Category: positive outcomes

Mindfulness

I just earned my certificate as a mindfulness practitioner this week.  It is my third practitioner certificate. I have my practitioner diploma for life coaching, and a practitioner certificate in Neural Linguistic Programming (NLP) and now a practitioner certificate in mindfulness.

Gaining this certificate does not mean my studies are over. On the contrary, it is barely beginning. I have started a course in cognitive-behavioral theory.  I believe I owe this to my clients because the more I know, the better I can help the client find their paths to where they want to go.

It is not what I know. It is how much I desire to help the person or people sitting across from me. And just because I learn more does not mean that I am above all the errors of being human. I still acidentally lock my keys in the car, leave home without my cell phone, and occasionally get times for workshops mixed up. I am a work in progress, and I can live with that.

Covid-19 has hit us all hard, and the pain of social injustice has doubled down on the sad times.  We each need to find our way to what this means for each of us personally. To do this, we need time for personal reflection, and we need discussion with others.

Do not try to do this alone.  Talk with your family and friends.  Maybe a neighbor or someone you trust.  Together we are strong, and we can find the correct path to our future and the future of our nation. 

Will things change? Of course.  Yet things have been changing for hundreds of thousands of years.  It is the one thing the Earth is good at doing.  The change will continue because we learn new information and work to make life better.

You can talk on the phone, the cell phone, the computer, or across the back fence (remember, 6 feet.)  The idea is to communicate.  We are not rocks unto ourselves. Instead, we are part of social infrastructure; our healthy existence found predicated on the well being of all those around us.

Thank you for being with me today. I hope to be with you again tomorrow.

We Are Doing It Again

Yesterday I told you that I was not a big proponent of throwing out the baby with the bathwater. And yet there is an even larger cry to defund police departments and go in other directions. My question is, “What are you going to do?”

 Who is going to stop people from breaking into stores? Perhaps that would require hiring protection?  Maybe we will need to appoint block captains to do safety and wellness checks.  If we hire enough state troopers to stop speeding and road rage, will the problems go away or just change jurisdiction? Are we all going to need to hire private security firms to protect our homes and families?

Some people in Police Departments have made some vast and horrendous failures to protect the people they serve; there is no doubt about that.  And yet, many terrific people in police departments try hard and are the cause of good things happening daily. I know it’s hard to see the quiet goodness when we have the atrocities shoved in our faces.

Yet, we may want to put trained review boards in place run by the local citizenry.  Review all personnel records and interview each officer to ensure they have earned their place in the department and are the people we want there.  And Replace those who are not genuinely qualified candidates.  We need a reliable and responsible policing agency to protect our businesses, ourselves, and our families.  What we do not need are those who think they can wield life and death at their discretion or those who need to make the right call.

We must understand that many policemen and women are there to do the right thing and help.  We need to encourage those first responders to take a stand for what is right.  And we need to understand that, as the citizenry, we must oversee the protectors.

Time to Stretch

We are built, as a nation, to be a beacon on the hill, destined to be a shining light to help others find the goodness within each person. We are a nation, built as the model giving other countries something to strive to become.  As we look around now, the question becomes, are we still that light, or has our beacon been blocked by smoke and ash?  It is a tough question, and yet, one we have to ponder.

When our citizens are in the street, literally risking life and health to do so, we must ask why.  We are not talking a few malcontents, instead hundreds of thousands protesting in every major city.  From celebrities to politicians, to the backbone of our nation, everyone sees the outrage and the need for change.

When we have the largest outbreak of a world pandemic, something is wrong.  It did not start here, we knew it was coming, and yet we were struck hard.  Many third world countries did better than us in identifying the need for action and putting it in place, being able to save thousands of their citizens. Why didn’t we?

 I am not writing this to complain.  I am not a believer in tossing the baby with the bathwater.  I do believe in stopping to take account every once in a while.  I think making many minor course corrections is better than making one massive course correction.

I am also not saying anyone should expect anything to be handed to them. We are born without a contract or any guarantees in life.  It is up to every one of us to find our way and eventually help with our offspring finding their way also.  If we find happiness, that is great.  There was probably hard work involved to obtain that happiness. 

We each need to do our best for ourselves, our children, and our destiny.  Too many think they are to be given something because of something from their past.  Not true. What they have is the right to the ‘Pursuit of Happiness.’ There is no guarantee either explicit or implied.

What you get in life depends on you and your skills.  Your skills including smart planning, thriftiness, hard work, a little luck, and never taking your eye off your dream.  Can you do this?  Some have and have gone far.  Can you wait for it to come to you? Too many, wait and find themselves with little or none.  If you want the brass ring, you will need to stretch.

Thank you for being with me today.  I hope to be with you again tomorrow.

Life Is Amazing

When we put down our hates and fears and start walking together rather than marching apart from each other, great things begin to happen. We saw that this week as police and protesters put down their defensive natures to walk together in hope for better actions and understandings. 

Each side took a chance in doing so, yet each side also gained significant rewards for their actions. We are one country, and it is better when we stand as one rather than each group hiding in its fears and doubts.

Together we can do much. Apart we are constrained. Our understanding and knowledge when we are alone are at least cut in half. It is indeed better to be inclusive than exclusive.

Let us hope that this is a start towards new initiatives to work together in solving problems that have lasted for far too long. Together, we can work to resolve many things that have held us back in the past. We can replace chaos with cooperation. Everyone can pull in one direction rather than dragging things apart. Now, we have an opportunity to make great strides to rectify what we could not accomplish in the past.

Thank you for being with me today. I hope to be with you again tomorrow.

Need a coach?

I am in the business of helping people. I am a life coach.  I work with people to help define where they want to go in life or a life-stage transition.  I also help them discover the best ways to attain the transformation from where they are to where they want to be.  I look at this as a crucial position that I have worked my entire life so far to attain.

Some people just sit and wait for life to hand them something.  Some people have some desire in a multitude of career fields. And some people know what they plan to accomplish in life.  Regardless of what group they are in, they are all in need of help, advice, and some training on the critical thinking that will assist them in saving time and money in getting to where they want to be.

 That is where the life coach can be of great use.  A life coach will not tell you what to spend, what to choose, and where to go.  The life coach is there to help you examine the alternatives for yourself.  Coaches ask questions you might not have thought to ask yourself. They help you to plan your route to your future through Socratic questioning. 

Coaching costs are minor when looking at the whole process of plotting your path.  Yet how much more would it cost for you to get somewhere and find out that was not where you wanted to be?  What if you talk yourself out of your life’s dream because of limiting beliefs and find out later that those limiting beliefs are false?  Would work with someone up-front help you?   It does for many people.

I cannot tell you that I can cure all woe’s and answer all questions.  I cannot. If you desire, I can work with you and help you to ask the questions and find the information that you may need.  If you are interested, my email is mikeb@reveille.rocks.  You can also schedule an appointment on my website: www.reveille.rocks  Inquiries and sessions are kept confidential. With the internet, we can talk anywhere in the world.  I can work on ZOOM or Facetime.

Thank you for being with me today.  I hope to be with you again tomorrow.

Explosive Times

Put a world of people into quarantine for about four months.  Add a group of agitators that are looking for an excuse.  Give a horrendous social tragedy that is filmed and played over and over again.  Pull back a little on leadership and let it ferment. What do you get in response?  Anarchy on the streets.

Is anarchy the solution? No. Chaos will only lead to more bloodshed, fraying of laws, and fear, which will lead to more mistakes.  We need something better.

Is looting and burning a solution?  It takes one night to loot stores out of business and burn the business district to the ground. It will take a decade to rebuild to the point you were at when the burning started.  The burned-out buildings were your neighborhood. Your neighbors are now out of a job.  Maybe you find yourself on food stamps and the public dole. Will you be able to afford housing? At the end of looting and burning, what have you done that helps anyone?

The time is for all parties to reach out and find common ground to talk.  Stop playing atrocities on TV and online every 15 minutes.  Protests are best when they are non-violent.  All parties should march together in solidarity against hatred, not just focus violence on each other. If we have come this far as a country, we should have the ability to fix this and move forward as a nation.

It is one man’s opinion.  Let us fix this without carnage and mayhem. Adverse actions do not lead to lasting improvements.  We can go forth together and find new ways to do better and make our nation the beacon of hope that it was born to be.

Thank you for being with me today. I hope to be with you again tomorrow.

All Life Is Important

Everyone has the right to live. The sanctity of life is vital, and to ignore that fact is dangerous. No one has the right to decide who lives and who is more important than someone else. None of us has the right to take life arbitrarily for any reason. To fail to honor these facts is to endanger all, even yourself and the ones you love.

When we get caught up in hate, we fail to realize we are the same flesh and blood of all people.   To disregard their life is to ignore our existence and the lives of our families.

We need to learn to get along. I worked for a general who told us that war is the complete failure of detente. We need to hold that thought throughout our day. We need to honor and respect others as we would have them do for us. Failure to remember simple human tenants such as this leads to a lessening of all, even ourselves.

Think before you speak, absolutely think before you act. After all, we all have the same rights and duties as all people living on this earth. And we have a name for it, humanity. I’m going to do my best to be human today. I hope you join me.

Thank you for being with me today. I hope to be with you again tomorrow.

Today We Step Again

We are not perfect people. We have egos that rage. We find ourselves caught up in minds, which often imagine the worst. We have our fears and doubts in both ourselves and others. And yet for all our shortcomings, we also hold the ability to dream. We dare to imagine something better. To explore and to find new ways to a manifest destiny of all humanity.

Today we take one of those significant steps. Today after a decade of failing to put anyone into space, we once again reach for the stars. And just as we did over 50 years ago, we reach out to take another small step for a man that may lead to more giant leaps for humankind.

Today, a private company, SpaceX, working with the National Aeronautical and Space Administration, NASA, to put two Americans into space and send them to the international space station. Today we start a new adventure back into space. This new adventure may take us not only back to the moon. It could eventually take us to Mars, asteroids, the moons of Saturn, and maybe even one day to Pluto.

Today we step up on a voyage which may eventually take us to whole New World’s. Worlds, where we can leave our egos, fears, and prejudices behind, To worlds where every one of us can find new starts and new understanding for every person.

Thank you for being with me today. I hope to be with you again tomorrow.

In the Garden of Your Mind

If you want to grow your garden, you need to water it and nourish it. You should pull out the weeds, so they don’t take over the beauty in sustenance that your flowers and vegetables give you. If you want your garden to be there for you, you need to pay attention to it. Give it what is required to grow.

If you want your ideas and thoughts to grow and your mind to do well, as well as your knowledge, the same is real for it. You must give your mind challenges and expertise. You must Engage those around you both in thought in conversation. If you fail to do so, your mind can atrophy and grow tired and lazy, just like plants that have gone to seed.

As you go through your day, take time to do some things manually rather than just running on automatic. Try to find new ways to do something and learn new facts and exciting ideas. It is not that you’re trying to be smarter than anyone else; you just want to keep your brain active so that the neurons have something to continue lighting up.

Some people lose their thought processes very early in life. Others keep a very sharp mind well into their later years. I wonder how many of these occurrences are because the brain is just not used enough? I believe that if you don’t use something, it whithers and goes away. It would be interesting to run a research report on such findings of memory and brain function.

I try to stay active. I may not be reading the encyclopedia, yet I find exciting things to do.  There are books to read and radio shows, and even radio plays where you get to imagine what the people are doing. I’m a frequent visitor to the library. I like to go to movies, plays, and I’m always interested in new songs.

What do you do for fun? Do you do puzzles? Put together models, go for long walks? Talk with friends or neighbors? All of these are good things to help keep the mind moving forward.

Thank you for being with me today. I hope to be with you again tomorrow.

Friday Counts for Something Again

Today I’m working from my office downtown. I am excited to be here. It is the first time since March I’ve been able to work A Friday in my downtown office.  And, to make it even sweeter, this is a 3-day weekend for Memorial Day.

My joke has always been that Monday has always been the most important day of the week. No Mondays, no Fridays. It’s not just the name of the day. It is the idea that the Monday experience is getting up and going to work, leaving the weekend behind.  Friday does the same for the end of the week.  Leaving work at the end of the week and moving on to the weekend relaxation.

When our lives become stagnant and one day just runs into another, it disrupts our whole routine. We find ourselves adrift and susceptible to depression. The choice is to continue to drift or get up and fight back.

We can do many things to set up new routines and expectations in our quarantine, nothing though, is quite the same as getting out of the domicile even for a little while. It allows for a return to what we consider more normal times. And throughout our lives, we always seem to crave the way things used to be.

As we go forward, we need to remember the lessons of the last few months.  We want to go back to normal, and over time, we will.  In the meantime, we need to remember our new lessons learned and do whatever we can not to face another outbreak of this virus. 

We also need to stand guard against any new viruses that may threaten us. After all, we are the masters of our fate.  We know we are smart enough and talented enough to handle almost anything that comes our way and even prosper from the experience.

Thank you for being with me today.  I hope to be with you again soon.