Welcome, Ven a gozar!

It seems like a good day to talk about a near death experience, or the something like it I had as an eight year old. We lived in the country, and traffic could be counted one hand an hour, there was so little traffic. Before I was allowed to ride my bicycle on the ‘road’ , my folks had to believe I knew how to stay on the edge of the road and ride safely.

I remember both my bicycle and what happened that day, although I expect that is not unusual for someone a NDE happens to. I had a blue twenty inch bicycle. It was used when I got it, but it was a bicycle. I was riding to a friends house just like any other day. Except today for some reason, I was riding in the other lane towards the center. I still do not know why I was riding in the wrong lane, I had never ridden that far out before. My normal riding spot was within a few feet of the gravel going with traffic.

I thought I heard something behind me and I looked, and oh, no! There was a car driving just a little faster than I was riding my bicycle. I did what any normal eight year old would do. I fed this through my trouble meter and it hit the bell at the very top of the fear scale, and I panicked!

I cut right in front of the car - trying to get over to the gravel on the right side where I belonged. At eight years old you do not have a good concept of speed, and I thought I could make it. I peddled fast, but not fast enough. I was halfway through to the down position with my right leg as I watched the bumper of the car touch my leg.

I was moving through a round tunnel, filled with very large, very smooth, very old boulders. I didn’t know it at the time, but they looked the same as pre cambrian rock where I live now. There was a loud rushing sound behind me but it took some time for it to register. I finally did what ever version it was of looking behind me and I saw I was being shot forward from the tunnel just in front of very frothy white water filling the tunnel behind me. This went on for a long time it seemed, the rushing water sound and the frothy water behind me. Suddenly I could see the tunnel ended up ahead.

There were people talking to me, one crying, one mumbling, one asking if I could hear him? I said I could, and he asked if I could open my eyes? I remember feeling the hot blacktop on my skin and through my shorts and t-shirt. I could tell I was on my back. I remembered what happened and I panicked. I opened my eyes and tried to get up so I could get on my bicycle and leave before my folks found out.

I do not remember getting to the hospital, but I remember the emergency room. I hurt all over, and my back was burning and hurting. One doctor after another came in to look at me, and check me out, and then look at the x-rays again. My back hurt they told me because the car ran over me. The front tire left tread marks as it went over me. The tread marks started at my left hip, and went up to my left shoulder. At this point I was spun around somehow, and the tread marks went down my back to my right kidney area. I was spun around once more and there were tread marks from my right kidney area, straight up and off my right shoulder! Put simply, I had a huge N in tire tread mark scabs on my back. The doctors were amazed that not only wasn’t I crushed, but I did not have any injuries other than bruises.

I wish I could remember going down the tunnel and what happened, but I do not. I only remember the coming out part. It seemed a very long trip, as it took a long time to realize I was in the tunnel. The man that hit me said I was unconscious for almost thirty minutes. I would guess that is how long my trip felt like it took to arrive back in this world.

Comments (0) Nov 19 2007

I was in Milwaukee seated in a Chinese restaurant at a table with a guy who went by the name of Boo. We worked together, and were friends of a sort. Boo had never eaten Chinese food, so I assured him there would be many offerings on the menu that would be made from food he had eaten all his life.

We were seated in a corner next to the kitchen, semi screened off from the formal diners due to our clothing. We were given menus, and now Boo did not want to eat. The food he saw coming out of the kitchen did not look anything like he was used to. I asked what he liked for meat for starters, chicken, beef, pork, or seafood. Boo said he liked chicken. I suggested a chicken and vegetable dish such as Chop Suey, and explained it was everything he had eaten before and he would like it. Boo reluctantly agreed that he would try Chop Suey, but wanted to hear again what was in it.

We ordered, and talked while we waited. Our meal showed up and mine looked terrific. One of the finest Chinese meals I had looked at in a long time. It was the kind of meal that not only should taste good, but looks good too. This was indeed a fine restaurant. Boo started off good, but suddenly he said there was something in his food. I looked and he was pointing to a Shitake mushroom. I laughed and said it was an oriental mushroom. Boo said with his voice rising, no it was some sort of bug, or something slimy from the ocean! I laughed and said no, that is a mushroom, and that is how they look.

Boo became louder and started to panic. I did not know what there was to panic about, but he was doing it. His voice was rising and he was talking loudly about bugs and slimy things in his food. Of course the owner was on his way over to see what the problem with us was. Boo did not make a good case of describing what he thought was in his meal. Some customers had stopped eating and were looking at us. The owner said it was time for us to leave. So much for a nice dinner…I do not remember what I ate that night, but I know it was not as good as what I wanted.

More often that not we are like Boo. We refuse to see a new situation as an opportunity. We choose to see it as something to be avoided. As a result, just like Boo, we end up missing something that may have been a great experience. Generally people are the same across all areas of their life. If they are adventurous you will find them trying out that strange looking plate of something. If they are more conservative, you will find them looking for reasons why they can not even try a little taste.

It is important to each of us to take a personal risk once in a while. Otherwise there is no opportunity for growth, or for that matter for opportunity. Being afraid to try something new is not always good for us. Besides limiting ourselves to our small circle of comfort we may be missing on what could lead to the greatest life change we have ever seen.

Don’t be hesitant to try that new meal. Many people before you enjoyed eating it, that is why it is on the menu. My life has been much fuller, knowing I have tried different things than it would be if I had stayed with what I was used to. If I always chose what was safe, I would have missed out on a lot of good friends and good times, not to mention satisfying work over my lifetime. Try a bite of that new dish! You may not always like it, but it won’t hurt you.

Comments (0) Nov 18 2007

I sometimes joke about all the positive life values poker teaches anyone who wants to play a reasonable game. One of the top needs is learning and studying the game you want to play. A crucial skill is knowing your opponents. The most critical aspect of the game is to be truthful with yourself and know why you are playing. Do you aspire to be a pro, have fun, or beat yourself up?

The better poker players are chameleons. They will try to represent any type of personality necessary to help separate you from your money. They know why they are sitting there, poker is their livelihood and knowing that is part of what they need to maintain their lifestyle.

I had read an interesting book over a decade ago, by an author named Chin-Ning Chu. In her book, Ms. Chu makes an interesting case about an aspect of business that most of us never think about. Ms. Chu suggests that your business must rate at the top in your life. Once you understand this, and other concepts she suggests, you know what you need to do to excel in business.

Professional poker players understand this concept perfectly. If you sit down to play poker, it is their responsibility to do their best to take your money. Anything less than their best effort is a waste of their time, a flaw on their character, a threat to their livelihood, and an insult to you. Everything they do is focused on their ability to win money. That is the career they have chosen for themselves, and they do their utmost to be better at it than anyone else.

Thanks to Ms. Chu, I understood this idea when I started playing poker, I was not aware it applied to gambling. There was a poker game where a regular player was terminally ill. I came to learn that a few regular poker players at the poker room had wagers on when the man would die! I was appalled at the time to think that I was sitting down, next to people who would bet money on when a person would die from their illness.

A few weeks ago, Ms. Chu’s thinking made perfect sense to me, as this betting on death memory popped into my thoughts. In a flash I understood there was nothing appalling about those players! These were businessmen who correctly placed profit above everything else in their life. These people are a shining example of the American Dream for business! Admittedly, in many other cultures, particularly Ms. Chu’s, their action would not rate a second thought.

I have mentioned in a previous post that many business owners will not do whatever needs to be done to maximize profit. These players acting correctly as businessmen, attempted to maximize their profit. There is a lot to learn from this example, as distasteful as you may find it.

Like it or not, we are running our own business. When we are out in public, be it a social event, workplace, or somewhere else, we are selling ourselves, whether we are conscious of it or not. We belong in the business of self management in our daily lives.

People we come into contact with rate us, evaluate us, and put us on some scale of their own making. The question I have for both of us, is what do we do about it? We can’t ignore what is. We rate other people on our list, moving them up or down as we think they fit in our lives, and now we know they do too. Knowing this our options come down to one simple question. What are we willing to do to excel at our own lives and maximize ourselves?

Comments (0) Nov 17 2007

I have been hearing and reading a lot about the book, ‘The Secret’ in the last few months. I can not say I have read this book yet. I feel I do not see a need to read this book or watch the movie. There is no secret to ‘The Secret‘, as it has been around in some form or another for as long as we modern humans have been around.

I first saw this principle being used by my mother when she sold products for a home based business as she generated extra income for our household. I first read about this idea many years ago, in a book written by Norman Vincent Peale , “The Power Of Positive Thinking”. I have seen this idea in many different shades during the plethora of books being dumped on the market during the, ‘New Age‘.

I have listened to this principle being hinted at at every marketing scheme and get rich quick program my friend dragged me to. Unfortunately for my friend, he never listed to the part of the pitch where work and giving were mentioned.

That being said, you may be more satisfied with a business oriented book, Napoleon Hill’s book, “Think and Grow Rich“, was published in 1937. You can go into almost any bookstore and they will probably have at least a few copies on the shelf. I know Napoleon Hill had a strong understanding of The Secret. Napoleon Hill writes a number of times that he learned the secret from Andrew Carnegie as a young man, but had to figure it out for himself. He leaves those who read his book to figure out the secret for themselves, even though the knowledge needed is on almost every page.

Why are so many of us struggling to make sense of our lives? Why are we not all benefitting from this or other form of the Law Of Attraction? If we take the time and most importantly the honesty to be able to examine our own individual lives we would realize we are receiving exactly what we are attracting. We would also understand why we have what we have in our lives. For most of us, we are getting out of our lives exactly what we are putting in.

Life mimics life, and most of us want something good out of our lives. For the most part we need other people to give those things to us. That is the tricky part, is finding people who will give us what we want. If I do not give anything of myself, I can not expect anything of value to be given to me. If I have a need I want filled usually I have to do something. It is no hush hush secret about how to have the things in your life that are most important to you.

Comments (0) Nov 16 2007

I was out at a borg book store this week, wandering around looking for a few particular books. I want to become a quasi-expert on a few subjects I have only remotely been a part of, and never really needed to understand too deeply. It is truly a wonder, that between a few hours reading books, and the internet I can become somewhat knowledgeable on almost any subject that I become interested in.

This is an excellent topic to be grateful for today! Having the freedom to be able to go out and obtain a book on almost any subject, and being able to use an internet that is not controlled or stifled if I can not find a book locally.

When I was a child in a small town, our library was pretty limited. I outgrew the small school library fairly soon, and my Mom started taking me to the city to the Carnegie library. I did not know a lot about the Carnegie library, except that Mr. Carnegie was famous for Steel, and he sure was a generous man, building these libraries for kids like me! I went from a small two room library to a library with more than one floor! It was absolutely amazing at the time that there were so many books in the world and I had access to all of them!

If I can not find what I want at an online book seller, then of course there are the vast resources of the internet! Anything we humans can comprehend is being written about and published on the internet in on form or another. I remember being on irc (internet relay chat) a few years ago.

I was chatting with someone from across the world. They were lamenting the quality of television in their country. I asked what type programming they had. American television and programming from their country and adjoining countries cam back the reply. I then asked why they thought that was bad. They told me that their communication network is so controlled and moderated, that many American television programs such as a weeknight comedy is chopped up to the point that sometimes it is impossible to make sense of the show.

That conversation helped me understand what it means to have access to almost unlimited media information. From television, movies, books, music, and radio. It is all there and all I have to do is look for it. For that I am grateful. I am grateful, that I can read, listen, or watch a documentary about any subject I may be interested in, or I can think of.

Consider even this blog entry. Without a lot of fuss, a simple search will likely show many people who disagree with this post, and many who agree with it. The topic will be commented on somewhere, and there may even be a video on it too! What a wonderful thing this is to be grateful for!

Comments (0) Nov 15 2007

There are only the two of us out fishing today. The wind is blowing about ten miles an hour, and the ice fishing hole won’t stay clear for more than twenty or thirty seconds before it is so frozen over I can not tell if I have a bite of not. My hand is cold immediately when I remove my mitten. The water burns my hand when I clean the ice out of the hole.

The old man is retired he tells me. His wife died a few years back and he has nothing better to do than spend his days fishing. He say’s he used to hunt, but he is to old to wander around the woods any more. The shore is only a few hundred yards a way and he can still make that he says.

I do not know the old man, but as we are the only two out ice fishing. It is only natural that we talk with each other. At any other time he would probably ignore me as I am just a kid to him, even though I am the ripe old age of eighteen. The old man asks me what I am doing out here? I tell him that the college is closed today and I would rather be outside here ice fishing than be stuck in my room with my books.

The old man asks me what I am studying and what do I plan to be when I graduate? I tell him I am in my first year, but I plan on going into forestry. He asks me what kind of classes I need to be a Forest ranger, and I am quiet for a few seconds, because I have no clue what the correct answer is. I tell him I am taking some biology classes and then the regular reading, writing, and arithmetic.

The old man say’s he never got past the third grade. He worked as a Rail Roader all his working life, and you did not need much education to do that. He said he made a good wage while he worked, and he is doing okay in retirement. I mention that I had Rail Roaders in my family too. He asks what lines they worked for, and I tell him. He said that he worked for a local line that no longer was in existence. I didn’t recognize the name.

The old man asked me how long I was going to be fishing? I said I was close to being done, it was just no fun today. He looked at his watch and told me we had been on the lake for about fifty-two minutes. He said he was going to call it quits at an hour. Then making conversation he said his car tires were squared from the cold and they would probably stay that way until the cold snap broke. I remembered driving on tires like that. Ten miles of driving and you are still feel the whump, whump, whump of four flat spots where each tire touched the ground, and froze into that shape. You did not go anywhere fast.

I asked him if his car would start, and he said yes, it should. He told me he was getting a little cold and his hands were starting to hurt. I admitted that I had on just about every warm piece of clothing I owned and my knees were getting a little stiff and cold. I would probably have chilblains when I got back to my room and warmed up. He reckoned we were quite the fools for being out on the lake, but it beat anything else there was to do in this small town in the morning. I agreed. Then he asked why wasn’t I in class? I said they closed the campus this morning. There we were two strangers with no common sense. Out ice fishing on a frigid Lake Superior on a fifty degree below zero before the wind chill morning. We both knew one thing for certain. We were alive, and more than a little cold!

Technorati Tags: friendship, growing up, life

Comments (0) Nov 13 2007

There was a famous WWII American flying Ace, and Medal of Honor winner named Greg Boyington. I read his autobiography years ago so I doubt it gets much press today. What made Pappy Boyington unique was he was the Squad Leader of a group of misfit fighter pilots named the Black Sheep Squadron in the pacific. The Black Sheep Squadron as you can guess, was made up mostly of pilots who could not fit in a normal fighter pilot squadron. They had personality defects, or other problems that made them not play well with others.

Boyington took these men in and somehow he made them all work as a team. They worked so well as a team they became famous for their skill and daring in spite of themselves and their known lack of getting along with others. They were some of the most daring and most decorated fighter squadron in the pacific arena.

Pappy Boyington said something in his book that has stuck with me all these years. He was talking of his time as leader of his squadron. He would be drinking all night and somehow get himself into a plane and complete what was sometimes a very long and difficult mission. Some of the longest missions flown by any fighter pilots of that day. He wrote of how he would tie up is joy stick so his plane flew in a straight line as he napped and recovered from his hangover.

Boyington said he was accused of not having any self control during his military career. Pappy Boyington disagreed with everyone about that statement. Everyone else was wrong, and Boyington knew he was right. How can that be? How could Gramps Boyington who was a drunk, disrespectful, and a generally terrible example of an officer and leader possibly think he was right and the world was wrong?

As Pappy Boyington explained it in his book when he wrote, everyone was wrong because he had more self control than anyone he knew. Pappy Boyington said he had more self control than anyone he knew because, in his words (from memory), he did whatever he wanted whenever he wanted. He didn’t care who threatened him, or what they threatened him with. If he, Pappy Boyington wanted to do it, he did it.

Of course Boyington eventually settled down and became somewhat normal. Greg Boyington learned that trying to be normal took a lot more self control than being wild and crazy. During the war his iron will was victorious and he stepped into the role he was made for. Pappy Gramps Boyington was first a hero to his men, and eventually a hero to the whole United States!

There is a second more profound lesson here in the life and times of Greg Pappy Boyington. Pappy Boyington had the tight tools for the job. It just took Pappy Boyington some time to find out what the right job was! We all have our job to do. For some of us it just takes longer to find it than for the rest of us.

Comments (0) Nov 12 2007

Pretend you know a martial artist who is quite advanced in their form of martial arts. They teach classes, instructing their students on the proper form, technique, and thought. Our teacher of martial arts continuously promotes specifics about what they teach their students and why. The skills learned are only to be used self defense, or the defense of others. At no time may these skills to be used to bully or to hurt someone one, or to act in haste. What power resides is in these choices!

What we never think about is this martial artist had to both discover, and then choose how to use their gifts. Their actions have no feeling or thought. Their power is what they choose to do. At some point in their life, they had to make a decision that determined the direction for the rest of their life. They knew what their gift was, they just had to choose how to use it.

Most of us do not have the talents of a martial artist. We do however have our own special gifts. Somewhere in our life, herd thinking set in and overtook our thought process! We forgot we are special, and worse we forgot we have our own special gifts.

We must take some time and reflect on our gifts, and what we want from them. We serve no real purpose in this world unless we use our gifts thoughtfully. Acting with knowledge of why we do what we do is our power. If we do not use our gifts thoughtfully we are wasting them. When we waste them we give away our power. When we give away our power we become bitter. When we become bitter we lose our self.

Think and remember what your gifts are. Your gifts are as small or as big as you want them to be. Only you define your limits! Let your gifts and your power show, be proud of what you can do. The universe is waiting for you to rediscover your gifts and start using them!

Comments (0) Nov 11 2007

The anniversary of the sinking of the Edmund Fitzgerald is almost here. The Edmund Fitzgerald sank on November 10, 1975, and her crew of twenty-nine went to their death in freezing water when the Fitzgerald went under during that stormy evening.

I have some guilt that comes out around this time of year because of three of the men that died working on the Fitzgerald. Their names are Bruce L. Hudson, Paul M. Riipa, and Mark A. Thomas, good men all.

I am not sure how I feel now knowing their names. I haven’t looked at their profiles, although I imagine I may some day. In 1975 I was living in California, when in mid summer I left and made my way to the lower Iron Range area of Minnesota. There was a family friend at the time who sailed on the Great Lakes for United States Steel Corp. He heard I needed a job, and made it possible for me to get my card so I could sail too.

I worked on the John Hulst in the fall of 1975. She was an old coal burner, one of the last of her kind to still ply the Great Lakes. The John Hulst would take on a load of Taconite pellets from around the Duluth area, and unload them in the Chicago, Gary, or similar area. It was hard work, and demanding as you spent little time anywhere other than steaming around from dock to dock. The thrill went a way about the beginning of October for me, but I stayed until the John Hulst docked for the winter.

The family friend who helped with my merchant marine card asked me if I was interested in winter sailing? Lake Superior freezes over in the brutal cold that drops down on her, but a few ore boats would continue to work for most if not all of the winter. It was dangerous work naturally, but the pay was increased and it was a lucrative offering. I asked if he would be sailing too, and he said yes he would. So I said sure, why not, I thought it would be more fun if there was someone on board I knew. My friend set it up and we had our report date to sail on the Edmund Fitzgerald as she made her transition from summer to winter sailing.

One night about five days before we were to report, my friend said he was not feeling that well, and he was not going to report for winter sailing. I replied, well if you are are not going, I am not going either, and it was settled just like that. I do not think I spent five seconds thinking about what I said. I knew I did not especially care for that life, so it did not take much to keep me off the boats in the winter weather.

The rest is history, except I remember this time of year, that a snap decision over a bottle of beer caused a man to die in my place. He may of been married, had a family, or wanted to earn money to buy a house, or any other number of wants that drive a man to do dangerous work. Of all the things a man should die for, I hope the man that took my place, had more noble reasons for winter sailing than I did for staying home.

Comments (3) Nov 09 2007

If you read my flu post a few days ago, you know I just had my flu shot. I am still feeling a little run down, and really would rather sit around and do nothing. I know in a few days, I would feel I wasted a day when I could have done something worthwhile. I have not done much, but I did go out for a few mile afternoon walk, enjoying the fall flowers that are still out and the warmth of the sun mixed with a cool breeze today.

The park where I walk shares a property line with a middle school. As I was walking a Physical Education Coach was leading his class out for some outside activity before the weather becomes too cold. As I walked up to where he was standing, I stopped and we talked for a few minutes about the kids, differences in generations, and life in general. Sort of a quick comparison conversation of our respective generations.

The kids were supposed to be running around the mile loop as fast as they could, but of course as soon as some of them were what they considered a safe distance from the Coach, their run slowed way down. Some of them were running hard, and some had slowed their run to an ambling walk. I am grateful for seeing these kids do this today, and being able to understand why their running style applies to my life.

In my own life over the years, there have been periods when I went as fast as I could. there were times when I would be wondering why life would not move faster so I could get whatever plan I had set in motion accomplished. There were other times, such as today for example, when a slow walk would suit me just fine. I was in no hurry and there was nothing to rush for. Or really like today, I feel a little run down and slow is about as fast as I care to move.

That is one of the great things about life, as you grow older! You have a bigger base of experience from which to make comparisons with. When I received the very first flu shot that made me feel run down, I was angry that I did this to myself, and I vowed that I would never get another flu shot.

I remember a few years of going without flu shots. During one of them I actually caught a severe case of the flu. The kind of being sick where you feel like you are going to die any second, then you start wishing you would, just so you would quit aching all over? That was the flu I had that year, terrible stuff! Now days, I do not mind feeling a little run down for a day or two, because I know feeling run down for a day or so is not as bad as being in bed for a week, so sick that dying does not feel like such a terrible alternative to the aching.

Now you know what I am grateful for this week. Over the years I have gained the wisdom to know that a little inconvenience is sometimes a better choice than a lot of pain later. Also along with all that gained wisdom of dubious value, I know these situations do not only apply to flu shots.

Comments (0) Nov 08 2007