Ah yes…there you are my fellow Wax Porhetoric readers. I know, I know, I’ve been gone for a while. So so sorry for letting you all down but I’ve got my reasons. Some of them good (dog/cat/house-sitting for a friend and working on getting an old computer to work) and some because I’m just plain human (ie, stressed as hell as I try to figure out how to pay bills in this not-so-hot economy). Worry not…I am here!

So what’s on my mind? Well, just the other day I was talking to various people (all at different times) about what is going on in their lives, my life, the world, etc. There is a lot of frustration out there. Frustrations as people work work work and feel as if they’re just spinning their wheels. That’s understandable. I mean, who wants to sit there working working working and then feel as if all that work they didn’t didn’t have any payout? I certainly wouldn’t.

Keep this in mind though…everything you do has an impact. It has an impact on your life and it has an impact on the lives around you. You may not immediately see what that impact is but don’t worry about that. Just know that it does. Once you’re aware of this fact, it’s easier to see the impact anyway. Remember…you aren’t the only one out there. So as you go through your day working away and feeling frustrated, just remember that what you are doing is ultimately moving you forward even if you don’t realize it. It’s that moving forward that is keeping life grand and moving in a positive direction. What are the alternatives? Doing nothing…which can lead you to stand still or worse yet, to move backwards.

Don’t let frustrations get to you. Take a break if you need to and move onto something else on your to-do list and keep moving forward.

Am I that ever-positive guy than never has a down day? Hell no. I have them too. My attitude as a whole is an optimistic fellow who loves life and everything that it has to offer but we all have our down days. It’s ok. It happens. Accept a down day, let it ride, and then move past it. Keep moving forward and ultimately you’ll reap the benefits of all your hard work.

On a side note, as I try to help everyone improve their lives in one fashion or another, I will be partaking in a fundraising ride for the MS Society. I will be riding my bike 150 miles next weekend (June 27-28) up in Rhode Island to help raise money for research and for those in need. If you’d like to make a donation (which I could still use a few to reach my goal), feel free to go to my donation page and donate what you can. Next year I plan on doing a bunch of rides for cancer as I’ve lost a few family members to cancer in the past few years. Down with cancer I say!

Have a great week everyone! Chin up, chest out, and keep moving forward. Remember, a slow crawl forward is still better than standing still or moving backwards.

A new website was launched yesterday. Give Me a Mac (www.GiveMeAMac.com) went up with the original intent of “I need a new computer. Let’s put it out there and see which generous person will help my cause so I may continue to develop new computer apps and get back into video work…one of my passions”. You’ve all seen the different accounts of someone putting something up on the net and getting it. This was working on the same premise.

Well, within two days of its inception, Give Me a Mac has morphed from an idea of simply getting a Mac or two so I can continue on with work to an idea of providing computers to those in need. I’ve wanted to set up a scholarship fund for years and this is one way that I can follow through on that. The computers can also be donated to children in need, job-searching adults, organizations that could use the equipment and other groups in need.

Having the focus of the venture change from that of getting a new computer for myself to that of helping others in need totally fired me up and I was able to crank that website from concept to launch within a day. It’s funny how the thought of helping others can motivate you and have you working working working until the project is done. I feel good! Now to see just how popular this will become. Granted, it JUST went up and if it is going to become a non-profit organization I will have A LOT of work to do. I think it will all be worth it though.

Go check out Give Me a Mac and donate to the cause if you can (right now I’m only looking for computers…not money). If you’ve got suggestions feel free to give them. We can change the world one Mac at a time.

So there I was, staring at my vision board and I realized most of the things on there involved either a geographical location or events that depend on geographical locations and it made me wonder how big a role geography plays in our happiness.

Let us ponder for a moment. First, how happy are you right now? Now ponder, when are you happiest? Is it when you are away from home on vacation or is it when you are at home doing things around the house or with your friends? Are you happy and content where you are or do you constantly look forward to your next vacation? If you DO look forward to your next vacation, why is that? Is it to get away from where you are or is it to enjoy a change of scenery?

I’ll give you some insights as to what is on my current board. A picture of the beach (love my beaches! The smell, the sounds…ahhhh…), a picture of someone snowboarding on fresh powder (so refreshing!), a picture of a mountain biker doing an epic drop (rock on!), a picture of downtown Santa Cruz (mmmm…home), a picture of a couple road bikers enjoying a ride along Highway One along the California coast and a picture of a lighthouse and surrounding water in Santa Cruz. The other three items are a Palm Pre, Mac Pro and MacBook Pro.

Hm…interesting. Obviously there’s no beach in Atlanta so I’ve gotta drive to one. Snowboarding? Gotta hop on a plane and fly somewhere to get something good in. Mountain biking…gotta drive an hour or so to get something in the sticks and in the hills but a far cry from the epic rides in California, Vancouver, Colorado, Utah, etc. Road biking along the coast? Duh…

I’ve pondered this question before. Sometimes while in a relationship (love conquers all so geography shouldn’t matter) and sometimes while just pondering life. Honestly I’ve flip-flopped many times on it. I truly believe it depends on the type of person you are and what is important to you. I’m curious to know how it affects others though, if it’s as big of a deal to others as it is to me or if it’s less of an issue than it is to me.

Proponents for geography mattering will say “well duh, of course it does. If you want to be outside enjoying the fresh air and outdoor activities, living in a city and suffering gridlock every day will subject you to a slow painful death”.

Proponents against will say “you can be happy wherever you are. You simply have to accept where you are, enjoy what life is handing you and make the most of it”.

I’ve done both.
Where are you with your thoughts? Are you constant with your thoughts or do you flip-flop like I do?

I shall sit. I shall ponder. I shall hopefully read views from others and digest it all.

Here’s to a happy fulfilling life to you all! Treat your body right. Feed your soul. Enjoy life and give love to others. And…as always…here’s to following our passions and living life to the fullest.

Are you one of those people that lives life and let’s it take you where it wants? Or are you one of those that fight so hard to fit bits of your life into how you envision it should be? No matter how you answer that…let me ask you this…are you happy? Do you think you could be  happier if you lived your life in the other sense?

As a child I used to be the second type of person. I was good at math and science so I thought I should go to one of the top schools for engineering (Carnegie Mellon University) and do that with my life. Oh my…I was a classic Type A personality. I had my whole life structured. I lived life on how I thought I was supposed to live it…lived it based on the expectations of others and of society. I’m pretty sure that’s when I went gray…

A funny thing happened later in life. At one point in time I had so many life changing events happen at once…any one of them enough to stress someone out, let alone all three happening. I ended up quitting a cushy job, getting a divorce, moving 3000 miles away to a place where I knew only one person, and started up an Internet consulting company (right after the dotcom bust) all at once. Stressful? Egads. Did I survive? You betcha. You know what? It was actually the happiest year and a half of my life.

So what changed?

I learned that I cannot control everything in life. By “giving up” this control, I felt a great weight lifted off my shoulders. Suddenly life seemed a bit easier and things just seemed to happen. When I started letting life take me where it wanted I was happier ad healthier. I also ended up redefining who I was. I went from a supposed engineering type fella to a tech guy (again, this was when I thought that’s what I SHOULD do) to someone that relishes on being social and using my social behaviors to forge new relationships in business and personally. (It’s also the reason I ended up setting up TheSocialBeast.com…because that’s what I am!).

I moved to Atlanta a few years ago and again found myself in a social situation, helping promote local bands and such. Of course this didn’t pay the bills right away and I ended up taking a couple jobs I THOUGHT I should take based on my technical skills. Blech. Then I started listening to my own babbling about following your passions, enjoying life, etc. There I was again…starting to enjoy life again, going where life takes me. I think it’s taking me in a neat place yet again.

Yesterday I ended up having a bunch of meetings…the first was a phone meeting with someone I had worked with back in Santa Cruz many years ago who called on me to help get his new business off the ground. Awesome! One of my passions…
Next up was a meeting with Jake’s Ice Cream. It’s their 10 year anniversary and I’ve been asked to be an event planner and help plan a fun summer festival that will happen to celebrate Jake’s anniversary while also creating a fun event for the community. Rock on! Another one of my passions…

So here I am…plotting and planning but trying to be super flexible and go where the universe wants me to be. Who am I to fight it?

Hello fellow Wax Porhetoric peeps (I really need to find a name for us, don’t I? “Wax Porhetoricers” just doesn’t cut it. Suggestions anyone?),

I am now back in town and ready to reflect on life. And oh is there life to reflect on…yes yes there is. You can read about some of my trip back to Carnegie Mellon for Carnival on The Social Beast’s blog if you want. There will also be a more business aspect to this all on Chia Town but this being the place where we ponder life and everything it has for us, I shall give it the spin we’re all used to seeing.

As I stated, I just got back in town from a trip to Pittsburgh. Catching up with friends that I haven’t seen in a while always makes me happy. Yes, I do keep in touch with them and we pontificate upon life via email and phone. However, there is nothing like a face-to-face meeting to really get us going. What makes a good friendship great however is learning about each other and learning about each other’s passions. It doesn’t matter what the passion is, be it personal, professional, silly, deep…whatever it is, the more you know and the more you share, the better.

My time in Pittsburgh was spent catching up, playing games, having conversations about new business ideas, talking about the Steelers, discussing health and fitness, pondering how to live life, discussing the merits of different cities around the country, sharing hobbies and so forth. It’s sharing passions that really gets people going. Anyone can be methodical and educated and say “eating protein after working out is good” or “find a job that makes you happy”. However, when you’re all passionate about what you are talking about the good ideas really start to flow.

I am very very grateful for the friendships that I’ve accumulated over the years. I can’t tell you how many good ideas that have been tossed back and forth. How many memorable moments in life that have been shared. How many times I’ve actually been sad that our trip had come to an end and wanting to continue the visit so we could finish up business.

I think that’s it for today. I think you all get the gist. Sharing your passions with your friends really enriches life. To me, a friendship without passion is simply an acquaintance. I’ve got plenty of those. I prefer to live life with the passionate people, people who share their passions with me and people I can share my passions with. I want to get into a heated debate about the merits of a Mac over a PC, to get giddy about seeing the Steelers play with a fellow Steelers fan, to look forward to discussing life and love with a friend over some drinks while we hike through the woods. Think about the friendships you’ve got…when’s the last time you shared your passions and passionate times with them. Is it time to rekindle such?

So there I was writing what I thought was going to be a quick post (once I get going…egads! There’s no stopping me) on The Social Beast about holding out and not taking such a horrific job in this economy simply to survive. At one time I had that terrible job and it affected all parts of my life. My sanity, my health, my relationships with people. It just wasn’t good. Thank goodness I don’t have that anymore!

This isn’t about that though. It’s about following your passions. Hm…familiar topic? Yes, yes it is. Why am I rambling on about it again? Because sometimes we all need reminders. Even I need reminders. And sometimes I’m just reminded by doing something. In this case I was reminded of my passion for writing while doing that last post. Sometimes we forget to pursue our passions, big and small, simply to survive. That’s a counter-productive endeavor though. While it may seem sensible to drop things that are enjoyable in order to survive in these rather tough economic times, we actually end up hurting ourselves. As we do less and less of what gives us positive thoughts and energy, we slowly slide down a path of negativity which in turn affects everything we do. Suddenly it’s tough for us to do ANYTHING. Our personal relationships are affected, we’re not able to work efficiently and effectively. It’s just not a pretty scene.

There ya go. A quick reminder that we have to continue to pursue our passions. It’ll make us happier. It’ll make us healthier. It’ll positively affect those around us. It’ll give us a better chance at landing a better job. So why not do it? I sure can’t think of a reason. Find your passion and go for it. You’ll be glad you did.

I had a great day yesterday and was pondering why it was such a great day. I didn’t get a great new job offer or anything. Didn’t win the lottery. Didn’t achieve some new goal in life. So what was so great about my day? The fact I spent it with great people…from the moment I woke up to the moment I went to bed. When you surround yourself with great people you can’t help but smile and have a great day.

So what’s the point of this post? To brag about what great friends and family I’ve got? Nope. It’s to serve as a reminder that hey, when things seem a bit rough why don’t you go ahead and visit someone you love. When things are good, get a group of your good people together and have a great day.

It really is as easy as that. Having brunch with my mother, uncle, and girlfriend was just plain nice. It was fun catching up with my uncle and watching my mother and him interact as the loving siblings they are and watching my girlfriend watch this interaction. Afterwards it was time to hit brunch number two for a dear friend that was having a birthday. Brunch was spent with him and friends and then it was to his sister’s house to hang out with his family and a few close friends. This was unplanned but such a great time…quality time spent with quality people. I was a big smiling mess as we drove home afterwards…smiling that I got to share this occasion with good people and smiling that my day was made because of all this.

Here we are on Monday now, starting a new week of looking for exciting new opportunities in life. Opportunities to enjoy life with good people and opportunities in business that will help us all thrive.

Again…I want you all to ponder why I’m plowing through this Monday with so much positive energy. It’s because I had a full day of surrounding myself with good people. It’s easy to pull back a bit as our finances get stretched thin or as our stress levels raise but by doing so we’re actually making things worse. It may be a bit tougher to go out and socialize…we may have to make a more concerted effort to do so but I swear to you, it is more than worth it. It’s more than just a good time. It’s a chance to recharge your batteries. It’s a chance to fill yourself with love and positive energy as you all share it with each other. You can then carry this with you as you move on through the week tackling issues that may arise and accepting new opportunities as they come before you.

Make that call. Go visit someone or have them over for dinner. It’ll do more good than you think.

Hello fellow Wax Porhetoric faithful,

I apologize for the lapse in postings. I, like many others out there, am dealing with the nuttiness that life hands us. Sometimes I’m just too tired, other times too busy, and sadly sometimes my brain is too frazzled to contribute. Alas, this posting is a great reminder not only to myself but to others that are in the same situation. What pray tell may I be rambling on about?

Keeping yourself sane and motivated.

As I started earlier, I’ve been busy looking for full time work, busy working on some side projects (hoping something will stick), dealing with life here and stresses there. This economy has everyone on edge and rightfully so. Money issues can introduce a whole myriad of problems to almost every aspect of one’s life. It challenges their belief, it changes their lifestyle, it puts stress on personal and professional relationships and it can be downright draining. Despite all this we must remember to do things that keep us sane…to find things that keep us motivated so we can continue to move forward in life. It’s pretty tough to smile at your mate or write an effective cover letter when you’re stressed, right? So let’s find things to keep the stresses in check and fill ourselves with motivation and happiness.

What can we do? The best thing is to immerse yourself in one of your passions. If you write, set some time aside to write. It could be as simple as taking a walk through the park. I can’t tell you how many times a quick walk cleared my head and had me chugging and plugging through work with renewed energy. Finding something that works all sides of you…body, mind, soul…will charge your batteries faster and keep them charged longer than other things that satisfy only one need. For example, I find a yearly snowboarding trip is a great way to get me back on track. The physicality of it keeps the body charged (even when I’m beating myself up all over the mountain), the mind is cleared of all the nagging from my normal daily life and my soul feels completely at ease as I coexist with all that nature has to offer. After a few months of being laid off from one position and working on all these other things, a quick trip to the mountains made everything right in my world and I once again feel ready to live life the way it should be.

Not only does a great activity keep all three (body, mind, soul) active and renewed, it also helps put life back into perspective. As you find yourself smiling again, thinking about how good life really is, you’ll find things starting to get back into place. Your positive attitude will shine through. This attitude will be evident to those that you come into contact with and your positive energy will be thrown out for the universe to take notice of. When all this happens it’s only a matter of time before more goodness enters your life. Not only that, when you help yourself you’ll find it easier to help take care of others. This will be a great spiral of goodwill giving around and around…once again more good things shall enter your life.

I’ve done my part. I threw myself at nature and enjoyed what she had to offer. I cleared my head, cleansed my soul and am now ready to get that thing that we all desire in life…a happy, fulfilling life filled with passion and love.

Your job now is to finish reading this, send it to a few people that are important to you and then write down a few things that you think would help take care of your body, mind and soul. Put down a few items that are quick and easy (the walk in the park) and some that are bigger (a snowboarding trip, a trip to a secluded beach, a cabin getaway, whatever you can think of) and then start planning.

Get to it!

Have you ever stopped to think about what your purpose in life is? Stop thinking about the rat race that we are all in and think about why we are here? I’ve been pondering such lately. It seems as if the whole world has gone bonkers and has gotten caught up in a material life. I’m fairly certain that it is this life that we are all falling into that is the cause of why we are where we are. The greed of many has put the economic system in turmoil. Our lust for worldly possessions has us living lives that aren’t true to who we are. Instead of living a pure life, a life that is meant for us, we live a life that is shallow and focused on achieving the small empty material goals in life.

I believe we all  have a purpose in life. We all have a place in this world, a place in this universe. Some are meant to be teachers. Some are meant to be healers. Others are meant to lead while some are meant to provide.

I think it’s been hard for many people in today’s world to realize what each of our individual purposes are because we get caught up in this hectic life. We’ve got so many things going on at once that it’s hard to focus on ourselves. Only when we know who we truly are, know what our individual strengths and weaknesses are, to be in tune with our our mind, body and spirit react to different stimuli from other people and environmental conditions will we truly understand why we are here.

We all need to take a break from this craziness. Let’s all try to simplify life. When we can slow things down enough we can then focus on ourselves. We then need to look deep into who we are…who we truly are, and begin to live the life we were meant to live.

Let us all try to do that this week and see how we can help ourselves and help others.

Have a great, happy and healthy week everyone.

Hello and happy day to you fellow Wax Porhetoricers (I’m going to keep making up words here and there…some have already taken hold over the years…rock on, rock on…). I apologize for my absence lately. A few things have come up, one of which will spawn another posting once I’m ready. Until then, we can revisit the notion of “putting it out there”…of thinking about the positive and what you want in life and letting the universe know what it is so that you may achieve it.

To longtime Wax Porhetoric readers this may sound familiar. This may also sound familiar to those that have been exposed to “the Secret”. According to “the Secret”, if we think about what we want, if we envision what we want, focus on it for long enough then the universe will deliver this to us. It says we should build a vision board, something we can put pictures of our desires (the beach house, a car, a better job, a group of loving friends and family, etc) to aid in our daily affirmations and eventually they will come true.

I am also a firm believer of self-manifestations. If we believe life sucks, we’ll probably stay in that rut. However if we believe we have a great life, great friends, great family then yes, we will continue to have a great life no matter what little hiccups happen here and there.

So…take this mix of the self-manifestations and the teachings of “the Secret” and we’ve got a great recipe for success. Now the question is…are you still putting it out there? I will admit that every now and then I must remind myself to do this. Sometimes Wax Porhetoric is a way for me to help the world and sometimes it serves as a reminded to myself that I need to continue to practice what I preach.

Stop reading about all the doom and gloom of the economy. Stop watching all the pathetic news on TV. If you continue to take in so many negative views then it’s only natural that you dwell on the negativity. Yuck! No more! Let this be the reminder that we need to keep putting it out there. Think about the good things you have and smile. Think about the things you want and envision it. Talk it out with someone to help make it more concrete. Write it all down to help focus those desires. Build that vision board. Do what it takes to get that message out so that you can get it. (there’s one caveat…make sure you put a positive spin on it. Rather than saying “I want to be out of debt” and having the word “debt” be put out there as a desire, try something like “I want my financial freedom”).

That’s all for today folks. We’ve all got a lot going on in life and in our heads. Let’s take a break, regroup, think about what we want and put it out there. It can’t hurt, right? Go for it and I’m sure you’ll be pleased with the results. While we’re at it, I’ll just put it out there that I need a new MacBook Pro. If anyone would like to donate to the cause, I’m 100% receptive to such.

Have a great weekend Wax Porhetoricers!