What Reminders Move Me?

I do not have the greatest of memories. This is a blessing as much as it is a curse. I am easily able to forget about things that I have perceived as negative, but on the flip side I need constant reminders of my ethos to keep me on track.

Below are the printouts I keep on my wall with my pithy thoughts in parenthesis. These are #requiredreading for me. I hope each one moves & inspires you as much as they did me.

When you arise in the morning (helps you to remember, appreciate, focus)

6 time management techniques from Seneca (remember, you will die, work backwards from there)

A little fellow follows you (your kids!)

Habits to avoid (these are not easy but very valuable for our mental health)

Desiderata (favorite poem, changed my life)

You have one job today (think about your family when you read this)

Every single day (back to our mortality, really brings me back to Earth if I feel myself wanting to get angry)

How long are you going to wait? (well, how long? You are the leader of your family and people depend on you. Let’s get moving.)

Many people are not shy about how politics and world affairs yet these things bring anger and anxiety to their life. If this is you, take a step back and ask yourself, why are you choosing to put these triggers into your life? You would not choose to let a bee sting you, would you? So why choose to let current events affect your emotions? There is no such thing as a person or event that causes you anger or offense. You can only take offense, no one can give it to you. You and you alone control your emotions and reactions. If someone or something else controlled your emotions you would be a slave to them. Are you a slave? Or are you a human being who can take control of their life? Stop feeling annoyed. There is no such thing as an annoying person – there is only your decision to feel annoyed. Stop taking offense – it means nothing anyway – and start taking control.

You have a duty to your family and there is no time for negativity and hostility. The solution is to remove those triggers from your daily routine. Stay off the Internet if needed. Stay away from news, Twitter, whatever it is that puts those subjects that bother you front and center in your life. Get away from them. The further you get the easier it becomes. But you and only you can make this choice.

We will get you back on track and it will take some time – it takes us time to fall into a rut and naturally takes time to work out of it. The key is getting started. The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The next best time is today.

Do Not Listen To Me

Do not listen to me. In the spirit of the great Dan Carlin not being a historian, rather “just a fan of history” I am no expert – just a fan of experts.

For example, when I point out that classifying humans into Race is an archaic thought that intellectuals do not dispute, do not take my word for it. Perhaps take the word of an expert named Prince Ea. If I tell you that black and white are arbitrary and divisive you may think down on me, even perhaps label me a “racist”. (Oh the irony of those people!)

But if someone who looks like Prince Ea (or Martin Luther King, Jr. for god’s sake!) tells you not to label him anything, let alone, “Black”, perhaps you will listen to what they have to say.

Maybe you are still not ready to listen to me. After all, what do I know? Let us see if Jane Elliott can find a way to get through to you. Jane is an expert educator who has been teaching since 1953 and her message is as clear as can be:

“We hate because we’re taught to hate. We hate because we’re ignorant. We are the product of ignorant people who have been taught an ignorant thing which is that there are 4 or 5 different races. There are not 4 or 5 different races there’s only 1 race on the face of the Earth and we’re all members of that race, the Human Race. But we have separated people into races so that some of us can see ourselves as superior to the others. We thought it would work, I guess, it hasn’t worked it has been bad for everyone. It’s time to get over this business. There is no gene for racism. There’s no gene for bigotry. You’re not born a bigot, you have to learn to be a bigot. Anything you learn you can unlearn. It’s time to unlearn our bigotry. It’s time to get over this thing and we best get over it pretty soon. I’m an educator and it’s my business as an educator to lead people out of ignorance. The ignorance of thinking that you’re better or worse than someone else because of the amount of pigment in your skin. Pigmentation in your skin has nothing to do with intelligence or with your worth as a human being. It’s time to get over that.” – Jane Elliott on Race & Education

Imagine we live in a world where a woman looking like Jane and a man looking like Prince Ea can have the same message of love, tolerance and unity, yet millions of people still choose not to hear their message?! Millions of people bathe in their own ignorant tribalistic beliefs meant to prop up their group at the expense of all other groups. And when it is explained to them that they are perpetuating divisiveness, not love, they choose to dig in and fight back.

Do not be that person. Do not dig in. Stop. Think. Be honest with yourself. What about Jane & Prince’s message is wrong? You know the answer. Now live it.

Pelotonia 2021

^^^Together you and I have contributed almost $19k – we will top $20k this year!^^^

Pelotonia is our yearly campaign to raise money for cancer research in an effort to fulfill #onegoal: end cancer! Click here to donate to my campaign for Pelotonia 2021.

Together with YOUR generosity, I have helped raise over $18,000 since joining the cause in 2012. Our $18k + $18k from 1000s of like minded people like us have added up to over $218,000,000 directly toward the cause!

This is proof that any amount you are able to give, no matter how small or large, is helping to change the world! THANK YOU!

The fight is not over and we are back to riding in August 2021 after a Covid break in 2020. Please consider sharing this post and donating any amount you can. Do not almost give. Like Master Yoda said, “Give or give not. There is no almost.” (or something like that 😉 )

Click here to donate to my campaign for Pelotonia 2021. Thank you for your consideration. And to those of you who are my perennial supporters, YOU ROCK TF OUT! THANK YOU!

^^^Our funds are part of this total of over $218 MILLION DOLLARS! Give yourself a pat on the back!^^^

Tiger Woods Will Survive For His Children

Tiger Woods was involved in a near fatal car crash on Tuesday February 23, 2021. The entire sports world collectively held its breath as he endured a 7+ hour long surgery.

Thankfully, it appears that the worst is over and that Tiger is going to survive. While there are still many hurdles to jump (namely, infections) there is a very good chance that he ultimately survives the crash.

I have written about Tiger many many times and there is not much more any of us can say about what he has done for the game of golf.

However as a human being who, like Tiger, has had many ups and downs, I want to send this positivity out into the Universe in the hopes that it helps Tiger to keep things in perspective – the only thing that matters is that he is alive to be a father to his children.

I have been a father for just over 16 months and in that time something amazing has happened. I no longer fear death. I had been going down that path since the existential crisis that followed surviving a house fire, but after the birth of my daughter my life seemed complete. While I do not wish to die, I know that someday I must, I know that I do not control how the Universe unfolds and I am ok with that. However I am not ok with not being there for my daughter. That is the only thought that makes me sad – to think about her growing up without me. As a result surviving to be her father is typically in the front of my mind. I hope Tiger can get to a place where the same is said for him and his children.

Do Not Hit Children. Or Anyone.

Photo by Norbert Hentges on Unsplash

As we have seen with football, physical strikes to the head or body are never a net positive.

Understanding that, we should understand that it is never OK to strike another person.

If the undying love for your child is not enough perhaps think of the things above the next time you got to spank, or even worse smack your child.

Sure, parents used to spank/hit their kids “back in my day.” Blah blah blah. In someone’s day “they” also burned people alive and smoked while pregnant.

In TODAY’s world we know better. And today we KNOW that physical blows are a net negative. Do not hit your children. Or animals.

How one could ever spank / smack a child or animal in today’s world (2021) is beyond me. You are not your parents. Smarten up. Be better.

Protected Classes vs. Ambiguous Identification

Either everyone can identify however they want at any time, or there are protected classes. Those two things are mutually exclusive. There cannot be both.

Personally, I could not care less how another person chooses to identify. If you wish to be a white man, black woman, both, neither or a gender neutral trans gay Flying Spaghetti Monster, be my guest. I simply must note that if one is free to identify however they please, they can simply choose to identify as whatever “protected” group receives the most benefit in that exact situation.

Seems kind of silly, no?! A much better idea would be for all groups to be treated equally always. No need to prop up any one group at the expense of all others.

Just as silly as protecting groups that anyone can join at any time is the idea of modern day art somehow erasing or “culturally appropriating” the past. For example, the hysterically funny hit show “Big Mouth” recently recast a voice actor due to the fact that she was “white” and the voice she was doing was of a “mixed” girl. Let us set aside the fact that race is completely made up, especially for a fictional cartoon character and think about how hypocritical this illogical belief is when trying to reconcile it with say, Lin Manuel Miranda‘s musical masterpiece, Hamilton. In Hamilton, actors play historical (real!) people despite looking nothing like the actual human being who lived and died, and Miranda has won countless praise for his show.

So which is it? Are there protected groups or can anyone join any group at any time? Can “black” actors play “white” politicians or must a “mixed” cartoon be voiced by a “mixed” human? In #100years people will look back at this nonsense and shake their heads!

Biden Inauguration Day Reminder: All Presidents Sanction Killing Of Innocent Humans

On this historic day when President Joe Biden is inaugurated into office (next to his wife, “Doctor” Jill Biden LOLOLOLOL) try to remember this one simple fact: All American Presidents have sanctioned the murder of innocent humans around the globe.

There is no getting around how profound that statement is so I will say it again: All American Presidents have sanctioned the murder of innocent humans around the globe.

So if you are a “Trump guy” or a “Biden Harris fan” please remember, your guy is as sociopathically evil as a human being can be – no matter how many good intentions they may have. Soon, President Joe Biden will also have blood on his hands, the same as President Trump, President Obama, President Bush, et al. (edit: MORE BLOOD on his hands…he was certainly not innocent of the murders President Obama sanctioned!)

The question is, when will people WAKE UP and realize that the oppressive system of big governmental control is really where they should be directing their frustration and complaints?! It is not the candidate from the left or the candidate from the right – rather the entire system is a corrupt joke where a very small set of “elite” individuals exert their control over the rest of us with the threat of force/imprisonment if we do not comply.

But, freedom?!

The Backwards Way Society Handles Abortion

In #100years I wonder how society will look back at the humans of today and consider the laws on abortion. In all of our “wisdom” modern day society has somehow determined that the best way to handle unwanted/unexpected babies is to kill them. How in the world anyone with any common sense and decency can think that killing unwanted/unexpected babies the best way to deal with unwanted/unexpected babies is mind bending.

^^^ Innocent baby. And a beautiful little girl.

Is abortion one way to deal with unwanted/unexpected babies? Yes.

Is abortion the only way to deal with unwanted/unexpected babies? No.

Is abortion then best way to deal with unwanted/unexpected babies? No.

Can humans still have control of their bodies while avoiding killing unwanted/unexpected babies? Yes.

How so? Simple: control your body by refraining from intercourse. Unwanted/unexpected babies cannot be created by someone choosing to control their body by choosing not to have intercourse. Anyone willingly choosing to have sex is also well aware of how babies are created and should not be given a free pass to make and kill babies at will. There are plenty of ways to enjoy intimacy with ones partner that do not involve vaginal intercourse. To act otherwise is to be willfully ignorant.

As for the mindless killing of unborn babies I ask the following: Would society allow a person to choose to kill a baby that is one minute out of the womb? Of course not. What about a baby that is just one minute from being delivered? Nope. Now just work backwards from there to see why murder is not the best way to handle unwanted/unexpected babies. You will find that an arbitrary point in time must be chosen to determine “life” and the best point is the point where free humans chose to have vaginal intercourse.

A gigantic part of the problem is the US Government controlled educational system which indoctrinates the youth to believe that an unwanted/unexpected baby will “ruin their life.” Ha! Think about that! “Ruin your life” is such a broad statement that cannot possibly be quantified yet it is spouted off by the pro-choice crowd as if some sort of gospel. Will an unwanted/unexpected pregnancy ruin a 15 year old girl’s life? No. It will certainly make her sophomore year a little different than she may have envisioned, but to think it will “ruin” the next ~80 years of her existence is preposterous! What may “ruin” her life is the rushed, forced, coerced murder she commits at age 15 by those who would have her kill her baby without a second thought and those who do not have to live with that choice. Instead, consider she could have simply been taught about intercourse abstinence. And now, she can simply give up her baby for adoption. There are tens of thousands of families looking to adopt babies. Why is killing these babies even on the table?!

Let Others Go Ahead Of You

When somebody is in front of you, let them go first! This is so simple and synonymous with many other things such as “treat others how you want to be treated” yet not many people seem to adhere to it.

We all know when someone reaches the door before us. Or a narrow road for a merge on the highway or an intersection or drive-through. Yet sometimes we just have the urge to be first and get by them. Why?!

I am working on training myself to admit if it is clear the other person got there first to let them go. And even if it is a close call who arrived first I am defaulting toward giving the other party the go ahead by politely moving myself and letting them pass by.

To me this willingness to move aside is a sign of an alpha, the ability to let go of my own ego and simply do what is right. It is within my power to allow you to pass, I allow it.

Columbus Attempting To Further Control Private Citizens

The Columbus City Council is entertaining the idea of further oppressing “sovereign” citizens by restricting landlords (aka women & men who take risks to provide shelter to others) even more than they are already restricted. If this dangerous legislation passes, surely the market will react and certainly in a way that HURTS renters, which is quite ironic considering the Columbus City Council naively believes this legislation will help renters.

This is frustrating but not shocking. Every government attempt to control prices and restrict actions between two “free” parties results in the opposite of what government intended. Minimum wage is the simplest example of this. Thinking that the government, or anything outside of free human choice, can set market prices more efficiently than freedom is as incorrect as it gets.

In this case if Columbus City Council’s legislation is passed, being a landlord becomes much more difficult and less people will want to take the risk to provide housing. With less landlords in the market current landlords will have the ability to raise rents as a result of falling supply. Renters are worse off with both less housing options and higher prices for the options they do have. This is just one example of how the proposed legislation will have detrimental effects to those it is supposed to help.

Landlords are not looking for reasons to kick people out. Landlords are not looking for reasons not to rent to people. Nearly all landlords are just like nearly all renters: good people who are trying to do the right thing. The government does not need to get involved in this transaction between what are supposed to be two “free” adults. The best thing Columbus City Council could do is scrap this proposed legislation and look for existing legislation that similarly hurts where it is supposed to help, then scrap that too. The result will be a better situation for renters and landlords alike, encouraging development and driving down prices!

I respectfully implore that Councilmember Shayla Favor and their associates reconsider this proposal. I would be happy to help educate and further explain why this proposal will certainly end up making things worse for renters and landlords alike. Contact me any time.