The Fire Within

Do you ever wonder what would happen if our society today was faced with a situation like World War 2? Would people of this time be known as the Greatest Generation part 2? Do you ever wonder what our world would look like if large segments of the population at the time decided to not take the smallpox vaccine or the polio vaccine?  I have felt a downward shift in our society's unity over our lifetimes. Part of me felt like a crisis of the scale of COVID-19 might be a spark our society needed to unite us, bring us closer together. Then I read articles about the numbers of people not planning on getting vaccinated and the impact it could have to actually eradicate the disease. The longer it lingers the more it will mutate into other strains. There is a reason we see influenza come back every year, because a new set of strains run through our society.  Most people don't get their flu shot every year, and it is perfectly within a persons rights to deny getting vaccinated for COVI...

As many choices we have to make in life it is easy to find yourself living with regrets. You have the memories which pop up, making you wonder if you made the right choices. Saying, "if only" too many times. Choices come up and sometimes we have to make quick decisions, with little information, hoping you have enough to make the right choice. Instantly second guessing yourself the minute there is no going back. We all face choices, and with those choices we have to make decisions. In our life it is guaranteed that some of the choices we make are going to be the wrong ones. Having three girls in various stages I witness first hand the choices they have to make, and know they can and will have an impact on the course of their life. We've all faced them in our lives, and likely continue to in some ways. Who to make friends with. Which activities to join. Which sports to play. Which classes to take. Where to go to college. What should your major be. If you should go to colleg...

What a difference a year can make. Last year in March people were scarred, there was a dark cloud hanging over everything. It was unknown how bad the future might actually get. And of course, toilet paper was impossible to find. But a year later, hope is everywhere. It is spring, it is supposed to be in the 70's for Easter weekend, our daughters are returning to the stage for dance, we have avoided getting sick thus far and my wife and I have our appointments for our first dose of the vaccine. And of course, toilet paper is readily available in any store. We are still a long way off from things being like they used to and this virus and the new strains have their risks that don't disappear. But the risks come with hope now rather than hopelessness.  I've talked before about how there is always some hope . Sometimes it is our responsibility to also manufacture some hope for ourselves, and for those around us. We all need hope, sometimes that is all we have left. Luckily it ...

It is always good to learn from others. Seeing others successes and mistakes and learning from them to better yourself is how we continue to evolve as a society. Each generation building on the previous one. If we hadn't done that we would still be living in caves trying to figure out how to start a fire. Learning from others is one thing, copying is something completely different. This falls in the same vane of just wanting to be given the instructions or the script to follow so you don't have to think for yourself. I see this all the time in software development. The way the Internet is about anything you want to do is available as sample code that you can download and modify. There are entire applications whose source code is available. You can even download Linux and try your hand at modifying an operating system. When everything is available on the Internet, it becomes super easy to just copy code to try and solve the problem you have. It makes total sense. Why waste hours...

One of the biggest traps we fall into is needing to be told what to do. Managers like to create user manuals, employee training, and scripts on how to answer customer questions. This generally trains employees to follow the procedure and ask their manager when it deviates from the documented flow. What happens when it is a problem or question without a defined answer?  I was thinking about this with March Madness and how a basketball team draws up plays, yet great teams know how to stay within the framework of the play yet adapt to the needs of the current situation. Maybe the play is designed to drive to the lane but your opponent has a 7' tall center waiting to block your shot. Maybe the play is designed to hit your shooter beyond the three point line but he is having an off night. In football a running back has a play designed to hit a certain hole in the offensive line, but if the defense clogs that up they need to find another opening to gain yardage. Every sport has a playboo...

When things are going well, you feel great, your confidence is soaring. Confidence leads you to be more energized, bringing high energy usually causes things to go well. Positive energy is a real thing. The more you have the more you send out, the more it comes back to you. But as things are going well it is easy to fall into a trap. Feeling like you have King Midas' touch and you can do no wrong, you start getting cocky and missing things. You can topple very quickly from that mountain top you are on if you aren't careful. When things aren't going well for you, you feel miserable. You feel like everything that can go wrong does. Your confidence wanes with every misstep and problem you face. You become hesitant, overanalyzing every decision and second guessing yourself, expecting your next decision to end in failure causes you to make none. You are caught in a spiral, trapped in a low pit with no way out. Be confident not cocky. Humble but not timid. It is inevitable you wi...