"I'm not funny. What I am is brave." Lucille Ball

Becoming (noun); The process of coming to be something or of passing into a state, any process of change or growing to be.

"Life is a gift, and it offers us the privilege, opportunity, and responsibility to give something back by becoming more." (Tony Robbins)

Have you ever had the experience of wanting to become better at doing something but never really knowing where to look for help? Do you see friends, family, and even neighbors seemingly moving beyond anything you ever thought possible?

The answers are out there to be sure. But, more often than not, at least for me, they are found in what I choose to do each day. As I sit here pondering how to say what would be said here today I am thinking about all the time I spend doing nothing. Literally nothing. Its frightening to contemplate. How in the world did life come to this particular set of bad habits and lack of effort? On some level I want to be a better person. More successful, healthier, happier, a better husband to my wife, a better father to my children, and a better friend to all. I am not sure I have ever in my years upon this earth given my all to much of anything - not even my own selfish needs.

John Wooden is quoted as saying, "Success comes from knowing that you did your best to become the best that you are capable of becoming."

Walter Cronkite said, "I can't imagine a person becoming a success who doesn't give this game of life everything he's got."

Sometimes I think we get so caught up in the desire to succeed that we become paralyzed instead of productive. It may even be that we think that overwhelming goal we call success is just so far away we decide that there is no amount of effort that will get us there so we fall into those lazy habits that are so easy to pursue. I'm beginning to believe that some effort at pursuing a more successful path will become an aid in developing those skills and habits that will lead one to being more. Becoming something more.

Often it is as simple as making a decision at the end of each day to make the coming day more productive. In other words end each day with the beginning in mind and begin each day with the end in mind. It does seem that a few minutes of planning each evening (or at the end of the work day) for the next days activities would be a productive few minutes that should add clarity to the coming evening and morning. To sleep with the thoughts of what could be accomplished rattling around your subconscious ought to be very beneficial. I think I'll give it a try.

In the last post here I spoke about keeping a journal each day. I think a combination activity of recording those memorable and mundane moments of each day along with an agenda for the coming day should bring about a very positive result. The main thing for me to accomplish is eliminating much of the non-productive (nothing) time from each day and evening. Of course there will be bumps and hiccups along the way. Things will arise that cause a course change to occur. It still will be a better idea to have a plan and have the need to change its execution than have no plan and lose opportunity for productivity.

I don't know that these changes will make anyone a super achiever, but they are a step in that direction and will lead from good things to better things. And perhaps even to best things.

Thanks for checking in. More to come soon. See you then.

Oatmeal, mouth wash, fiber, ....

Sitting below my computer monitor in my office at work is a sticky note pad with the beginning of a list of things I would like to pick up from the store on my way home this evening. This list was started this morning almost as soon as I arrived at work and sat down. It is my strong desire to take this list with me when I head out the door in a few hours. There is a very good possibility that when I return to this office Monday morning the list will still be affixed to the sticky note pad sitting in the same spot on the desk right below the computer monitor. Not because I don't want to have the reminder in hand when I walk into the store. No. I realize that without the list in hand I will forget something and will consequently need to make a second trip later or just do without for another day.

My wife and I stopped at this same store last night following a nice dinner at a local eatery because I needed to pick up a prescription that has been ready for a day or two (I didn't forget just didn't need until last night). We sat in the parking lot (finishing off a couple small DQ ice cream cones) and I tried to remember the few additional items I should purchase while there. Total blank. I did remember some of it after returning to the car as we were leaving the parking lot. Nothing important enough to park and return to the store before tonight, hence the list. I realize that the unimportance of the items on the list is a likely cause of the memory issue but I also know that there are times when important items elude me. Heck there are days when I am distracted enough by life that I can walk into a store with a list and leave without everything intended.

Theodore Roosevelt once said, "If you could kick the person in the pants responsible for most of your trouble, you wouldn't sit for a month." I recognize that I am the creator of all that ails (fails?) me. "My fake plants died because I did not pretend to water them." (Mitch Hedburg). What a pain in the back-side a faulty memory can be, or faulty choices can be.

I know people who are the master of all they survey. Many of them have assistants, secretaries, and employees to help them maintain the illusion. That is all it is - illusion. In employment if there were no customers, or managers to remind us we would easily turn from our intended path. Not maliciously, mind you, it is just so dang easy to succumb to those distractions that crop up in our everyday. For the last 15-20 years I have intended to spend a few minutes daily or weekly writing a note in a journal. Have I done so? No. Have I thought of it? Of course. The transition from thinking to doing has been a bit of a stumbling block. I explained to my sweetheart a few  years ago that I would like to attempt writing some short stories or a book. I kind of feel like Steven Wright who quipped, "I'm writing a book. I've got the page numbers done." only I don't even have that.

My problem is that the pattern I have adopted for each day never changes and has become very comfortable. When good things that should be done arise it is difficult to adjust. It is just too easy to leave things undone. I like that television program, I want to go to bed at an early hour, I worked hard all day and deserve some time to vegetate, and the list of excuses goes on and on. Give me a specific task to get done and let me do it between the hours of 5:00 am and 7:00 pm and it will get done but don't infringe on those sacred hours outside that time frame or there will be a fight. An attitude I suspect my current church service is, partly, designed to change. And it has on a limited basis. I should probably just surrender my attitude to the reality that much good could come about for me and those closest to me if only that mould (not sure why I prefer the British spelling) could be broken.

A decision has been made. My effort will be increased. Somehow, someway, I'll create the energy and the resolve to break out of these destructive patterns. I think the first thing to fall should be that journal. I will begin today. Since it seems important there will be future updates as to how it is going. It feels like it will need to be a daily event or it won't happen.

Thanks for checking in. More to come soon. See you then.

"A single rose can be my garden... a single friend, my world." Leo Buscaglia

Fans of Bill Watterson's Calvin and Hobbes comic strip may remember the strip that shows Calvin and Hobbes in bed, with Calvin commiserating that he could not sleep, and that nighttime must be dark so you can better imagine your fears. He then notices that Hobbes (stuffed tiger) is asleep next to him and he gets caught up in watching him and commenting on how he looks when he sleeps and how tightly he closes his eyes. Calvin then remarks "Good ol' Hobbes, what a friend." He then puts his head down on the pillow and says, "Things are never quite as scary when you've got a best friend." And he drifts off to sleep. What a great sentiment. Thank you Bill Watterson for that gentle reminder of the importance of friends.

I had a customer who recently had his seventieth birthday. We spoke about our respective families for a moment and he asked me if I had any siblings. Of course I told him I have one brother who lives in another part of the country. He asked if we are close. I had to admit that we really are not. He asked if I minded sharing with him how old I am? I told him. He laughed and shared with me the thought that he and his brother were no different. He said those years from about 30-60 brothers are so busy with their own lives that they rarely communicate. He indicated that in his informal survey of friends and acquaintances it has been universally true that as men (brothers) near retirement and life begins to slow down they once again become friends. I hope this is true for Mitchell D. and me. I know it would make our Mother very happy.

Ralph Waldo Emerson once observed that "The only way to have a friend is to be one."

As I sit here composing this post I find myself wondering if I have ever truly been a friend. Based on the Emerson quote I suppose I have. I have enjoyed many friends in my life. Still do have many whom I consider friends. According to dictionary.com a friend is,

"a person attached to another by feelings of affection or personal regard." 

Seems kind of clinical but accurate. According to Facebook I have 264 friends (pretty sure I have many more but some are not on that site).

Jeff Foxworthy says, "There are friends, then there are the friends you can talk about anything with (and also go to jail with)." A funny bit with a lot of truth in it. In that same vein Walter Winchell is quoted as saying, "A real friend is one who walks in when the rest of the world walks out." There are many in my life that I can count on when in a difficult spot. They are there when needed and have even been willing to step in at great inconvenience to themselves. Grateful for them and their friendship.  Hopefully they all know that I am there for them in times of trouble and need.

"There is nothing on this earth more to be prized than true friendship." Thomas Aquinas

A short post for today. Hopefully some value added to someone. Pausing and thinking about the friends in my life has made it very worthwhile for me. "Things are never quite as scary when you've got a best friend." (Watterson)

Thanks for checking in. More to come soon. See you then.