"Listening is about being present, not just about being quiet."
Will Teacher’s Unions Survive?
Unions have been a part of America's history since its inception. One of the first Unions formed in America was in 1794. Labor laws did not favor the American worker for many years, much has been done to change that problem in the last 250 years. Unions have become very powerful political organizations to the … Continue reading Will Teacher’s Unions Survive?
What do we want?
"The ultimate form of intrinsic motivation is when a habit becomes part of your identity. It’s one thing to say I’m the type of person who wants this. It’s something very different to say I’m the type of person who is this." James Clear (Atomic Habits)
Apps: The new budget buster
From the 1970's people of the world have encountered fads that affected their budgets. In the 1970's and 1980's staying in communication was a big cost. Phone calls could ruin the best planned budgets. I remember trying to make a call home from Japan in 1983, the rate was $1.35 per minute. The 1990's ushered … Continue reading Apps: The new budget buster
Feedback Forms and Underperformance
The world changed in 2020 with the Corona Virus, this is unarguable. The way we do business has switched too primarily being online. Our need for cell phones and high speed internet has greatly increased. I want to present a couple things I have noticed in the last year. The path businesses will take in … Continue reading Feedback Forms and Underperformance
Learning to Stop at the correct Time
Life is peculiar. At times we find difficulty starting a project, then there are times we have difficulty knowing when to stop. This scenario is played out in many areas of life. I want to briefly analyze this scenario through a couple of examples I believe most will easily identify. Be aware how fast the … Continue reading Learning to Stop at the correct Time
The New Droids
Elon Musk talked about becoming a Droid in a speech a couple years back. He held up his hand and was holding his smartphone at arms length. He exclaimed, (paraphrased for brevity) look at my android arm. He went on to say the many things his android arm would do for him, and then the … Continue reading The New Droids
RobinHood-The New Stock Market?
Famously, years ago Peter Drucker was asked how the Stock Market was doing? As only Peter Drucker could put it, he said "I can't tell you what the stock market will do today, but I will tell you what it will do in ten years." The Stock Market to many of us is what Churchill … Continue reading RobinHood-The New Stock Market?
Are we Running on Empty?
I have been a fan of Jackson Browne since the early 70's. One of his hit songs in my senior year of high school was "Running on Empty". There are many comparisons this songs makes with everyday life, I will briefly discuss 3 of them. "I don't know where I'm running now, I'm just running … Continue reading Are we Running on Empty?
Is China Immune from COVID19?
Too much has been written about COVID19 to this point, yet we are still unsure of its actual origin or its long term affects. We appear to be in a second wave of outbreaks but there is a silence coming out of China. Has China, Japan or Korea felt the sting of this new wave … Continue reading Is China Immune from COVID19?
I closed Instagram and Twitter accounts (Facebook is next)
More has been written and espoused about Social Media than I would ever care to re-hash. Social Media itself is not the "Dark Side" to borrow a Star Wars quip. The control they have on our personal lives and communication is another story. Today's society is much different from the one of my childhood. Again, … Continue reading I closed Instagram and Twitter accounts (Facebook is next)
Is God Good, Bad or Both?
The idea of good versus bad is as old as mankind. We hear people everyday in conversations say: He or she is a good person. What was the determining factor that made that person good or bad? Which leads me to the point I want to briefly discuss, Is God good, bad or both? Is … Continue reading Is God Good, Bad or Both?
The Pitfalls of Convenience
Growing up in the 1970's the world was a complicated place to a teenager. Fast forward almost fifty years and 2020 by comparison looks extremely complicated. Mankind has created devices of convenience to save us time, money and work but we live in a stressed filled society. I want to take a quick look at … Continue reading The Pitfalls of Convenience
The Indefensible God
Life is a constant series of challenges. Sometimes during the course of a day we are challenged and must defend our position on a variety of decisions. Does God find himself in the same predicament as humans? I want you to strip away the deity and see simultaneously the humanity of Jesus Christ when you … Continue reading The Indefensible God
Can you read minds?
Magicians and charlatans throughout time have claimed the ability to read minds. We all know this is a ludicrous assertion or is it? The way we communicate, judge intentions and interpret body language is subtle methods of reading another's mind. Let's look at some of the pitfalls to this alleged talent. The problem with mind … Continue reading Can you read minds?
Lessons from a Pandemic
During my early years, I would hear stories of a pandemic. Primarily the Spanish influenza, that ravaged the world at the beginning of the twentieth century. This was as far removed as living on the planet Mars. That last statement is no longer true. The world moves at a quick pace and the anticipation initially … Continue reading Lessons from a Pandemic
Three Days in September
Some of the most treasured memories in life come from our youth. This September, I was granted the privilege of visiting with a family I knew from my High School days. During the three days in September, I was reminded of lessons learned over the course of forty years and introduced to new ones. Here … Continue reading Three Days in September
Why do we have trust issues?
Trust - Firm belief in the reliability, truth, ability, or strength of someone or something, at least according to the dictionary. As humans, we learned in childhood be leery of strangers and things that require us to surrender our money. In 2020 I think the issues run much deeper than the afore mentioned. I cannot … Continue reading Why do we have trust issues?
When everything is a problem…
I learned early in my Marine Corps career that problems don't follow you. When you find yourself involved in constant calamity, you are the problem. I want to cover three quick effects of living in a culture that embraces problems. Dictated conversation. It can be referred to in a number of ways. Your conversation is … Continue reading When everything is a problem…
Why I unsubscribed from The NY Times
I normally steer clear of politics on my blog posts but some injustices have to be addressed. While reading Tim Ferriss' "Five Bullet Friday" an email I get every Friday, one I highly recommend, I came across the story of Bari Weiss @BariWeiss on twitter. I was shocked to read of the draconian behaviors Bari … Continue reading Why I unsubscribed from The NY Times
Pain
A life long companion I was introduced to at an early age. Avoiding this companion has been an impossibility. Yet, my best lessons and concepts in life were learned with the help of my unwelcome friend. Some have a personal acquaintance with pain, others have been shielded almost unfairly from its presence. We come to … Continue reading Pain
The Disappearing Church
One of the greatest illusions is to make something disappear. Objects disappear easily when they are not there, this is not an illusion, it is simple physics. The Church has gone through many evolutions, the Dark Ages, the Crusades and other times when its survival seemed unlikely. Will the Church survive the crisis of irrelevancy … Continue reading The Disappearing Church
The hyperbole of titles
We assign titles to everything in life. If you read a book it will have a title, positions within a company all have titles, essentially we label everything. On a more granular level we might see these headings crop up in our filing cabinets, spice racks or even a shopping list for groceries. While these … Continue reading The hyperbole of titles
The perils of Equality
There are some ideas that appear to be universal. Treat each other with respect and dignity as a human being, tell the truth, do not lie, do not steal and love your family to name a few. These principles sound eerily like the Ten Commandments but that is for another post. I would like to … Continue reading The perils of Equality
The Mob Rules
“Emphasizing the crowd means de-emphasizing individual humans in the design of society, and when you ask people not to be people, they revert to bad, mob-like behaviors.” -Jaron Lanier "You are not a gadget." The gathering of individuals to express their opinions is the very foundation this great country was built upon. People are different … Continue reading The Mob Rules
My pain, your gain
This story is by Aurora Lockhart, my second cousin. She is a young woman with unlimited potential in writing. Thanks for your contribution. "Vaccines have been very important in modern times. In the form of a simple shot, they've prevented several diseases and saved countless lives. Without them, our world would be a tad different. … Continue reading My pain, your gain
Society’s Rabbit Holes
"In another moment down went Alice after it, never once considering how in the world she was to get out again. -Lewis Carroll (Alice in Wonderland) Life is tough on the best of days. People are constantly looking for an escape from the ordinary. Let's face it, much of life is lived in the mundane. … Continue reading Society’s Rabbit Holes
Is America in Denial?
Elisabeth Kubler Ross first identified the stages of grief in her book "On death and dying" published in 1969. The Coronavirus has caught everyone in the world by surprise. The recovery of our nation going forward will be uncharted territory, to look at past pandemics might give us a skeletal structure to work from but … Continue reading Is America in Denial?
An Easter like no other
I remember growing up and attending church at a very early age. Easter was filled with much fanfare. There were Easter egg hunts for the children, sometimes we would get a new outfit, there were special meals and it was a different type of religious holiday. It was very easy to lose the meaning of … Continue reading An Easter like no other
Our new 9-11 moment
For those that lived through the attacks on our country on September 11, 2001 it changed how business was conducted in the world. Our new dilemma has similarities in the way it is attacking our way of life. Crisis brings out the best and worst in people. This is what C.S. Lewis said about the … Continue reading Our new 9-11 moment
The God of crisis
I see an outpouring of love and benevolence during this Coronavirus pandemic. During times of crisis in our lives we are forced to achknowledge mankind's vulnerability. When a tragedy enters our lives, human nature drives us to blame someone or something. Is there really a loving God as Christians claim? Why would he allow something … Continue reading The God of crisis
Social Distancing takeaways
Many people have started experiencing a new temporary norm this week, isolation. The concept of social distancing would be an experiment many people would prefer to pass on, if asked to participate. This experiment would have limited feedback if conducted in a small town, or a campus as part of a thesis paper for a … Continue reading Social Distancing takeaways
Panic, the logic killer
The story of "Chicken Little is a cute kids story that demonstrates how panic really puts us in precarious positions. Written in 1840, it's message is timeless. The synopsis is a chicken was walking one day and an acorn fell on its head. The chicken mistakenly thought the sky was falling. So Chicken Little rushes … Continue reading Panic, the logic killer
Everyone is an expert?
Everyone is an expert ?
The Arrogance of Opinion
Do you remember the good old days when the media (i.e. nightly news, newspapers, magazines, etc...) had a segment dedicated to opinion. Opinion is defined by Merriam Webster as: "a view, judgement, or appraisal formed in the mind about a particular matter." The lines between opinions and actual news are not blurred today, they have … Continue reading The Arrogance of Opinion
Humble
If humility had a face it might look like the mother comforting her child in the middle of the night. If humility had a voice it might sound like a grandparent reading a story to a child. If you could feel humility it might be a hug from a friend when you are at your … Continue reading Humble
What is truth?
I have read the Bible through several times. I do not know what your belief system is but that is not the purpose of this post. In the story of the trial of Jesus, Pilate asks him one of the most intriguing questions. Jesus states "I tell you the truth" which invokes a question from … Continue reading What is truth?
Life’s Cartoon
written by Aurora Lockhart I'm still a huge fan of cartoons, but I can be a little picky. I tend to stick to older, completed cartoons, some of which ended before I was ever born. There's an obscure one I found recently that was never picked up, and only a few episodes were released. But … Continue reading Life’s Cartoon
He Reigns
It's the song of the redeemedRising from the African plainIt's the song of the forgivenDrowning out the Amazon rain The song of Asian believersFilled with God's holy fireIt's every tribe, every tongue, every nationA love song born of a grateful choirIt's all God's children singing Glory, glory, hallelujahHe reigns, He reignsIt's all God's children singingGlory, … Continue reading He Reigns
Overstimulated
I have a black German Shepherd and he is a wonderful family member. He is bright and learns things very quickly. He is very mellow most of the time and has a routine just like the rest of the family. Sometimes, we have guests over to visit and if the numbers are small he gets … Continue reading Overstimulated
The Christmas Treadmill
People today are very busy. Technology has reduced the time it takes to accomplish mundane tasks,the time saved is usually reinvested by adding more things to our schedule. This drives us to planners, calendars, reminder apps and a host of other buzzers, beepers, popups on our phone, alerts from alexa, etc.... We have stepped on … Continue reading The Christmas Treadmill
Eternity
He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the human heart; yet no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end. Ecclesiastes 3:11
Be wise today.
Questions?
I teach electronics in Pensacola to Navy and Marine students. I have done this collectively for about 19 years. I have learned many things from these young people. I wanted to share with you briefly some of the findings. Asking questions - I have told my students for years the difference between good and great … Continue reading Questions?
What do you need?
A recording of time
by: Aurora Lockhart "If I had to watch a whole documentary on the invention of sound recording back in school, I would've groaned and probably attempted to back out of it. But now that I have freedom in my own time, I've found myself watching videos on the topic out of my own curiosity. One … Continue reading A recording of time
Choices.
What does it take to be thankful?
Thanksgiving is upon us, the time to stop and give thanks. This is the time of year I set aside to thank God for just being here another year. The thankfulness can continue from that point. There is so much research that has been done on the benefits of being thankful. So, I started wondering … Continue reading What does it take to be thankful?
Peace to you.
Do grades stifle learning?
Where there is a will, there is an "A". Some of my readers might remember this commercial from years past. Unfortunately, this indicates that if you don't get an "A" it is your fault. What does an "A" actually indicate in academics? Most times grades are a subjective set of concepts that people in charge … Continue reading Do grades stifle learning?
Live the Answer
Love the questions themselves as if they were locked rooms or books written in a very foreign language. Don’t search for the answers, which could not be given to you now, because you would not be able to live them. And the point is to live everything. Live the questions now. Perhaps then, someday far … Continue reading Live the Answer
Humble Man
Do not imagine that if you meet a really humble man he will be what most people call 'humble' nowadays: he will not be a sort of greasy, smarmy person, who is always telling you that, of course, he is nobody.Probably all you will think about him is that he seemed a cheerful, intelligent chap … Continue reading Humble Man
Mark Twain Quote
The man who does not read has no advantage over the man who cannot read. Mark Twain
Persecution
Let me never fall into the vulgar mistake of dreaming that I am persecuted whenever I am contradicted.”— Ralph Waldo Emerson
Two Important Days
The two most important days in your life are the day you are born and the day you find out why. Mark Twain
Duane's Thoughts 