Focus On What Matters: A Life Lesson From an English Busker

It was summer in London – warm, clear skies and we had just finished an amazing day of sightseeing.  I was on a once-in-a-lifetime trip with some of my best friends.  It stayed bright until late in the day so even though it was already evening, the sky was lit up with color.

As we entered the tube station surrounded by other tourists jabbering in different languages, I heard a busker strumming Oasis’ Wonderwall on his  guitar down the hall and singing the first verse –

Today is gonna be the day
That they’re gonna throw it back to you
By now you should’ve somehow
Realized what you gotta do
I don’t believe that anybody
Feels the way I do about you now
– Oasis – Wonderwall from (What’s the Story) Morning Glory

We tossed in a few coins and kept walking.

After we passed and he finished the verse, he went silent for a few seconds.

We were almost to our platform when I heard him start strumming again.

I assumed he was going to continue the song – but he didn’t.

Instead, he began singing the opening verse again –

Today is gonna be the day
That they’re gonna throw it back to you…

A Christmas Story – A Tale of Craig’s List and Two Frying Pans

christmas-theme-snowflakes-snow

“My brother will love these.  It’s the first time he has had a home in four years.  Thank you so much.”

He smiled, gave me a big, musky, hug, and drove away.

I wasn’t sure if I had just done a good deed, or been hustled by a Craig’s List scam artist.

This story actually begins months before – so let’s go back to the beginning.

Note: This is a true story, with names changed by request.

Personal Development Roadblocks – “The Situation”

road-closed

“People are always blaming their circumstances for what they are.
I don’t believe in circumstances.
The people who get on in this world are the people who get up and look for the circumstances they want, and if they can’t find them, make them.“
George Bernard Shaw

We are all capable of so much more than we accomplish, and often fall short of our potential.  

One excuse I often hear (and sometimes make) is how we did the best we could, and then blame our failure on “the situation.” For example:

“It might have looked like I dropped the ball on that one, but I did the best I could – given the situation.”

Sometimes that is a real reason – but more often than not, it is a temporary obstacle that you need to get through. And today, I will show you how.

What Is Life? Favorite Inspirational Quotes About Life

For years ago I have collected quotes that have in some way affected me and changed my life.  I collect them in random places – a professor opening a lecture with one, books and those irritating spam forwards from friends.  I have literally kept some scraps for years in physical folders – clipping from magazines and printed copies.

I have now realized that six months have gone by, and due to my hardly using quotes in my writing, I have not shared many of these inspirational quotes about life.  I do not know when the right time will be for many of my favorite quotes.  If I find an appropriate article I will reuse the quotes to illustrate a apoint – but even if I can’t, I still want to share them, else I do a great disservice to you, my readers.

Enjoy, and there will be more to come, perhaps once every couple weeks.

Motivation is Like Love: Coping When Your Passion Fades

We’ve all experienced it: that surge of powerful motivation at the start of a project.  We’re on top of the world and feel unstoppable.

Yet somehow, after a few weeks, that motivation high has gone. New blogs, new year’s resolutions to diet and workout routines can soon become burdens as we lose our enthusiasm for them.

From the time we embark on a new project until we are deeply entrenched in following through with it long term, we go through a few different changes and emotional highs and lows: fluctuations that aren’t so different than what we experience elsewhere in our lives.

Read on as we consider these parallels, and then, using lessons from our emotional lives, discuss strategies for coping when our enthusiasm for a project fades.

Altruism – One of the Keys to Happiness

Pop Quiz: What do you believe will make you happy?  A new car?  A promotion, a raise, perhaps?

While we all have different notions about what defines success and happiness, some common beliefs permeate our culture. One such belief is the ideal of the American Dream, the idea that anyone in the United States can achieve their goals, and material prosperity.

Society promotes the American Dream as an ideal to be aspired to – the type of life that we want to live, and the type of life we wish for our children.

Let’s take a step back and ask:  Will such a life, of achieving ones goals and material prosperity, ultimately make us happy?  And if not, what then are the keys the happiness?  Read on as we explore this question.