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Indecision (Blowing It Scenario #116).

A Lack Of Decision Making Skills.

How often do we go through life debating with ourselves about what we truly want, only never to land on a definitive answer? This is the crux of the problem with indecision. We find ourselves stuck in neither what we want and can’t seem to find exactly what we don’t want either. Indecision sometimes just feels so safe and comforting, like you can just curl up and sleep in it’s warm inviting embrace. You don’t have to be weighed down with the pressure of having to make a decisions for yourself.

Decision making can be scary, there are so many variables that can arise from that proposition. Did you make the right one? What will others think? Will you be happy with that final decision? Everything from that point on falls squarely on you shoulders. You are the decision maker and what you say goes. It’s a tremendous amount of power you wield in your own life and definitely one of high pressure and stress. But doesn’t it just sound so much more of an amazing life than sitting idle in complacency?

We have so much power to control the trajectory of our lives, yet we under utilize it or differ it to another by not making decisions for ourselves. From the onset of morning, till you lay your head down in the evening. Everyday choose how you will create that day. What you will do, how you will do it. Will it be a positive progression? Will you make a difference in other peoples live? Make the decision and act on it.



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Allergies (Blowing It Scenario #115)

Screw You Histamines.

Look pollen you can stop already, I get you serve a purpose but at what cost? Can I get a little reprieve from this incessant sneezing? These allergies are off the charts this season. I am completely kidding about pollen taking a break. I know it serves a much greater purpose than ravaging my sinuses.

Why does something that creates such beauty cause such pain at times? Is beauty pain? Some might argue so. Rigorous days at the gym for that body you’ve always wanted. Hours of primping before work or that big date. Countless days, months, even years toiling to build a business, an invention, something beautiful for the world to enjoy.

Maybe pain is beauty or beauty comes through pain. And we’re all required to sometimes deal with the bitter, or the sour, to get to the sweet. Maybe allergies are natures reminder of this fact. The flowers, the fruit, the trees, all must deal with the pains of the changing seasons, the acclimate weather, the harsh environment, even death and decay and those that survive it come out stronger and more beautiful than before. And those that don’t survive still serve a greater, albeit a more painful purpose. Never the less they’re still contributing to the beauty of the rest of us plants, humans and animals all alike.

I’ll choose to believe that allergies are just nature’s way of reminding us to embrace the pain, and enjoy the pain. Because something much more beautiful is waiting for you on the other side of it.



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Distraction (Blowing It Scenario #114)

An Attraction That Steals One’s Focus.

I thinks it’s safe to say we live in the most distracting era ever in history. We have endless entertainment laying in wait in our pockets or handbags. Just at the tips of our fingers we can contact anyone in the world and they can contact us. Either with voice calls, text or videos. Just now I’m being distracted by my phone and my pets. We have family and friends who need our attention and sometimes we need theirs. Our email boxes are perpetual growth machines which is not a good thing.

In a time we need to maximize our focus to get ahead, we seem to have such a limited supply. Or we’ll put or focus into menial task that don’t move the needle forward. We’ll waste hours surfing the web, or posting on social media, or binge watching the latest series on Netflix. We’re so distracted we can’t even give our significant others the time of day. You see it all the time, boyfriend and girlfriend sitting across from each other out in public, both their heads buried in their phones. Because who can be bothered with the bore of a person they chose to spend their time with when there are so much more important more entertaining things to get done online? Groups of friends while out together won’t even talk to each other in the presence of each other because they are so enthralled with their technology. We need to re-establish our focus win our time back. Focus is paramount to getting stuff done as well as being respectful to those you are with.

Delete the apps, turn off the phone, the t.v. the tablet. If you can’t do that at least set them to do not disturb when you need to give your attention to someone or something else. In order to get real work done, you may have to cut out all distraction. Find a place where no device, no person, basically a place nothing can disturb your work. Maybe an office, hallway, closet what ever you need to find complete peace. Simply focus on the task at hand and you’ll be able to get far more work done in a fraction of the time. Let’s not be so frivolous with our time or our mental capacity. Let’s stop wasting it with distraction and gain back some much needed focus.



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Suicide (Blowing It Scenario #113).

Suicide Is A Very Sensitive Subject But I Feel It Needs To Be Addressed.

This week we lost two big names in the entertainment and fashion industry. Two people who to the outside world seemed to have it all. A women who started a fashion empire with her beloved handbags and a food critic travel host who delighted us with his tales of world travel and the people, culture, and delicacies encountered upon those travels. Kate Spade and Anthony Bourdain each took their own lives this week. It’s incredibly heartbreaking and my condolences go out to their families friends and all those close to them.

It’s tough for me to speak about suicide having never experienced that level of mental anguish. As a child I would question what is our purpose here? Do we really have any meaning? Which at times lead down a dark road but those were temporary moments in time, always fleeting to give way to much better thoughts later on. Yes, there is meaning and purpose in everything we do, the trick is to find it. Step outside yourself to see what others gain from you. We must crush the ego in the moments tension is high with dangerous thoughts. It’s not about us. Understand that life is about more than just the me or the I, we can’t think in terms of self. Such a myopic view would give way to acceptance that we can indulge these negative urges at no expense to anyone else. There is always someone else, parents, children, family, friends, fans, employees, coworkers the list goes on and on. We do serve a greater purpose. We also can’t allow what others do to us, dictate how we feel within ourselves. We control all of that, don’t give way to another to choose that for us. No one should have that kind of power over us.

Suicide is a very sensitive subject, it is a permanent solution to a very temporary problem. With one hand you want to shake these people and tell them that they are loved and they have people that rely on them, don’t do this. And with the other hand you want to cradle them in your arm and let them know everything is going to be alright. You will get through this.

It’s weird how both sides of this coin still land on your self. You will need to create new more empowering thoughts within yourself but ones that include others. Always remember you are loved, even if you feel you are not, give it in abundance. You can serve a purpose and if you feel you have no meaning, make it your mission to give others meaning and let go of your own ego just continue to build up others. Expect nothing in return and your heart will be full. However if you truly need help in this very moment. Don’t hesitate to call the National Suicide Prevention Hotline at 1-800-273-8255. Be safe and help others.



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Slumps (Blowing It Scenario #112)

We All Get Into Them And The Only Way To Beat It Is To Play Through It.

No matter what it be; sport, writing, marriage, dating. We will all hit a slump at some point. In sports you see it all the time. In basketball shooters can’t hit a shot to save their life. Kickers will miss wide in football, while passers will miss there open targets. In dating you’ll feel like a misfit a complete social outcast at certain points. You feel like you couldn’t buy yourself a date if you wanted to. In marriage you’ll at times feel if your with the wrong person that there is an awkwardness that you didn’t see in the beginning. With writing, just yesterday I told someone I felt like I was in a slump that day. And there was my answer staring me right in the face, write about slumping. Because the only answer to a slump is to not give into it, but it’s to play through it.

The best way to get your rhythm back is to find the easy shot. Be it an actual shot in sport, or a metaphorical shot in life situation. It’s all the same, find a way to get some easy chances at getting back to being whole and focused. In basketball a shooter that is slumping might get himself fouled in order to get to the free throw line. Where they have a few easy attempts at shooting the ball. Kickers have it tough with the new extra point rule in football. They used to have a really easy extra point kick so if they were slumping the extra points would back focused that’s not so much the case anymore. So when they slump they tend to stay in it for the entire game. It’s not until the players can see there action go through the net or the uprights that they can mentally get back into the game. A quarterback who’s missing targets might start to throw a lot of short check down passes to get back into rhythm. And once he does, watch out for the big plays, because his confidence is back and he’s ready to sling it.

In dating if you can’t seem to find the dates you want, or almost everyone seems to turn you down, you might have to just take the first person willing to go out with you. Not to say it in a bad way but take the easiest shot. It might not work out but it will help to boost your confidence in that arena, and you’ll see the suitors come calling afterwards.

In marriage, if your slumping, do the little things, the easy things. Sometimes it might be too late but at least you’ll know in your next relationship to never slack on the small stuff; communication, affection, and attention. As for me and writing this. It was my answer to my slump, write what you know what your going through and it’s the easiest form writing. Key word to all this is easiest. Start at easy and when you get that down, slowly increase the intensity and difficulty till you’ve completely broken through any slump.



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Watching True Crime Shows (Blowing It Scenario #111)

Is It Our Sick Sense Of Curiosity that Keeps Us Watching?

I wasted a whole day recently watching a true crime documentary on Netflix. Absolutely nothing came of it. I was just left feeling somewhat depressed. Not only that I wasted a day watching this nonsense, but that I voyeuristically watched as real crimes took place. It’s awful, some of these shows literally display people dying and for some reason we can’t take our eyes off it. And we’ll continue to play the next episode believing some resolution will come of it. But sometimes it never does.

So we’re left with these horrific stories and images to just feaster in our psyche. We wish we could do something but we’re nothing more than spectators and that is a helpless sick feeling. To just watch crimes take place as bystanders sitting on a couch. It just seems like time that was so poorly spent. But then again most television is and most shows take those true crime stories compile them together then glorify it to make it into an addicting hit show for the masses to escape into and to be entertained. Maybe some of these true crime shows actually, from time to time, help solve crimes and cold cases. So in that sense they are not a complete loss if they help but if your just watching for entertainment value, I recommend finding a better way to spend your time or at least watch something a bit more positive.



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Blowing It Scenario #110-Government Red Tape

Do We Really “Own” Anything?

Or is it all an illusion? A carefully crafted faced to give us the assumption that we own our lives. Want to drive a car? You have to pay the government for that right. Want to own a house? Same deal there, you’ll pay property taxes annually. Miss a payment of just one cent and they can take that home away from you. Forget to pay for your car tabs and you can bet the day they expire a government employee with flashing red and blue lights on his vehicle will be pulling you over and providing you with an addition government payment in the form of a fine.

Looking to start a business you better believe the government wants that too. Right from the onset before you even make a dollar you’ll have to pay to register the name, than you must pay to register business itself. Depending on what type of business it is, you could be paying much more for business endorsements on top of everything else. Maybe you’ll be required to be bonded and insured. Care to hire employees? That’s an additional expense too. And those employees get to pay there fair share too, just for the right to be employed.

Want to build a structure on “your land?” You’ll have to ask for permission from you local regulatory office for that right. You’ll find out quickly that there are many rules and regulations of what you can and cannot do to your “own land.” If you are granted permission, congratulations you now get to pay for permit fees to make the government approved changes to said land. On top of that there going to send someone out to check on the progress. If they find anything off about the build they’ll issue fines and make you redo the work or in some instances tear it all down.

Every individual is owned by there corresponding government. Care to travel, well you will have to pay for a world travel permit for that. Want to live abroad in another country? You’ll need permission and will most likely have to pay for that right. If you make money while abroad you will still most likely be required to pay taxes in your home country. Want citizenship elsewhere, well you have to renounce your home country in order to do so.

All this being said, our countries do provide us with many amenities to keep us safe and happy in our illusion. We have roads to get to where we have to go, we have the ability to live where we want to live and for the most part, how we want to live. We can still travel the world and we get to come back to the place we call home. It’s all a small price to pay in the end, just know that you are paying it.



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Blowing It Scenario #109-Worry.

Did You Know Anxiety And Excitement Have The Exact Same Chemical Release In The Brain And It’s Just How We Frame The Situation That Dictates Which Is Which?

All we have to do is re-frame anxious situations as ones of excitement. Ever wonder how some people can love the thrill of jumping out of planes or public speaking while others cower at those same thoughts or actions. We all feel that same rush, some choose to thrive in it, while others might choose to look inward and express worry about unknown outcomes. It’s simply how we look at the task at hand. Do we want to be excited or do we want to worry?

So much of our worries are completely outside of our control, it’s usually over past or future issues. Issues that have already happened, or might happen down the road. Future what if scenarios that have yet to happen, if ever. We’ll worry about what we said or might say. Worry about what we’ve done or what we might do. We’ll tend to fixate on these outcomes or possible outcomes sending our amygdala in search of if this is a threat or not. If it’s deemed a threat, the brain in turn sends it to the thalamus, the reptilian part of the brain responsible for the fight, flight or freeze response. Once we reach this point, we now must ride out the storm till the threat has passed.

Most things pass through the amygdala as safe and will be sent right through to storage without us being none the wiser. But when we worry, we can activate that reptilian response and we’ll sometimes get ourselves stuck in that feeling of anxiety. Do we fight this, do we run from it or do we freeze? It’s not until we can find new safe harbors for our brain to anchor in, that we can then move on from this stress of worry. Be it a new thought process or relaxation techniques. And that is the cool part, because those safe harbors are completely within our control, either find a happy place to go to in your mind or simply live in the immediate here and now. No past, no future, just strictly in this moment and breathe deeply. When we breathe deep, it activates our parasympathetic nervous system, which is responsible for rest and digestion or in other words, the feed and breed part of the brain. Activities that require relaxation. So next time you feel worry arising try a simple form of box breathing. Breathe in for a count of 6, hold for 1 second, then breathe out for 8 seconds. Repeat this process until you’ve found calm.

Another thing I’ve found that helps deter thoughts from ever entering the thalamus in the first place is something a family member of mine once thought me. She said all you need is two powerful words when you feel a since of worry coming on. What are those two words you might ask, fuck it. Not, “what’s the worst that can happen,” because when you ask yourself that question, your mind will search for answers. Sending it into a tailspin and trust me it will find those worrisome answers. Just say fuck it don’t even let your thoughts reach your thalamus. Just move right on to a better suited task or thought process because worrying will solve nothing and complicate everything.



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Blowing It Scenario #108-Professional Referees.

When Will We Finally Replace This Consistent Human Error As Part Of Sport?

Last night was game one of the 2018 NBA Finals I watched as the Cleveland Cavaliers were about to pull off an improbable upset on the road against the Golden State Warriors. The Cavs were going to win they had it, they made all the right moves down the stretch but something strange happened in the last few minutes. The refs got involved, making poor call after poor call in favor of the warriors, totally handing the game to the them. I counted about five bad calls in the fourth quarter that stole points from the Cavs and gave them to the Warriors. Two clean strips called for fouls, a charge that was reviewed, even though it wasn’t a review-able play, which was over turned and given to the warrior to shoot two. Even though the in house ref called it a charge. An ejection for a simple foul that started a fight. It was horrendous to watch as a fan of sports. But this article is not about that game, it’s just an example. Which there are so many of.

The refs can literally decide games and they do it all the time. So when will we finally admit refs are bad for the game? And I’m talking all games football, baseball, soccer, basketball. Humans are fallible and have biases. Every sport I watch I feel referees interfere with the action constantly. It makes me not want to watch sports. Yes they serve a purpose to enforce the rules but with the technology we have now they can easily be replaced with machines that can get the calls right every time. Heck what is the point of an umpire when we literally watch on the screen an image of a strike zone and the dots where the pitches land within that zone? There is absolutely no need for that umpire.

Some might argue it’s tradition to maintain referees. Well my argument to that is tradition flew out the window years ago. Every year “traditional rules” are changed in every sport. Should we go back to the leather helmets football players wore when the sport first began because it’s traditional? It’s time we evolve sports, because when common fans are getting the calls right more often then the refs, all by just watching the game at home on their high definition televisions something is inherently wrong. It’s time we replace the refs.



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Blowing It Scenario #107-Over Complicating.

There Is Such Beauty In Simplicity. I Like To Believe Perfection Is Found In The Imperfections.

Because that’s exactly how it was supposed to be. Just let it be. Why must we over complicate things? We do it to our lifestyles, we believe we must own the best of everything, the best house, the best car, the best spouse, the job that pays great and covers all the expenses for all your over complications but in turn keeps you locked in at 80+ hours a week or worse yet keeps you constantly at their beck and call with endless email and phone calls even during our down time.

And then we will in turn do it to our relationships. We’ll think we need things from our partner, the house, the car, the kids and when we find out those complications aren’t always the answers. We’ll look to get back to the basics but it might already be too late. Put yourself in position to be with the right person and everything you want from each other will come as a simple task, it will be as close to second nature as possible because you’ll both be working together towards the same simple goals you set out in the beginning. But regardless of all you do for each other, in the end we’ll all realize love was all we really needed.

Because sometimes in our blind pursuit of over complication of everything we begin to neglect what’s important, the simple things, the perfect things. Love, friendship, life. They all take work but its the simplest form of work. Love another and you’ll be loved, be a friend and you’ll receive one, enjoy life and life will bless you with abundance that freely comes to you because the best things in life are free. How much more simple can you get. So for argument sake I’ll keep this article simple. Life can be so easy, let’s not over complicate it.



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