Did you happen to catch Conan O’brien on 60 minutes last Sunday? You’re not missing anything. He admitted that he believes that: “Everything happens for a reason.” Really?
I suppose some people would nod in agreement. I’m not one of them. That one-liner has never appealed to me. It smacks of desperation. It smells like human spirit gone sour, now needing a catch-all phrase to unpack its guilty burden. So why don’t we just say: “I can’t make sense of this so I’m just going to imagine a force greater than myself has access to an infinite wisdom that ultimately will act in my favor. So there!” After all, isn’t that what it really means?
I’ll have none of it. I prefer pith that is a little harder to divine. I go for bold mystery and audacious assertion instead. Try these on for size:
Failure is impossible!
Or another favorite:
Do not fear mistakes – there are none.
Who needs to understand a thing? Armed with these verbal shields I can leap tall buildings in a single bound, walk through walls, and basically achieve anything to which I put my mind. Who can so sheepishly waste time feeling disappointed in the absence of failure and mistakes?
If I need a one-liner to live by these do me just fine, thank you very much.
Get to the point quickly and clearly. No problem. If you’ve dipped into my blog you’ll also notice I have an appreciation for humor once in a while, too. In fact, and maybe there is no secret about this, I would love to cultivate the use of humor more widely. However, you have to pick your medium carefully and do it just so. That is the part I’m working on. Once you’ve exposed yourself online so-to-speak, you really have to decide – OK, now what do I do with this? Last summer this began as a way to get myself adept with WordPress and take it from there. Now I’m feeling the tug to do greater and bigger things with it. No doubt 2010 will be when that happens. The process of refinement begins in ernest when you can answer the question: What does that say about me? and: Do I like what it says?
My criteria is: Does it put a smile on my lips after I’m done absorbing it? If the answer is yes, then I know I’m on the right track.
One of the legions out there looking for paid employment and running short on inspiration? Skeptical about career assessment tests? I don’t blame you a bit.
I’m committed to doing my due diligence where search is concerned and once in a great while a surprise or two will surface. So I could hardly pass up a line like: 100 Skills You Should Learn (for Free) While You’re Unemployed
It was tip #7 that caught my attention: Set an example: Learn how to inspire others by doing what you love, being expressive, and helping others along the way.
I read it repeatedly and then decided it surpassed the Hallmark card seal of approval. Far from merely sentimental, this tip seemed to hold a nugget of veracity that I could not ignore.
And if that wasn’t enough brain juice, I also found a lovely little personality assessment that teased out a few tidbits and even confiirmed something I’ve heard before about myself, lending credibility to the results. At the site called primary color assessment, I learned where my personal preferences place me on the color wheel of life.
Here is what my earthy, rich color says about me:
It is very likely that you are viewed as extremely dependable and have a complete, realistic and practical respect for the facts. Logic and analysis tend to be hallmarks of this color. While you eagerly solicit others opinions, you are likely to be known as the “idea” person who comes up with new processes, approaches, innovative solutions and alternatives.
You may like structure (and, in fact, need it to be productive), and you will thrive in situations that value your intellect and analytically abilities. You are very thoughtful, and will be thorough, sensibly systematic, hard-working and careful with particulars and procedures. You have a strong drive to meet expectations and can be a stabilizing influence in a fast-paced environment. Careers that reward accuracy and organization such as accounting, civil engineering, law, production and operations may be appealing.
Moose Gruns can be quite intense and focused when presenting or defending a new idea about which they are passionate. People in this area of the spectrum come in two distinct flavors; those who are very logical and base actions and decisions on facts and those who are equally analytical but make more use of their intuition and “gut feelings.” The latter will, never-the-less, tend to verify their intuition with facts and hard data.
The bit I’ve been told before is: a stabilizing influence in a fast-paced environment. Several times in my career so far, colleagues have purposely mentioned this to me directly, and I have always been appreciative. I seem to have a natural tendency to believe things creating panic or dread rarely are disaster inducing events at work. Maybe that only means that I have been very fortunate so far, but I prefer to believe that what has been done can be undone and often made much better.
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