Month: February 2017

I can’t stress this enough: before you like / share / forward / recommend something online, do the work to make sure that it’s accurate. If it’s not worth the work, then don’t pass it on.

I encountered another case of something  shared and re-shared on Facebook that encouraged people to take some kind of action to prevent an unwanted result. (I’m going to avoid specifics so as not be distracted by them. I’m sure you can imagine any number of current and relevant issues.)

The problem? It was both wrong and potentially out of date. The action being taken was ineffectual. The time spent – even just reading it – was time wasted.

Now, normally, that might not seem like such a big deal. I mean, I’ve talked about this with respect to urban legends for decades. This is different. This is more important. In the worst case it can be used against the very things you might care about.

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While I’m always reluctant to pigeon-hole people, most assuredly myself, it’s pretty safe to say that I’m an introvert. Less so, perhaps, than I was in my earlier years – it’s a spectrum, after all – but still an introvert.

The classic rule of thumb applies: extroverts get their energy from being around other people, introverts such as myself recharge on own own.

As I’ve written about earlier, a persistent level of anxiety has become the norm for me due to today’s political turmoil. This is new and unusual for me; I’m typically a pretty laid-back person.

It’s also lead to something else perhaps even more unusual for me.

I find myself wanting to be around other people.

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Today is apparently Random Acts of Kindness day. A day on which to make the world a somewhat more kind, positive place by performing a random act of kindness. Here’s Richard Branson’s list of 15 ideas.

It feels like we live in a particularly divided, divisive world of late, and focusing on things like this from time to time seems critically important – not just on one random day of the year, but every day.

It’s harder than it sounds.

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“Lie” might be the most popular word in the English language right now. We see it thrown about like crazy in news reports, opinion and op-ed pieces, blog posts, social media posts, comments, and just about anywhere individuals and organizations express their opinions.

I’m coming to the conclusion that we’re using the word wrong. That, in the words of the immortal Ingio Montoya, “I do not think it means what you think it means.”

Or maybe it does, but we’re still using it incorrectly.

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I’d gotten a new car and I wanted to explore some of its limits, as well as my own. I also wanted to do so in ways that are frowned upon when driving city streets.

The result was a day at the ProFormance Racing School. No, it wasn’t about racing, per se. It was more about putting myself and my car into situations in a safe environment so I could more safely handle similar situations out in the “real world”.

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One of the things that mindfulness (to use the currently popular term) focuses on is what’s happening now. It’s really nothing more than another way to say “pay attention!” – to yourself, to the world around you, to what you’re thinking and feeling right now. “In the moment”, as they say.

Some time ago I was introduced to a couple of terms that help clarify the alternatives: re-living and pre-living.

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“Keep this thought handy when you feel a fit of rage coming on—it isn’t manly to be enraged. Rather, gentleness and civility are more human, and therefore manlier. A real man doesn’t give way to anger and discontent, and such a person has strength, courage, and endurance—unlike the angry and complaining. The nearer a man comes to a calm mind, the closer he is to strength.” —MARCUS AURELIUS, MEDITATIONS,

I’ve never understood true anger or rage. It seems so … pointless.

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