So you know the old saying about:
Making a mountain out of a molehill
That’s when you make a big deal out of nothing.
So yesterday, I heard the European version of this as:
Making a mosquito into a mule
Honestly, I like that version a lot better.
A mosquito bites and is annoying.
But a mule resists and is a very stubborn animal that can drive you crazy.
You definitely don’t want to make a mosquito into a mule! 😉
(Credit Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
So oddly, one thing that many people these days find really hard to do is STOP AND THINK.
What do I mean?
Be alone, do nothing, and just take the time to be with yourself and think.
–without your smartphone, television, music, game, or even a book.
Just you, the four walls, and your brain…thinking, thinking, thinking.
Feeling a little jittery, scared yet.
Why are people afraid to stop and think?
Is it because within the thinking is some craziness, fear, anxiety, and even remorse?
Are there overwhelming feelings and thoughts about issues, events, people, and places that are unresolved and painful.
Also, by ourselves and in our thoughts, we can realize how weak, vulnerable, and mortal we are.
If we are here in our own heads, maybe no one will even notice we are gone or maybe no one will even miss us–maybe they’ll replace us?
We’re so easily ditched, replaceable, just another character in a long cast of characters.
When we stop and think, do we worry about all the other things we’re not doing or getting done…perhaps, we don’t have the time to think, because we need to be doing, doing, doing.
And if we’re not moving forward doing something, then we are being left behind!
But doesn’t thinking lead to more purposeful doing?
A little upfront thinking and planning, maybe can save you some serious time wasted just acting out.
Somehow, like a prisoner in isolation though too much alone time with your own thoughts is enough to drive anyone crazy, docile, and ready to behave just to get out, interact with other human beings, and doing something.
We need to stay active, not be bored, so we don’t think too much.
When I was in the hospital recently, one orderly named Kelvin, saw me sitting there by myself thinking, and he said to me, “Oh no, you don’t want to have too much time to think. Block those thoughts out of your mind. Why don’t you watch some TV?”
Smart Kelvin. 😉
(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
I saw someone with this funny iPhone case in Starbucks.
It says, “More Issues Than Vogue.”
So I was curious how many issues of Vogue have there been…
And I learned that they have published this fashion, beauty, and culture magazine since 1892–more than 120 years!
And in the Vogue archive, they claim to have “more than 400,000 pages in full color.”
I suppose even some of the biggest nuts out there rarely have more “issues” (and pages)…although maybe many would certainly come close.
But Vogue wins! 😉
I really love this saying–“There is no I in Team.”
A colleague said very astutely, “even though some try to put it in there!”
Teams work best, when everyone does their part and contributes, and no one makes it about their personal agendas, ambitions, and issues.
A team implies a large degree of selflessness where we do what is best for the team and the mission we serve, and we don’t get caught up in personal ego trips.
When people place themselves above the team–and they try to impose that “I” right on in there, then rather than teamwork, we end up with rivalry and conflict.
From my experience, those who try to take the credit for themselves–typically end up exposed for who they really are and without the honor they chase.
But those who give recognition genuinely and generously to others are in turn respected for their contributions to the mission as well as to the team.
Selflessly united as a team we can assuredly succeed, but selfishly divided as just a bunch of I’s, we will most certainly fail. 😉
(Source Graphic: Andy Blumenthal)
So I took this picture of this baby frog while hiking.
This was the first one we saw–on the foliage it completely blended in, but on the rocks we could see it clearly.
It was so little and cute–I had to zoom in to get this shot.
After this, it actually jumped under a log and I got an action photo of its hind legs in mid-jump–going what seemed like super-frog speed.
Once, I was attuned to the frogs color and motion, I was able to detect many of them in the forest today–all pretty much like this little baby.
It was interesting to me learning from this, how before we are aware of something–it’s as if it doesn’t even exist (even with subtle ribbits in the air); and after you are sort of clued in to the surroundings, you almost can’t help but see them.
To me, it’s like life in general, when you don’t see your own issues or life challenges, you can’t even begin to work on them because your virtually oblivious to them, but once you see yourself for what you are–warts and all–you can begin to work through your problems, as if you have almost transcendental awareness.
A little camouflaged frog, like subtle personal issues may be almost imperceptible in the forest of life, but against a contrasting background, you can get amazing clarity–to self-help and self-heal.
Cute little frog, I can see you now and your not jumping away from me anymore. 😉
(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
So I am back in school AGAIN (I’m a life-long learner), augmenting my not so slow-paced job.
Let’s just say that at this point, I recognize that the more I know, the more I don’t know anything.
The class that I am taking now is Cyberlaw, and while I did take law in business school–many moons ago–that was more focused on contracts and business organizations.
This class looks interesting from the perspective of the legal and regulatory structure to deal with and fight cybercrime, -terrorism, and -war.
One interesting thing that I already learned was a technique for evaluating legal cases called IRAC, which stands for:
– Issues–the underlying legal matters that the case is addressing.
– Rules–what legal precedents can be applied.
– Analysis–whether those rules apply or not, in this case.
– Conclusion–rendering an opinion on the case.
This is a structured way to analyze any legal case.
Of course, before you do these, you have to look at the facts–so that is the very first section.
The problem with that is then you have F-IRAC and that can definitely be taken the wrong way. 😉
(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
The autocomplete feature in search engines can tell us a lot about what people are thinking and asking about.
Autocomplete suggests the rest of your search term based on the most popular things that others have asked for, so it speeds up your search selection by anticipating what you are looking for and by reducing spelling errors in your search terms.
Another advantage to seeing popular searches is to understand what the larger population is thinking about and looking for–this gives us insight into culture, norms, values, and issues of the time.
I did a simple google search of “do zombies” and as you can see the most popular searches are about whether zombies: poop, exist, sleep, “really exist,” and have brains.
Even more disappointing than people asking whether zombies really exist is that the #1 search on zombies is about whether they poop–what does that say about our lagging educational system?
I would at least have imagined that the preppers–those infatuated with the end of the world and with preparation for survival–would at least be searching for terms like:
Do zombies…
pose a real threat to human survival?
have (certain) vulnerabilities?
ever die?
have feelings?
have children?
beat vampires (or vice versa)?
I suppose autocomplete is good at crowdsourcing search terms of what others are thinking about, but it is only as good as those doing the ultimate searching–our collection intelligence at work. 😉
(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
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