We each own a piece of this flag.

There is a massive disconnect between Government and the citizens. It no longer matters how it started or when it started or exactly who started it. When problems get this large it no longer matters what side of the aisle you sit on. If you can’t set aside your personal beefs, pet peeves, and ignorant ass opinions when the problems get this big…you don’t deserve to have a seat at the table.

The future of this country is based on education, national security, and infrastructure. I understand there are many other very important things like jobs (which, in my mind, fit in to the above three issues mentioned), environment, and so on…but without those first three issues mentioned, who cares.

When we get to the point that our children are only going to school three days a week due to budget cuts, clearly there are massive problems in this country. And I am not here to say that I have all or any of the answers. However, I am here to say that I care about my city, my county, my state, and my country as much as anyone else out there and I expect better from those leading, and from those watching from the sidelines.

Can we agree that enough is enough? Can we stop the bullshit bickering and constant finger pointing? Can we stop saying that it’s not my problem? It is your problem…and mine. These things impact each and every one of us somehow, some way; maybe not right this second, but trust me that impact is there.

Things that should not be accepted anymore…stubbornness, close mindedness, inability to listen, lack of understanding, petty disagreements, lack of compromise, and screwing our children and grandchildren…the future of our country, our legacy.

Can we at least agree on this?

Let’s start the conversation…but don’t come in riding your white stallion acting like you have the only answers. We all have ideas and opinions, but the biggest hurdle in our way are the rules and regulations that prevent us from making common sense decisions. To the average citizen it makes no sense if there is existing money for a new park and that money can only go toward a new park, when in a common sense world those funds she be able to be transferred for educational purposed (furlough days) or roads that are in absolutely horrendous condition.

I don’t know folks…I get passionate and angry about these things too. At the end of the day we are all people, even politicians. I wish there was a way to filter out the greedy citizens and greedy politicians. I wish there was a way to put responsible people in control that could make common sense judgments and follow through. The next best thing I know to do is at least have the conversation…get involved as much as you can, write letters, email, talk to friends and family, engage your local politicians, and most importantly (from my perspective) leadership today (whether political or in business) is different than it was 10, 20, 50 years ago.

Today’s successful leader needs to be seen and engaged with their “people”, they need to be a source of motivation, they need to rally the troops…it’s a fortunate or unfortunate effect of the times. We have evolved into a very social society where we expect to have access to brands on Facebook or what have you. Times have changed. We can no longer use the same leadership skills from 1950 to run a city, a state, a country, or a business. In return, those of us expecting that need to be open minded and be rational enough to understand that not everything can go the way we want it to.

Anyways, I realize that I am rambling now so I will just end this by saying that we all need to be a little more patient and open minded, but we still need to solve these serious problems with actual solutions, not band-aids. Let’s start talking.

Step away from the buffet!!

After reading this blog post by Seth Godin it got me thinking about my experiences when people and free shit meet. I’ve seen people at the Farmer’s markets (as Seth points out in his post), at Costco, and even at Chamber of Commerce Mixer’s…and to be honest, I view it less from Seth’s point (the business side) of view and more from the side of how often people don’t realize what they look like in public.

I personally am not a “freebie” person, I don’t go around looking for free bites and sips of this or that; occasionally I partake but probably not as often as I should. Even when my wife and I have gone to Chamber Mixer’s in the past we typically talk to people and then leave to go to dinner or come home to make something.

On the other hand, we see people acting like all food will disappear off the face of the Earth the next day so they try to stand near the “food table” and gobble every last morsel up. I like to think of these people as “free grazers” because they will graze on anything that is free.  When I see behavior like this, no matter where I am, I feel embarrassed for these people, I feel disappointed in human beings. We can do things like this and do it with tact versus slobbery and outright animalistic behavior…can’t we?

These are just a few scenarios in which we, as a society, have evolved in to utter laziness and lack of awareness. My wife and I people watch all the time; whether we’re sitting in a park, a restaurant, a bar patio, or a winery in any city we may go to, it’s all the same. People are not as aware of their own being and what is going on around them as they should be.

Just the other day we watched a woman get out of a car with two kids (about 7 to 10 years old) and simply start walking across the street, luckily the driver was paying attention because the pedestrian didn’t look for traffic until halfway through that first lane. We’ve been at wineries and had people get right up next to us with no awareness of personal space, even when the winery is not crowded.

These points may sound petty or whatever, but I think so many things in this world could and would be better if people would simply step back and be aware of what they are doing, how they are behaving, what they are saying, and what is going on around them. Even though it is not our responsibility to please everyone, I am certain if we were simply more aware and observant we could lessen or mitigate those things we do that cause issue somewhere else.

Like that lady not looking prior to crossing the street, isn’t it her job to be aware? Luckily the driver was but we can’t always count on other people being aware of our next move, therefore we have to take responsibility of ourselves and be aware of what is happening around us.

Any time that I’m out where other people are roaming freely, I always try to look around prior to moving so I am sure I’m not about to bump into someone or take out a small child. I’m the same way when I drive as well. If I’m doing something, like at the walk up window at the bank, I always have everything prepared when I go up there so I don’t need to keep others waiting just because I’m a lazy pig.

Just because you don’t perceive something as irritating, doesn’t mean that the rest of the world doesn’t. And it’s not that I think we need to change who we are for others, but when what we do intrudes into or on to someone else, it IS our obligation to tread lightly. Be cautious about dropping F-Bombs in certain public places, watch for traffic when you’re a pedestrian, have your stupid bank crap ready when you’re in line so we don’t all have to wait on YOU, look before you back out of the parking space, and of course I’m going to laugh at you if you walk through an orange coned construction zone because you could take your bug eyes off your cell phone.

Common sense people…so back to the freebie crap I started this with. Yes, it’s all intertwined; just because there are free samples or there’s a buffet of finger foods laid out at the Chamber of Commerce Mixer DOES NOT mean that you need to pig out, free graze, or hog the stuff. If you MUST indulge, take your share (which means it’s not a heaping plate worth of crap) and move on. If you’re still hungry when you leave stop at taco Bell and get the Doritos Taco…but stop grossing people out in public.

I personally don’t view this as a rant, I view it more as a PSA (Public Service Announcement).

Cheers!

Milli Vanilli, they Blamed it on the Rain!

Yesterday I wrote about that bogus line “we don’t have a choice” and how absolutely inaccurate that is. We all have choices every single second of every single day (people, businesses, and governments all have choices). If you choose to sit and be the victim than that is your choice but if you choose to own how you will deal with an “unfair” life scenario…you win.

It goes back to something we’ve all heard, either you own the day or the day will own you. We’ve heard this worded a hundred different ways but it’s the truest thing I now understand after spending 20 to 25 years of my life blaming people and circumstances for all the crap.

It’s not fair that my grandfather died at the age of 67…I was only 18 years old. It’s even more unfair that he might have been helped by medical attention but since he practiced Christian Science he believed healing came from prayer, no medicine or doctors, period.

It isn’t fair that I had the childhood I had. It isn’t fair that I don’t have as much money as that guy I saw at the restaurant the other night. It’s not fair that I have five years of college but no degree. It’s not fair that I was born fair skinned. It’s not fair that I can’t afford to live in that big house I want. It’s not fair that the bank won’t chill out on that mortgage issue. It’s not fair that we had a miscarriage.

BLAH BLAH BLAH BLAH BLAH

If we spent less time complaining about stuff and more time attempting to correct our position, our lives would be much better off. Imagine venting about a problem for 20 minutes instead of 20 days. Imagine looking in the mirror and figuring out what YOU can do about a situation instead of wasting your time being mad at someone else that refuses to change the situation for you.

When did we get so whiny? Why is it someone else’s responsibility to fix your crap? If you hit a brick wall…turn right, turn left, go over it, or go under it. The ability to use our adaptive skills and take ownership of our thoughts, our choices, and our perspective is all we’ve got my friends.

Expecting happiness to knock on your door and be presented to you in a pretty little box with a red bow is simply stupid. We, you and I, are NOT owed anything by anyone. The only person that owes me anything…is ME. If I loan you money and you don’t pay me back I have two choices, one choice would be to get pissed and hold a grudge which in actuality is allowing you to have partial ownership of me, or what I can do is learn from the situation and move forward. And by moving FORWARD I am choosing to LET GO of that “loan” or that “person” so I am not tied to the past.

Any time we choose to blame others or blame situations, we are only holding ourselves back from the life we SHOULD be living and the work we are here to do. Why give others the power to own you? Why give situations or circumstances the power to own you?

Maybe that miscarriage happened because the child was not viable and that was nature’s way. Perhaps that house you think you belong in just isn’t in the cards…maybe there’s a better situation coming down the road anyways. We don’t know, there are no crystal balls. Our lives never, EVER, go the way we think they should. I don’t live in the city I thought I would live in, nor do I live in the house I thought I would or do the work I thought I would be doing.

So let’s stop complaining, whining, and pouting over all “the stuff”, and refocus our energies and efforts on the new moment we are in. Choose to own your choices…and yes, I understand that you can choose to be a whiny basket case, but if that’s what you choose can you please do it quietly over there in the corner and stop trying to bring the rest of us down.

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Where's the beef?

I’m going to keep this post really short by saying…

…BULLSHIT, we always have choices.

Cheers!

From my perspective, it is just that simple but I know there are so many people that like to overcomplicate things by allowing a lack of common sense and a fear of trying something new to make the title of this post true.

What originally brought this thought up to me today is that the local schools can no longer afford to have classes going five days a week, so this month (and possibly through the rest of the year) kids don’t have school on Mondays or Fridays. What the?

The whole idea that “we don’t have a choice” because of budgets, overspending, bad economy, or anything else absolutely pisses me off. We cut education to save money yet educating our kids is absolutely the BEST investment in the future of our country…find a way to make it happen.

But the best and brightest who are in charge of our cities, counties, our country, and our school system can only come up with…we don’t have a choice! How does this ride? How do we sit back and allow this to be okay? Why do we sit by and allow these folks to continue to spend more than they bring in? How is it possible that a nation this wealthy is crumbling from the inside out?

I’m not saying that I have all the answers…but I do know that “we don’t have a choice” is an absolute farce! Each and every one of us has a choice in everything we do. Every single day that you wake up you have choices. “We don’t have a choice” can be the choice you make but when it comes to our children, the future of this country, and the well being of our society overall…it is unacceptable.

There are brilliant people in this country…it’s time to seek them out and replace the pitiful folks in charge of our schools now with people that understand a budget and are willing to go against the grain to make things work.

Or…we can continue to line the pockets of these mediocre leaders that aren’t doing their job and take it all out on our kids instead. Your call.

I have not posted at all recently and I’m sure it’s for many reasons but the one I feel the most is simply that I’ve had a lot of

Let me introduce you to Little Browne

other stuff going on. My “other” business has been picking up steam, I’m now helping a few companies with their social media engagement and also writing roughly 15 to 25 blog posts per month, some of these are as guest posts on other sites and some of these are for out Hoot n Annie blog.

I’m also working on the potential (well, more than potential) launch of a new website as well as trying to figure out what direction I want to go with all the blogging my wife and I do in order to start monetizing it. I (we) absolutely love doing what we do but it does take a lot of time so figuring out how to make money on such things becomes relatively important, especially when….WAIT FOR IT….we are pregnant again (by again I simply mean after the miscarriage we had in December 2011) and part of our goal (assuming all goes well with baby) is that I will be able to work remotely and be able to be a part time to full time stay at home dad.

My wife and I are also getting all of our ducks in a row to squeeze in buying a house this year as well and when you add all this with the fact that we like to go adventure a lot, writing for this particular blog has slowed. My hope is to post here once per week and see if I can maintain that with everything else. I like having this site to post my opinion on things that interest me, my philosophy on life as it is ever changing, and things that I find or think could be motivating.

With all that being said, 2012 has proven to be another amazing year thus far as I continue my journey toward finding out who I am and living MY life as well as continuing the amazing adventure my wife and I have now been on for over five years.

I hope all of you have been pushing the comfort zones and finding fulfillment so far this year and I look forward to learning how to become more consistent. Until next time…Cheers!

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It’s interesting as we careen down the freeway of life that we have this insatiable need to box everything up with pretty labels and thump creativity in the process. To be honest, it pisses me the ______  (insert swearing) off.

No need for the tug-o-war.

Let’s take the example of politics in America…although I know there are different levels in each political party, we are primarily a two party system of Republicans and Democrats. How can we be a two party system in a country of well over 300 million people?? This makes absolutely no sense because it is absolutely impossible that 300 million people can be whittled down to have one thought or the other when it comes to something like politics wherein there are hundreds and thousands of issues.

Another example could be religion, there are about 21 major world religions and hundreds or thousands if you count all faiths and beliefs under those 21 and other than those 21. The point here is with that many “religions” which one is right? None? All? Only one? For those of you that are “religious” I am sure you are bias toward the one you practice…or claim to practice.

This is what we do as a society though, we label everything and everybody. We try to right or wrong and black or white everything and it’s completely bogus. Very few things on Earth are etched in stone as “this is right and that is wrong” yet we condemn, crucify, and torture those that are willing to be different and willing to create their own unique path.

We laugh at people that are not Republican or Democrat…yet I think the person willing to forge their own political identity should be hailed as a hero. You can have your status quo, you can hold it and protect it with all your might…we don’t need it. My view is the same on the religion topic…I will let you guys fight it out until you die…I will watch and find my own spirituality. Each of you claims to be right, each of you claims to have God (or whatever your religion calls him) on your side yet there are millions and millions of people with different views so again…who is right?

If you choose to be a Christian Democrat then so be it…but to judge others and ridicule them for their choices is so beyond even being a _______  (insert swearing)…it goes against everything that “religions” and a civilized society stand for yet we continue to do it constantly.

I don’t know about you but I change often. My viewpoints on the world change as I get older, as I read things, as I listen to people, and as I observe things. So how or why would I have the same political views today that I had 10 or 20 years ago? How or why would I have the same viewpoints on anything? People that want to live inside their box and be a political or religious prisoner are missing a far bigger picture. You can label yourself all you want but how many Republicans believe 100% of all supposed “Republican” views or stances?

Exactly the point.

I have talked to hundreds of people from all over the world and from all different backgrounds and it’s crazy how many people claim to be a Republican for example, yet probably believe roughly 40% to 60% of Republican beliefs, sounds to me like you’re not completely a Republican. Same goes for religion…I know people that are in certain religions that aren’t allowed to do certain things and guess what, they do them anyways.

I will just end this by saying this isn’t necessarily a rant but I just wish people would be more open-minded and realize that sometimes we fight for things that we don’t believe anymore simply because we’re use to fighting it. Let go…relax…let’s use our power of critical thinking to really forge a new path and make honest, real change rather than pass down the same bull to the next generation.

Some people can make it over the hurdles, the others choose not to.

Earlier this week I was thinking a lot about the times that I feel inadequate or inferior…I thought enough about it to pose a question on my blog about it.

After having some time to think about that whole internal versus external thing, I’ve come to the conclusion that this too all comes down to choice. When I am in a situation where I am starting to feel inadequate the easiest thing to do is blame the situation or the person that I am interacting with; quite simply though, that isn’t fair or correct.

The human glitch.

My feeling of inadequacy is not being bestowed upon me by this other person, nor by the situation; it’s my internal glitch that is creating inadequacy from thin air. It is that glitch, that kink, in the human equation that fills us with self-doubt and feelings of being inferior or inadequate. If I CHOOSE to give a person or situation that power over me, than it shall be.

The interesting thing that has happened on my quest to understand the human experience better is that when those feelings come to us we get shut down or get angry rather than understand and grow. Trust me, I understand that it’s hard to turn toward the thing that is causing you anguish but if you don’t you are doomed to live a life of reliving that anguish. We do not grow and learn as much in times of contentment and getting our way as we do through hardship and struggle.

Embrace the struggle.

As crazy as this sounds; I know I’m right. The fact is that we are ALL going to face horrible, hideous events that will make us cry, make us sad, angry, depressed, and possibly even make us think about ending it all…so wouldn’t an ideal situation be one in which we can spin the struggles into growing moments that teach us and lead us to more appreciation?

Pollyana? Possibly, but as we all know, life is hard enough without us adding more drama to it. We need to start focusing on the fact that we are resilient, adaptive, and courageous not victims living an unfair existence. There is nothing that you have gone through that someone else, somewhere, hasn’t gone through…we are not alone yet so often we feel that nobody understands…how unfortunate.

As I’ve said in prior posts on here, I have been at the bottom dealing with depression, weak attempts at ending it all, pills, drinking, divorce, and odd family scenarios. Yet here I stand…trying to get you to understand just how possible a life of happiness and forward movement actually is once you reach that understanding that YOU do in fact hold the cards.

I have seen far too many people rise from the darkest places to become amazingly inspiring figures…and you know people like that too. We hear stories about people that have been in poverty we can’t comprehend, people that have seen the ravages of war, people that have lost limbs or that suffer from life shortening medical issues…yet they rise above and we act like we don’t have that ability too. And you know what, maybe some of us don’t, but I sure as hell am not going to sit by and fight like hell for these comfort zones that are actually my worst enemy. I choose not to feel inadequate because instead I choose to own my ability to change my perspective.

There is no excuse good enough and it’s never too late to CHOOSE a different perspective and own your role in the situation. Choose to move forward rather than sit still, choose something over nothing, choose to own your situation because then you at least have a chance.

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I don’t like it when I am in situations in which I allow other people to make me feel inadequate or inferior. My frustration use

Question for ya!

to be directed at those people but I realize it isn’t them creating that feeling in me, it’s my own self-doubt coming through and fostering a place for those feelings.

I will write more about this for my next article but I was actually more curious to see if anyone out there would talk about some of their experiences. Do you ever have those moments when someone makes you feel inadequate or inferior? Is it them or you? What do you do to deal with those situations?

It’s easier to blame than to be accountable. It’s also easier to be the victim than be accountable for how you got in your situation. However, there is an amazing power in accountability that I think is overlooked far too often.

It is a knee jerk reaction to displace fault or guilt, I understand that, but the simple fact is that the quicker you can be accountable and realize what it is you are doing to negatively impact you and your life, the quicker you can come back from it. I’ve also noticed that the more honest you can be in these situations the more people will look to you as a leader because of

Image via Wikipedia

that level of respect and envy they have of the ownership you are taking.

This is true in your personal life and in business…be honest, own the mistakes, give credit to others for the successes, and be positive. These are a few key things I believe in and that have served me well when I can remember to do them! Cheers!

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I don’t love my wife one day per year nor do I show her that I care about her just one day per year. This is one of those

Valentine's Day candy

manmade days for companies to capitalize on so I will bypass all the bells and whistles and resort to my feelings and simplicity.

That being said, a short note to my wife:

This day like every other, I love you, it’s as simple as that. There isn’t one thing that makes me feel this way and I won’t try to sit and describe it but I will let you know how much I appreciate it. I’m not sure where I would be in my life if it weren’t for

you.

I have never in 35 years felt the degree of unconditional love AND support that you give freely to me. Every action and word from you seems to have no other intention than to make OUR world better and that is simply the most remarkable thing I know about you.

My only hope is that I have enough time on this Earth to return all of this amazement back to you. Thank you and I love you Annie.