My Two Cents About Success

Hello People. All this blogging is really wearing me out! Anyway, today I'm doing something I've never done before. I'm actually admitting that I read other people's blogs and, for the first time, am actually responding to one. If you're not interested, and why would you be, stop reading now and be gone with you! Okay. Now that we're alone...

Today I read an interesting piece on success and what it means to you. First, in the spirit of transparency, it was written by our boy, who is actually a full grown man. I would like to say that it was well written but….apparently grammar, syntax and punctuation are generational things. Anyway, it was well thought out and, syntax aside, thought provoking. In the piece he writes about a generation, his generation, where “everyone was convinced they would grow up to be super rich rock stars”. It made me think about one of the biggest differences between my generation and the young adults of today. Reality. I don’t mean that in a nasty way. Think about it. Think about how reality, or the perception of reality, has changed since you were young. We all wanted to be rock stars too but, for us, it was a wild dream that 99% of us knew would never happen. We didn’t have YouTube, turning plain Janes into overnight sensations, or the Kardashian’s proving that talent is necessary for celebrity. We didn’t actually believe that we would be rich and famous if we just wanted it enough. We dreamed about it, fantasized, and then settled in to our futures. Not so for this generation. They’ve had the fantasy showered upon them since birth. Justin Bieber, Dot Com Billionaires, Video Game Celebrities all make that dream seem just outside your grasp. But, the reality is that 99% of us will never live that dream. Therein lies the problem. Too many young people today confuse dreams and goals. Dreams are big and elusive; something motivating to reach for. Some dreams do come true. Many do not. That is certainly no reason to stop dreaming. Just because you’ll never make the NBA doesn’t mean you should stop shooting hoops with your friends. Goals are different. Goals are concrete and achievable. Every time you set a goal and reach it, you have succeeded. Be proud of that success. Success is a series of goals achieved. Goal #1 should be to strive to be the best at everything you do. Even if you’re not happy with the job you have today, be the best damn ‘here’s what I’m doing today’ guy there is. At the end of the day, a job well done is something to be proud of.  Pride breeds confidence and confidence breeds success. If you constantly compare your life, your reality, to your dreams you will probably never feel successful. Life rarely measures up to our dreams. We can’t make all of our dreams come true. But success; we can control that! So, set your goals and use each one that you achieve as a stepping stone to the next. Before you know it, maybe that dream won’t seem so far out of reach. Okay. I’m done. Hopping off my soapbox and heading home. It’s not my dream home, mind you, but it’s a damn fine home none the less!

Sway

P.S. If you’d like to read the boy’s article, and I highly recommend that you do, it’s right here:

https://michaelfight.wixsite.com/theclub/single-post/2017/05/03/Measuring-success

It's Finally Happened!

Hello People. I never thought I would see the day, but here it is, in all it's glory! The New York Times, via an opinion piece, has deemed SALAD....wait for it.....RACIST! That's right. Times columnist Bonnie Tsui has taken up the long awaited battle against racist Asian Salad. Why? Because it's made by "Westerners", not Asians, thus, it's cultural appropriation, vis-a-vis Racist! Tsui rants, or in this case writes, that "racist Westerners often use offensive stereotypes to name such Americanized cuisine while fetishizing Asian culture". Huh? Tsui goes on to say that "The casual racism of the Asian salad stems from the idea of the exotic" and is "rooted in the wide-ranging 'all look the same' stereotype of Asian culture". Wow. Really? You got all of that out of an Applebees salad? Wait until she finds out that French Fries aren't really French or that Buffalo Wings come from chickens! I shouldn't be surprised. In the last year or so the "OK" sign, chopsticks, The Constitution, the words 'thug', 'urban', 'inner city', and, my personal favorite, 'American' have all been deemed racist. Earlier this week, on the campus of Colgate College, a call came in to the security office from a student who said that a black man carrying what appeared to be a gun had entered a building on campus. The head of security sprang into action. He sent out an alert for students to shelter in place, contacted the police and implemented to 'active shooter' protocol in place. It turns out the man was a student and the weapon was a glue gun. When the facts came out, it was obvious that the security chief reacted to the report of a black man, not the whole gun thing, when he acted. So, he was, of course, suspended. Had the report been of a white man with what looked like a gun, I'm sure he would have just continued doing his crossword puzzle and called it a day. Thank goodness Colgate weeded out that bad seed! Oh, wait, before I forget, Friday is May 5th. Be careful what you call it. If you're even thinking about a celebration, think again. Don't be a racist! It's not your day, or your culture, to celebrate. Just say no to Cinco de Mayo!, Which, by the way, isn't even a national holiday in Mexico. Also, in case you missed it, Hawaiian Luaus are also a no-no. So, just to be safe people, stick with BBQ, Wings and Kraft cheese slices. And, if you want a day to celebrate that shouldn't offend anyone, try Tuesday the 22nd. The next one is in August. It's always been a favorite of mine.
Sway

An Actual History Lesson

People, people, people. Every time I think I'm out, you drag me back in. I'm done being nice. The following is for all of the morons who have been making asinine comments about President Trump's statements about Andrew Jackson. Your smug little snide remarks about what the President said just prove to me, and anyone else with an actual knowledge of history, that you're an idiot. First, let's address the actual statement:

"I mean, had Andrew Jackson been a little bit later, you wouldn't have had the Civil War." "He was a very tough person, but he had a big heart." "He was really angry that-- he saw what was happening with regard to the Civil War." "He said, 'There's no reason for this

If anyone had taken even a moment to think about this, instead of immediately jumping up and down screaming that Andrew Jackson was dead before the Civil War, you'd see that it makes perfect sense. Here's an actual history lesson for you, not the "idiot's take on history" we've become accustomed too. The "Sectional Divide" in America (North vs South) was rampant in 1835, mainly over the issue of Slavery. President Jackson saw the growing controversy as artificial and political with both abolitionists and southern extremists looking to divide the Union to serve their own separate ends. This made the President very angry. Jackson saw this as a threat to the Union and the "American Experiment in Liberty". As such, President Jackson worked to placate both sides just enough to keep them talking without taking a side and forcing the issue. In other words, he negotiated. In doing so, the Union remained together and the experiment in liberty continued. 26 years later, long after Jackson's death, the Confederates bombed Union soldiers at Fort Sumter and the rest, so they say, is history. So, with this in mind, let's re-examine what they President said:

"I'm mean, had Andrew Jackson been a little bit later, you wouldn't have had the civil war"

Jackson held the Union together in 1835. Who's to say that 'if he'd been a little bit later' he couldn't have held the Union together in 1861. 

"He was really angry that--He saw what was happening with regard to the civil war"

He saw the Sectional Divide growing over, among other things, slavery. He was really angry that this issue could tear the nation in two, which it eventually did. So, What President Trump was saying was that Andrew Jackson understood that a sectional divide over any issue could destroy the promise of America; and that compromise and negotiation we're needed to keep the Union whole. Jackson was ahead of his time. If he had been President in 1861, perhaps he could have avoided the war. 

So people, the moral of the story here is; Our President may not be articulate but he isn't stupid. Maybe, instead of racing to prove he's wrong, we take a minute to actually hear what he's saying. Who knows, you might learn something.

Nava