A cold and cloudy morning

The view from my perch on the front bench of the Sukoon Cafe is a gray parking lot with gray and black cars nestle up to each other for warmth.

High trimmed oaks with dark green and a speckling of yellowing leaves struggle against the blandness, almost succeeding. But above their quiescent, domed heads a gray, cloudy sky fights back, forcing their colors to remain muted and dull.

It's so still and quiet.

A few cars drift by in front of the cafe, moving left to right or right to left depending on which shop is the next destination. Haircut? Groceries? Breakfast? Laundry?

A young man in worn jeans and a brown plaid shirt with the tails hanging out walks by in front of the cafe, lights up a cigarette and leans against the stone pillar. He has white ear bud wires dangling from his skull, down the back of his collar and into a device in his back pocket. I wonder who or what is he waiting for. What is he listening to?

I wish him well in my head. 

I wonder if his day will be one to remember or just another one he won't be able to recall. Does his wife pick him up from just having a haircut or is he waiting for a cab to take him to his first day in boot camp. His first day away from family and friends.

Just now a complete stranger, an elderly man with short wisps of white hair peeking out from a well worn Marine ball cap passes by my perch and catches my eye through the glass. He nods, smiles and tilts his head in silent greeting. I nod back and give him a quick, casual salute.

He returns the salute, a little less casual than mine and continues on. He's on his way to the Mamma's Daughters, the breakfast cafe a few steps away. He looks like a two eggs over easy, hash browns, bacon with biscuit and sausage gravy kind of guy. And coffee. Strong. Black and bitter, please.

That smile lifted the grayness just a bit. 

It's time to get my own day started.

Smile. It's good for your face and your soul.

Say hello...

Did you say 'Hi' to anyone today? I mean make eye contact, smile and say 'Good morning. Good to see you this morning' or some such.

I highly recommend you try it. Every day, whenever you can.

You won't get enough chances in life to share a moment with someone, be it friend, co-worker, family member or total stranger. You've probably forgotten how easy and rewarding it is.

Along the road to adulthood, we start replacing simple pleasures and interactions with a more mature attitude of the world. We stop giggling at each other and with each other. We pretend we don't find puns funny. Captain Kangaroo gives way to Captain Kirk. (Just an example ;-) I love Star Trek!)

Instead of patting each other on the back or punching a shoulder in greeting, we shake hands or just grunt our hellos, hardly glancing up from our cell phones.

Instead of enjoying a game of jacks in the driveway with the neighbor kids, we have to plan a party.

Instead of playing 'horse' around a hoop with no net, we pay hundreds of dollars to sit in a cramped, noisy arena watching someone else have all the fun.

Try it just once for me. Tomorrow, say hello to someone and extend your hand in friendship. Let them know you want them to have a good day. Stop and enjoy the moment.

Offer to play jacks at lunch and see what happens.

Be Happy
Be Cool
Just Be

Live your moments well...

Reading this post is a just a brief moment in your life, one I hope you'll enjoy before you turn to the next.

The older you get, the more you pay attention to these moments and how you enjoy or ignore them. You start caring if you're spending time well or wasting it.

In our youth we all just barrel ahead, soaking in everything, no matter how many times we bump up against time wasting efforts. Yes, youth is wasted on the young, but how else could it be? 

In our youth we embrace everything, ignore nothing and still somehow have time to waste on things we'll never remember. But that's what the young are good at. That's why we grow, physically and mentally. We have no filters, no barriers to trying everything. It's the right attitude. It makes us stronger, faster, smarter.

As we 'mature', we can experience things with our minds as well as directly. My experience reminds me that I don't enjoy movies by that director or eating that kind of food or working at that kind of job. So I spend less time trying them. Rather, I look for experiences that I believe will be fun and interesting. Like becoming an author and blogger.

I think we're more aware of the world than when we were younger as well. Maybe it's the filters we build up over years of experiences. Maybe we're less distracted by the bright and shiny things that are everywhere.

My moments are precious. Family moments. Friend moments. Work moments. And when I can, moments to just let the world spin without me.

Relax and enjoy your moments. 

Thank you and God Bless you

On this day of remembrance I wanted to say a special thank you to all who have served and are serving their country.

It is a special kind of self sacrifice to give all you have for your fellow man.

I pray that someday soon we can find ways to make these sacrifices unnecessary. But until that wonderful day, I give my thanks to you and your families for all you do.

God Bless you.

Simple things to make 2016 rock for you...

In 2016 I sincerely hope you will:
- wake up every morning and say 'I love life' out loud (OK, internally if it spooks your spouse ;-)
- mentally confront your life's petty fears and kick them out the back door
- continue to execute a realistic plan to deal with your real problems
- get help if you need it, people will amaze you
- say 'Hi' to most of the people you meet today
- make eye contact, it may be just the thing they need to  prove that someone does care about them
- tell someone when something good happens to you
- listen with a caring heart when someone is sharing their bad news with you
- ask at least one person how his/her day is going and truly listen
- strive to do your best at your job, it's infectious behavior and both you and they will benefit
- take a walk at 10, 12, and 2, even if it's only for 5 minutes, it will clear your head and it's great exercise
- be alert to the world around you, but don't let the world's problems paralyze you, help where you can and trust that others will do the same
- read more
- try a different literary genre, stretch your world a little, you'll be amazed I promise
- get a book on your country's naval history or space program or government or parks or highways, ANYTHING that is not fiction so you can open the door to something new to you
- join a glee club or band or group of local guitarist or theater group or script writers. or take a pottery class or painting class or sculpture class, something that will get your creative self energized
- meet or re-meet a neighbor
- don't kick yourself for your mistakes more than once, learn and move on
- help in a fund raiser for those in need, give to a charity you care about
- take care of your body, start today
- realize you need to eat correctly and walk for your health
- take care of your mind
- do crosswords, puzzles, play games with friends, memorize poems like the Jabberwocky or a Doctor Seuss rhyme, add to your repertoire whenever you can
- take at least two mental breaks during the day, just close your eyes try to hear your own heartbeat
- encourage others with your smile, your love and your heart
- you'll have setbacks and problems, we all do. deal with them as soon as possible, do not carry them like a chain around  your neck
- don't be afraid to laugh out loud, it is music for the soul

Be happy, my friends, you deserve it.

And don't forget to be cool! ;-)

Another part of my life passes by...

I have three amazing grand daughters. Each has her own view of life, her own world of wonderment that I'm fortunate to share in. Seeing this crazy Universe through their eyes gives me no end of pleasure. I would rather spend time talking to each of them about anything at all than to spend time with any celebrity or famous figure.

So it was very painful indeed when I realized that I would no longer be able to walk one of them to school anymore because she now rides the bus to a middle school a few miles away.

For her it's exciting. New friends, new teachers, a new school, riding the bus and another whole Universe of new ideas to learn. Worlds are opening their doors to her. It's an amazing time. I remember it well, even today, some fifty years later.

For the past few years I've walked the two blocks to her house and then walked her to school. Hand in hand, rain or shine. Her hands, so incredibly small and delicate. Her face bright and constantly looking around as we avoided puddles or mud from the recent rain.

"Hi, Grandpa!"

I looked forward to those words every morning. Even when I was anxious about work or something awry in my life, those words always brought my world back into focus. That moment of walking in the door to those words is the best heart medicine there is.

We had a routine of sorts. We would make sure she had all her school work. Check. Had snacks for the day. Check. Kiss mommy good bye. Check! I would tell her Grandma says 'Have a good day' and she would say, 'OK'. And then we were out the door.

On the way to school we discussed spelling words. Or maybe a problem in math or other subject. WE did math tables for a whole year. Like me, she struggled with math. Sometimes it was a school yard social disaster. But most of the time it was admiring the live oaks in the school yard, how their arms are so strong and beautiful.

Our favorite subject was creating animal schools. Squirrel School Elementary, Robin High and Stink Bug University. What subjects to Bunnies take? Carrot Cake baking or jumping rope. Kid stuff.

I still have wonderful talks with her, but the morning walks are gone. The joy of starting a new day with that beautiful, creative little mind have passed me by and I'm the poorer for it.

Pay attention to your children, parents. Bring out the world for them. Live in the moment with them. It all fades away much, much too soon.

Growing up in the Panhandle and Parenting

A huge part of growing up, for a boy at least, is where he gets his first bicycle and BB Gun. Oh wait, bicycles and BB Guns are no longer PC. A young boy might hurt himself on the bike and heaven forbid he might learn about weapons from his father. Better to learn from some moron down the street who steals his Dad's pistol for 'fun'. Sorry. I'll save that rant for another time.

This all has to do with these epiphanies I get on how lucky I was to grow up in the '50s and '60s. Even though I had poor, if any guidance from my father, I had a great childhood. We'll leave my father's story for another time as well. Suffice to say he worked too much and loved too little.

Looking back, growing up in the tiny Texas Panhandle town of Levelland was awesome. We had no extra money, lived in an old two story farm house outside of town and we played outside. All day. All summer long.

Mom would feed us oatmeal, made in a pressure cooker pot, that had the consistency of paste and tasted like cardboard. The saving grace was all the butter, sugar and milk you could snag. To this day I cannot eat oatmeal without a dab of milk, a pat of butter and spoon full of sugar. But. That meal filled our pudgy bellies for hours, until it was time for lunch.

Then Mom would say, "Get outside and play. Stay out of trouble and stay away from the barn."

So we promptly headed for the old barn and spent the morning playing Cowboys and Indians, tag, making paper airplanes, throwing clods at each other, setting up the bag of little green plastic soldiers in clod fortresses and then shooting them with the BB gun.

Brett, a boy my age who lived in the fancy house next door, would come over and we would throw around a Frisbee until our arms fell off. Then we would drag out the hose and lawn sprinkler and spend hours running back and forth, slipping and skinning knees, elbows and yes losing a tooth or two.

I know things are different, some things need to be different. You should know what your kids are doing and with whom. Mom's should talk to each other about their kids and keep an eye on them. Dads should take their sons and daughters fishing and teach them to ride a bike. Mom and Dad should share the responsibility of homework.

Do you?

You are NOT so busy that you can't spend time enjoying life with your children. You will have the blink of an eye to spend teaching your children the simple joys of life. The blink of an eye.

I grew up 'poor' but most of my friends did too. But I didn't feel poor. I remember being happy most of the time. I remember the dust and the heat and the endless summers.

Will your children remember the fun of youth? It's up to you. Come on. There is nothing better than the look on your child's face when you've showed him how to make his first paper airplane or they take their first solo ride on the bike.

Be a parent. Be a part of that amazing journey; childhood.

How do we deal with the day to day...

Day to day life is full of joy, boring repetition and sometimes moments of anguish or rage.

I've been trying to remember back to my childhood to find how I was taught to deal with life. Who told me how life was supposed to be? How to deal with this problem or that problem, big or small.

Sadly, I can't remember anyone. Not my parents, not the preachers or ministers, not my Boy Scout leader or school teacher. No one.

I know there were times where someone said something like, "It's ok, Gary. Things will work out. You're just having a bad day." or "I know this hurts, but this is the way life is."

The Bible has lots of lessons and parables. Other religious works give more precise directions. Some philosophical works just give vague riddles or commandments.

While I was growing up, other than "Act like a man" or "Life is hard, deal with it", I can't really remember any valid, usable, positive advice on how to live well.

Maybe it's just that my father was raised in such a sterile and unloving environment, so he had no idea how to help his own family. I think he tried, but he had no foundation to work from. My mother did her best as well, I'm sure. But again, she had a very hard childhood herself.

If you have family, take a moment and ask yourself how you might instill a positive, helpful attitude. Be open to talking about your problems and how you resolved them.

Show your family that you've made mistakes but you've tried. Talk to them when they have a problem and help them find the best, right answer.

They may never thank you. That's ok. You've made life a little better for them.

Give yourself a break...

Maybe it's just the way we're wired, but it's not until later in life (yes, older ;-) that we begin to realize what is truly important in day to day life.

Maybe this has allowed us to survive by keeping us focused on short term goals like food and shelter. Someday I'll have time to take some college courses and ask people much smarter than me about human evolution. But for now, I'll trust my instincts and experiences. Another trait I've only picked up in recent years.

Now that I"m getting close to retirement, the world seems both infinitely larger and yet somehow very small and close. Things that seemed so important before can just wait. It's too easy to get sucked into the abyss of information highway, politics, work drama.

The lawn will be there tomorrow, I'm going to sit on the patio and read. And I'm not going to feel guilty about it, ruining the enjoyment later. Yep, used to do that all the time. Now I don't have to try so hard to enjoy a few moments of solitude or playing cards with friends or watching 'The Day the Earth Stood Still' for the 100th time. (Yes, the original version is the best SciFi movie every made. ;-)

If I could pass along some advice to younger men it would include:
- your family is your responsibility, don't let them down
- your family needs you to work hard and then come home and relax, play some baseball and joke around
- the world will continue to spin just fine without you, so take breaks during the day and let it
- the world needs you to be a good man. it also needs you to enjoy life in order to be a good man
- plan for the future. check your plan once in while and adjust life/work if you need to. then go have some fun
- support your friends when they need it. pay attention to their lives and make sure they know you care

Give yourself a break.

To be happy, just relax a little more and enjoy being alive.

Insanity on the road...

I fear there will be lots of these kinds of posts from me, scan past them if you've heard these ditties before.

This morning I was waiting at a light, ready to turn left onto the freeway side road, my typical drive in the morning. There's been lots of highway and building construction lately. 'Lately' for Texas is basically 'always'.

An 18 wheeler pulled along the right side of the car just ahead of me in the next lane, a non-turn lane. He revved his engine a couple of times and leaned out, asking to get into the left lane to turn.

The car he was waving to ignored him, so he looked back at me and raised his hand with that 'can you help me' look we all understand. So I waved back and motioned for him to pull in ahead of me. His relief was obvious on his face and he gave me a smile and thumbs up.

When the light changed, I waited a bit, allowed him to pull in front of me, which he did quickly, waving again.

At that time, car behind me honked, loud and long. The driver was waving at me for being so stupid as to allow the trucker to cut in line. I ignored him but it burned me.

Really? These truckers are some of the best drivers out there, doing a very difficult job to support YOU and ME with construction of highways, building and tons of other stuff. That truck and it's driver represent hundreds, if not thousands, of dollars of commerce trying to get delivered, hauled, whatever.

Of course there are jerk truck drivers, just like there are jerk commuters. My experience is that they are far and away more courteous than the average guy on the way to work.

Anyway, we all made it through the light. The ninny behind me raced around to my left, zoomed up the next red light. The trucker and I cruised at the speed limit and joined him, stopped at the light. I think it was really pissed that he had to stop but we would have caught up to him at the next light anyway. Sheesh!

So today's thought on the silliness of humanity (not going to say insane but it's 'this' close ;-), RELAX!

Courtesy on the road will get us ALL where we need to be safely and in a decent mood.

Pity pudding...

Recently I was wallowing again in some pity pudding about my software skills being obsolete. It happens to me occasionally, usually after a programming problem is solved by one of my younger, more agile team mates. The problem is usually easy to fix and obvious. Just not to me at the time. ;-)

It's my problem, not my teammates. It stems from the software industry's constant drive to improve itself with better tools, operating systems, programming paradigms, etc. 

One of the byproducts of this improvement is having to learn all these new things, leaving the knowledge you gained from the last set of tools behind; binary baggage, if you get the pun. I go through another learning shift every few years or so. Most of the facts and know how I'm just getting a handle on is pushed to the side as the next set of tools roll out.

I wonder if a lot of life isn't like this and if this may be the cause for a lot of our inability to make better cultural progress. Are we constantly throwing out the baby with the bath water?

Anyone remember 'I'm OK, you're OK"? How about 'The Peter Principle' or 'Don't Worry Be Happy'. 

Though these may be shallow examples of 'principles' we wanted to understand, I think they show that we're constantly looking for an explanation of why we are what we are. If I'm OK and you're OK says it all, why do I still think you're a twit? ;-)

I think it's time for a nap. At least no one's tried to tell me naps are bad for you. Yet.

Take a little break...

That's right, I said take a break. I did NOT say knuckle down and produce more, or better or smarter. I said take a break.

Take a moment for yourself. Do it responsibly and within the limits that your job and life permit but do it every day.

If you can walk around your building or lobby or house or whatever during lunch, do it. Don't take your phone, don't make calls or think about work. Don't think about anything. Focus on the trees or the grass or birds. Really look at them. When is the last time you actually looked at the eyes of a bird or the shape of the leaves on a tree?

Calm your busy mind for a moment. Let your mind enjoy a bird's song or a tree's beauty.

Work is not life. It's good to work. It's good to strive to be the best you can be. We need to work, it fills our lives with purpose and meaning and we help each other by working.

The moments are few in this life. Take a few, every day, and enjoy something beautiful.

Support and attend local theater

My granddaughter is in a local production of 'Annie'. It's her first play. She's not Annie or one of the chorus, she's just an orphan in the background. She gets to sit on the stairs during some of the songs and do some singing and little 'mopping stuff around'. It's frikkin' amazing!

One look at her on the stage and I start weeping. I'm 61, sitting in the church sanctuary with 200 other parents, grandparents, friends and neighbors, bawling at these adorable girls singing 'It's a hard knock life!'. It's wonderful.

The insanity here is that there isn't a full time, free (OK, I'll help pay for it with taxes and donations ;-) theater group in every town and village in the world. Places where boys and girls can get together and learn more social 'skill's in a month than some do in a lifetime.

Things like:
Cooperation: how can we make this scene come alive with all of us on the stage?
Acceptance: I'm not Annie for this production but I'd like to keep learning and tryout for a bigger part next time.
Humility: Oops, I messed that up. I'm sorry. I'll get it right next time.
Skill: Last year I was an OK orphan. This year I want to try it again and be better!
Experience: I don't know if I can sing well enough but I'm going to try something new!
Patience: I've been sitting here ALL DAY, waiting for my cue, but that's OK. We need to get this scene right.
Applause: I really like this feeling, I'm going to be in another play!

OK, so once again I over simplify things, but you get the idea. If you didn't get a chance to be in a high school production, or you simply didn't want to, it's OK. You can now. I was too shy, so I did the lighting for the plays. It was a blast. But I wish that I had overcome my shyness and tried out for SOMETHING.

Your homework assignment:
Check the local schools, city government, churches, etc and find a couple of theater groups that need help.
Maybe you can just contribute a few dollars.
Maybe you can volunteer to be an usher or greeter.
Maybe you can help build sets, or make costumes or be in the orchestra.
Maybe you can finally direct! (You know you've always wanted to try it ;0)
Go find a group that suits you. Get involved. Help.

You would be insane for not having fun.

Laugh a little more...

For me it's watching anything with Red Skelton, Steve Allen, Robin Williams, Billy Crystal or Bob Hope.

It's playing games with my family and making terrible puns, by them as well as by me.

It's watching Victor Borge at the piano. Or Tim Conway try to crackup Harvey Corman and Carol Burnett.

Robin Williams, Whoopie Goldberg and Billy Crystal in the Comic Relief shows.

These people and acts make me laugh in a genuine, deep, uninhibited way. They make me happy. There are times when my mouth hurts from laughing so much. My ribs ache. And I feel GOOD!

It's a mystery to me that I don't watch them more often. That we all don't spend at least a few moments, every day, laughing. Smiling at life.

It's not that hard, folks. And the benefits are life changing.

We're insane for not laughing more. It's even cheap!

Be happy, friends.

Stress in 3rd grade is nuts

While walking my 9 year old granddaughter to school last week, I got a view into her life in third grade. Remember that I'm 60+ and she's 9, I haven't had a child in elementary school for 30 some years and I that was in third grade in 1961. I'm just trying to be as fair as I can. ;-)

BUT...

I could not believe the stress she was radiating, worrying about the STAAR tests she would be taking on Tuesday and Wednesday. She was actually wringing her hands and frowning, close to tears with worry. 'I'm afraid I won't do good, Grandpa. What if I miss something and do bad. I won't get to go to 4th grade.'

This had been going on for days before that. She would go from the typical little girl bouncing off the walls, singing the latest Bieber song, happy as a lark, to frowny-faced anxiety, whining 'I don't think I can do well on the test. What if I don't remember everything?'

The insanity I see here is multi fold.
1. She's 9 years old. She should NOT be THAT worried about a test that is a review of past learning.
2. She's 9 years old. She should NOT be THAT stressed about school academics of ANY kind.
3. She's 9 years old. She SHOULD be enjoying school. Enjoying her friends, her teachers, recess and of course fretting over tests. Fretting. NOT stressing. Huge difference.

Now, I've wondered if it was just her and not the rest of the kids, so we've checked with other parents and talked to kids and teachers. Nope, it's most of the kids. They are so worried about these tests that school is more like my office at work than a fun, peaceful, positive learning environment.

This is wrong. This is insane.

Today's homework assignment:
1. Find out why these tests are stressing out my grand kids and work to change it. I invite you to make your own assessment of these tests and how they affect your kids and grand kids.
2. Get involved with your teachers and find out how they are presenting these tests to the kids. What are they telling them to motivate them to do well.
3. Remind the children that these are 'reviews' of things they have already learned. That's how I finally got my granddaughter to relax a little.

It's insane to stress out a 9 year old about a test.

Simple feelings

I've been walking one of my granddaughters to school each morning, supposedly to save her mother from being exposed to the cold. My daughter has Scleroderma, which is aggravated by changes in temperature and cold weather. (Look up Scheroderma and see if this is a cause you can contribute resources to, please.)

I say supposedly because that's not the whole truth. I also walk JJ  to school because I enjoy it and so does she.

I hold her small hand and we talk about anything that comes to mind. And with an 8 year old, that means just about anything a young, agile mind can focus on for more than 30 seconds.

We've talked about the curse of learning multiplication tables. "Why do I have to memorized them? Do you use multiplication at work, Grandpa?" Not sure how I danced around that one, because of course I rarely use those pesky tables.

"Why does God have to make it so cold? The grass is brown because it's so cold, so why not make it summer all the time so the grass would be green and I wouldn't have to wear this coat?"

"I want to be a teacher when I grow up."

"I want to be a doctor when I grow up."

"I don't think I'd like to be a programmer, GrandPa, you work too much."

"I want to be an astronaut and go to Mars. We've already been to the moon and there isn't anything interesting there."

Talking with JJ lights a small, warm candle in my heart that glows and carries me through most of my day. Walking with her reminds me so much of walking and talking with both of my daughters at that age. The world isn't even 'the world' to her yet. It's small and comfortable. Safe and fun and mostly happy.

It's the way it should be for me, for you, and everyone.

It stopped being small when I learned about JFK's assassination in 5th grade home room at school and I saw all the teachers crying. It stopped being comfortable when a relative died and for the first time I knew what that meant. It stopped being safe when my brother crashed his car in high school, even though everyone was OK.

All these things, and others, affected my life, just like they would and do yours. I'm always trying to be positive, let the anxious feeling go, relax, be happy, be cool. And it works most of the time.

But when I'm walking with JJ, on a brisk school morning, talking about 3X3 and why birds sing, I don't have to try to be warm, safe or happy. I just am.

Exercise Time:
After dinner, sit on the floor with your child and help them make a list of 10 things that make them happy. Tape the list on your frig.

Now make your own list, and share it with them. Read your list each morning and ask yourself, 'how can I be happy today?' You can keep your list internal if you like, but there no reason you couldn't put your list next to hers.

Now, take your child to get an ice cream cone and ask her or him why dogs barks but cats meow. Then just listen. Really listen. And laugh. Be a child with your child. It's OK.

TV is so under utilized!

It's in virtually every household and yet we fill its programming with so little. Hey, relax, I'm not slamming Ellen, or Dr. Phil or game shows. TV is an entertainment venue, so be entertained if you can live your life productively as well.

What needs a boost are the educational opportunities. Daily, main stream, programs that apply to high school, college, trade and arts, everything! The 'daily' and 'main stream' are the parts I see we're missing. We have specialty programs like Nova, Disney, college PBS, etc. And I love these programs. They inform as well as entertain.

But where are the structured, relevant, productive, useful programs? Ones that improve your everyday work life. Or your everyday emotional life?

And think of the contests we could have! Want a couple of million high school kids hitting the history books for a month? Hold a contest where the top 10 winners get to meet the President! And the President signs 'atta boy' certificates for all who complete the course.

Paper exercise!

Write down 10 'courses' you would like take if they were free. Yes, 10. Spend some time on this; make the courses meaningful to you. If you always wanted to learn Japanese, write it down. Want to learn how the brain works, write it down. Interested in how a city government runs, write it down.

1. You'll be taking them at night, 30 minutes to an hour, Monday through Friday.
2. Course information is available at your local library and/or post office or through the mail and Internet.
3. Your input helps determines what courses are created and viewed. Want a course in US Presidential history, send it in.
4. Keep your own damn notebook and articles. You are a grownup, take responsibility for these classes and track them yourself.
5. If you 'want' to learn, you will. If you only 'wish' to learn, you're wasting every one's time. (Sorry, soapbox just showed up and I had to say it ;-)
6. You take it from here, there's so much more we could do.

Explaining the universe

All should have the right to explore the meaning of the universe, without fear of persecution or harm from your fellow man.

Every life is precious. Every mind is a wonderment that should be allowed to experience that life to the fullest it is capable.

The sheer joy of experiencing a thunderstorm for the first time as a child can be felt again if we allow it.

The sunrise on a cold November morning in Colorado, where the air is so cold it burns your nose as you breathe it in, can fill your heart with peace.

How you explain the thunderstorm and the sunrise is irrelevant. That you are allowed to explain them, as it makes sense to you, defines humanity.

Study the philosophies and religions of the world. Get to know how they came to be and what they really mean to those who follow them. Perhaps they all point to common ground.

We live in this universe together.

Reading and writing must be a universal right

One of the insanities in our world is that not everyone learns how to read and write. Cultural barriers, physical barriers and a lack of world wide support for the written word are slowly changing for the better but it's always too slow.

I don't advocate forcing everyone to learn their ABCs, I'm advocating everyone have the same chance, the same access to reading about the this world and all the other worlds in our combined imaginations. The same access to add to that vast collection of human experience.

If you know someone who can't read or write, help them. It's hard to set this as the highest priority in someone's life but it should be as high as possible. Reading and writing open the doors of life in so many ways.

Here it comes: paper exercise time.

In your 'Insanity Notebook' ( you did put all these exercises in a notebook, right? ;-) add this one, and yes I realize it's slightly ironic to do and exercise about reading and writing in a notebook.

Look up three places in the world where you could help spread the gift of the written word. I would suggest the Red Cross and checking with religious outreach programs. Use your imagination, you'll find a way.

College isn't for everyone

Somewhere along the line we've muddied the waters in education where it applies to 'higher' education.

Everyone should have access to education beyond the 12th grade. If you can pay for it, you will. If you cannot pay for it society should help you. With the agreement that you will pay society back as you are able.

College is not the only educational access that will help you lead a rewarding life. It certainly is one path that you should consider. Everyone should have access to career mentors that know you and can help guide you with the right educational choices.

If you want to be a vet or doctor or a judicial professional you're going to need a college education. That's great. It's wonderful. Go get 'em, Bucko!

If you want to be writer there are classes and even online course to help.

If you want to be in the trades, like a machinist or engine mechanic or potter, you can get an education in trade schools. And you can definitely have a happy and rewarding career.

You want to farm or ranch? There are farmers and ranchers who will gladly show you the ropes. Roll up your sleeves and find a few. You'll hit it off with the 'right' one and you're off.

It's a simple point. Never stop learning. Never stop pushing your talents a little further, explore a little further. Part of what makes life worth living is looking for and finding new ways to enjoy your job and your life.

College is one way and it's a great way. But it isn't the only way. Explore, examine the alternatives.

Here we go with my 'on paper' exercise ;-)

Write down 5 'jobs' you want. Really want, not wish. A wish is a dream you know will never happen but is fun to think about. A want is something you can and will accomplish if you set your mind to it.

For each job draw a picture of you at this job. Simple stick figures are fine, don't get hung up on the details. Next to 'you' draw some of the 'things' you will produce/conceive/achieve at this job. When you have all 5 done, sit back with a cup of tea and daydream about each one. Pick the one you like best.

Then find out what education you need to get to that picture.

Go. Explore. Dream.