I witnessed something yesterday that left me feeling a little sick to my stomach. I can't go into too many details, but I want to share the lesson with you: know your value, your worth. Women, especially, should know their worth and see themselves as complete human beings, not T & A.
In a world that has become increasingly superficial, where pornography has become mainstream and thought is not so much outlawed (yet) as out of fashion, it's more important than ever to know your value and to instill a sense of value in your children. We have been trained to believe that if you're not famous, you're worthless. At the same time, we have blurred the line between fame and infamy. It doesn't matter what you're doing, as long as lots of people see you doing it.
I hate to continue on the TV rant, but because it is primarily a visual medium, the greater emphasis is on being seen, not heard or worth hearing, further encouraging the intellectual laziness that is railroading us toward becoming property of China. I have nothing against the Chinese, but I am not interested in becoming one of them.
America is in decline and that decline begins at home, just as this much-needed revolution must. Generations of Americans living in poverty, living for the momentary pleasures of parties and gadgets with no thought to the future and a blindness to the need to improve, and a political system that benefits from their suffering. Those in the middle are content to spend all their money plus what they can borrow to have hi-def, hi-fi, and high performance, but not a thought to the future. People are determining their worth by the stuff they have, the clothes they wear, the cars they drive. If your value is determined by things that can be taken away, it isn't really value, is it? It's just crap.
Value yourself. Respect yourself. Earn the respect of others by being a person worthy of respect. Look within for your value, count your blessings, knowing that blessings rarely come with a receipt or a money-back guarantee. Become a person of value and set the example for your children or for other young people - or just do it because you should. You are created in the image of God, your value has been determined by a much more credible source.
God bless you. Make it your best day yet.
- Adolfo
Tuesday, November 30, 2010
Monday, November 29, 2010
Day # 186 - Up in Lights
I finally got the Christmas lights up yesterday. I think my little house looks beautiful. I even got my little Snoopy countdown till Christmas up on the roof, complete with Woodstock. All I can think about at this point is how to improve it for next year. I'm going to need more lights. Lots more lights.
Now that it's done, and the tree and lights are up and all that remains is to wait for Santa, I have time to reflect. Am I engaging in the consumerism that I sought to avoid by not participating in Black Friday? Is this display, and my desire to expand it in 2011, gaudy? Or am I just showing the Christmas spirit I feel within me? Who knows? All I can say for sure is that I don't enjoy climbing up on that very high, steep roof, and I do it anyway. Part of it has to be when my daughters went outside and gasped and told me how beautiful their house looked. Maybe it's that even though they saw me working and climbing and Chevy-Chasing all over the house, they were still surprised and pleased with the finished product. Maybe it's because I get to be a hero to my little girls and for one moment I can feel like I am nearly good enough to be their Daddy. Then Emily said, "Let's go inside, I want ice cream," and I was promptly returned to earth.
The house can't be seen from space, and it won't win any awards, but I'm happy with it, and my family is happy. For the next month, it will be Christmas at the Jimenez Hacienda, and we will enjoy every minute of it. I can't say the same for the time I will spend at the malls.
Find a little light in your life and share it with your community and with the world. The best way to make the world a better place is to start with your own little piece of it. Be a light for the people you care most about and they will pass that along, creating a better world, and your legacy.
God Bless You. Season's Greetings. Make it your best day yet.
- Adolfo
Now that it's done, and the tree and lights are up and all that remains is to wait for Santa, I have time to reflect. Am I engaging in the consumerism that I sought to avoid by not participating in Black Friday? Is this display, and my desire to expand it in 2011, gaudy? Or am I just showing the Christmas spirit I feel within me? Who knows? All I can say for sure is that I don't enjoy climbing up on that very high, steep roof, and I do it anyway. Part of it has to be when my daughters went outside and gasped and told me how beautiful their house looked. Maybe it's that even though they saw me working and climbing and Chevy-Chasing all over the house, they were still surprised and pleased with the finished product. Maybe it's because I get to be a hero to my little girls and for one moment I can feel like I am nearly good enough to be their Daddy. Then Emily said, "Let's go inside, I want ice cream," and I was promptly returned to earth.
The house can't be seen from space, and it won't win any awards, but I'm happy with it, and my family is happy. For the next month, it will be Christmas at the Jimenez Hacienda, and we will enjoy every minute of it. I can't say the same for the time I will spend at the malls.
Find a little light in your life and share it with your community and with the world. The best way to make the world a better place is to start with your own little piece of it. Be a light for the people you care most about and they will pass that along, creating a better world, and your legacy.
God Bless You. Season's Greetings. Make it your best day yet.
- Adolfo
Sunday, November 28, 2010
Day # 185 - O Christmas Tree
The tradition lives on. Every year since moving into our home, we have bought our Christmas Tree on the Saturday after Thanksgiving. Lots of people do, I'm sure. I come from a family that didn't really have a lot of tradition so I feel it's important to establish traditions of my own.
Last year, I had just lost my job a few days before Thanksgiving and was understandably depressed. I still put up a tree. I skipped the decorations on the outside of the house, though, and I realize now what a mistake that was. My children love the lights and the inflatable Santa Claus up on the chimney and I cheated them of it because I was down in the dumps.
I look back now and can see that losing my job was the best thing for me. I needed to be shaken up, kicked out of my comfort zone, and I know that can never happen with a cushy job that doesn't challenge your intellect or your skill. But I digress...
Trimming the tree while listening to Christmas music and that great feeling of seeing little ornaments I hadn't seen since last year; lifting the girls to top the tree (we have a snowman instead of a star this year) all filled me with happiness as I looked into the future and saw them doing the same in their own homes with their own children. It helped me understand that tradition has more to do with the future than with the past.
Enjoy your traditions and share them. If you don't have any, create them, and don't fail to see the difference between tradition and ritual.
Make it your best day yet. God bless you.
- Adolfo
Last year, I had just lost my job a few days before Thanksgiving and was understandably depressed. I still put up a tree. I skipped the decorations on the outside of the house, though, and I realize now what a mistake that was. My children love the lights and the inflatable Santa Claus up on the chimney and I cheated them of it because I was down in the dumps.
I look back now and can see that losing my job was the best thing for me. I needed to be shaken up, kicked out of my comfort zone, and I know that can never happen with a cushy job that doesn't challenge your intellect or your skill. But I digress...
Trimming the tree while listening to Christmas music and that great feeling of seeing little ornaments I hadn't seen since last year; lifting the girls to top the tree (we have a snowman instead of a star this year) all filled me with happiness as I looked into the future and saw them doing the same in their own homes with their own children. It helped me understand that tradition has more to do with the future than with the past.
Enjoy your traditions and share them. If you don't have any, create them, and don't fail to see the difference between tradition and ritual.
Make it your best day yet. God bless you.
- Adolfo
Saturday, November 27, 2010
Day # 184 - Black & Blue Friday
It's officially begun: the Christmas Shopping Season. Consumerism at its worst - or best, if you're in retail. For the next month or so, we will fight traffic, and each other, to get the best deals on things we don't need for people we don't really like. That ain't Christmas, that's X-mas.
We had decided a couple of years ago to scale down Christmas if only for the sake of teaching our children some humility. Kids in general are so spoiled and I don't want mine to be that way. I want them to learn to appreciate the many blessings they have and that will never happen if Santa keeps stuffing a truckload of toys down the chimney. (Yes, as a matter of fact, we do have a chimney, and a fireplace. And no, we never use it.)
The recession helped us along in our plan, or so you would imagine, but we didn't go nearly as far as we should have. Sure we cut back on expenses like the monthly trips to Disney World, but otherwise we kept living high on a very exhausted hog. Now that things had stabilized for us, we are finally applying the lessons of the last year.
We are teaching our kids responsibility, frugality, charity, community, and humility. They need to learn these things if they are to be the people God intends them to be.
So, when you go out shopping this season, don't be afraid to scale back a little. Let the gifts you give the young people in your life be more intangible, and therefore more valuable. Give real building blocks.
God Bless You. Make it a great day.
- Adolfo
We had decided a couple of years ago to scale down Christmas if only for the sake of teaching our children some humility. Kids in general are so spoiled and I don't want mine to be that way. I want them to learn to appreciate the many blessings they have and that will never happen if Santa keeps stuffing a truckload of toys down the chimney. (Yes, as a matter of fact, we do have a chimney, and a fireplace. And no, we never use it.)
The recession helped us along in our plan, or so you would imagine, but we didn't go nearly as far as we should have. Sure we cut back on expenses like the monthly trips to Disney World, but otherwise we kept living high on a very exhausted hog. Now that things had stabilized for us, we are finally applying the lessons of the last year.
We are teaching our kids responsibility, frugality, charity, community, and humility. They need to learn these things if they are to be the people God intends them to be.
So, when you go out shopping this season, don't be afraid to scale back a little. Let the gifts you give the young people in your life be more intangible, and therefore more valuable. Give real building blocks.
God Bless You. Make it a great day.
- Adolfo
Friday, November 26, 2010
Day # 183 - The Hangover
What is it about Thanksgiving that makes pigs of us? Could it be that when it comes to turkey, there's no middle ground? You either make enough for a family of four, or enough for the U.S. Army. There seems to be no middle ground. I am much the same way. Yes, I am a turkey of sorts. I overdid it. Not with alcohol or anything, but with food, glorious food. I was like a goldfish: whatever was in my tank was eaten,
My daughter Melissa gave the blessing and it moved me to tears. She is eight years old and becoming an amazing young lady. One more reason to be thankful.
It's hard not to think of those who couldn't be there, because of distance, prior commitment, or whatever other reason. Why is it human nature that even when you're with people you love, you still want more people you love around you?
My sons are not around as much anymore. AJ was there with his lovely girlfriend, Ella, but Steven was not there and I missed him. If Steven had been there, we'd have no leftovers. That boy can eat!
So we came home, put the girls to bed, and I rubbed Abby's feet. She'd cooked up a storm and maintained her perfect record of creating the greatest of Thanksgiving dinners.
Leaving my in-laws' house, the main street a couple of blocks away was closed off. It was a major car accident. It makes me think about people drinking and driving and May 31, 2004, when a driver high on heroin nearly took what was most precious to me and I wonder what people are thinking. We talk about AIDS awareness and Cancer awareness and all kinds of awareness. You may not be able to control cancer, but you can control your level of self-awareness. Don't drive drunk. Don't let your friends or family do it. If you do and someone gets hurt or killed, you are responsible. It's that simple. You may not be punished by man, but you will be punished. Only an animal with complete disregard for his community would do such a thing. Don't be an animal.
So, I hope you had a happy Thanksgiving, and a safe one. I hope you counted your blessings. I hope you're not out shopping at this hour in the morning, but if you are, get me something nice!
God bless you. Make it your best day yet.
- Adolfo
My daughter Melissa gave the blessing and it moved me to tears. She is eight years old and becoming an amazing young lady. One more reason to be thankful.
It's hard not to think of those who couldn't be there, because of distance, prior commitment, or whatever other reason. Why is it human nature that even when you're with people you love, you still want more people you love around you?
My sons are not around as much anymore. AJ was there with his lovely girlfriend, Ella, but Steven was not there and I missed him. If Steven had been there, we'd have no leftovers. That boy can eat!
So we came home, put the girls to bed, and I rubbed Abby's feet. She'd cooked up a storm and maintained her perfect record of creating the greatest of Thanksgiving dinners.
Leaving my in-laws' house, the main street a couple of blocks away was closed off. It was a major car accident. It makes me think about people drinking and driving and May 31, 2004, when a driver high on heroin nearly took what was most precious to me and I wonder what people are thinking. We talk about AIDS awareness and Cancer awareness and all kinds of awareness. You may not be able to control cancer, but you can control your level of self-awareness. Don't drive drunk. Don't let your friends or family do it. If you do and someone gets hurt or killed, you are responsible. It's that simple. You may not be punished by man, but you will be punished. Only an animal with complete disregard for his community would do such a thing. Don't be an animal.
So, I hope you had a happy Thanksgiving, and a safe one. I hope you counted your blessings. I hope you're not out shopping at this hour in the morning, but if you are, get me something nice!
God bless you. Make it your best day yet.
- Adolfo
Thursday, November 25, 2010
Day # 182 - Thanksgiving 365
Many of us will miss the point today. We'll watch parades and football and stuff ourselves with good food, sleep, and do it again. Sure, we'll pray some generic prayer thanking God for all the blessings we have received, but will we mean it? How many of us really appreciate all that we have? I know I sometimes miss the mark in this area. I know I'm not nearly as grateful for all the blessings I have as I should be. My life has been so full of blessings for so long that I have become a little spoiled. I have taken too many things for granted.
I am thankful for:
- My family. This includes my wife and children. My parents, my sister, and in-laws, my nieces and nephews, my cousins, second cousins, and so on. I come from a Cuban family, so everyone is my cousin. If I were to name them individually it would be like publishing the yellow pages.
- My health. Talk about taking things for granted. I don't take care of myself the way I should and yet this beat-up, overweight body of mine keeps ticking.
- My friends. I have been blessed with so many wonderful friends. Some I've known since way back when, and some have come along more recently, all are loved and appreciated.
- My country. I live in the greatest country in the history of the world. I know we are told by too many in Washington and the media that we are fat, lazy, greedy, and everything under the sun, but there has never been a place like this one. There has never been a country that offers so much freedom and opportunity. We have forgotten to be thankful for it. I would be remiss if I didn't express my gratitude for the men and women who make it all possible: the troops. They fight so we don't have to. They are away from their families so that today and every day we can enjoy ours. They are truly the best among us. Please include them in your prayers tonight.
- God. Because there can be nothing if not by His grace. He is the reason the sun comes up and he is the reason you are so marvelously complex. He is the reason for the miracles we witness every day. Don't believe there are miracles happening in the world? Look around. How else do you explain the complexity of your mind or the beauty of clouds floating in the sky? How else do you explain the birds of the air or the fish of the sea? How else do you explain you?
So take a little time to reflect, not just today, but every day. Count your blessings, not your blemishes. Remember that the Bible teaches us that not all things are good, but all things work together for good for those who believe.
Have a blessed, happy Thanksgiving. God bless you. And, uh, save me some stuffing, I may stop by later.
- Adolfo
I am thankful for:
- My family. This includes my wife and children. My parents, my sister, and in-laws, my nieces and nephews, my cousins, second cousins, and so on. I come from a Cuban family, so everyone is my cousin. If I were to name them individually it would be like publishing the yellow pages.
- My health. Talk about taking things for granted. I don't take care of myself the way I should and yet this beat-up, overweight body of mine keeps ticking.
- My friends. I have been blessed with so many wonderful friends. Some I've known since way back when, and some have come along more recently, all are loved and appreciated.
- My country. I live in the greatest country in the history of the world. I know we are told by too many in Washington and the media that we are fat, lazy, greedy, and everything under the sun, but there has never been a place like this one. There has never been a country that offers so much freedom and opportunity. We have forgotten to be thankful for it. I would be remiss if I didn't express my gratitude for the men and women who make it all possible: the troops. They fight so we don't have to. They are away from their families so that today and every day we can enjoy ours. They are truly the best among us. Please include them in your prayers tonight.
- God. Because there can be nothing if not by His grace. He is the reason the sun comes up and he is the reason you are so marvelously complex. He is the reason for the miracles we witness every day. Don't believe there are miracles happening in the world? Look around. How else do you explain the complexity of your mind or the beauty of clouds floating in the sky? How else do you explain the birds of the air or the fish of the sea? How else do you explain you?
So take a little time to reflect, not just today, but every day. Count your blessings, not your blemishes. Remember that the Bible teaches us that not all things are good, but all things work together for good for those who believe.
Have a blessed, happy Thanksgiving. God bless you. And, uh, save me some stuffing, I may stop by later.
- Adolfo
Wednesday, November 24, 2010
Day # 181 - Trust
My son, AJ, works with me. He has for years, but the situation is a little different now than it used to be. For the last four years, he had worked for the family business. Now, he works for the same company I work for. I recommended him for the job, knowing he would not let me down. I trust him. Although he is only 18 years old, he is one of my closest confidantes. He has a wisdom that is beyond his years and a common-sense unmatched by many adults.
AJ came to me yesterday to talk about personal matters. He was nervous and I understand that, but I have always told him that he can talk to me about anything he wants to talk about and I would listen. I never promised him I would be okay with every decision he made, but I would not explode or judge him. We talked about his concerns and I feel better about things. I feel even closer to him.
Not judging a person is not the same as accepting every choice they make. I am not saying that if your child is thief or a murderer you should be okay with it just because they are your child. I am, however, saying that if your kid is afraid to talk to you, or simply doesn't want to deal with your drama, they will not talk to you, and you won't be of any use to them whatsoever.
AJ and I spoke about his faith. I find myself getting closer to God every day and I want him to come with me. He has doubts about his faith, he gets angry at God, as so many of us do from time to time. He needed his father to reassure him that this is somewhat normal. Until our faith is cemented and our relationship with God is well-established, there will always be room for doubt, and blaming God for your ills is an easy, convenient way to absolve yourself of responsibility. I'm learning this now, I am grateful for the chance to teach this to him at this young age.
I do not advocate being your child's buddy, cool parents are usually not very effective. Discipline is crucial and should not be set aside so that your kid will like you. The important thing is to love your children as God loves you: without condition, without judgment, without limit.
God bless you. Make it your best day yet.
- Adolfo
AJ came to me yesterday to talk about personal matters. He was nervous and I understand that, but I have always told him that he can talk to me about anything he wants to talk about and I would listen. I never promised him I would be okay with every decision he made, but I would not explode or judge him. We talked about his concerns and I feel better about things. I feel even closer to him.
Not judging a person is not the same as accepting every choice they make. I am not saying that if your child is thief or a murderer you should be okay with it just because they are your child. I am, however, saying that if your kid is afraid to talk to you, or simply doesn't want to deal with your drama, they will not talk to you, and you won't be of any use to them whatsoever.
AJ and I spoke about his faith. I find myself getting closer to God every day and I want him to come with me. He has doubts about his faith, he gets angry at God, as so many of us do from time to time. He needed his father to reassure him that this is somewhat normal. Until our faith is cemented and our relationship with God is well-established, there will always be room for doubt, and blaming God for your ills is an easy, convenient way to absolve yourself of responsibility. I'm learning this now, I am grateful for the chance to teach this to him at this young age.
I do not advocate being your child's buddy, cool parents are usually not very effective. Discipline is crucial and should not be set aside so that your kid will like you. The important thing is to love your children as God loves you: without condition, without judgment, without limit.
God bless you. Make it your best day yet.
- Adolfo
Tuesday, November 23, 2010
Day # 180 - Dinero
Funny thing about money. We all know what we should do with it and most of us (and by most I mean the great majority) choose not to do it anyway. It's been a year since I was a banker, and it was something I truly enjoyed doing. What's interesting is that now is when I understand how bad I was at it.
I was good from my employer's standpoint: I was a good salesman, I brought in business, asked for referrals, and closed deals. But, the truth is, I didn't always do what was right for my customers. For what it's worth, I NEVER steered anyone in the wrong direction, I just sold my little heart out because that's where the money was.
I often had people come in to talk about overdraft fees. My first question was always, "Where's your check register?" 99 out of 100 customers didn't have one. Why? Because most people don't have a basic understanding of personal finance. They don't know how to balance a checkbook. They don't understand the concept of saving for a rainy day or of not getting in trouble with credit cards.
Schools are busy teaching the mythology of global warming, they're teaching about homosexuality, the nonsense of evolution, but they never teach kids how to create a budget or how a mortgage works. The banks don't mind. They make lots of money off of overdraft fees. I'm not the conspiracy theory type, but I wonder if the banks have anything to do with the fact that schools don't teach finance.
Regardless, it is the responsibility of the parents to teach their children everything they need to know, and this includes basic finance: balancing a checkbook, saving for retirement (because Social Insecurity, the worlds biggest Ponzi scheme, can't be trusted), how mortgages and insurance work. I'm not saying you need to be Warren Buffett, but you do need to know, and share, the basics, if you want your family to prosper.
Some of us learned the wrong things from our parents (I am not one of those people, thank God) and we're teaching those bad habits to our kids. It's like the battered woman who never teaches her son the importance of respecting women; it's up to us to break generational curses, and poor money-management skills are a curse. Make no mistake about it.
I wish I'd written this when I was a banker, I could have saved a lot of pain, and stuck it to the bank in the process.
God bless you. Make it your best day yet. And go balance your checkbook.
- Adolfo
I was good from my employer's standpoint: I was a good salesman, I brought in business, asked for referrals, and closed deals. But, the truth is, I didn't always do what was right for my customers. For what it's worth, I NEVER steered anyone in the wrong direction, I just sold my little heart out because that's where the money was.
I often had people come in to talk about overdraft fees. My first question was always, "Where's your check register?" 99 out of 100 customers didn't have one. Why? Because most people don't have a basic understanding of personal finance. They don't know how to balance a checkbook. They don't understand the concept of saving for a rainy day or of not getting in trouble with credit cards.
Schools are busy teaching the mythology of global warming, they're teaching about homosexuality, the nonsense of evolution, but they never teach kids how to create a budget or how a mortgage works. The banks don't mind. They make lots of money off of overdraft fees. I'm not the conspiracy theory type, but I wonder if the banks have anything to do with the fact that schools don't teach finance.
Regardless, it is the responsibility of the parents to teach their children everything they need to know, and this includes basic finance: balancing a checkbook, saving for retirement (because Social Insecurity, the worlds biggest Ponzi scheme, can't be trusted), how mortgages and insurance work. I'm not saying you need to be Warren Buffett, but you do need to know, and share, the basics, if you want your family to prosper.
Some of us learned the wrong things from our parents (I am not one of those people, thank God) and we're teaching those bad habits to our kids. It's like the battered woman who never teaches her son the importance of respecting women; it's up to us to break generational curses, and poor money-management skills are a curse. Make no mistake about it.
I wish I'd written this when I was a banker, I could have saved a lot of pain, and stuck it to the bank in the process.
God bless you. Make it your best day yet. And go balance your checkbook.
- Adolfo
Monday, November 22, 2010
Day # 179 - The Season Begins
In three more days it will be Thanksgiving. Most of us are shifting into day-off mode, "exercising" to stretch our bellies to make room for the delicacies we will enjoy on Thursday. We will gather with friends and family and we will give thanks. In many cases it will be a ritual, we pray because we're supposed to pray and we eat because it's good to eat. Then we go shopping and lose our humanity in that swirl of consumerism known as black Friday. Funny thing about the season: it gives us a chance to miss the point twice.
Potential Church, where my family and I attend service, ran a food drive in cooperation with the Miami Rescue Mission yesterday. We dropped off a couple of turkeys. It felt nice and empty to do it. Why empty? There's something just slightly off about donating food before National Pig-Out Day. I will eat better today, even if I'm not hungry, than most of the world will eat all week. I once read where someone wrote, "The next time you feel like complaining, remember that your garbage can eats better than 90% of the world." Kinda makes you think.
The message in church yesterday was about the history and meaning of the Christmas Tree. The subtext dealt with helping those less fortunate. I have, recently, become a student of Ayn Rand and her philosophy of objectivism. Objectivism is the political philosophy of ego, or, every man for himself, basically. Now I find myself needing to reconcile Objectivism with Christianity. It's easier than you'd think: the better I do, the more good I can do.
The tough part here is the give a man a fish, teach a man to fish thing. Some people were never taught to fish, they've been given fish their whole lives. How to appeal to their egos, how to get them to learn to do what has been done for them for so long, is the greatest challenge there is. The transition is challenging, not impossible, but difficult, especially in this kind of economic environment, and during the time of year when charity is expected.
What are you going to do, not only during this season, but from here on out, to help make your country and your world a better place? Who will you teach to fish? What family will you help? Where will you volunteer? What will you do? Do something, and take your children with you. If you are blessed enough to give them Thanksgiving and Christmas, even modest ones, than you are doing better than so many out there. Service to your fellow man is the path to prosperity, to understanding, to joy, and yes, to heaven.
God bless you. Make it someone else's best day yet, as well as your own.
- Adolfo
http://www.potentialchurch.com
Potential Church, where my family and I attend service, ran a food drive in cooperation with the Miami Rescue Mission yesterday. We dropped off a couple of turkeys. It felt nice and empty to do it. Why empty? There's something just slightly off about donating food before National Pig-Out Day. I will eat better today, even if I'm not hungry, than most of the world will eat all week. I once read where someone wrote, "The next time you feel like complaining, remember that your garbage can eats better than 90% of the world." Kinda makes you think.
The message in church yesterday was about the history and meaning of the Christmas Tree. The subtext dealt with helping those less fortunate. I have, recently, become a student of Ayn Rand and her philosophy of objectivism. Objectivism is the political philosophy of ego, or, every man for himself, basically. Now I find myself needing to reconcile Objectivism with Christianity. It's easier than you'd think: the better I do, the more good I can do.
The tough part here is the give a man a fish, teach a man to fish thing. Some people were never taught to fish, they've been given fish their whole lives. How to appeal to their egos, how to get them to learn to do what has been done for them for so long, is the greatest challenge there is. The transition is challenging, not impossible, but difficult, especially in this kind of economic environment, and during the time of year when charity is expected.
What are you going to do, not only during this season, but from here on out, to help make your country and your world a better place? Who will you teach to fish? What family will you help? Where will you volunteer? What will you do? Do something, and take your children with you. If you are blessed enough to give them Thanksgiving and Christmas, even modest ones, than you are doing better than so many out there. Service to your fellow man is the path to prosperity, to understanding, to joy, and yes, to heaven.
God bless you. Make it someone else's best day yet, as well as your own.
- Adolfo
http://www.potentialchurch.com
Sunday, November 21, 2010
Day # 178 - Friends
I woke up thinking about people I know - and people I've known. My daughters are 8 and 5 and already become a little anxious about their friends. I asked them yesterday if they would like to switch schools and Emily, the baby, said she wouldn't want to leave Mia, who is her BFF since 4K. I think that's precious and I love that my children are already aware of the importance of valuing friendship. I don't know where their friendship will lead. It would be wonderful for them to be one another's maid of honor some day (in the very distant future!)
I spoke to my old friend Kiki on Friday. We hadn't spoken in over a year, although his wife, Thania, and I regularly harrass one another on Facebook. It was as if no time had passed. While there was catching up to do, the dynamic of our friendship had not changed at all. We laughed about the same stupid things, told the same stupid jokes, and I silently marveled at the fact that we will both soon be forty. The other thing I realized is how much I miss him.
I have lots of friends. There are people I am close to and confide in. There are people I maintain contact with, and there are people I meet, enjoy my time with, and never or rarely see again. It's all good. This is part of a rich life, it's part of a complete life.
A friend is someone who matters in all the aspects of your life, who understands, or at least listens to you when you talk and makes you feel understood. We all can use some of this.
So, be a friend. Listen, be there. Share love and hope and your ears and your eyes. Share a laugh or a tear, or just a "remember the time when..."
Remember:
Think where man's glory most begins and ends and say my glory was I had such friends. - William Butler Yeats.
God bless you. Make it a great day.
- Adolfo
I spoke to my old friend Kiki on Friday. We hadn't spoken in over a year, although his wife, Thania, and I regularly harrass one another on Facebook. It was as if no time had passed. While there was catching up to do, the dynamic of our friendship had not changed at all. We laughed about the same stupid things, told the same stupid jokes, and I silently marveled at the fact that we will both soon be forty. The other thing I realized is how much I miss him.
I have lots of friends. There are people I am close to and confide in. There are people I maintain contact with, and there are people I meet, enjoy my time with, and never or rarely see again. It's all good. This is part of a rich life, it's part of a complete life.
A friend is someone who matters in all the aspects of your life, who understands, or at least listens to you when you talk and makes you feel understood. We all can use some of this.
So, be a friend. Listen, be there. Share love and hope and your ears and your eyes. Share a laugh or a tear, or just a "remember the time when..."
Remember:
Think where man's glory most begins and ends and say my glory was I had such friends. - William Butler Yeats.
God bless you. Make it a great day.
- Adolfo
Saturday, November 20, 2010
Day # 177 - Anniversary
A year ago today, I was let go from my job. I didn't know it at the time but that simple act would plunge me into what has been the roughest and most didactic year of my life. I don't look back at it with bitterness, but with gratitude. I had grown comfortable, fat, and lazy. Now I'm hungry. I have my ambition and desire back. I have my priorities straight. Sometimes it takes a big moment to get you to correct your course. My big moment came on November 20, 2009.
It's been said that years teach us more than books. This year was definitely the equivalent of earning a master's degree from the University of Hard Knocks. I'd already earned my bachelor's from UHK, but I needed to go back to school.
I was initially upset. I was angry, I felt like a failure, even though I'd done nothing to earn my dismissal. Like most men, I take a great deal of pride and my feeling of self-worth and man-ness from my job. I had just been castrated, emasculated. It took me seven months to find a job and it took me a while to see what a gift I'd been given.
It was a gift because the forced austerity taught me to appreciate every nickel I earn and spend. I learned the value of my labor, and of my mind. I learned the importance of time with my family. I learned that the best way to improve yourself is sometimes to break yourself - or simply to rebuild when you are already broken.
I learned who my friends are. I learned whom I cannot trust. Instead of hating my enemies, I learned the point and the value of praying for them. I learned forgiveness, humility, and the value of improving myself. I learned to live without negativity (still working on it, I admit.) I learned to submit to God's will. I learned that the noblest vengeance is to forgive.
All this from those two little words Donald Trump made cool.
I can look back at that conversation of a year ago and say it altered the course of my life. The difference between now and then is I can say it was a very good thing indeed. I can look back and even though I know I didn't deserve what was done to me, I am better for it. The loss happened on the other side of the table. It's been all positive gains for me - even if it hurt for a while.
God bless you. Make it your best day yet.
- Adolfo
It's been said that years teach us more than books. This year was definitely the equivalent of earning a master's degree from the University of Hard Knocks. I'd already earned my bachelor's from UHK, but I needed to go back to school.
I was initially upset. I was angry, I felt like a failure, even though I'd done nothing to earn my dismissal. Like most men, I take a great deal of pride and my feeling of self-worth and man-ness from my job. I had just been castrated, emasculated. It took me seven months to find a job and it took me a while to see what a gift I'd been given.
It was a gift because the forced austerity taught me to appreciate every nickel I earn and spend. I learned the value of my labor, and of my mind. I learned the importance of time with my family. I learned that the best way to improve yourself is sometimes to break yourself - or simply to rebuild when you are already broken.
I learned who my friends are. I learned whom I cannot trust. Instead of hating my enemies, I learned the point and the value of praying for them. I learned forgiveness, humility, and the value of improving myself. I learned to live without negativity (still working on it, I admit.) I learned to submit to God's will. I learned that the noblest vengeance is to forgive.
All this from those two little words Donald Trump made cool.
I can look back at that conversation of a year ago and say it altered the course of my life. The difference between now and then is I can say it was a very good thing indeed. I can look back and even though I know I didn't deserve what was done to me, I am better for it. The loss happened on the other side of the table. It's been all positive gains for me - even if it hurt for a while.
God bless you. Make it your best day yet.
- Adolfo
Friday, November 19, 2010
Day # 176 - Bridges
We've all walked away from someone or something. It may have been a job, an organization, a relationship, a neighborhood. When leaving a situation for a better opportunity, it's tempting at times to think you'll never have to look back and to therefore leave in a bad, or inconsiderate, manner.
I have witnessed this several times in the last few months, where people, when deciding to quit their jobs, have gone off on management, sending out lengthy, insulting emails, and copying - wait for it - the entire company. It's done in the hopes of taking a parting shot at their now-former bosses, but these people are hurting no one but themselves. We've all been disappointed with a job, we've all been treated unfairly, and we've all wanted to tell someone off.
What I've learned, thankfully, by observation and experience, is that the world is small and the circles of your chosen industry are even smaller. You never know who your next boss will be.
I was once part of a team that followed a director of marketing from one hotel to another. Just about every manager and every quality employee left the hotel en masse. The general manager we were abandoning asked me where I was going and I explained that this seemed like the right opportunity for me. We parted on good terms. A few years later, this man became my general manager again. I was terrified. But the fact that I had been respectful and had given my notice, and done things in a professional manner, left me with nothing to worry about. There were no hard feelings and we worked together fine.
People will come in and out of your life. That's normal. What you want to be sure of, though, is that you leave them all with the right impression, that you never have to worry what you've made someone think of you. I am not suggesting you spend your life worrying what people think of you because this will never lead to success. I am suggesting you behave in a manner which will ensure that you never have to worry what people think of you.
God bless you. Make it your best day yet.
- Adolfo
I have witnessed this several times in the last few months, where people, when deciding to quit their jobs, have gone off on management, sending out lengthy, insulting emails, and copying - wait for it - the entire company. It's done in the hopes of taking a parting shot at their now-former bosses, but these people are hurting no one but themselves. We've all been disappointed with a job, we've all been treated unfairly, and we've all wanted to tell someone off.
What I've learned, thankfully, by observation and experience, is that the world is small and the circles of your chosen industry are even smaller. You never know who your next boss will be.
I was once part of a team that followed a director of marketing from one hotel to another. Just about every manager and every quality employee left the hotel en masse. The general manager we were abandoning asked me where I was going and I explained that this seemed like the right opportunity for me. We parted on good terms. A few years later, this man became my general manager again. I was terrified. But the fact that I had been respectful and had given my notice, and done things in a professional manner, left me with nothing to worry about. There were no hard feelings and we worked together fine.
People will come in and out of your life. That's normal. What you want to be sure of, though, is that you leave them all with the right impression, that you never have to worry what you've made someone think of you. I am not suggesting you spend your life worrying what people think of you because this will never lead to success. I am suggesting you behave in a manner which will ensure that you never have to worry what people think of you.
God bless you. Make it your best day yet.
- Adolfo
Thursday, November 18, 2010
Day # 175 - Pull
Inertia is one of the most powerful inside-of-us killers of potential. It's so easy to stay with what is comfortable. It's easy to stay on the couch in front of the TV and not read a book that will make you better. It's easy to gossip with your friends by the water cooler when you should be making prospecting calls. It's easy to eat cookies when you should be at the gym or riding your bike. With the exception of the TV, I am, to some degree or other, guilty of all of the above.
I get my work done, I go the extra mile, but I often pull over when on the extra mile and see the sights. I agree that you have to stop and smell the roses, but not until your work is done. You must fight the pull.
Pull comes in many forms. There are millions of productivity and personal-development thieves out there. Television is my pet-peeve, but the Internet can be as bad. News is a killer, gossip is a killer, laziness is a killer. The list goes on and on. In order to better yourself, you must resist pull. You must realize that your natural inclination will always be toward the easy, the lazy path.
I want to make a distinction between inclination and instinct. I trust my instinct 100%. You should listen to your gut. Listen to still small voice in your heart. Inclination is our body's natural, often lazy, tendency to do what is easy or pleasurable. Follow your instinct, but fight your tendency. Until your tendencies are all transformed into positive habits, it's an uphill, in-the-snow and driving wind battle. But once you create new tendencies, you will be better off.
I have won the battle against caffeine. I resolved on June 11, 2010 that I would never drink another drop of caffeine and I haven't. It's been five months and I can't imagine ever drinking caffeine again. I wake up early, I function perfectly, no crankiness, sleepiness, irritability, or any of the other things caffeine addicts experience when they don't get their fix. I know, I used to be one of them. I find myself rejecting alcohol, too. I used to enjoy the occasional glass of wine. Abby and I have quite a few very nice bottles in the house. Now, they all taste like vinegar to me. This is not to say I'll never drink another adult beverage, but I probably won't.
I resisted the pull of caffeine, suffered for days through the worst headache of my life, and now I'm free. I resisted the pull and I won. I resisted the pull of news and I am now a much more positive person. I am not an alcoholic and don't have a problem with alcohol, but I am not drawn to it. It can only be good for my health so I won't fight it. I welcome it. Now, about those cookies...
God bless you and thanks for reading. Resist the pull and you'll be on your way to a better you.
- Adolfo
I get my work done, I go the extra mile, but I often pull over when on the extra mile and see the sights. I agree that you have to stop and smell the roses, but not until your work is done. You must fight the pull.
Pull comes in many forms. There are millions of productivity and personal-development thieves out there. Television is my pet-peeve, but the Internet can be as bad. News is a killer, gossip is a killer, laziness is a killer. The list goes on and on. In order to better yourself, you must resist pull. You must realize that your natural inclination will always be toward the easy, the lazy path.
I want to make a distinction between inclination and instinct. I trust my instinct 100%. You should listen to your gut. Listen to still small voice in your heart. Inclination is our body's natural, often lazy, tendency to do what is easy or pleasurable. Follow your instinct, but fight your tendency. Until your tendencies are all transformed into positive habits, it's an uphill, in-the-snow and driving wind battle. But once you create new tendencies, you will be better off.
I have won the battle against caffeine. I resolved on June 11, 2010 that I would never drink another drop of caffeine and I haven't. It's been five months and I can't imagine ever drinking caffeine again. I wake up early, I function perfectly, no crankiness, sleepiness, irritability, or any of the other things caffeine addicts experience when they don't get their fix. I know, I used to be one of them. I find myself rejecting alcohol, too. I used to enjoy the occasional glass of wine. Abby and I have quite a few very nice bottles in the house. Now, they all taste like vinegar to me. This is not to say I'll never drink another adult beverage, but I probably won't.
I resisted the pull of caffeine, suffered for days through the worst headache of my life, and now I'm free. I resisted the pull and I won. I resisted the pull of news and I am now a much more positive person. I am not an alcoholic and don't have a problem with alcohol, but I am not drawn to it. It can only be good for my health so I won't fight it. I welcome it. Now, about those cookies...
God bless you and thanks for reading. Resist the pull and you'll be on your way to a better you.
- Adolfo
Wednesday, November 17, 2010
Day # 174 - Big Brother
While my aim has been to avoid news, there are often stories that are so pervasive, so ever-present, that I can't help hearing about them and forming an opinion - something I've been known to do sometimes.
What I'm referring to is the airport scanner / pat-down situation the administration has decided to throw at us just a week or so before the busiest travel day of the year. In case you're even more uninformed than I am, the Transportation Safety Administration (TSA) has installed full body scanners in airports in an effort to stop terrorists from getting on planes. The problem is that these scanners leave nothing to the imagination. It also turns out the images of your naked body will be stored. Of course, you can opt for a groping, I mean, a pat-down, which is roughly the equivalent of letting a TSA Stormtrooper slide into third base.
Our National Security Moron Janet Napolitano says the administration is considering an exception for women in Burkas. Have you seen the pictures of the nun and the three-year old girl being pat down? When was the last time a nun blew up a plane? And the only time babies blow up is in the cereal aisle. So, in the name of political correctness, air travel has now become a grope-fest.
I am reminded of the world I'm living in whenever I drive in Broward County, Florida in what used to be the United States of America. You can't stop at an intersection and not see the invasive eye of the camera staring at you from one direction or another. My point is, where does it end?
I gave up news and this makes me glad I did. It also makes me wish I hadn't. There is so much happening out there that I feel not being informed is almost dangerous. Maybe everything in moderation?
No. I feel much too positive to allow Comrade Obama and Company to creep back into my life.
I will say we could learn a lot from El Al, the Israeli airline. They don't probe or poke. They profile, and it works. Their safety record is perfect. No terrorist attacks on what is, by far, the hottest target on the planet. Forget political correctness and keep us safe while respecting our privacy. The day toddlers and grandmothers start blowing up planes, you'll have my support for this kind of nonsense - come to think of it, no. I'd rather give up my life than my freedom.
On a smaller scale, a kid named Andrew DeMarchis decided to sell cupcakes at the local park and was shut down by the cops when a councilman found out he was (gasp!) earning money without a permit. What a bastard! The kid is 12 years old! Remember lemonade stands, councilman? No, you're probably one of those spineless types who never had the stones to be entrepreneurial.
Dear Reader, I implore you, don't let the long arm of government get a hold of you. Soon after, its hand will be around your throat. Stand up for your rights. It's all we have.
- Adolfo
This has been an editorial and it most definitely reflects the views of Adolfo Jimenez
What I'm referring to is the airport scanner / pat-down situation the administration has decided to throw at us just a week or so before the busiest travel day of the year. In case you're even more uninformed than I am, the Transportation Safety Administration (TSA) has installed full body scanners in airports in an effort to stop terrorists from getting on planes. The problem is that these scanners leave nothing to the imagination. It also turns out the images of your naked body will be stored. Of course, you can opt for a groping, I mean, a pat-down, which is roughly the equivalent of letting a TSA Stormtrooper slide into third base.
Our National Security Moron Janet Napolitano says the administration is considering an exception for women in Burkas. Have you seen the pictures of the nun and the three-year old girl being pat down? When was the last time a nun blew up a plane? And the only time babies blow up is in the cereal aisle. So, in the name of political correctness, air travel has now become a grope-fest.
I am reminded of the world I'm living in whenever I drive in Broward County, Florida in what used to be the United States of America. You can't stop at an intersection and not see the invasive eye of the camera staring at you from one direction or another. My point is, where does it end?
I gave up news and this makes me glad I did. It also makes me wish I hadn't. There is so much happening out there that I feel not being informed is almost dangerous. Maybe everything in moderation?
No. I feel much too positive to allow Comrade Obama and Company to creep back into my life.
I will say we could learn a lot from El Al, the Israeli airline. They don't probe or poke. They profile, and it works. Their safety record is perfect. No terrorist attacks on what is, by far, the hottest target on the planet. Forget political correctness and keep us safe while respecting our privacy. The day toddlers and grandmothers start blowing up planes, you'll have my support for this kind of nonsense - come to think of it, no. I'd rather give up my life than my freedom.
On a smaller scale, a kid named Andrew DeMarchis decided to sell cupcakes at the local park and was shut down by the cops when a councilman found out he was (gasp!) earning money without a permit. What a bastard! The kid is 12 years old! Remember lemonade stands, councilman? No, you're probably one of those spineless types who never had the stones to be entrepreneurial.
Dear Reader, I implore you, don't let the long arm of government get a hold of you. Soon after, its hand will be around your throat. Stand up for your rights. It's all we have.
- Adolfo
This has been an editorial and it most definitely reflects the views of Adolfo Jimenez
Tuesday, November 16, 2010
Day # 173 - The Right Moment
Have you ever felt the urge or the desire to do something big, something out of the ordinary, and then stopped yourself because it didn't seem like the right time? I don't mean buying a sports car you can't afford or a $1,000 pair of shoes. I mean something of substance, something of importance.
Have you been thinking of starting a business or going back to school? Have you thought about switching careers and doing what you really love? Have you thought of quitting everything and backpacking across Europe, or the U.S.? How about training to run a marathon? Where does it itch?
I can tell you from my own experience that waiting for the right moment is no different than deciding not to do it at all. Why? Because the right moment will never arrive. The stars will never align just so. The right moment is the moment when inspiration strikes. Do not doubt your gut. Your gut is the voice of God whispering in your ear. If that still, small voice says it's time, then you'd better believe it's time. Don't fear failure. Don't fear rejection. The biggest failure is the failure to act. The biggest, and most painful, rejection is when we reject what the voice is telling us; when we put things off, waiting for another, better, moment.
Whatever it is that's been itching, scratch it. Do what you have to do in order to do what you want to do. All you have in the end are the memories. All you create will be left behind. Decide what that will be and then make it happen. You don't want to lay there at the end of your days, wishing you had done something. People who find themselves there will tell you there was never a right moment or a wrong one, but that every moment could have been the moment, if only they had chosen to make it so.
- Adolfo
Have you been thinking of starting a business or going back to school? Have you thought about switching careers and doing what you really love? Have you thought of quitting everything and backpacking across Europe, or the U.S.? How about training to run a marathon? Where does it itch?
I can tell you from my own experience that waiting for the right moment is no different than deciding not to do it at all. Why? Because the right moment will never arrive. The stars will never align just so. The right moment is the moment when inspiration strikes. Do not doubt your gut. Your gut is the voice of God whispering in your ear. If that still, small voice says it's time, then you'd better believe it's time. Don't fear failure. Don't fear rejection. The biggest failure is the failure to act. The biggest, and most painful, rejection is when we reject what the voice is telling us; when we put things off, waiting for another, better, moment.
Whatever it is that's been itching, scratch it. Do what you have to do in order to do what you want to do. All you have in the end are the memories. All you create will be left behind. Decide what that will be and then make it happen. You don't want to lay there at the end of your days, wishing you had done something. People who find themselves there will tell you there was never a right moment or a wrong one, but that every moment could have been the moment, if only they had chosen to make it so.
- Adolfo
Monday, November 15, 2010
Day # 172 - As long as I'm up...
For so long, I've woken up in the middle of the night and made no use of the time, thinking of it as an inconvenience, or TV time, or time for mindless web-surfing. Now that I have no TV, I am putting the time to better use. I pray for a while and then I go online to write this blog.
I have written about those small hours when the rest of the world is asleep and you can listen to God but I have a hard time taking my own advice. I allow the anticipation of the noise ahead to steal the silence. I begin to think about work or other challenges and I drown out God's voice. I lose the opportunity to spend time with Him because I am too busy trying to figure out how to do it all on my own.
So I'm writing and soon, after I post, I will either go back to bed to sleep, or I will sit here in my office to pray, to let God guide me. Sometimes, we let our ego convince us that we don't need God. We believe we do everything we do on our own, without help, without divine protection. Maybe we can do it all on our own, but why would we want to?
For me, the hardest part of prayer is keeping my mind from wandering. The day, the stresses, the challenges, the negative voices, all creep in and distract me. It's like they're designed to keep me from speaking to, or more importantly, listening to, God. Even as I write this, in an effort to acknowledge the challenges, the distractions come up: a piece of paper of no particular importance catches my eye; a sound outside; the noise of the house settling or the breeze knocking a branch off a tree. The world conspires to keep me from God, to keep me from my best. I am complicit in this because I allow it to happen. Not for long.
Find your quiet time. Find time to be alone with God, alone with your thoughts. Quiet the noise and find peace. It is there that you'll find God. It is there that you'll find answers.
- Adolfo
I have written about those small hours when the rest of the world is asleep and you can listen to God but I have a hard time taking my own advice. I allow the anticipation of the noise ahead to steal the silence. I begin to think about work or other challenges and I drown out God's voice. I lose the opportunity to spend time with Him because I am too busy trying to figure out how to do it all on my own.
So I'm writing and soon, after I post, I will either go back to bed to sleep, or I will sit here in my office to pray, to let God guide me. Sometimes, we let our ego convince us that we don't need God. We believe we do everything we do on our own, without help, without divine protection. Maybe we can do it all on our own, but why would we want to?
For me, the hardest part of prayer is keeping my mind from wandering. The day, the stresses, the challenges, the negative voices, all creep in and distract me. It's like they're designed to keep me from speaking to, or more importantly, listening to, God. Even as I write this, in an effort to acknowledge the challenges, the distractions come up: a piece of paper of no particular importance catches my eye; a sound outside; the noise of the house settling or the breeze knocking a branch off a tree. The world conspires to keep me from God, to keep me from my best. I am complicit in this because I allow it to happen. Not for long.
Find your quiet time. Find time to be alone with God, alone with your thoughts. Quiet the noise and find peace. It is there that you'll find God. It is there that you'll find answers.
- Adolfo
Sunday, November 14, 2010
Day # 171 - What Not To Change
This exercise has been about change. Change is constant and would be happening to me anyway, but I decided to take the wheel and guide myself to the right kind of changes. I was in class yesterday at church. It's a class on personal finance, and, being a reformed banker, it's amazing that I already know and understand everything we're "learning," but was trained by my employers to convince my clients that the opposite was good for them.
After class, the subject of finances for single people came up. I gave the singles in the class one bit of advice: learn good money habits, and when you meet the person you will spend your life with, make sure they share your good habits, don't allow their uninformed habits to rub off on you.
As the years pass, we mature. (Nothing obvious about that statement.) But sometimes, we can lose track of our goals or trade in our good habits as our lives get busier. We can get so caught up in a moment, a movement, a person, a relationship, a problem, or countless other things, that we trade off out principles, or lose sight of them. You need to stay focused on what is right and what works and never let go of that.
After class, the subject of finances for single people came up. I gave the singles in the class one bit of advice: learn good money habits, and when you meet the person you will spend your life with, make sure they share your good habits, don't allow their uninformed habits to rub off on you.
As the years pass, we mature. (Nothing obvious about that statement.) But sometimes, we can lose track of our goals or trade in our good habits as our lives get busier. We can get so caught up in a moment, a movement, a person, a relationship, a problem, or countless other things, that we trade off out principles, or lose sight of them. You need to stay focused on what is right and what works and never let go of that.
Saturday, November 13, 2010
Day # 170 - Traffic
There is an expression: "There are no traffic jams on the extra mile." It's true. Truer words may never have been spoken. It's when you are going above and beyond that you will encounter the least resistance. It's when your out early or out late, that that the noise has quieted down or gone away and you are free to do your best.
You can accomplish anything if you don't care who gets the credit or who sees you doing the work. If you are willing to work in solitude, in the shadows, far from the eyes of your peers and far from the chatter of the proverbial water cooler, there is no limit to what you can accomplish.
At least twice a month, I head into my office at about 7:00AM and I catch up on the work I don't like doing, but have to do. I get it out of the way before the phone starts ringing and people start popping into my office, and I clear the junk off my desk, answer emails, file, and all the other stuff that takes time I don't have. After one of these sessions, I feel completely revived and energized because the nonsense is out of the way. Now, I can focus on clients and the parts of my job I enjoy.
Make a little time every day for yourself. Not "Calgon, take me away" bubble bath time, but time to do a little extra, time to travel the extra mile. You'll be glad you did.
- Adolfo
You can accomplish anything if you don't care who gets the credit or who sees you doing the work. If you are willing to work in solitude, in the shadows, far from the eyes of your peers and far from the chatter of the proverbial water cooler, there is no limit to what you can accomplish.
At least twice a month, I head into my office at about 7:00AM and I catch up on the work I don't like doing, but have to do. I get it out of the way before the phone starts ringing and people start popping into my office, and I clear the junk off my desk, answer emails, file, and all the other stuff that takes time I don't have. After one of these sessions, I feel completely revived and energized because the nonsense is out of the way. Now, I can focus on clients and the parts of my job I enjoy.
Make a little time every day for yourself. Not "Calgon, take me away" bubble bath time, but time to do a little extra, time to travel the extra mile. You'll be glad you did.
- Adolfo
Friday, November 12, 2010
Day # 169 - Gossip
It is a destructive force. It can ruin relationships, reputations, careers, and even lives. Gossip is so bad even the bible speaks against it. Yet, we are all guilty of it. I know, because I am one of the guilty. We often try to depict gossip as an activity belonging only to women, but men are just as guilty. When someone gossips, it is a display of their character – or lack thereof. Gossip is an activity of cowards and hypocrites. Like we said when we were kids: if you have something to say, say it to my face.
I encounter gossip on a regular basis. Oftentimes I manage to keep my mouth shut. Other times I get sucked right into the sewer. There are lots of reasons to gossip, ranging from their insecurities to jealousy and envy, or just being a lousy person. We gossip to make ourselves feel better – it’s sad when the only way to do that is by tearing others down.
As I mentioned, I am as guilty of it as anyone else. The worst part is that I despise this type of behavior. I know it’s wrong. It’s low. I have improved in my ability to avoid it, but I slip. It takes a constant effort. Quitting gossip is like quitting smoking or giving up caffeine: it takes effort, dedication, and motivation.
You have to know why you’re doing what you’re doing. Then you have to do it.
How I fight it is simply by walking away. If I can’t walk away, I choose not to participate. Sometimes, I am the agitator, the destroyer, if you will. I am learning to pull myself back and to focus on the task at hand. It’s easy to get lost if you allow yourself to enjoy the gossiping and backbiting. It can actually feel good to talk about others. You think you’re hurting them when really you’re only hurting yourself.
Sometimes we gossip because we want to be part of the clique. We want to be in with a group of people so we gossip about the boss, we gossip about coworkers. We gossip about our friends or even our family. Think I’m kidding? Have you never complained about your spouse to someone? Think real hard on this one. Have you ever told someone of the opposite sex something about your spouse? Something unflattering and personal – even private? You want to believe you were venting, not gossiping. Keep lying to yourself if you must. You know the truth. You may have been “venting” but when that person twists and tells the tale to the next person, you have started the snowball that could easily become an avalanche. And you did it to someone you love.
We should honor and praise our spouses, our co-workers, our loved ones and even our bosses. I know you’re thinking I don’t know your boss, or the snakes you work with. This may be true, but you need to rise above it all. If you need to vent, I understand that, but save it for your spouse, or your best friend, not for standing around the water cooler. Decompression should never equal destruction.
Would you trust someone who you knew to be a hypocrite? Of course not, but you are painting yourself to be a hypocrite when you backstab and gossip. If you gossip to me about her, how do I know you won’t gossip to her about me? I don’t. All I know from this conversation is that you can’t be trusted.
Be the bigger person. Walk away. Disengage from the gossip and the noise and the hypocrisy. Be impeccable with your words.
Remember:
- Walk away.
- Be an excellent person. Excellent persons do not gossip or accuse people who aren’t around to answer the accusation.
- Praise publicly. Criticize privately.
- You can’t expect to be trusted if you are viewed as a hypocrite.
May God bless you and help you to keep your mouth shut. Make it your best, gossip-free day yet.
- Adolfo
I encounter gossip on a regular basis. Oftentimes I manage to keep my mouth shut. Other times I get sucked right into the sewer. There are lots of reasons to gossip, ranging from their insecurities to jealousy and envy, or just being a lousy person. We gossip to make ourselves feel better – it’s sad when the only way to do that is by tearing others down.
As I mentioned, I am as guilty of it as anyone else. The worst part is that I despise this type of behavior. I know it’s wrong. It’s low. I have improved in my ability to avoid it, but I slip. It takes a constant effort. Quitting gossip is like quitting smoking or giving up caffeine: it takes effort, dedication, and motivation.
You have to know why you’re doing what you’re doing. Then you have to do it.
How I fight it is simply by walking away. If I can’t walk away, I choose not to participate. Sometimes, I am the agitator, the destroyer, if you will. I am learning to pull myself back and to focus on the task at hand. It’s easy to get lost if you allow yourself to enjoy the gossiping and backbiting. It can actually feel good to talk about others. You think you’re hurting them when really you’re only hurting yourself.
Sometimes we gossip because we want to be part of the clique. We want to be in with a group of people so we gossip about the boss, we gossip about coworkers. We gossip about our friends or even our family. Think I’m kidding? Have you never complained about your spouse to someone? Think real hard on this one. Have you ever told someone of the opposite sex something about your spouse? Something unflattering and personal – even private? You want to believe you were venting, not gossiping. Keep lying to yourself if you must. You know the truth. You may have been “venting” but when that person twists and tells the tale to the next person, you have started the snowball that could easily become an avalanche. And you did it to someone you love.
We should honor and praise our spouses, our co-workers, our loved ones and even our bosses. I know you’re thinking I don’t know your boss, or the snakes you work with. This may be true, but you need to rise above it all. If you need to vent, I understand that, but save it for your spouse, or your best friend, not for standing around the water cooler. Decompression should never equal destruction.
Would you trust someone who you knew to be a hypocrite? Of course not, but you are painting yourself to be a hypocrite when you backstab and gossip. If you gossip to me about her, how do I know you won’t gossip to her about me? I don’t. All I know from this conversation is that you can’t be trusted.
Be the bigger person. Walk away. Disengage from the gossip and the noise and the hypocrisy. Be impeccable with your words.
Remember:
- Walk away.
- Be an excellent person. Excellent persons do not gossip or accuse people who aren’t around to answer the accusation.
- Praise publicly. Criticize privately.
- You can’t expect to be trusted if you are viewed as a hypocrite.
May God bless you and help you to keep your mouth shut. Make it your best, gossip-free day yet.
- Adolfo
Thursday, November 11, 2010
Day # 168 - Chain of Command
In life, and in business, there is always a chain of command. We all have to answer to someone - a boss, a customer, a voter, parents, loved ones. Even the president is supposed to answer to voters; although that probably doesn't happen the way it's supposed to.
Too often, people look for who to blame, not how to fix a particular problem. It's easier and, for the weasels, cleaner. These people don't realize that when you point a finger, three are pointing back at you. Those who attempt to profit at the expense of others will eventually have to answer for their actions. Of course, when that moment comes, they'll sink down into the abyss pointing at the iceberg.
I think about the recent foreclosure mess. Politicians pointed fingers at the banks, when it had a lot to do with banks complying with the rules congress had set forth. Did you hear Barney Frank talk about how the congress should have kept a closer eye on Fannie and Freddie? Of course not. Taking responsibility, especially when things are a mess, is a grown-up thing to do. Congress is clearly not up to the task. They pointed those fingers and no one said a word, but history will be the final judge.
Be different. Be a problem solver. I've said it before: Only point your finger to lead the way. When you see a problem in your organization, don't think of how you can use it to burn someone; figure out a solution. Don't ignore problems, deal with them. If you want to come to the attention of the right people, this is how it's to be done. Besides, life has a way of paying you back for these things. Some call it Karma. Call it what you will - if you are one of these finger-pointing, backstabbing people, you are getting slaughtered in other areas of your life, even if you don't know it yet.
Do the right thing; you will be rewarded.
- Adolfo
Too often, people look for who to blame, not how to fix a particular problem. It's easier and, for the weasels, cleaner. These people don't realize that when you point a finger, three are pointing back at you. Those who attempt to profit at the expense of others will eventually have to answer for their actions. Of course, when that moment comes, they'll sink down into the abyss pointing at the iceberg.
I think about the recent foreclosure mess. Politicians pointed fingers at the banks, when it had a lot to do with banks complying with the rules congress had set forth. Did you hear Barney Frank talk about how the congress should have kept a closer eye on Fannie and Freddie? Of course not. Taking responsibility, especially when things are a mess, is a grown-up thing to do. Congress is clearly not up to the task. They pointed those fingers and no one said a word, but history will be the final judge.
Be different. Be a problem solver. I've said it before: Only point your finger to lead the way. When you see a problem in your organization, don't think of how you can use it to burn someone; figure out a solution. Don't ignore problems, deal with them. If you want to come to the attention of the right people, this is how it's to be done. Besides, life has a way of paying you back for these things. Some call it Karma. Call it what you will - if you are one of these finger-pointing, backstabbing people, you are getting slaughtered in other areas of your life, even if you don't know it yet.
Do the right thing; you will be rewarded.
- Adolfo
Wednesday, November 10, 2010
Day # 167 - Self-fulfilling Prophecies
The "fall back" change in time has me out of sorts. I'm sleepy by nine and up before 2:00AM every day. It happens every year. Why does it happen every year? Because I expect it to happen every year; because I just said it happens every year. It is a self-fulfilling prophecy because I choose to fulfill it.
A self-fulfilling prophecy is something that doesn't really exist. We decide if the prophecy will come true or not. We determine the future, not blind luck or "fate." Fate and destiny are negotiable. Never forget that.
I think back to my teachers when I was a kid and how many of them told me how full of promise and potential I was. I think I should have listened. They prophecied that I would be a great man. I chose not to fulfill that prophecy (for a while, anyway.)
On of the central themes of this blog is that you will meet yourself at your expectations. If you expect to be great, you will be. If you expect less, you'll be less. No one decides this but you. Until I stop expecting to have a hard time sleeping after the end of Daylight Savings Time, I will continue to have a hard time sleeping. Until I expect great things, I will have to settle for mediocrity.
Say what you want out loud. Don't just say you want it. Say it as if you already have it. "I am successful," or, "I have a happy marriage," Whatever you want, you must believe you already have it. Visualize your ideal self, the more successful you, and let the prophecy be fulfilled!
God bless you. Expect a great day - you will get it!
- Adolfo
A self-fulfilling prophecy is something that doesn't really exist. We decide if the prophecy will come true or not. We determine the future, not blind luck or "fate." Fate and destiny are negotiable. Never forget that.
I think back to my teachers when I was a kid and how many of them told me how full of promise and potential I was. I think I should have listened. They prophecied that I would be a great man. I chose not to fulfill that prophecy (for a while, anyway.)
On of the central themes of this blog is that you will meet yourself at your expectations. If you expect to be great, you will be. If you expect less, you'll be less. No one decides this but you. Until I stop expecting to have a hard time sleeping after the end of Daylight Savings Time, I will continue to have a hard time sleeping. Until I expect great things, I will have to settle for mediocrity.
Say what you want out loud. Don't just say you want it. Say it as if you already have it. "I am successful," or, "I have a happy marriage," Whatever you want, you must believe you already have it. Visualize your ideal self, the more successful you, and let the prophecy be fulfilled!
God bless you. Expect a great day - you will get it!
- Adolfo
Tuesday, November 9, 2010
Day 166 - From Ambition to Meaning
Wayne Dyer calls it "The Shift," the time in your life when your focus shifts from ambition to meaning. It's a revelation of sorts. You stop caring so much about what you can have and start caring more about what you can give.
Of course, I still have ambition. I want to be great at what I do. I want to earn a living and my family will endure no hardship because of my shift. On the contrary, the more I focus on the welfare of others, the more God will bless my family. I have seen this working in my life and it will continue working in my life. The question now is one of degrees.
I don't care for the toys. I never really have, but I care less than ever. I don't want the nice cars, the boat, the summer home. None of it holds my interest anymore. I still want to see the world and have a nice dinner now and then, but I'll see it in my little car. Hold the Cadillac.
Abby and I sat up late last night talking and we both agreed: we've reached a point in our life where the only motivation to make lots of money is to give lots of money away. We aren't ready to give too much away yet, but we are working on it. We are getting our house in order so that it may serve the Lord, and all of humanity. Our legacy need not be an inheritance of money. Our legacy will be one of character. Our children will be able to say their parents made a difference.
Have you found your meaning? Have you decided what you will do to make the world better? I know you say you want to make the world a better place; everyone does. What everyone doesn't do is get to the business of doing it. Choose your passion and give a little bit of yourself or a little bit of your money to it. I am not talking about contributions to politicians if you have a passion for politics. In this area, I would recommend giving your time in order to build your sphere of influence. Volunteer to help kids learn to read. Sponsor a little league team, or coach one. Counsel teenage moms. Lock yourself in your room and pray.
The world needs you and your talents and your dreams. Don't let them go to waste. The time to start is now.
- Adolfo
http://ayearwithoutnews.blogspot.com
http://www.cakewhimsybyabdaliz.com
http://www.honeybeepartyrental.com
http://www.facebook.com/adolfojimenez1
http://www.twitter.com/adolfojimenez
Of course, I still have ambition. I want to be great at what I do. I want to earn a living and my family will endure no hardship because of my shift. On the contrary, the more I focus on the welfare of others, the more God will bless my family. I have seen this working in my life and it will continue working in my life. The question now is one of degrees.
I don't care for the toys. I never really have, but I care less than ever. I don't want the nice cars, the boat, the summer home. None of it holds my interest anymore. I still want to see the world and have a nice dinner now and then, but I'll see it in my little car. Hold the Cadillac.
Abby and I sat up late last night talking and we both agreed: we've reached a point in our life where the only motivation to make lots of money is to give lots of money away. We aren't ready to give too much away yet, but we are working on it. We are getting our house in order so that it may serve the Lord, and all of humanity. Our legacy need not be an inheritance of money. Our legacy will be one of character. Our children will be able to say their parents made a difference.
Have you found your meaning? Have you decided what you will do to make the world better? I know you say you want to make the world a better place; everyone does. What everyone doesn't do is get to the business of doing it. Choose your passion and give a little bit of yourself or a little bit of your money to it. I am not talking about contributions to politicians if you have a passion for politics. In this area, I would recommend giving your time in order to build your sphere of influence. Volunteer to help kids learn to read. Sponsor a little league team, or coach one. Counsel teenage moms. Lock yourself in your room and pray.
The world needs you and your talents and your dreams. Don't let them go to waste. The time to start is now.
- Adolfo
http://ayearwithoutnews.blogspot.com
http://www.cakewhimsybyabdaliz.com
http://www.honeybeepartyrental.com
http://www.facebook.com/adolfojimenez1
http://www.twitter.com/adolfojimenez
Monday, November 8, 2010
Day # 165 - In His Service
For years, all I thought about was becoming a writer. I dedicated every spare moment to my craft, waking early to let the creative juices flow. I was prolific, writing six screenplays, five novels, hundreds of poems, dozens of short stories and essays.
Then I stopped.
Just like that. I stopped writing. Years went by and it was always somewhere in the back of my mind, like a dirty secret. I talked about it once in a while, like an old man who'd been the high school football star. Yeah, I'd tell them, I used to write. Wrote a whole bunch. I could have been one of the good ones.
Eventually, I started writing again, but fiction seemed so trivial. I wrote speeches and I wrote on politics and social issues. Suddenly I was creative again. But I missed fiction. Is it really trivial? No. It's vital.
I wrote a column for the chamber of commerce during my chairmanship. It was cheerleading, mostly, I was vacuuming the carpets on the Titanic post-iceberg. Pointless, but it kept the muscles somewhat loose.
Then I started this blog. I don't know what I hoped to accomplish. I'm not even sure what inspired me, but here I am, writing. Is it "creative" writing? Probably not. Am I going to win a Pulitzer or make a fortune doing this? Nope. Does that matter? Not in the slightest.
The point of this project was to improve myself. Mission somewhat Accomplished. The beauty is that self improvement never ends. We can always get better. We can always do more, be more, expect more (of ourselves.) With this in mind, I volunteered at my church's creative arts department. I went in last night, with several other members of the church, and discussed how I can be of service to God through my writing.
When I think of some of what I've written, I feel a bit embarrassed, maybe even ashamed. Would I want my children to form their opinions of me by reading this stuff? Probably not. The best way to counter it is to write something they can be proud of. And what better than service to God and to mankind? It is my sincere hope that this blog helps you, dear reader, as much as it's helped me. I know many of you who read me, mostly on facebook, make comments, and many more of you don't. I pray that in some small way, I can inspire you, even though that was the last thing on my mind when I began.
I wanted to work the fat out of my mind with this project. I wanted to become a novelist, or essayist. I wanted to make my life better, and, perhaps, make a better living from my keyboard. I still don't know what will happen, but I know my life is better. I also know that if I can serve God using this ability (is it odd that I don't want to call it talent?) that I have put it to the best possible use.
In a time in my life when I feel my heart being pulled in the direction of ministry, this may be the perfect way for me to begin down this path. I hope you will be there with me. I hope my experience will inspire you.
In spite of the challenges of the past year, I feel happier and more fulfilled than I have at any other time in my life. Yes, there are things I need to fix, relationships in need of mending, but I feel as if God is giving me the tools to make the necessary repairs. Every day is a new beginning, every day is the best day of my life.
Take care of yourself. Use your talents to serve others. God bless you.
- Adolfo
http://ayearwithoutnews.blogspot.com
http://www.cakewhimsybyabdaliz.com
http://www.honeybeepartyrental.com
http://www.facebook.com/adolfojimenez1
http://www.twitter.com/adolfojimenez
Then I stopped.
Just like that. I stopped writing. Years went by and it was always somewhere in the back of my mind, like a dirty secret. I talked about it once in a while, like an old man who'd been the high school football star. Yeah, I'd tell them, I used to write. Wrote a whole bunch. I could have been one of the good ones.
Eventually, I started writing again, but fiction seemed so trivial. I wrote speeches and I wrote on politics and social issues. Suddenly I was creative again. But I missed fiction. Is it really trivial? No. It's vital.
I wrote a column for the chamber of commerce during my chairmanship. It was cheerleading, mostly, I was vacuuming the carpets on the Titanic post-iceberg. Pointless, but it kept the muscles somewhat loose.
Then I started this blog. I don't know what I hoped to accomplish. I'm not even sure what inspired me, but here I am, writing. Is it "creative" writing? Probably not. Am I going to win a Pulitzer or make a fortune doing this? Nope. Does that matter? Not in the slightest.
The point of this project was to improve myself. Mission somewhat Accomplished. The beauty is that self improvement never ends. We can always get better. We can always do more, be more, expect more (of ourselves.) With this in mind, I volunteered at my church's creative arts department. I went in last night, with several other members of the church, and discussed how I can be of service to God through my writing.
When I think of some of what I've written, I feel a bit embarrassed, maybe even ashamed. Would I want my children to form their opinions of me by reading this stuff? Probably not. The best way to counter it is to write something they can be proud of. And what better than service to God and to mankind? It is my sincere hope that this blog helps you, dear reader, as much as it's helped me. I know many of you who read me, mostly on facebook, make comments, and many more of you don't. I pray that in some small way, I can inspire you, even though that was the last thing on my mind when I began.
I wanted to work the fat out of my mind with this project. I wanted to become a novelist, or essayist. I wanted to make my life better, and, perhaps, make a better living from my keyboard. I still don't know what will happen, but I know my life is better. I also know that if I can serve God using this ability (is it odd that I don't want to call it talent?) that I have put it to the best possible use.
In a time in my life when I feel my heart being pulled in the direction of ministry, this may be the perfect way for me to begin down this path. I hope you will be there with me. I hope my experience will inspire you.
In spite of the challenges of the past year, I feel happier and more fulfilled than I have at any other time in my life. Yes, there are things I need to fix, relationships in need of mending, but I feel as if God is giving me the tools to make the necessary repairs. Every day is a new beginning, every day is the best day of my life.
Take care of yourself. Use your talents to serve others. God bless you.
- Adolfo
http://ayearwithoutnews.blogspot.com
http://www.cakewhimsybyabdaliz.com
http://www.honeybeepartyrental.com
http://www.facebook.com/adolfojimenez1
http://www.twitter.com/adolfojimenez
Sunday, November 7, 2010
Day # 164 - Confessions of a Dangerous Banker
The Great Recession has affected my family like it has affected most families. I lost my job, my business went down the tubes and my lifestyle has changed. Yet, I am happier than I have been in a long time. While I make and spend less money, I have found ways to experience life in a more positive, fulfilling way.
I was thinking about my years as a banker and financial advisor and the lies I told people during that time. Mostly, I was saying what I was trained to say. I was ignorant of the truth. This is not an excuse. It's inexcusable to knowingly give destructive advice and it's inexcusable to regurgitate information, even if it comes from your boss, without verifying it first.
For years, I told people not to pay off their mortgage. I convinced them they were better off investing the money with me and keeping the tax benefits of the mortgage (interest deduction.) Now I know better. The amount of interest the average person pays in a year is enormous compared to the tax benefits. It makes no sense in most cases to stay in debt.
I sold debt as a good thing, convincing people they should take out equity lines and loans and credit cards. There is nothing good about this. When your banker tells you to get an equity loan for emergencies, beware. Their intentions may be pure, but will you have the discipline to really use it only for emergencies?
I tried to convince people that it was always their fault when they overdrew their account. Truthfully, if you overdraw your account, it is your fault - with the exception of fraud or the rare bank error. However, banks stack incoming items largest to smallest regardless of the time they came in. Why? If you have $1,000 in your checking account and seven items come in totaling $,1079.00 in ascending order (smallest to largest) by paying the largest item (let's say $900) first, the bank will clock you for 5 or 6 overdraft fees. If they let them post in order of arrival, with the large one being last, they can only hit you once. It's disgusting. I was one of the space monkeys convincing people this was done for their own good because larger items are typically more important (rent, health insurance, car payments, etc.)
Of course, you are ultimately responsible and should have enough money to cover your bills.
Don't ask me which bank I worked for, it doesn't matter. They're all about the same.
If you decide to work with a financial advisor, ask for his credentials. Licensing means nothing, you need to know what his experience is. Most of these guys are just good salesmen. Do your homework and ask tough questions. You may be better off doing your own investments with the help of your CPA. I knew one "top producer" who had previously been a waiter at Denny's. I don't mean to make ends meet while earning his MBA, I mean he was a waiter! And now he was offering "sound" financial advice. What he really was was a commission hound slashing and burning his way through his prospects.
You must make the time to watch your money. You must make a budget. You must balance your checkbook. You must put money away for retirement. You must save for your children's college. You must get out of debt. These things are simple, but not easy.
You wouldn't take medical advice from a waiter at Denny's would you? Of course not! Do you really think financial advice is different?
Go to daveramsey.com and see about getting into Financial Peace University. It's a great way to learn about money management.
More than half of divorces are on account of money. Mine was. I don't wish divorce on anyone. Especially over something as common as money.
You do have the time for this. You can learn these things. Shut off the TV and get serious about it. Social Security will not be around much longer and do you really want to spend your retirement clearing trays at McDonalds? Didn't think so!
God bless you and your finances. Make it your best day yet.
- Adolfo
http://ayearwithoutnews.blogspot.com
http://www.cakewhimsybyabdaliz.com
http://www.honeybeepartyrental.com
http://www.facebook.com/adolfojimenez1
http://www.twitter.com/adolfojimenez
I was thinking about my years as a banker and financial advisor and the lies I told people during that time. Mostly, I was saying what I was trained to say. I was ignorant of the truth. This is not an excuse. It's inexcusable to knowingly give destructive advice and it's inexcusable to regurgitate information, even if it comes from your boss, without verifying it first.
For years, I told people not to pay off their mortgage. I convinced them they were better off investing the money with me and keeping the tax benefits of the mortgage (interest deduction.) Now I know better. The amount of interest the average person pays in a year is enormous compared to the tax benefits. It makes no sense in most cases to stay in debt.
I sold debt as a good thing, convincing people they should take out equity lines and loans and credit cards. There is nothing good about this. When your banker tells you to get an equity loan for emergencies, beware. Their intentions may be pure, but will you have the discipline to really use it only for emergencies?
I tried to convince people that it was always their fault when they overdrew their account. Truthfully, if you overdraw your account, it is your fault - with the exception of fraud or the rare bank error. However, banks stack incoming items largest to smallest regardless of the time they came in. Why? If you have $1,000 in your checking account and seven items come in totaling $,1079.00 in ascending order (smallest to largest) by paying the largest item (let's say $900) first, the bank will clock you for 5 or 6 overdraft fees. If they let them post in order of arrival, with the large one being last, they can only hit you once. It's disgusting. I was one of the space monkeys convincing people this was done for their own good because larger items are typically more important (rent, health insurance, car payments, etc.)
Of course, you are ultimately responsible and should have enough money to cover your bills.
Don't ask me which bank I worked for, it doesn't matter. They're all about the same.
If you decide to work with a financial advisor, ask for his credentials. Licensing means nothing, you need to know what his experience is. Most of these guys are just good salesmen. Do your homework and ask tough questions. You may be better off doing your own investments with the help of your CPA. I knew one "top producer" who had previously been a waiter at Denny's. I don't mean to make ends meet while earning his MBA, I mean he was a waiter! And now he was offering "sound" financial advice. What he really was was a commission hound slashing and burning his way through his prospects.
You must make the time to watch your money. You must make a budget. You must balance your checkbook. You must put money away for retirement. You must save for your children's college. You must get out of debt. These things are simple, but not easy.
You wouldn't take medical advice from a waiter at Denny's would you? Of course not! Do you really think financial advice is different?
Go to daveramsey.com and see about getting into Financial Peace University. It's a great way to learn about money management.
More than half of divorces are on account of money. Mine was. I don't wish divorce on anyone. Especially over something as common as money.
You do have the time for this. You can learn these things. Shut off the TV and get serious about it. Social Security will not be around much longer and do you really want to spend your retirement clearing trays at McDonalds? Didn't think so!
God bless you and your finances. Make it your best day yet.
- Adolfo
http://ayearwithoutnews.blogspot.com
http://www.cakewhimsybyabdaliz.com
http://www.honeybeepartyrental.com
http://www.facebook.com/adolfojimenez1
http://www.twitter.com/adolfojimenez
Saturday, November 6, 2010
Day # 163 - Stitches
I got a call from the school yesterday. Melissa hurt herself on the playground and the nurse felt it was serious enough that we should get her to urgent care. The nurse was right and Melissa ended up needing 5 stitches on her right knee. She was a trooper about it, only crying when the doctor injected the injured area. Who can blame her for that?
Abby joined the party, of course, and so did little Emily, who was jumping with joy when she found out her big sister was going to get shots. Once she saw her big sister getting the shots and crying, her joy evaporated and she was in tears, too. All I could do was laugh and make bad jokes - so I was normal, I guess.
Humor as a defense mechanism is nothing new. I use it all the time, in negotiations, job interviews, in arguments. I guess the situation was stressful, no one wants to see their child suffer, and some might say I should take things more seriously, but the truth is I did take this seriously. That's why my daughter was in the hands of a doctor.
Life will throw curves at us, especially those of us with kids. However, if you let these things stress you out or beat you down, they'll kill you. If you choose to laugh when others cry, you'll have better stories to tell your daughter's boyfriends one day fifty years from now when they're finally allowed to have boyfriends. What? Does that sound unreasonable? Fine. Let's make it sixty years from now. I never really understood jealousy until I became a father of daughters.
So laugh. Make the cheesy jokes and giggle yourself silly. It's a great way to deal with the destructive force that is stress. It's a wonderful release. It beats pulling your hair out or being cranky. Then, take the kid out for ice cream and get one for yourself. You will see that all is right in the world and life is beautiful.
God bless you. Now Laugh!
- Adolfo
http://ayearwithoutnews.blogspot.com
http://www.cakewhimsybyabdaliz.com
http://www.honeybeepartyrental.com
http://www.facebook.com/adolfojimenez1
http://www.twitter.com/adolfojimenez
Abby joined the party, of course, and so did little Emily, who was jumping with joy when she found out her big sister was going to get shots. Once she saw her big sister getting the shots and crying, her joy evaporated and she was in tears, too. All I could do was laugh and make bad jokes - so I was normal, I guess.
Humor as a defense mechanism is nothing new. I use it all the time, in negotiations, job interviews, in arguments. I guess the situation was stressful, no one wants to see their child suffer, and some might say I should take things more seriously, but the truth is I did take this seriously. That's why my daughter was in the hands of a doctor.
Life will throw curves at us, especially those of us with kids. However, if you let these things stress you out or beat you down, they'll kill you. If you choose to laugh when others cry, you'll have better stories to tell your daughter's boyfriends one day fifty years from now when they're finally allowed to have boyfriends. What? Does that sound unreasonable? Fine. Let's make it sixty years from now. I never really understood jealousy until I became a father of daughters.
So laugh. Make the cheesy jokes and giggle yourself silly. It's a great way to deal with the destructive force that is stress. It's a wonderful release. It beats pulling your hair out or being cranky. Then, take the kid out for ice cream and get one for yourself. You will see that all is right in the world and life is beautiful.
God bless you. Now Laugh!
- Adolfo
http://ayearwithoutnews.blogspot.com
http://www.cakewhimsybyabdaliz.com
http://www.honeybeepartyrental.com
http://www.facebook.com/adolfojimenez1
http://www.twitter.com/adolfojimenez
Friday, November 5, 2010
Day # 162 - Immigrant Values
There was a time when people came to this country looking for an opportunity to earn a paycheck, not just have one handed to them. I know because I witnessed it growing up. I was born in Brooklyn and grew up in Miami and Hialeah. I remember the house I lived in when I started kindergarten: my parents owned it. They had been in the country less than a decade by that point. They still didn’t speak any English. They had low-paying factory jobs – more than one apiece. I like to tell people I grew up in a family that was in banking. It’s true, because my parents moonlighted cleaning banks and since they couldn’t afford a babysitter, they brought me with them. I became a bank robber at an early age, stealing candy from the teller’s candy dishes.
Around the time I was seven, I needed an ear, nose, throat operation. My parents took me in for the surgery, and paid for it by selling their house at a profit and buying a less expensive condo. Eventually they sold the condo and bought the house my mother still lives in. They took 15 years to pay off the house, in spite of the 3 mortgages, one of which was a 30 year deal. They never asked the government to pay for anything. All they asked for was an opportunity. It’s all they deserved. An opportunity is all anyone deserves.
Yet, we live in a time when people want more than opportunities, they want guarantees. There is nothing more dehumanizing than telling a person they are not responsible for their own fate. When we look at successful people, we should admire and even emulate them. Instead, we are told by the “leaders” in Washington that those people somehow cheated their way to where they are and that they don’t pay their fair share (they pay well beyond their fair share – they also create jobs.) Politicians use class envy to keep their jobs, but the other, intended, consequence is that the people they tell these lies to believe what they are told and never reach their potential. They believe the only way to get anything out of life is by coveting that which another man has earned. It’s nonsense and the losers in Washington know it.
If you come to this country (legally) you should have every opportunity my parents had. Every opportunity Andrew Carnegie, Henry Ford, Thomas Edison, Warren Buffet, Abraham Lincoln, Barack Obama, Ronald Reagan, Bill Clinton, Bill Gates, Oprah Winfrey, and millions of others have had. Yes, you deserve the opportunity. No, you do not deserve any guarantees of success. And no, their success did not cause you to fail. There is nothing unfair about it. It is the most fair and perfect thing there is, that a person should reap rewards equal to their effort – no more, no less.
Immigrants of way back when looked for opportunity. They came to America and thanked God for the opportunity. Now, politicians hand them a check, try to make them citizens right away so they can get them into the voting booth, and teach them to throw rocks at the producers instead of becoming one. People have changed, because the system has changed. Rather than coming here and absorbing American values, they come here and try to turn this into the very system they abandoned, not understanding that if they get their wish, the system will, once again, abandon them.
Work for what you want. Don’t expect it to be handed to you. Earn it, so you can appreciate it. Educate yourself, so you can become a person of value.
- Adolfo
http://ayearwithoutnews.blogspot.com
http://www.cakewhimsybyabdaliz.com
http://www.honeybeepartyrental.com
http://www.facebook.com/adolfojimenez1
http://www.twitter.com/adolfojimenez
Around the time I was seven, I needed an ear, nose, throat operation. My parents took me in for the surgery, and paid for it by selling their house at a profit and buying a less expensive condo. Eventually they sold the condo and bought the house my mother still lives in. They took 15 years to pay off the house, in spite of the 3 mortgages, one of which was a 30 year deal. They never asked the government to pay for anything. All they asked for was an opportunity. It’s all they deserved. An opportunity is all anyone deserves.
Yet, we live in a time when people want more than opportunities, they want guarantees. There is nothing more dehumanizing than telling a person they are not responsible for their own fate. When we look at successful people, we should admire and even emulate them. Instead, we are told by the “leaders” in Washington that those people somehow cheated their way to where they are and that they don’t pay their fair share (they pay well beyond their fair share – they also create jobs.) Politicians use class envy to keep their jobs, but the other, intended, consequence is that the people they tell these lies to believe what they are told and never reach their potential. They believe the only way to get anything out of life is by coveting that which another man has earned. It’s nonsense and the losers in Washington know it.
If you come to this country (legally) you should have every opportunity my parents had. Every opportunity Andrew Carnegie, Henry Ford, Thomas Edison, Warren Buffet, Abraham Lincoln, Barack Obama, Ronald Reagan, Bill Clinton, Bill Gates, Oprah Winfrey, and millions of others have had. Yes, you deserve the opportunity. No, you do not deserve any guarantees of success. And no, their success did not cause you to fail. There is nothing unfair about it. It is the most fair and perfect thing there is, that a person should reap rewards equal to their effort – no more, no less.
Immigrants of way back when looked for opportunity. They came to America and thanked God for the opportunity. Now, politicians hand them a check, try to make them citizens right away so they can get them into the voting booth, and teach them to throw rocks at the producers instead of becoming one. People have changed, because the system has changed. Rather than coming here and absorbing American values, they come here and try to turn this into the very system they abandoned, not understanding that if they get their wish, the system will, once again, abandon them.
Work for what you want. Don’t expect it to be handed to you. Earn it, so you can appreciate it. Educate yourself, so you can become a person of value.
- Adolfo
http://ayearwithoutnews.blogspot.com
http://www.cakewhimsybyabdaliz.com
http://www.honeybeepartyrental.com
http://www.facebook.com/adolfojimenez1
http://www.twitter.com/adolfojimenez
Thursday, November 4, 2010
Day # 161 - Pettiness
It’s the little things that matter. Details make the difference. It’s the little foxes that spoil the vine. However you say it, there’s no denying that little things do matter. The important thing is to recognize the difference between minding the little things and being petty. It’s a question of character, really. I would go so far as to say there is not a thin line between the two, but a chasm. Petty people are incapable of happiness. They will always choke on the little things. The worst part, of course, is that their misery spreads like sniffles in pre-school.
There are so many things in life to worry about – and so many things to be happy about. Why would you look at little things in a way that ruin your life? How do they ruin your life? Your life is nothing more or less than a succession of days. Allow enough of them to be ruined by pettiness, or anything else for that matter, and your life officially stinks.
Pettiness comes in many forms. You can be petty about money. You can be petty in your relationships. Jealousy can lead to pettiness. Wherever it comes from, pettiness only leads to one thing: unhappiness. Learn to let those little things go. Nothing is worth it. Nothing at all. If you want to be a person of excellence, you have to rise above the pettiness, rise above picking fights, and don’t let the pettiness of others get to you. I am writing this at night because I am in a bit of a mood because someone was petty to me. Someone (not family or a friend) whom I have done so much for, practically castrated me over a question of two dollars! You read correctly, two smackers. The cost of... what does two bucks even buy anymore? Practically zip, zilch, nada. I am exorcising this because this person is not worthy of spending any time under my skin. So while I feel I am right and could fight the injustice, I will pay the king’s ransom and move on, leaving the bitter, petty little troll under the bridge it crawled out from under.
- Adolfo
http://ayearwithoutnews.blogspot.com
http://www.cakewhimsybyabdaliz.com
http://www.honeybeepartyrental.com
http://www.facebook.com/adolfojimenez1
http://www.twitter.com/adolfojimenez
There are so many things in life to worry about – and so many things to be happy about. Why would you look at little things in a way that ruin your life? How do they ruin your life? Your life is nothing more or less than a succession of days. Allow enough of them to be ruined by pettiness, or anything else for that matter, and your life officially stinks.
Pettiness comes in many forms. You can be petty about money. You can be petty in your relationships. Jealousy can lead to pettiness. Wherever it comes from, pettiness only leads to one thing: unhappiness. Learn to let those little things go. Nothing is worth it. Nothing at all. If you want to be a person of excellence, you have to rise above the pettiness, rise above picking fights, and don’t let the pettiness of others get to you. I am writing this at night because I am in a bit of a mood because someone was petty to me. Someone (not family or a friend) whom I have done so much for, practically castrated me over a question of two dollars! You read correctly, two smackers. The cost of... what does two bucks even buy anymore? Practically zip, zilch, nada. I am exorcising this because this person is not worthy of spending any time under my skin. So while I feel I am right and could fight the injustice, I will pay the king’s ransom and move on, leaving the bitter, petty little troll under the bridge it crawled out from under.
- Adolfo
http://ayearwithoutnews.blogspot.com
http://www.cakewhimsybyabdaliz.com
http://www.honeybeepartyrental.com
http://www.facebook.com/adolfojimenez1
http://www.twitter.com/adolfojimenez
Wednesday, November 3, 2010
Day # 160 - Election Day
Before I get into this, I have to say last night was the first election day I have spent not glued to the TV (I have no cable anymore.) I was anxious. I did go out and vote and it was sort of sad to see that no one was there. I did not wait at all. I had a book with me and never so much as opened it. No lines, no waiting, no excuses. I turned on the radio for a minute and found out that Marco Rubio is the next senator from Florida. I voted for him. Kendrick Meek never appealed to me and Charlie Crist is a backstabbing wishy-washy hypocrite, who in one campaign cycle went from calling himself a Reagan Conservative to criticizing the right wing.
It’s incredible how pervasive the news media is. I know this without watching news.
I will eventually find out if the Republicans took the house or the senate and I will find out who our next Governor is. All without breaking my promise to avoid news for a year.
On the ballot, there are always questions as to the retention of judges. I had no information to go on so I said no to each and every one of them. In every case where I was unsure, I voted against the incumbent. In cases where I was sure, I voted the same way. Incumbency is a corrupting influence. No one should hold an elected office for more than eight years. If eight years is long enough for a president, it’s long enough for city and county commissioners and more than enough for members of congress.
I was surprised to be handed a paper ballot. Wasn’t it just a few years ago that Broward County spent $25 million on those touch-screen voting machines? Then the county spent a bunch more money on fixing them, and then more money on printers. All so we can go back to pen and paper. This is why I hate government. If we ran our businesses the way these corrupt politicians ran government, we would all be living in the streets.
There is no respect for the people any more. These fools get elected and believe they are now above us. They believe they rule over us, rather than serve under us. They forget who the boss is. If Jesus Christ came not to rule, but to serve, where do these half-wits get their delusions? The arrogance is breathtaking in breadth and depth.
I would have liked to have seen something on the ballot calling for removal of all the cameras the county and cities have put on practically every street corner. I am not a red-light runner or a speeder, so it has nothing to do with tickets. It has to do with the slippery slope. These things always grow. First it’s about traffic and then it’s about privacy. Where does it end? When does government stop getting deeper and deeper into our lives?
See, I still have an opinion, even if I have decided to insulate myself from the news. I hope you voted. If not, shame on you. You missed the opportunity to exercise a right that so many in the world would die for, and so many who came before us did die for.
- Adolfo
http://ayearwithoutnews.blogspot.com
http://www.cakewhimsybyabdaliz.com
http://www.honeybeepartyrental.com
http://www.facebook.com/adolfojimenez1
http://www.twitter.com/adolfojimenez
It’s incredible how pervasive the news media is. I know this without watching news.
I will eventually find out if the Republicans took the house or the senate and I will find out who our next Governor is. All without breaking my promise to avoid news for a year.
On the ballot, there are always questions as to the retention of judges. I had no information to go on so I said no to each and every one of them. In every case where I was unsure, I voted against the incumbent. In cases where I was sure, I voted the same way. Incumbency is a corrupting influence. No one should hold an elected office for more than eight years. If eight years is long enough for a president, it’s long enough for city and county commissioners and more than enough for members of congress.
I was surprised to be handed a paper ballot. Wasn’t it just a few years ago that Broward County spent $25 million on those touch-screen voting machines? Then the county spent a bunch more money on fixing them, and then more money on printers. All so we can go back to pen and paper. This is why I hate government. If we ran our businesses the way these corrupt politicians ran government, we would all be living in the streets.
There is no respect for the people any more. These fools get elected and believe they are now above us. They believe they rule over us, rather than serve under us. They forget who the boss is. If Jesus Christ came not to rule, but to serve, where do these half-wits get their delusions? The arrogance is breathtaking in breadth and depth.
I would have liked to have seen something on the ballot calling for removal of all the cameras the county and cities have put on practically every street corner. I am not a red-light runner or a speeder, so it has nothing to do with tickets. It has to do with the slippery slope. These things always grow. First it’s about traffic and then it’s about privacy. Where does it end? When does government stop getting deeper and deeper into our lives?
See, I still have an opinion, even if I have decided to insulate myself from the news. I hope you voted. If not, shame on you. You missed the opportunity to exercise a right that so many in the world would die for, and so many who came before us did die for.
- Adolfo
http://ayearwithoutnews.blogspot.com
http://www.cakewhimsybyabdaliz.com
http://www.honeybeepartyrental.com
http://www.facebook.com/adolfojimenez1
http://www.twitter.com/adolfojimenez
Tuesday, November 2, 2010
Day # 159 - Friendly Basis
Most of my friends are people I’ve worked with. I met my wife at work, as well as my ex-wife, and my ex-girlfriend. Most friendships of this kind seem to revolve around office gossip or remembering how lousy the boss was if you no longer work there. It almost seems that once you’re done complaining about the boss or some ridiculous policy or your lousy pay, there is nothing left to talk about. Friendships like these are akin to living in the past. Think about the conversations you have with your friends. How much of the time spent talking with them is focused on the future, happiness, dreams, success and goals? How much time is spent complaining about work, relationship troubles, bills, the economy, your lousy boss, your lousy check, etc.?
Is this really what friends are for? I have friends I rarely hear from. I call to say hi and they chew my ear off for an hour about how terrible their life is. After a while, I just stop calling. Everyone has problems, but everyone has blessings, too. If you can’t find something to be happy about, you aren’t trying hard enough. You are enjoying the self-pity and the attention (however negative) your whining is getting you. Move on. I have no time for you anymore.
If you have relationships like this, you should change them. Try to find something more positive to focus on. Don’t piss and moan about work all the time, don’t engage in the kind of talk that elicits eye-rolls and sighs from the other person. Talk about the way you and your friends can make the future better for yourselves. Be an accountability partner for your friend. Encourage each other to strive, to rise, to achieve more. In other words, quit bitching and start growing. Rise higher and bring your friend with you. Put the relationship to the test. Can you survive without the anger and cynicism of the past? If not, if you have no other common ground, it may benefit you to put some distance between yourself and the other person.
This doesn’t apply only to friends. It applies to co-workers, neighbors, and even to family members. Negativity is not only destructive, it’s indiscriminate. It doesn’t matter where it comes from. The person who loves you most in the world can shoot you with a gun. You will still be shot. A total stranger can give you food when you’re starving, and you will still be fed. Eliminate the negative people in your life. If they are family, limit the contact you have with them. You’ll be glad you did.
- Adolfo
http://ayearwithoutnews.blogspot.com
http://www.cakewhimsybyabdaliz.com
http://www.honeybeepartyrental.com
http://www.facebook.com/adolfojimenez1
http://www.twitter.com/adolfojimenez
Is this really what friends are for? I have friends I rarely hear from. I call to say hi and they chew my ear off for an hour about how terrible their life is. After a while, I just stop calling. Everyone has problems, but everyone has blessings, too. If you can’t find something to be happy about, you aren’t trying hard enough. You are enjoying the self-pity and the attention (however negative) your whining is getting you. Move on. I have no time for you anymore.
If you have relationships like this, you should change them. Try to find something more positive to focus on. Don’t piss and moan about work all the time, don’t engage in the kind of talk that elicits eye-rolls and sighs from the other person. Talk about the way you and your friends can make the future better for yourselves. Be an accountability partner for your friend. Encourage each other to strive, to rise, to achieve more. In other words, quit bitching and start growing. Rise higher and bring your friend with you. Put the relationship to the test. Can you survive without the anger and cynicism of the past? If not, if you have no other common ground, it may benefit you to put some distance between yourself and the other person.
This doesn’t apply only to friends. It applies to co-workers, neighbors, and even to family members. Negativity is not only destructive, it’s indiscriminate. It doesn’t matter where it comes from. The person who loves you most in the world can shoot you with a gun. You will still be shot. A total stranger can give you food when you’re starving, and you will still be fed. Eliminate the negative people in your life. If they are family, limit the contact you have with them. You’ll be glad you did.
- Adolfo
http://ayearwithoutnews.blogspot.com
http://www.cakewhimsybyabdaliz.com
http://www.honeybeepartyrental.com
http://www.facebook.com/adolfojimenez1
http://www.twitter.com/adolfojimenez
Monday, November 1, 2010
Day # 158 - Voting
Election day is tomorrow. Of course, with early voting and absentee voting (more on that later) it’s lost its magic. There is no election day any more, just the last day to vote before they count, or miscount, the ballots and decide who will have the privilege of robbing us for the next 2 to 4 years.
I have voted in every election since I was 18. I recognized the importance and the value of this right. My parents left communist Cuba a couple of years before I was born. I grew up listening to the stories, listening to my father and my uncles “discussing” the situation (to Cubans, discussing consists of yelling and waving your arms around in movements that seem wild and involuntary – yet somehow make sense.) I recognized early on that what happened to Cuba could happen to America. In fact, I believe it is. We’re larger, so the process is happening more slowly.
This is the first election cycle I have experienced without being versed on all the details of the candidates, the issues, the amendments and so forth. I could do what most people do and vote along party lines, but let’s be honest: there is essentially no difference between Democrats and Republicans any more. They’re all a bunch of neo-socialists trying to reach deeper into our pockets and into our lives. If you live in Broward County, you have seen the cameras. Just about every intersection is under surveillance. We are taxed left and right and the bastards in the city halls, the county halls and state capitals across this once-great country can’t wait to get their greedy little hooves on even more. I don’t need to read news to know this.
I also don’t need to read news to know that nothing will change unless changed by the people. Knowing that, even in my current condition, I am still more informed than the vast majority of the people, this is terrifying. People voted for “change” and my God, did we get it. All the promises and all the empty words are falling to the ground and shattering. We voted for rhetoric and speech-delivery skills rather than substance (I am not saying I wanted McCain – that weasel would have been as bad as the current weasel.) We voted for someone who promised he would fix our problems for us, rather than putting on our big-boy pants and looking after ourselves. The result: now we can’t look after ourselves because there are no jobs, no opportunity. The only thing that has truly changed is that there is no hope.
Early Voting: for so long, people have used time as an excuse not to vote. They didn’t want to stand in line for hours to affect an election that would affect them for the rest of their lives. Idiots. If you have ever not voted because of “time,” you are a complete moron and deserve to live in the socialist utopia the unholy trinity in Washington is trying to build for us. Learn the issues and vote. Even if you make a choice I don’t agree with, at least you made a choice and stood for something. At least you did your part. Early voting and absentee voting make it impossible to use the time excuse. If you don’t vote, but you plop your butt down in front of the TV or aimlessly surf the web, you are cheating yourself and your children. You are putting your future in the hands of others. You are declaring yourself a slave to the whims of others.
Whether you are the child of immigrants like me, or an immigrant (legal, the rest of you go home!) or if you’re family has been here since Plymouth Rock, you have not only the right to vote, but a duty to vote. America is the greatest country that there has ever been. It’s up to us to make sure it doesn’t become the greatest country there used to be.
Do it. Think about it, and do it.
- Adolfo
http://ayearwithoutnews.blogspot.com
http://www.cakewhimsybyabdaliz.com
http://www.honeybeepartyrental.com
http://www.facebook.com/adolfojimenez1
http://www.twitter.com/adolfojimenez
I have voted in every election since I was 18. I recognized the importance and the value of this right. My parents left communist Cuba a couple of years before I was born. I grew up listening to the stories, listening to my father and my uncles “discussing” the situation (to Cubans, discussing consists of yelling and waving your arms around in movements that seem wild and involuntary – yet somehow make sense.) I recognized early on that what happened to Cuba could happen to America. In fact, I believe it is. We’re larger, so the process is happening more slowly.
This is the first election cycle I have experienced without being versed on all the details of the candidates, the issues, the amendments and so forth. I could do what most people do and vote along party lines, but let’s be honest: there is essentially no difference between Democrats and Republicans any more. They’re all a bunch of neo-socialists trying to reach deeper into our pockets and into our lives. If you live in Broward County, you have seen the cameras. Just about every intersection is under surveillance. We are taxed left and right and the bastards in the city halls, the county halls and state capitals across this once-great country can’t wait to get their greedy little hooves on even more. I don’t need to read news to know this.
I also don’t need to read news to know that nothing will change unless changed by the people. Knowing that, even in my current condition, I am still more informed than the vast majority of the people, this is terrifying. People voted for “change” and my God, did we get it. All the promises and all the empty words are falling to the ground and shattering. We voted for rhetoric and speech-delivery skills rather than substance (I am not saying I wanted McCain – that weasel would have been as bad as the current weasel.) We voted for someone who promised he would fix our problems for us, rather than putting on our big-boy pants and looking after ourselves. The result: now we can’t look after ourselves because there are no jobs, no opportunity. The only thing that has truly changed is that there is no hope.
Early Voting: for so long, people have used time as an excuse not to vote. They didn’t want to stand in line for hours to affect an election that would affect them for the rest of their lives. Idiots. If you have ever not voted because of “time,” you are a complete moron and deserve to live in the socialist utopia the unholy trinity in Washington is trying to build for us. Learn the issues and vote. Even if you make a choice I don’t agree with, at least you made a choice and stood for something. At least you did your part. Early voting and absentee voting make it impossible to use the time excuse. If you don’t vote, but you plop your butt down in front of the TV or aimlessly surf the web, you are cheating yourself and your children. You are putting your future in the hands of others. You are declaring yourself a slave to the whims of others.
Whether you are the child of immigrants like me, or an immigrant (legal, the rest of you go home!) or if you’re family has been here since Plymouth Rock, you have not only the right to vote, but a duty to vote. America is the greatest country that there has ever been. It’s up to us to make sure it doesn’t become the greatest country there used to be.
Do it. Think about it, and do it.
- Adolfo
http://ayearwithoutnews.blogspot.com
http://www.cakewhimsybyabdaliz.com
http://www.honeybeepartyrental.com
http://www.facebook.com/adolfojimenez1
http://www.twitter.com/adolfojimenez
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