Same Stink, Different Day

Or so I thought.

Just when I thought I've seen it all, my betta fish gets constipated. No, seriously.

This made me think, not so deeply, about what the  heck is going to happen next? I'm starting to find that I take each day a little bit for granted. I drive my car to work, my wife is waiting for me when I get home, my cats are going to sleep and curl up on me, I'll call my family and they will answer, I'll go to work and get a paycheck on pay day, but what if one of those things don't happen one day? I can deal without work and a paycheck (I've done it once and can do it again... althought I'd rather not), but all those other things, the things that I really don't think about losing, what if I did?

I know what you are thinking -- Geez Shawn... you got all this from a constipated betta? Yes I did. The fish almost died and I was sad.

Why do I need a title?

If you know how to do something, you'll always have a job. If you know why to do something, you'll never have a boss.

My boss recently told me this quote. And me, being an ambitious man (well, my wife sometimes calls me a baby or a whiny little girl, but I'm stickin' with man) take these words very much to heart.

Think about it. Knowing how to do something is essential to having a career. Your knowledge and skill set are what determine the money you will make. But if you are able to look at how something is done and why it is done that way, you can find your own road. I can know how to configure a network, but knowing why is what has made me a consultant.

You are a business. When you apply for a job, your employer then bids on the time you will provide him/her (called a salary to the common folk). Investing in yourself through education and dedication requires people who want to rent your time to pay more money for it.

So what's in demand? If you know why something is done, you don't ask how to do something, you tell why to do something. There are plenty of people out there who know how to do Site Administration for a SharePoint portal, but it takes something extra to know why it is done, where it comes from, what you want to do with it and how it is going to help you.

I guess the most important question would be, why do I care? Hell, I don't know. All I know is I do...

Nothin' like a tall glass of self-fulfilling prophecy

I'm sure we've all seen it. You say something long enough, it becomes true. 

Last night, I watched Howie Mandel's "How We Do It" and the power of suggestion was very strong. He pulled a prank on 2 different people one with tanning lotion that ended up burning someone's skin (but it didn't really) and another where a new shampoo tested on 3 men ended up causing them to lose hair and their scalps burned red etc (again, it didn't actually happen). In both of those situations, those people started to get burning skin, panicked and started to really freak out (but had absolutely nothing wrong with them). 

This makes me look at the news media in our country. When the news says something enough it becomes an epidemic, a wave of fear. This just bugs the crap out of me.

I get very annoyed with people who say they think for themselves but only repeat what they obviously read on the landing page of Yahoo! or CNN. People are too easily manipulated and instead of asking why or how, just take it and run. I'm working in technology and if I want to learn a new software or anything new, I have to read 5-10 different books that sometimes say different things and figure out on my own, which I think is best.

Are people blind or dumb? I don't know. But they sure as hell are gullible.

And the true irony is if you take what I preach here, I've technically told you not to believe me. Boy, I'm in a pickle.

Sometimes it's best to just go to bed...

The age-old, cliche of a question: "What is the meaning of life?"

I ask this question, because I like to take on a personal challenge. So many think they know what the answer is "to help others" "to make money" "to serve your family" "to be happy and live in the light of God" and I can't help but think, which of these could possibly be correct?

Then It came to me. The meaning of life is to give your life meaning. Again, a simple cliche. But relevant nonetheless.

I really don't think I'll know the meaning of my life until it's over. I suppose it will be God who will tell me of all the people I've touched and the people I've hurt, even if I never meant to do so. Over the last 2 years, I've learned a lot about myself. I thought I was driven bymoney. That was my meaning: to grow rich and be admired. But I'm neither of those and have really come to realize I don't WANT any of those. I want to be that guy who was significant in your life but was not the center of your life (unless you are my wife and family). There are people out there who deserve and need to be at the center.

All I want to be is remembered.

It's not our abilities that make us who we are, it's our choices

I talk a lot about making choices. You are in a bad situation, you have the options to dwell and feel sorry for yourself or to figure out the next best thing. These choices aren't about what is ideal, it's about what will make us happier of the options.

If you start to feel sorry for yourself, watch this video... I hope it has the same impact on you as it has had on me.

I've asked myself a few times: What if both my choices are bad ones and neither will make me really happy, just one is better than the other? Well, frankly that is up to you. I never could have told this kid that he can sit around and dwell on his blindness or go play football. It was 100% up to him. He decided to play and as you can see, he struggles mightily, but he does not quit. And all of sudden, he is inspiration for others. His calling wasn't to be a pro football player. His calling was to remind people like you and me that there is just no excuse to not keep on truckin'. 

What did the 5 fingers say to the face? SLAP!!

Sometimes when you least expect it, you just get slapped. It hurts, but why not make it something you learn from, something that you can make fun of and/or something that makes a poor situation better.

You may ask, how, Shawn Finer, will I know if a slap is good or a bad slap of which i can make good? That's a great question.

Bad slap: slapping an angry bull.
Good slap: really only a girl can experience this when slapping jerks at bars (although please refer to above video).
Turning a bad slap into a good slap: slapping an angry bull and living to tell about it.

Sorry... I just couldn't think of better examples but I think you get it.

You can't know the good slaps until you experience the bad. Be open-minded.... and handed.