Tag: focus

Doing the Same Things, Expecting Different Results

“You’ve never run a company, OR been in government.”

To be honest, an inexperienced leader is NOT a GOOD THING! Look at Our Current situation. I doubt the voters will allow such a ‘noob’ take the reigns of Our country again. Consider this- Can the president do anything alone in DC? It is not the President alone who does the hard work of legislating. It is NOT the President alone who will shake hands with our partners around the world. It is not the President alone who champions issues to be legislated.

The People direct the process. What issues are we wanting to focus on? Who best visualizes the solution to the issues at hand? If the People are wanting to avoid war, we vote for the person who’s record shows support for peace. Even specific issues have different solutions, some better than others. But, no matter what the President thinks is the best solution, the Congress must work to support the President and create solutions.

Werner von Braun would not have been able to fly himself to the Moon.

FDR would NOT have been able to defeat Hitler in a fist fight.

Our government is an amazing creature! As we are all seeing today, it can run itself without any assistance. Accountability offices, oversight and regulation advisors, deputy positions, assistant deputies, and lawyers advising them, in the interest of the People’s Government (NOT on the interests of individuals in the government, which is pretty cool) all ensure that we have a government that, at the VERY least, is not working to harm citizens. At a minimum it is helping to protect us.

When it’s at its VERY BEST….? When Our Government comes to the table to play ball and get stuff accomplished, we can move the World! We can loosen any bondage. We can protect Liberty. We can put a MAN ON THE MOON. And EVERYDAY we enjoy the fruits of past labor, from the Interstate System, to the Jazz on Bourbon Street.

Our government can do great things, but ONLY when our VERY BEST people are leading us.

“…I believe that this nation should commit itself to achieving the goal, before this decade is out, of landing a man on the moon and returning him safely to the earth.” JFK to Congress, 1961.

(Read transcript here- https://www.nasa.gov/vision/space/features/jfk_speech_text.html)

The most able leader in the world could not lead this country without vision. Without an ability to see what will be, and how to achieve that end. Not just the micro management of minute details, not just the ability to hire and fire. Anyone can do these things in a successful manor. The focus should be “What can you accomplish?” What is the limit to your vision? Where do you want to take us? How high should we be aiming? Who’s got our back if we slip and fall? And who’s gonna lend a hand, lift us up, and slap our back, encouraging us to try again?

“Not because it is easy, but because it is HARD.”

Our Country finds itself in a position of societal upheaval at this moment. An awakening of the spirit of our shared interests. Our common needs. Our common desires. We believe in the idea of our better angels, but are discouraged when all we see are the details of devils. Positive intentions are nothing without positive actions. A group of positive actions leads to movement of our overall societal evolution. Growing pains can be unbearable! Trust me, I’m 6’4″!

But they are necessary. We all want to be the better angels we imagine. We must avoid believing we ARE the better angles, in order to hide the painful truth. We have walked down all the paths before. We have tried the left, we have tried the right. We tried the exciting leader, we tried the even-keeled leader. They have all led us to THIS MOMENT. Every right and every wrong has shaped the people we are today. Every misstep, every yard gained. Every broken heart and every burden lifted. We must own that now. Today is how it is because of the choices that were made.

If we take actions using choices already made, we will be back in the SAME SPOT AS TODAY.

Who we choose to be, tomorrow, begins with how we see ourselves TODAY. Are we leading or following directions? Are we in control of our densities, or is that only an illusion? VISION is a powerful creative tool. It can be wielded to destroy civilizations, or produce the cotton gin. It can free slaves, or create slaves of the free. If we want things to get better, we must “see” it happen. To make that vision a reality, we must unite and support each other. For the common good. For us ALL.

THAT is where real power comes from- leadership born of the People who benefit the most. If you haven’t lived it, then you cannot change it.

That’s how I see it. Keep your head UP!!

JC

Saturday

My Saturday usually starts by being kicked out of bed at 0900 when Jessie (my wife) comes home. Sometimes I get lucky and she lets me sleep longer, but being a night shift nurse, her sleep pattern can be easily disrupted. If you’ve worked night shift or lived with someone who has, then you understand. Some days it’s hard to come home after a 13 hour shift and try to sleep as the birds are singing and the sun is burning off the dew.

Matt and Garrett (my sons, 12 and 10 respectively) spend Friday night binging online games with their friends since they can’t play on school nights. So either they wake up super early or sleep in from being up late. Usually they rotate who plays first and trade off who sleeps in on Saturday and Sunday. My wife is a gamer girl, so when she wakes up in the afternoon, she will jump in and play Fallout 4 on xBox as they find something else to pass the time.

And they all deserve the respite. She spend 12 to 13 hours in an ICU setting dealing with children with cardiac issues. Some of the hardest stories you’d ever heard. Some of the hardest stories I wish I’d never heard. So, she likes to destroy DIGITAL ghouls and build settlements and dress the settlers in each community in various themes. One settlement is all formal wear, another is all lab coats, one is dedicated to making donuts.

And the boys, if they make it through a week of school focused and doing what they are supposed to, then they can spend as much time as they want (within reason) learning and executing the various gaming platforms. That’s what they want their profession to be, digital design, et al. Then they are doing both relaxing and educating. Plus, it’s not like it was “back in MY day…” (Oh no… Here we go…) when we played video games for hours on end we were seen as antisocial or reclusive. Now, players are interacting with people from all parts of the globe, team building, executing prepared strategies, and completing various objectives cooperatively!

As Matt points out, “why can’t we play during the week?” Good question…

Yet, me… I don’t get a weekend off. I am “on call” 24/7. I am “Johnny-On-The-Spot” when things need to be done. When someone gets sick, when something comes up, when we need toilet paper, “Come, Captain Greenback. To the Grocery-getter… AWAY!”

The dishes don’t clean themselves on the weekend. (sadly…) The floors still get dog fur all over them on Saturdays. And allergy attacks in the middle of the night still happen on Saturday. Though not as much as when they were younger, they still need  some assistance. We are lucky to have one parent at home. Not everyone can have that.

And we do it a great cost. No doubt. It is hard to make ends meet, let alone get above water with one person at home. It can lead to some heated arguments about money. It’s not easy, for a guy, to be a “housewife” in our society. It is becoming more acceptable. But the stereotypes persist. It can take a toll on a person mentally. It demands self sacrifice that not everyone knows. My needs have to be the needs of the family. Even if my needs are the most important focus of the day, I cannot plan on anything concrete, because I can be called to pick up a kid with a fever from school, asked to get snacks for an ICU full of nurses that someone forgot that it was today and needs it in 2 hours before she has to go to work.

And all of that can be upended by the weather. It is Springtime in Kansas. No one here doubts for a second that, at any time, the sky could decide your game is over. It ads a bit of urgency to your day when black clouds roll off the prairie. It forces a person to take note of what matters most. And to work toward protecting that as best as you can.

As my wife and I struggle to keep it together, financially, as we put so much time, money, and effort into making our house a “net zero” house, with self sufficiency and climate change preparedness our priority, doing the “right” thing over the “wanted” thing is hard. As I sit here writing, and hear a “baby boomer” roar down the street on Harley-Davidson, I wonder if I should have not spent money on the granite we put on the outside of our home, the R30 insulation in the walls and attic, and the wind turbines I still need to install.

All of my time, effort, and money is invested in a future outcome. Gambling, in a sence. With such high stakes, I hope I get it right. Granite’s not as fun to ride as is a Harley-Davidson! It will last a bit longer, though.

Keep your head UP!!