A Better Life

How many times have you been asked, “What Do You Want?”.  This could be with respect to what to have for dinner, what movie to watch or what college to attend.  How do you answer these questions?  Do they really want to know what you want or for you to agree with what they have already decided?  So many times I believe this is not so much a question for honest input but more for affirmation for a decision already made.  This puts one in a very awkward position how they should answer this particular question.  Personally, I find the most appropriate answer is the honest truth.  You will know immediately if they were really wanting the truth or for you to agree with their predetermined choice.  In my dealings with people, I try to keep this in mind and when I ask this question I am honestly wanting them to tell me what they want not what I want them to want.  Makes life much easier.  However, if your goal is to not hurt their feelings there are a few telltale signs that will tell y

Well, here we are at another Thanksgiving. No turkey or ham in sight. No dressing and no cranberry sauce. No family around just me alone to celebrate the one day of the year we set aside to celebrate and give thanks for everything. Normally I would have been at my parents but instead, I am home thinking about what I am missing this year. I called my mother and talked for a long time (I don’t believe our phone calls have ever been less than 30 minutes). This is exactly what I would have been doing had I made the 3 hour trip to their home. Sitting around talking about nothing and everything like every other family on the planet. I was supposed to spend time with a friends family but that has seemed to fall through. However, I am not disturbed by this but thankful to have this time to reflect on the past year and all everything that I have to be thankful. I have a wonderful, well-paying job which I enjoy. I live in a nice apartment surrounded by friendly neighbors. I belong to a good so

Over the last year, we were informed that the world would end on December 21, 2012, due to the Mayan calendar ending on that day. Well, nothing traumatic happened to the world at large so the Mayan calendar had no mystical meaning and served no other purpose than to make some people rich from selling books about the end of the world and expounding on Mayan history. So I suppose this exercise did serve the purpose of bringing people together (at least those that bought into this idea) who were preparing not to be here this morning. Throughout the ages and several times in my lifetime, someone or some group has come out to say the world is going to end on such and such a day. Oh, they always have a good explanation on why this particular day is going to be the end of everything as we know it but alas the disaster and calamity never occur. But what if the world had ended yesterday? What would be different? How would we prepare for such an event? Most of us would be praying maybe calling

Some events in our lives bode remembering and the more important ones, celebrating.  It is an odd practice to celebrate the passing of a year since some event.  The most obvious one, of course, would be one's birthday.  What better occasion to celebrate than one's entry into this life?  Other events that may be considered somewhat memorable would be the day of graduated from kindergarten, 6th grade, and more importantly high school.  If one makes it so far the day they graduate from college becomes a very memorable event.  However, as these events are noteworthy, we don't really celebrate them each year do we?  No, there are just some events we remember and some we bring out the party and share the moment with family and friends.   Events we usually actually celebrate would be the day we were engaged, the day we were married, the birth of our first child and subsequent children, the day we were hired for a particular life-changing job.  The list goes on.  Most importan

So many times I have seen this particular scenario, particularly with women in my life. I am asked about doing something and I respond with a polite no. Does it end there? No, they proceed to continue their tirade until I give in or conveniently “change my mind”. Why can’t people respect the no? No means no. This is what I have always been told, usually in the context of dating but there are so many areas where a no should be respected and left alone. Some of the most current infractions have been when asked to purchase something for my apartment, my response was I can’t really afford that right now. Their response? Oh I will buy it and you can pay me back. Again the no was not taken seriously and now my finances are strained.   What this behavior tells me is that no matter how I feel about something, I am not considered. Sometimes I may even feel compromised because I am being asked to do something I am truly not comfortable with. “You will go to this event whether you li

Events in life are sometimes unforeseen, unplanned and sometimes not in anyway your fault.  For instance, let's say you walk into work and you’re working away.  Then someone says you are to go to a conference room.  You walk in and they begin by saying, "Unfortunately,...".  From there you know this is not going to be good news.  The end result is you get a termination letter because you have been laid off.  Now, for most of us that is a devastating situation because, provided you are responsible for others in your household, how do you tell your significant other especially if you are the sole source of income?  What do you do now?  Imagine this happening when you are 50+ years old and it was already tight with the money you were bringing in?  This is a situation no one wants to find themselves in but happens every day to people throughout our country and the world.  What do people do? Well, the first thing one must do is wrap your head around this news psychologic

I am constantly barraged by stress, either at work, at home or with extended family.  The primary reason is allocation of resources, especially time.  My wife wants many things but mainly she just wants to spend time with me and our granddaughter when she comes to visit.  Her visits are extended and often since we are currently sharing custody of the little angel with the dad's parents.  However, I also must spend time on my job and the other online businesses I am working on launching for some extra money.  Even though I do okay in the salary department, there never seems to be enough for all the things that are needed, wanted, desired, etc.  Since I am the only one with a proper job this makes the situation grim at times.  My wife doesn't work for health reasons but has been very understanding. I have gone through the usual barrage of internet get rich schemes.  Spent a bit of money here and there with very little return for the effort and expense.  However, I have found