that. just. happened.
Sunday, January 11, 2009
Wednesday, January 7, 2009
Man Who Was An Expert On How To Avoid Being Kidnapped in Mexico Was Kidnapped in Mexico After Giving Lecture On "How To Not Be Kidnapped in Mexico"
Sad but comical. Check out the full story at cnn.com
Wednesday, December 3, 2008
Wednesday, October 29, 2008
Tuesday, October 28, 2008
Monday, October 27, 2008
Attitude.
Attitude is Everything
I don’t have control- over people, behaviors, or events. In other words my entire life is a cyclone of events, emotions, and dreams speeding by. I can do nothing to break the cycle or step out of it. My life will go on ebbing and flowing every moment, with or without my permission. So what CAN I control? What is my corner of freedom? How can I make a difference in my life and those around me?
My answer is attitude. Attitude is the only thing that, without fail, I am in control of. Attitude is based off of judgments- the judgments I make about people, their behaviors, and the events of my life. And through these judgments, my attitude is formed.
Attitude is truly an emotion without parallel. This is because it is the gateway. We experience other emotions, and an effect of our emotions is our attitude. And with that attitude, we approach new situations, new people, and new ideas. It is a cycle that we have the power to control- to an extent.
I believe attitude can be broken down into distinct areas. It compartmentalizes into the following:
Definition: Attitude is what we tell ourselves about a given person, behavior, or event.
Attitude as a gateway => Attitude as an emotional gauge => Attitude as a tool
I broke the topic down in this way because I think it is the progression of our attitude.
Attitude as a gateway: Our emotions relate to all of our other emotions. We cannot possibly function any either way. Attitude is that relationship that connects our emotions. It is a polar function of our emotional capacity to love and hate. Our thought process may be as follows:
I love to go to the movies => I hate the traffic going to movies => Outcome.
The outcome can be one of two things. I can either go to the movies- have a poor attitude while going there- and potentially put myself in a bad mood throughout the film. Or I can not go to the movies- avoiding the traffic- but potentially put myself in a bad mood because I didn’t get to see the film.
This example is a simple illustration of a topic that could fill libraries: our emotions are complex. How we feel about something is not independent of how we feel about something else. It is because of this that one small and seemingly benign event can “ruin your day”. It wasn’t the event that ruined your day; it is what you tell yourself about that event- and the ensuing attitude about it- that ruined your day.
So, attitude is a gateway between emotions. Picture your emotional spectrum as a busy office, with people bustling around doing there jobs. Attitude is the phone calls, emails, conversations, and text messages to all of those workers. It is the connection our emotions have to each other. It is how they communicate. Imagine in this office that a worker faces a challenge at work. With his communications, his challenge affects others, and pretty soon everyone knows and is involved. If he communicates the challenge poorly and makes a bad decision, everyone in the office could be affected. Then the next decision made could be based off the poor decision, and so on. One worker is not independent of the other. And neither are our emotions.
Attitude as an emotional gauge: Because all of our emotions are interconnected through our attitude, it can be a wonderful emotional gauge. As our emotions relate to each other and fluctuate, we give off verbal and non-verbal signs of that relationship. Our attitude. It is apparent in comments, gestures, tone, and appearance. And with that those indicators, others notice and make their own judgments, which in turn affect their attitude. So truly, our emotions can be viewed, interpreted, and judged by those around us.
Action => reaction => judgment => attitude => action => reaction… you get the idea
Attitude as a tool: So, how do we break this cycle? How can we take control of our attitude? How can we use our attitude to improve our life?
The answers are easily stated, but take hard work and continuous improvement.
Empathy
Self-talk
Give it away
Practice
Empathy is my key to attitude. It is the ability to step outside of emotion, and view a situation, person, or behavior from another perspective. The key to this ability is delaying judgment until more information is known. Maybe your boss yelled at you, but their attitude is poor because of marriage problems. But without bothering to find out and just getting angry, you have let someone else control your attitude. Instead if you had stepped back and realized it wasn’t you, it was you boss’s personal life, you can judge differently and have a positive attitude.
I believe we all judge. Whether we mean to or not, we all make assumptions + judgments about things around us. And with those judgments come our attitude. So, because eliminating judgment isn’t possible, we can delay and soften the judgment through self-talk.
Self-talk is one of the most important abilities a person can posses. Self-talk is that little voice inside your head. THAT YOU CONTROL. Ultimately, your self talk determines your attitude. And you can control what you tell yourself. Not all the time, but try to- I’m sure you already do. You tell yourself positive things. And negative things. And with those thoughts, with that self-talk, you determine your attitude. So, instead of telling yourself that your boss hates you and you can’t do anything right, tell yourself “wow, my boss is having a rough day; I wonder what I can do to help?” Keep yourself and your attitude out of the picture. Separate yourself from your emotions.
The final part of this process is in what you give away- the “I wonder what I can do to help?” part. I believe firmly that in order to get something, you must give it away. If you’re down- go make someone laugh. If you want love- give someone else your love. I understand this doesn’t work in all cases (seek professional help when necessary), but for everyday problems, it does wonders.
PRACTICE PRACTICE PRACTICE!!!!!!- I think this is pretty self explanatory.
Attitude is something that is tied so closely to every other emotional capacity we posses, its hard to identify and explain. It is something that we can harness, and use as a tool in everyday life. Attitude is what we tell ourselves about our lives- so what do you say?
I don’t have control- over people, behaviors, or events. In other words my entire life is a cyclone of events, emotions, and dreams speeding by. I can do nothing to break the cycle or step out of it. My life will go on ebbing and flowing every moment, with or without my permission. So what CAN I control? What is my corner of freedom? How can I make a difference in my life and those around me?
My answer is attitude. Attitude is the only thing that, without fail, I am in control of. Attitude is based off of judgments- the judgments I make about people, their behaviors, and the events of my life. And through these judgments, my attitude is formed.
Attitude is truly an emotion without parallel. This is because it is the gateway. We experience other emotions, and an effect of our emotions is our attitude. And with that attitude, we approach new situations, new people, and new ideas. It is a cycle that we have the power to control- to an extent.
I believe attitude can be broken down into distinct areas. It compartmentalizes into the following:
Definition: Attitude is what we tell ourselves about a given person, behavior, or event.
Attitude as a gateway => Attitude as an emotional gauge => Attitude as a tool
I broke the topic down in this way because I think it is the progression of our attitude.
Attitude as a gateway: Our emotions relate to all of our other emotions. We cannot possibly function any either way. Attitude is that relationship that connects our emotions. It is a polar function of our emotional capacity to love and hate. Our thought process may be as follows:
I love to go to the movies => I hate the traffic going to movies => Outcome.
The outcome can be one of two things. I can either go to the movies- have a poor attitude while going there- and potentially put myself in a bad mood throughout the film. Or I can not go to the movies- avoiding the traffic- but potentially put myself in a bad mood because I didn’t get to see the film.
This example is a simple illustration of a topic that could fill libraries: our emotions are complex. How we feel about something is not independent of how we feel about something else. It is because of this that one small and seemingly benign event can “ruin your day”. It wasn’t the event that ruined your day; it is what you tell yourself about that event- and the ensuing attitude about it- that ruined your day.
So, attitude is a gateway between emotions. Picture your emotional spectrum as a busy office, with people bustling around doing there jobs. Attitude is the phone calls, emails, conversations, and text messages to all of those workers. It is the connection our emotions have to each other. It is how they communicate. Imagine in this office that a worker faces a challenge at work. With his communications, his challenge affects others, and pretty soon everyone knows and is involved. If he communicates the challenge poorly and makes a bad decision, everyone in the office could be affected. Then the next decision made could be based off the poor decision, and so on. One worker is not independent of the other. And neither are our emotions.
Attitude as an emotional gauge: Because all of our emotions are interconnected through our attitude, it can be a wonderful emotional gauge. As our emotions relate to each other and fluctuate, we give off verbal and non-verbal signs of that relationship. Our attitude. It is apparent in comments, gestures, tone, and appearance. And with that those indicators, others notice and make their own judgments, which in turn affect their attitude. So truly, our emotions can be viewed, interpreted, and judged by those around us.
Action => reaction => judgment => attitude => action => reaction… you get the idea
Attitude as a tool: So, how do we break this cycle? How can we take control of our attitude? How can we use our attitude to improve our life?
The answers are easily stated, but take hard work and continuous improvement.
Empathy
Self-talk
Give it away
Practice
Empathy is my key to attitude. It is the ability to step outside of emotion, and view a situation, person, or behavior from another perspective. The key to this ability is delaying judgment until more information is known. Maybe your boss yelled at you, but their attitude is poor because of marriage problems. But without bothering to find out and just getting angry, you have let someone else control your attitude. Instead if you had stepped back and realized it wasn’t you, it was you boss’s personal life, you can judge differently and have a positive attitude.
I believe we all judge. Whether we mean to or not, we all make assumptions + judgments about things around us. And with those judgments come our attitude. So, because eliminating judgment isn’t possible, we can delay and soften the judgment through self-talk.
Self-talk is one of the most important abilities a person can posses. Self-talk is that little voice inside your head. THAT YOU CONTROL. Ultimately, your self talk determines your attitude. And you can control what you tell yourself. Not all the time, but try to- I’m sure you already do. You tell yourself positive things. And negative things. And with those thoughts, with that self-talk, you determine your attitude. So, instead of telling yourself that your boss hates you and you can’t do anything right, tell yourself “wow, my boss is having a rough day; I wonder what I can do to help?” Keep yourself and your attitude out of the picture. Separate yourself from your emotions.
The final part of this process is in what you give away- the “I wonder what I can do to help?” part. I believe firmly that in order to get something, you must give it away. If you’re down- go make someone laugh. If you want love- give someone else your love. I understand this doesn’t work in all cases (seek professional help when necessary), but for everyday problems, it does wonders.
PRACTICE PRACTICE PRACTICE!!!!!!- I think this is pretty self explanatory.
Attitude is something that is tied so closely to every other emotional capacity we posses, its hard to identify and explain. It is something that we can harness, and use as a tool in everyday life. Attitude is what we tell ourselves about our lives- so what do you say?
Sunday, October 26, 2008
My Three Favorite Viral Videos.
Charlie Bit My Finger. With a combined 60+ million views, these kids are going to have a serious complex before they're a cumulative six years old. I love the way the older boy says, "that really hurt!" - very Austin Powers-esque. The entire population of Italy could potentially have seen this video.
Leeroy Jenkins and the World of Warcraft. I've never played this game nor have a desire to, but this is one of the most hilarious videos in existence. And by "most hilarious", I mean patently sad and depressing that grown men devote their lives to living in fantasy. I guess some people live like Peter Pan, and some people like selling them that reality then vacationing in Bora Bora. Only 10+ million views, the popuation of the Czech Republic could have seen this sad, sad gem.
Shoes. Last but definitely not least, Shoes. This video represents the most genius bit of viral video PRODUCTION out there. The other videos on this list just happened and were released to the masses, this one was manufactured. Check out Liamshow.com for the creator's website and more classic videos. This video has around 25+ million views, ranking it around the country of Saudi Arabia.
Honorable mention: Taser Challenge Failure A special someone works with this cast of characters, and showed me the video recently. Fun Fact: The guy being tasered actually shits his pants on his way down. If that doesn't make you smile, you won't like much of this site.
Leeroy Jenkins and the World of Warcraft. I've never played this game nor have a desire to, but this is one of the most hilarious videos in existence. And by "most hilarious", I mean patently sad and depressing that grown men devote their lives to living in fantasy. I guess some people live like Peter Pan, and some people like selling them that reality then vacationing in Bora Bora. Only 10+ million views, the popuation of the Czech Republic could have seen this sad, sad gem.
Shoes. Last but definitely not least, Shoes. This video represents the most genius bit of viral video PRODUCTION out there. The other videos on this list just happened and were released to the masses, this one was manufactured. Check out Liamshow.com for the creator's website and more classic videos. This video has around 25+ million views, ranking it around the country of Saudi Arabia.
Honorable mention: Taser Challenge Failure A special someone works with this cast of characters, and showed me the video recently. Fun Fact: The guy being tasered actually shits his pants on his way down. If that doesn't make you smile, you won't like much of this site.
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