas, the bikinis and ripped muscles of Miami. Well now you can! In only three lessons! And it’s only going to cost you $19.99. I know you’re wondering, “Did these guys suffer brain damage? How can they sell this remarkable system for such a low price AND how can it...
Showers and Hot Dogs
If the shower curtain ring people and shower curtain people can standardize the number of rings with the number of holes in the shower curtain, than the hot dog people and hot dog bun people should be able to do the same.
November 2011
11 posts
Lessons From Tim Tebow
Tim Tebow is a quarterback for the Denver Broncos in the NFL. Coming out of college, much of the media said he’d never make it as an NFL quarterback. That his arm was too weak, he had no throwing accuracy, he was better suited as a running back. Tebow was confident and not brash. He kept saying, “I know I can do this. All I want is a chance.”
He began this year as the #3 quarterback for the...
Inevitable vs. Optional
Pain is inevitable, suffering is optional.
Change is inevitable, growth is optional.
Late Breaking News...
In all seriousness, this was earth shattering stuff when I first heard it. It’s possible (and completely healthy) to be both a mature adult AND behave like a kid at the same time.
Some might view adults who swing on swings, ride a Ferris wheel, roll in the leaves, and make snow angels as childish. I see them as liberated, fun, and less stressed.
Film at 11…
Challenging the Status Quo
Some really smart scientists in Europe conducted two experiments recently that appear to show there are particles that travel faster than the speed of light.
This is a great example of challenging the status quo. Imagine if Frank Charmin was content with the current state of toilet paper or Walt Disney was content with one theme park in California. I shudder to think about a world without...
Website Review - Advanced Riskology
I subscribe to Advanced Riskology’s RSS feed. The website review is pretty simple….they have some cool stuff. This post is 99 quotes about risk to inspire you to great things. They have a quote from Oprah so you know this site’s gotta be legit.
All the quotes boil down to, “Eat the cake, drink the beer, eat the sushi, and climb the mountain. You only live once, we...
Power...to the People?
The local power company is running ads on TV touting the work they recently performed to improve service. The power company is a monopoly. I can’t call someone else to get my power. I have to go through them.
The power company pays for the advertising through revenue, e.g. money they charge me for power. So I am paying higher electricity rates so they can air ads that tell me they are...
The Other Guy
It’s less about worrying what the OTHER GUY thinks and more about what YOU think, feel, and believe.
Discomfort Inn
Discomfort can be a good thing. It’s where growth happens. Someone wrapped barbed wire around part of this tree, and yet the tree is still alive. The place where the wire cuts into the tree gives the tree character, makes it unique, and differentiates it from the other trees.
If trees could talk, I’m guessing the first time the barb wire dug into the...
Poi and Other Foods
When I was a kid, Aloha Mom made me eat poi, baked potatoes, and peas. I disliked all of them. Instead of telling her I didn’t like them, I hid the fact from her because I didn’t want her to think she was a bad cook or that I was a bad little Hawaii for not eating my dinner. I rolled the baked potatoes under the couch, I fed the poi to the dog and hid the peas on a little shelf...
Choice and Consequences, NM - Population 1
There are three things I know about choices in life:
We always have a choice, even when we think we don’t
We can try and control the outcome and find that often we cannot
The consequence(s) resulting from the choice may be good or bad
Relationship eyesight, 50/50 or 100/100?
An easy way to get my buddy Johnny the C riled up is to say that marriage is 50/50. When he hears those words, he foams at the mouth and gets on his soapbox to deliver his sermon that marriage is actually 100% / 100%. I’d take that one step further and say that all our relationships are based on the principle of each person getting 100% of their...
October 2011
10 posts
Driving the Diggler
At some point you’ve probably had a project that didn’t get finished. You worked on it for weeks or months…and then something urgent came up, so the project was pushed to the side with every intention of getting back to it.
And 3 months goes by. Then 6 months. The waylaid project becomes a ‘thing’ and is put off because we don’t want to start all over.
...
Might As Well Enjoy the Ride
There’s only one question to ask; is what I want to do healthy for me? If the answer is yes, get after it. We humans can talk ourselves out of anything…so act first, ask questions later.
Social Media, the Cake of Communication
I love cake, especially yellow cake with chocolate frosting. It tastes so good and I would eat it all the time if I could. I know from experience that if I eat cake as my main meal, as my main source of sustenance, that I put on weight, my cholesterol goes up and I probably shorten my lifespan.
There’s no way in hell I’m completely giving up my yellow cake with chocolate frosting...
Puzzles
Imagine you are an intricate puzzle piece that fits together with the other puzzle pieces in your life (friends, family, coworkers) to form a beautiful picture. If we go through a transformation in life no matter how small, the shape of our individual puzzle piece changes. The other puzzle pieces we connect to may have to change too for us to still fit together.
When the shape of our piece...
Moths, Butterflies and the "Light"
We all have a light we give off that emanates from within, our soul showing through to the outside. The light is who we are, how we carry ourselves, what we show to the world and can come in different colors, shapes and sizes. Our light can attract butterflies…and it can also attract moths.
Two things to consider:
1. Just because a moth shows up,...
The Beauty of Compound Interest
At some point in our schooling, most of us learned about compound interest with the question, “would you rather have a million dollars today or a penny that doubles every day for the next 30 days?” Everyone in class chose the million dollars (except one kid whose sister told him about it ahead of time) and was amazed that the penny doubled every day for 30 days ends up being worth...
Lazy...or Efficient?
Lazy is sitting around not performing the task that needs to get done.
Efficient is sitting around finding a way to complete the task in a shorter time, for less money, with less manpower and then completing the task.
How many times have you called yourself lazy when what you really were was efficient?
The Innkeeper
As we go along this path called life, we often encounter innkeepers. People who give us refuge in the form a place where we can think, converse, reflect. They keep us going even when times get rough or when we’re down. They give us sustenance, a warm fireplace and send us back out to continue the journey. It’s not all roses of course. Sometimes they tell us what we don’t...
Random Thought
Most don’t go to work after a few drinks…yet often enter into relationships after a few drinks. And yet we expect relationships to be more important and last longer than work.
Holding the Space
Holding the space is a term used in coaching circles to denote when a coach creates a safe space for a client to discuss whatever it is they are working through.
Think of it as a an apartment building and the coach is the doorman. When the client talks through the issue, the coach guards the door to keep out judgement, and keep in the commitment to listening. The client is free to roam...
August 2011
1 post
The Simplicity of the "Ta-Da" List
“To-Do” lists can serve as a tool with which to bludgeon ourselves. You get to the office and create a list of 15 tasks for the day. You get three of them done by 10 AM. Alright, feeling pretty good. Then Johnson from accounting stops by to announce there’s an emergency meeting on the Penske account. Meeting goes until noon. Shit, falling behind on the list. Then Janine...
July 2011
4 posts
The Start Paradox
Bogged down, not sure where to start, too many options, overwhelmed, don’t want to make a bad decision….
Many people have the same thoughts when faced with a situation to which we don’t know the answer. It could be, how do I accomplish the big project at work, which new car should I buy, where should we go on a date? By delaying the start of resolution, we avoid going down...
Theme Songs
Whether we recognize it or not, we all have theme songs. Songs that provide peace when going through a difficult time, motivation when we’re working out, or relax us after a long day at work. The song may change over time or change depending on the situation we find ourselves in.
My current theme song is “The Show Goes On” by Bruce Hornsby and...
Identity and John Locke
Couldn’t pass up an opportunity to give a shout out to a TV show based on Oahu. But I’m actually talking about the ‘other’ John Locke. The dude from the Age of Enlightenment who talked about the ideas of identity, self, and consciousness. Transition usually brings me to a reflective place and right now I’m...
Unsticking the Stuck
I wasn’t going to post this for a couple of days. Sometimes when a situation consumes a lot of my energy and time (think climbing to the top of a mountain) I want to let the world know. I’ve spent so much of my life hiding my feelings and trying not to get hurt, that now I really enjoy sharing my feelings when I figure something out. When I...
June 2011
4 posts
Baseball and the Chasm of Captivity
Read a great article on Sean Burroughs by Jim Caple from ESPN. Happy Sean’s made his way back into baseball and reconnected with his family. His story resonates because my experiences 4 years ago shared many similarities. It also reminded me of how far I’ve come in those 4 years. Made me thankful for friends and family. Thankful that I chose to live a better life.
If you...
2 tags
Go fuck yourself Comcast
I’m a positive person and don’t like to waste energy on negative experiences. Every once in a while I encounter something or someone that annoys me so much I have to commit it to the blogosphere. So in the immortal words of Ron Burgundy, Go fuck yourself Comcast. Spent the last hour on the phone with them trying to cancel my cable. This was a...
CaBi...and Justin Bieber →
I enjoy being part of a community that supports bike sharing. I ride on average once a day each week. Capital Bikeshare is a great idea.
Also, I am searching for part time jobs and signed up to get job offers to market in stores, “would you like to try some cologne today?” and “it slices, it dices, why pay $100 when we’re giving it away for only $49.99?” Easy way...
Change is Good
The last week brought a great deal of change in my life. I found out the Air Force approved my application to transition into the Reserves, that my improv troupe was accepted into the Del Close Improv festival in NYC, and the GI Bill will pay for the Leadership Coaching class I want to take at Georgetown.
I’ve started to fill out the...
May 2011
3 posts
Dear John...
Dear Air Force, It’ll take me a few months to clean out my things, but you may as well know now….I’ve found someone else and I need to see where it leads. We’ve grown apart, you and I, and I’ve come to realize we want different things. It’s sad but at the same time a relief. After 2-years and countless amounts of energy weighing the decision, I know it’s the right one for me. Man we had...
The Onion
I’m remembering the Onion’s front page after 9/11…”Holy Fucking Shit.” That about sums up what I’m feeling right now as I watch the President speak on TV.
I’m remembering the unbelievability of what I was watching on TV on 9/11…wondering if friends were alive….working until 4 am on 9/12…deploying to Kuwait….George Bush saying the...
48 Hours of Fun
I attended my first short-film screening in Honolulu’s Chinatown in 2008. I was amazed at what the filmmakers did…how could they write, shoot and edit a 4-7 minute film in just a week? I was intrigued by filmmaking and just like improv it progressed from, “I love that but could never do it,” to “I love that, maybe I could do it,” to “I love that, I NEED to see if I...
March 2011
4 posts
Happy New Year!
Brother Hawaii recently pointed me to the Failure Club. Great website that discusses setting goals and really trying to do something that you’d never think you could. That got me thinking about setting goals for the year. I didn’t set any after New Years this year and haven’t for quite a few years.
I wondered why, so I set out to investigate...
My Presence Is My Present
“My presence is my present” was a response to Hood Daddy when he asked if I was bringing a present to a birthday party past night. At first I said I was only kidding because it sounded egotistical and I’m modest. I thought about that statement this morning and realized, My presence is my present, but maybe not in the way I originally...
Link of the week →
Failure Club. I’m intrigued. Also thinking about writing a book as part of this project. Not sure yet. Film at 11.
Horsecock Johnson
When I started my real job 13 years ago, my mentor said, “Mr. Ambassador, you’re really young and you don’t know shit about this job. That’s ok. Everyone knows that and will go to your deputy (who had 12 years more experience than me) for guidance and answers. Not sure if it will take 6 mos or 2 years, but at some point, people will recognize...
February 2011
4 posts
Just Another Meat-Free Monday...
I was reading an article on zenhabits.net the other day. A guest blogger discussed how vegetarianism was such a foreign concept to her at first. Then she decided to try eating no meat (Fish, fowl, beef, buffalo, mutton, pork all included) on Mondays….and “Meat-free Mondays” was born. So the idea was pretty much forgotten but stuck in my brain somewhere.
Doing...
The Wheels On the Bus Go Round and Round...
I took the Circulator Bus home today instead of Metro. One small decision that cascaded into solving a mental block.
I feel like a productive member of society when I take the bus because: -I’m sharing an experience with other members of society. That I don’t know them is irrelevant and a reminder to say hi more often to get to know them. -I’m not driving so I keep a car off...
I spy with my little eye...
Dude, today was significant for 3 reasons.
1. I helped someone. Yesterday, a guy I work with asked for help. He is sick and wasn’t able to go to work today. He needed someone to fill in for him and perform drug test monitor duty. I just did the monitor duty on Tuesday (only had to do it 2x during 13 years in the Air Force).
I could tell him I just did it...