It's simple, in that complicated sort of way...

This Is My Blog! There Are Many Like It, But This One Is Mine!

I read today, in David Meerman Scott's book, The New Rules of PR & Marketing, that there are about 57 million blogs in the world and 100,000 new ones are added every day. The book was published in 2007.

That's a lot of voices talking at the same time. Or is it?

Scott points out that while 57,000,000 blogs out there in a world where a new one is pretty much added "every second" is a lot, it might not be as bad as it sounds. Most blogs, at least the successful ones, are extremely niche oriented. When you break it down in this context, not only is it less depressing, it's valid.

Think about it this way, whoever isn't sleeping or enjoying some quiet time in the world right now is talking. Does that mean we still can't hold our own meaningful conversations with others? ("Meaningful" meaning that people are at least pretending to listen to us and we at least have some belief that we're saying something importantish.) So why is it any different on the web?

Now, my blog, is extremely niche oriented. So niche oriented that very few people give a damn. It's about my thoughts on my life at the moment. Most people don't care about this and who could blame them? They don't know me and even if they did, who's to say that they care what's going inside me noggin'? My blog, quite literally, is an online journal.

Many people do the "journal thing" with their blogs and don't see the comments, trackbacks or links they hope to have credited to their posts. They don't feel like anybody's listening. A quick reference to the number of page hits we normally receive can confirm or deny this.

What I have decided to do is create another blog. This way I'll have one for work and one for personal use. Trying to combine the two is not keeping it simple. It's jumbled, lacks cohesion, unity, a regular constituency of something more than just a smattering of family members... all that good stuff.

Then I plan on applying everything I have recently learned from the aforementioned book to my new blog and compare it with response rates to my old blog. I want to do some old fashioned theory testin'. Should be fun.

I'll let you know the second my business blog hits the web. (Then we can figure out where I'm at in the new/probationary hundred thousand bloggers demographic for the day!) I'm sure it won't be long before the whole world knows about it anyway, but I wanted you to be the first. Or something like that...

Keep it simple.

No Title For You!... And It's All Good.

As the inevitability of my bankruptcy draws closer I find myself worrying about it less and less. In fact, as time as gone on I have begun to appreciate it, as weird as that sounds. Bankruptcy has helped me refocus my life and has enabled me to realize what is truly important.

I find myself, for the first time in a long time, oddly at peace with my place in the world right now. It used to be anger that drove me to want to succeed, now... well,  something else drives me I just can't quite put a finger on right now.

I still work just as hard as I ever have to achieve my aspirations but something else is pushing me; something much, much lighter than rage. Much healthier. I just have no idea what to call it at the moment.

I have moved in with my girlfriend, my brother is getting married in less than a week, writing work is steady (for the moment) and I keep feeling the pull of new opportunity with every bend in the road. I've begun taking more risks. Not major ones, mind you. But little challenges that continue to break the bleak monotony I have felt for so long. At times where I would have said no before, I find myself saying, okay. Tiny little things everyday that break me out of my box have given me the confidence, the courage and the desire to go bigger.

In an effort to bolster my credibility and my knowledge with a current book idea I have looked into becoming an ISSA certified personal trainer. (Plus, with all the people I seem to be helping in the gym these days I find myself continually wanting to make sure that I'm not hurting them more than helping them.) Once a few writing checks clear, I'll re-invest in myself and get my PT license.

I keep looking for a way to learn Spanish without dropping some heavy coin (which I don't have) on Rosetta Stone. My guitar keeps begging me to restring it with the strings I bought a month ago and finally learn at least one song. (I'm thinking The Stones, "You Can't Always Get What You Want...)  Business ideas slosh through my head like water in a washing machine and the path is quietly revealing itself as time wears on (and smells really clean).

For a long time I felt resignation. Like things were ending. Now I feel like things are just beginning. I hope it lasts. I feel like this time, finally, this pleasant wave I'm on has legs. Things just feel different.

All the lessons so far have put me  on this ride of a lifetime. We shall see...

I believe that great Alabama bus stop philosopher, Forrest Gump, had it right when he spoke of the long pondered intricacies of destiny. Do we control our fate or does fate control us? "Both," said Gump. "I think maybe both is happening at the same time."

Sometimes, when we finally stop, truly pay attention, actually listen and really breathe, things get really, really simple.

Simple Pleasures

• Nature
• Children's laughter
• Surfing
• Manual labor
• Fresh air
• Holding hands
• Quiet
• An afternoon nap on a rainy day
• A good cup of coffee sipped outside in the stillness of early morning
• Family
• A nice fire
• A good book
• Laughter
• Sharing
• Helping
• A stolen kiss
• Doing what you love
• Being lost in the moment
• Petting an animal
• Finding a purpose
• A warm blanket, a comfy couch, a cold day and a good football game
• Realizing money is not the measure of success
• Realizing simple pleasures

Feel free to add yours...

Quote Of The Week

"To know what you prefer, instead of humbly saying 'Amen' to what the world tells you you ought to prefer, is to keep your soul alive."  - Robert Louis Stevenson by way of my mother...

 

The Stride

There is this saying I hear a lot in my athletic pursuits. It's this affirmation of top-level prowess and gamesmenship known as "hitting the stride".

"Hitting the stride" refers to the completeness, domination and full awareness pulsing through the player when it comes to sports. It's the A-game. The top-level. The Glow. It's when all the training turns into instinctual understanding of the live competition and the player suddenly seems unstoppable.

It's about as close to perfect as you can get.

All the great ones hit their stride at some point during their tenure in the arena. Michael Jordan, Tiger Woods, Joe Montana, Muhammad Ali, The Babe and so on and so forth. The people that hit their stride are the people who seem larger than life. The people that become impossible to forget.

The stride is elusive. It is ephemeral. It cannot be boxed or collected. Its achievement can come and go with the wind. Its utter dissipation can happen at any moment.

Nevertheless the stride can be touched by anybody with the discipline, determination and willpower to achieve whatever their dream or goal may be. And it certainly doesn't have to be relegated to athletic pursuits. Marting Luther King, John Lennon, JFK, Mother Teresa, Nelson Mandela, that greedy sociopath Christopher Columbus, Steve Jobs, Johnny Carson, Frank Sinatra and millions and millions of other people we may or may not have ever heard of have all hit their stride at some point in their life.

I have felt The Glow hum through me on the field or in the gym every now and then. It's in these rare moments where everything clicks and I not only realize my place, I get there a step ahead of everyone else and make a play. Over and over again. Then... poof... it's whisked away by the unforeseen hand that pushes, pulls, beats, and holds my life.

The stride is to be enjoyed while at lasts. The stride is not to be searched for. It is to be felt and appreciated when the time comes. The stride does not exist to be taken advantage of or to be completely understood. It exists to acknowledge the virtue of discipline, the sacrifice of training and the gift of the now.

It exists as a reward for the totality of who we are at that moment in our lives and as a testament of the character that got us there. The stride is another plane of existence.

The stride is nice in the arena or on the training grounds. It's better still when it comes to understanding our place and our duty in this world.

Keep it simple.

Nothing To Lose

I cannot stand the paralyzing nature of fear. When I was a child I was afraid of the dark. When I was in high school I was afraid of standing apart. When I was in college I was afraid of the future.

Now that I'm an adult I'm afraid of not making the most of my chances while I'm on this planet. How great would it be to lie on your deathbed and die with that "what a ride" contentedness? How tragic would it be otherwise?

I may crash around, but I don't believe I'm reckless. I may make mistakes, but what better way to learn? I may fight, struggle and cry but what better way to realize true joy? I may not live up to the expectations in the beginning, but who does when they're just learning? I may fall. I may fail. But I'll get up again. I will try again.

I may be stubborn but I am not unreasonable. I may be carefree, but I am accountable. I may bend with the breeze, but I'm not going anywhere. I might break down, but I am never broken. I might be afraid, but my fear gives me strength.

When I need help, I realize now that I will never be helpless. When it's time to change, I now realize that change is not that big of a deal. When I feel weak, I now realize that giving something away is the best way to regain my strength. When I feel lost, I realize now that I will always be grounded.

When I forgive I am free. When I struggle, I have learned unforgettable lessons. When it looks like I have nothing to lose is when I have gained so many, many things.

And it was simple. Circumstances took those things away from me I had once believe mattered, and in the process I once again found out what really did.

I am very thankful for hell. It reminds me to recognize heaven.

Weekly Quote

"Try not to become a man of success, but rather try to become a man of value." - Albert Einstein

What I've Learned About Myself This Past Year

This year has been tough. By the end of September I will have lost nearly all of my material possessions and investments for my future to bankruptcy.

Throughout this time I've been doing my best to take what lessons I could from my situation. There have been many ups and downs. At times the lows nearly seemed to overwhelm me. 

I've kept my feelings on the matter largely to myself. Until now. Some of the lessons I've learned and written here may seem trite and obvious, some may not. Some were born from angst, some from pain, some from joy. Some I'm not even sure where they've come from at all. Nevertheless, this is what bankruptcy has taught me. So far...

• I am not my material possessions.
• Greed can be a sneaky and consuming adversary.  
• I was a selfish man in almost everything I did for a very, very long time.
• Accountability never left me. 
• Most people will back away from you when you're falling. 
• I want to be a writer, not a copywriter.  
• When you're scraping bottom it only takes the smallest things to bring you joy. 
• I can count on my family for absolutely anything. For the rest of my days. 
• I can count on myself.  
• I always get back up again. Always. And that has made all the difference. 
• Our perception determines our reality. 
• I have been broken down. 
• I have grown up. 
• I will pay for my sins now. My fee is my redemption. 
• I might have gone bankrupt, but I feel like my life is finally beginning.
• The rage inside me scares me to death. I never want to quell the fire that drives me, I just hope it won't always be anger. 
• I have found peace at the oddest moments. Sometimes just looking at a flower. 
• I'm still here. And now I'm ready.