Weapons of mass destruction

Fear, anxiety, restlessness. Let us make sure everyone is afraid of some resident evil that will destroy the very clothed blanket of what our forefathers built for us.

I refuse to participate in the fear mongering of world leaders and the media. Bad people do crazy unethical acts.  I get that.

We call them terrorists. By definition anyone can be considered a terrorist who instills fear. Are terrorists defined by brown people living under a Muslim faith? That's what we focus on. Can biker gangs be considered terrorist?

I accused my daughter of terrorism yesterday. If she is put on a no flight registry, should I be surprised?

We create the big bad wolf. We need some danger to target our attention. Hitler and Stalin became Hussein and Bin Ladin became ISIS and Al Quaeda.

We allow powerful men from powerful nations to have power over us.

Are we free?

The media tells us we're free. The leaders tell us we're free. Don't pay taxes and find out how free you are. Power is held by powerful men releasing an even flow of anxiety.

Was I born a slave? Is thought the only thing that can save us?

Paraphrasing Oscar Wilde's poem, replacing "love" with " freedom",
 
Freedom will fly if held too lightly,
Freedom will die if held too tightly,
Lightly, tightly, how do I know
Whether I'm holding or letting Freedom go.

Which pill are you willing to take - red or blue?

I see nothing...

Do you remember the series "Hogan's Heros"? The story was about Americans in a German POW camp during World War II and all of their escapades in gathering espionage from the wanting to be loved Colonel Klink and his dupable sidekick Sergeant Shultz.

Many times Shultz would catch the prisoners in action. Thinking he himself would get into trouble from Klink, he would iterate in a poor American-German accent, "I see nutting".

I was thinking about that line this morning when I was reading about false assumptions.

We all make assumptions. Many of those assumptions are based on experience. Some are based on the experience of others that we've heard about. Some are just made up because we think we're pretty smart.

Although experience can mean a great deal. It can also mean nothing. Albert Einstein once gave the same Physics exam to the same group of students two years in a row. When his assistant asked why, his answer was, "Because the answers have changed".

Can the assumptions we have be wrong? Can the answers change?

A friend asked me a great question over lunch the other day. "Do you know the answer or do you think you know the answer?". Thinking hard about his pose, I believe that more often than not, I think I know the answer.

I know a lot of stuff. But more importantly, there's more I don't know. And things change...

Instead of having answers, I am trying to have more questions. How freeing!!

We learn about perceptions and how each of us can have quite different perceptions of the world. How can I see the world through your eyes? The simple answer is "I see nothing".

You may need help but it can't be from my advice. I need you to see the answers through my questions.

How many good questions have you asked lately?

Not by the hair of my chinny chin chin.

A friend recently opened a business. He was so excited. There was a gleam in his eye. The same gleam when a proud father talks about the birth of a child. He opened to very strong sales as people "test drove" his offering for the first time. This is what is called the honeymoon period.

Just like a relationship, nothing goes wrong on a honeymoon. And even if it did, you just shake it off and continue to enjoy the ride.

Business was so good, he exclaimed the business had surpassed his wildest dreams. It was such an exciting time.

There were holes in his business model. Ignorant me, by pointing out some of the flaws in his assumptions, I upset him more than helped him. I thought his business could benefit from my input. Leaving that day, my main concern was how to improve my coaching skills. 

It's his business. He has the final say on all things. That's why owning a business is so great. You don't have to listen to anyone except your customer. Ultimately, the only boss that matters is the one putting money in the cash register. Business owners can take objective, outside advice or they can discount it. My friend chose the latter, stating consumers were quite happy with his product offering. 

Three months later, sales started to decline. When sales start to lag, I see too many business owners who point the finger at some external force. It's someone else's fault whether it be the economy, increased competition, government regulations, landlord demands, employee problems or some other black force killing sales. People don't like to look internally at themselves.

How can I be be the problem? What can I do differently? Where are my blind spots? What are my limiting beliefs? Is there an assumption I'm making that may not be true?

This is not only true of business people.

We look to place blame on the big bad wolf that is trying to huff and puff to blow the house down.

I want you to remember the children's story of "The Three Little Pigs". The moral of the story has nothing to do with the wolf. It has to do with preparation for the wolf. Just build the business/yourself out of bricks - solid, stable and sturdy enough to withhold the wolf's breath. 

One day there will be a wolf. Know your flaws. Learn your blindspots. If a wolf blows your house down, it was your fault. You should have known he was coming, because he is relentless.

What is your art?

I took a step today.

Is it the right step? I dunno.

Is it a step in the right direction? I dunno that either.

The Chetshire Cat said to Alice, if you don't know where you're going, any road will do. That damn indignant face of a smug bastard reminds me to know where I want to go before taking the first step.

I have been still for too long. There's an old saying my gramma used to say, "Still water runs deep". Sorry gramma, with all due respect, still water can also stink. I think I'm starting to stink.

I'm looking for my passion. But everywhere I look, it's no where to be found.

One friend advised that passion was something we find after we develop our craft. That would mean craft is the driving force, and passion is in the backseat waiting for you to realize the drive is a lot of fun.

Not sure about that.

Another friend suggested to try a number of things like painting or photography and see what I would like to do. I'm thinking photography could be fun. But I don't want to take pictures of people. I want to take pictures of oddities. I saw a coffee cup on the beach, washed into the sand by constant beating of the waves. The beauty of the beach, coupled with the disgust of man's inconsideration of nature's beauty was a paradox. I was intrigued.

We have friends whom consider themselves artists. Some are painters, dancers, singers. And yes some are writers and photographers.

Is that where art ends? Can it be anything that breeds creativity? Or does creativity breed art?

In Seth Godin's book, "Linchpin", he stipulates that all of us have art inside of us. We suppress it out of fear, and self doubt. He says that the art is the one thing that exists deep within us that we would gladly do for free, if we could. We let money get in our way.

I don't think money has anything to do with it. I think it is fear and fear alone that keeps us still.

I'm no longer willing to sit still. I'm going to do stuff. I don't know if I'll find my art in the process. I can't mentally afford to stink any more.

Two questions for you today...
1. Have you identified your art?
2. Are you stinking in your own still water?

Happy Thursday!

Rick