A journey through discovery.
It continues. Two years and we still have fear dominating our lives. Folks, it’s pretty simple.
You… Yes, You… are going to die. You are going to be boxed or burned. They’ll be tossing lilies at you. Shoveling dirt. Taking the big sleep. Feeding worms. You will look like the Crypt Keeper. You are a carbon based life form. Your inevitable end is only a matter of time. And time is the one thing you can’t control.
Continue reading “Fear Itself 2”I intend this to be my last post which is COVID related. As an exception, I may have a throwback article about the impact to business, but it’s not planned. For this post, I’m going to talk about something more directly related to the virus and its impact on individuals. It’s something I’ve touched on briefly in past posts. It’s fear. More specifically, it’s the fear of death that surrounds this illness.
One of my favorite movies is TOP GUN. It’s fun, it has planes, and it has relationships. I really shouldn’t have to insert a spoiler alert here, because by now everyone on the planet should have seen this movie, but here it is: **SPOILER ALERT** – The scene where Goose dies, has a huge emotional impact. But there is another scene I want to hit on today. It’s early on in the movie and really sets up the situation for TOP GUN’s story line. Cougar, a Navy F-14 pilot, has just come face to face with a Russian MIG. The experience forces him to realize he is in a life or death situation. It shakes him. He is married, has a young son he hasn’t even seen yet, and death scares him.
Continue reading “The Edge”Okay, so I’ve been there, and I’ve done it. I can actually speak from experience now. THESE ARE MY OPINIONS and we all know the comparison between opinions and assholes. I AM NO EXPERT. I am not a doctor, but I am a reasoning individual, with at least an average education, and the ability to research and think on my own. I am going to share my opinions and I am going to call BULLSHIT on a number of things with which I find conflict. I’m going to have this post and one other on the subject of COVID-19 and then I’m moving on.
I am certainly fortunate in my Covidventure. I had it and my family had it. We were all fortunate, and though there are several things in my mind that I feel contributed to our experience, the fact is many others don’t fair as well. In fact, I’ve recently attended the funeral of a family friend who lost a battle with COVID-19. He was much younger than me. He was more active than me. It’s tragic, but my feelings and opinions haven’t changed.
Continue reading “Catching up”With the focus on COVID-19, and the currently over 220,000 deaths, it’s easy to get lost in what is happening around us. Death is something that gets people worked up, especially when we feel it is unnecessary, could be prevented, or that someone died before their time. Birth and Death are two things that every human being on this planet have in common. No matter what our differences, where we live, how rich or how poor, our ethnicity, our social status, religion, sexual orientation, or gender — we are all born and we all will die. When we talk about death, it is almost natural for emotion to rule the conversation. But sometimes it is important to develop a perspective, to look at reality, and to recognize the facts.
According to the Population Reference Bureau (PBR), the United States, average annual death rates climbed by 400,000 between 2009 and 2018; from 2.4 million to 2.8 million. Factors could include aging population or growing underlying health issues such as heart disease, cancer, or other illness. The three top causes of death in 2018 were heart disease, cancer, and accidents.
Continue reading “Think Stats”
“So live your life that the fear of death can never enter your heart.
Trouble no one about their religion; respect others in their view, and
Demand that they respect yours. Love your life, perfect your life,
Beautify all things in your life. Seek to make your life long and
Its purpose in the service of your people.
Prepare a noble death song for the day when you go over the great divide.
Always give a word or a sign of salute when meeting or passing a friend,
Even a stranger, when in a lonely place. Show respect to all people and
Bow to none. When you arise in the morning, give thanks for the food and
For the joy of living. If you see no reason for giving thanks,
The fault lies only in yourself. Abuse no one and nothing,
For abuse turns the wise ones to fools and robs the spirit of its vision.
When it comes your time to die, be not like those whose hearts
Are filled with fear of death, so that when their time comes
They weep and pray for a little more time to live their lives over again
In a different way. Sing your death song and die like a hero going home.”
― Chief Tecumseh
A generation stands upon the edge of life, yet they fear death so deeply that they waste life fighting it. I don’t suggest death is something to be taken lightly… that it should be mocked… that it is cause to throw caution to the wind. Yet, for man (humans for those who get hung up on a word) it is inevitable. We are born to death. We cannot cheat the reaper. What matters is what lies between the beginning and the end, and for some, what waits on the other side.
Continue reading “Embrace Your Fear”From the beginning I’ve tried to keep politics out of this blog, and I hope it can be recognized that I am still trying to do so with this post, though I’m sure some will see an issue one way or another. I feel what I have to say isn’t political, but it will be controversial.
This blog was intended to explore a lot of things, but one of the main points of focus was the aftermath of life change, specifically the loss of employment. One of the land mines to avoid in that aftermath is fear. So many of us live life fearing one thing or another. Losing a job — your only source of income, having a mountain of debt hanging over you and no income to throw at it, looking for an answer to your problem and coming up empty; those things can strike some real fear into a person.
The truth is people are filled with fear — fears of failure, rejection, loss, emptiness. Fears of change, judgement, and uncertainty swarm around us. According to the Anxiety and Depression Association of America, 18.1% of the U.S. population or 40 million adults are affected by anxiety. In the UK Mental Health Today reports 49% of young people ages 18 -24 years old claimed high levels of stress. While 36% of women claimed anxiety related to self-esteem, body image, and appearance.
Continue reading “Fear itself”There are probably as many quotes, hints, directions, or steps focused on being a good leader as there are stars in the universe. Books have been written, seminars are booked and filled, speakers are paid — all to tell you what it means to be a good leader and how to get there.
So what, you ask, does this No Name former retail manager have to add to the dung pile? Not much really. It’s all been said. I’d rather tell you what a leader is not.
A leader is not someone who only accomplishes his goals through fear. Yes, you might feel the military would argue with this statement to an extent, but honestly, military trainers are trying to accomplish something greater than the leader of a business. They are trying to instill instincts that will keep that person alive. They are enhancing human response in a way that the soldier will be able to handle life and death situations. They are trying to weed out the weak, and they have a captive audience.
Continue reading “Push, Pull, or Get Out of the Way?”