No matter how precisely you plan a route in your mind to a specific destination, there are tons of obstacles that will take your mind off course. If you are going to be forced to take a detour, make sure it is one of your choosing. Positive thinking takes a lot of work to continually…
A Video Store Dream
“Hey, Mom, can I go to the video store?” “Sure,” echoed a sarcastic voice from the kitchen. I thought to myself, well she did say yes, and that was good enough for ten-year-old me. So, off I went on my bicycle. It wasn’t just a video rental store, it had video games too. The whole…
Don’t Go in There!
Recently, I watched some movies and was astonished at the foolishness of characters in them. They found themselves in certain situations that ultimately led to their demise. I sat back on the couch and watched them do the stupidest things. On the outside, I was quiet. But on the inside, I was screaming at the…
Path to Pirates’ Island
One of the many times, years ago, my parents took us camping one weekend. It was not at a typical campground, but it did have RVs and campers set up all around. For my brother and I, it was loads of fun. We loved playing outside and running around to check out all the sights.…
Winged Beast
Sometimes I lie awake in bed at night and type notes for future blog posts on my phone. One night, I was writing, and it was pitch black in the room. My bright phone screen was the only source of light in the room and all the area surrounding was completely dark. The room was…
The Mask or the Person
The majority of us want to be liked by other people. We do things every day that aim to impress others. What exactly that takes depends on the other person. The process has side effects, positive or negative. Rather than do things that make us impressive, we look outwardly at whatever we think makes us…
Silence of a Critic, part 3
The loudest critics seem to be those who have never excelled in any measure at the thing it is they are criticizing. If the critics were to get up and do it themselves, they would not be so quick to run their mouths. Any achievement can be undermined by those who have not achieved. Be…
Silence of a Critic, part 2
Acknowledge that there are reasons for criticism, in fact too many to list. For starters, don’t give others a reason to criticize you. When I started writing fictional works, I was excited by the creativity of it all. So much freedom to do whatever I wanted to in a story. The feeling of infatuation grew…
Silence of a Critic, part 1
When I worked in the construction industry, one of my first projects was a building renovation. I was given instructions and then a sledgehammer. I beat the mess out of that place. I was eighteen years old at the time, and I thought to myself, people get paid for this? Awesome! I proceeded to learn…
Goals Really Work, part 3
Numerous times in the past there have been speeches given and books written on the effectiveness of setting goals. Countless successful people have come before us and shown us how powerful they can be. I personally observed how effective the exercise of goal setting has been and witnessed the results from disciplined effort. After so…