I was reading Dana Glazer’s (Director of The Evolution of Dad) post For Charlie, on His 4th Birthday the other day. I really liked it, and it unearthed a memory of mine: that of writing a similar letter to my son shortly before he left home for college. found that letter.
The underlying message became loud and clear, and formed a blueprint for life: If I just work hard enough and long enough, my life will turn out just fine — eventually – and it will all be worth it in the end.
Many of us do not fit or identify with the generation we are born into.
Guest spot appearance on ‘Money Sense’ radio show with host Karen Ellenbecker. This can be heard in the greater Milwaukee area Saturday, November 17th for
I’ve been thinking lately about a candy I used to get as a kid. It was called “Now & Laters,” and the little jingle was, “Have some now, save some for later.” It was actually a pretty dumb jingle, as I recall. But the idea has been rolling around in my head because I’ve been thinking about the conflicting messages we sometimes get.
Have you ever made a big change in your life, but noticed that those around you don’t seem to have noticed?
Do you think you know what it’s like to be a rock star dad? You’ve read over the years of the trials and tribulations of some of the world’s most popular icons. You’re sick and tired of hearing about their collective demise, yet feel compassion for those living the Sex/Drugs/Rock ‘n Roll lifestyle because of the insurmountable odds they face in trying to triumph over the challenges of that life and culture.
There have been troubles with the law, divorces, stints in rehabs, 12-Step meetings, illnesses, and even tragic deaths.
If you’ve heard it all before, and and just know where things always seen to lead, why do you want to know about Jon Bon Jovi’s life? Because he’s much like you and me.
I was recently asked by Dana Glazer, Director of The Evolution of Dad (“A Documentary-In-Progress about the Evolving American Father”), to write about something I’ve learned through my experience as a father.
Dana has graciously included this in his blog The Evolution of Dad Project.
This really got me thinking, as I’ve learned so much throughout my years of making mistakes, correcting them, learning from them, and attempting to change my habits and behavior to create a better life for myself and those around me.
I love the saying that love is a verb. I believe it’s true, first of all, and I think there’s something very powerful about a phrase that almost everyone seems to recognize or remember hearing.
Lately I’ve been thinking about compassion, and I wondered if it could be a verb.
I’ve often been asked the best way to deal with difficult people. My answer is that the best way is to avoid them altogether. Of course, that’s not always difficult, so I also have given some thought to how to deal with the difficult people we can’t avoid.
These are people who are part of our lives, at least now, not by our choice but by circumstance, and we just have to learn to get along. We do have the option of not getting along, but that rarely feels good or works out well, so I highly suggest learning to deal with these people in a way that causes everyone involved the least amount of damage and turmoil.
You probably think I just said, “Time is money,” but what I actually said was, “money is time.” They amount to the same thing, really, in some ways. But when you really stop to analyze the idea that money is time, wow. What a concept.
The term “science of happiness” implies there is a formula and that you can follow a scientific method of discovery to determine what makes you happy. The formula for “happy” for each of us is different because there are so many factors that contribute to individual happiness.
People often tell us “don’t complain, you’re lucky,”or say, in a derogatory tone, “What you are complaining about?”
Obviously, we’re complaining because things are not the way we want them to be. I think it’s important to pay attention to what we’re complaining about, and why, because what we’re complaining about tells us more about who we are, what we want and what we need to do than almost anything else in our lives.
I’ll be Karen Ellenbecker’s guest on her weekly educational non-traditional investment radio program titled Money Sense.
My guest spot on Money Sense can be heard in the greater Milwaukee metro area this Sunday, September 16th, from 12:00 Noon to 1:00 PM CST.
Listen live via the Web at: (10:00 AM PST, 11:00 AM MST, 12:00 Noon CST, 1:00 PM EST)
I’d like to share with you a photo of my family. It was taken this past June by an excellent photographer by the name of Jim Schoonover at Carroll Studios.
my-family-june-2007.jpg
Clockwise from the left you’ll see my son Andrew, my daughter Adrienne, my wife Vicki, me, and our two black Labradors Kobe and Bear.
To me, it’s a work of art – digital art. Not only was the picture taken on a digital camera, but it was also enhanced and altered on a computer. In the truest sense of the word, this photograph is an original creation.
Can the achievement of happiness be predicted in any meaningful sense? Simply put, yes it can. If you have close (safe, nurturing, comforting) personal relationships and fulfilling work to do, and you know yourself and what you are about, you can predict that you will have enough good things in your life to bring you lasting happiness. No life is without conflict, pain or even moments of fear, but overall happiness counter-balances all the trials and challenges life hands you. If you have those things working in your life that generate a bone-deep level of happiness you have an automatic cushion against getting bounced on your ear by the unexpected.
Ok … you have all your productivity tools in place. You have a rock-solid time management system. You have a seemingly-workable plan. But something isn’t quite right. You feel that, now, more than ever, you’re being stretched beyond your limits.
Maybe what’s missing isn’t all the tools and techniques. Maybe it’s your strategy.
Are you planning one of those low-key, kick-back-and-relax weekends filled with quality instead of quantity? Here are some reads for your Good-Slow weekend:
Like every generation before it, today’s parents worry that their children become consumed by tools of the devil (One of my guilty pleasures was watching The Waterboy with my kids. Remember Bobby Boucher’s Momma?). Whether it was the 1960s counter-culture icon Timothy Leary leading young people to follow his mantra “Turn on, tune in, and drop out,” 70s youth worshiping sex, drugs, and rock ‘n roll, or today’s tech-savvy kids who are perceived as ultra-change oriented, not afraid of putting themselves out there for the world to see, overly confident, feeling entitled, and extremely irreverent, parents constantly worry that their kids’ pursuits of happiness are misguided, if not outright dangerous and corrupt.
Once again, however, perception and reality have failed to converge.
