Work and Play

June 17, 2011 by 1 Comment

When choosing a career, when deciding whether to remain in your comfort zone or to break out and try something new, when weighing the pros and cons of taking on a second job or starting a home-based business, remember the words of Gelett Burgess

“There is work that is work and there is play that is play; there is play that is work and work that is play. And in only one of these lie happiness.”

Yes, it’s not just about the money. Without happiness, money isn’t worth the paper it’s printed on. In fact, after paying for food and basic shelter from the elements, the only reason to have money is for happiness.

Is there some play that you would like to do for work? Is there some work that for you would be play?

My happiness blog will never earn me gobs of money, but I love writing it. I still need a real source of income (my SEO business and my writing business), but it is nice to also have “work that is play”.  And much of the writing that I do for clients is “play”, although much of it is not.

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Your report card has arrived

May 25, 2011 by Leave a Comment

It turns out that Ralph Lauren is more than just a fashion designer; he is also a philosopher:

“We all get report cards in many different ways, but the real excitement of what you’re doing is in the doing of it. It’s not what you’re gonna get in the end – it’s not the final curtain – it’s really in the doing it, and loving what I’m doing.”

Being a parent, I get report cards from my kids all the time.  It is easy to get caught up in the marks.  But it is much more important to make sure my kids are:

 

A) Doing their best.

B) Excited about learning and improving.

These are two things I can easily monitor from home and I don’t even need to understand the subject matter to keep tabs on the progress.  And these are two things that will actually mean something as my kids grow up and have to focus on matters beyond school and on living their lives.

After all, the real report card is whether we are truly living our lives and not just passing through

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It’s not like it’s the end of the world

May 21, 2011 by 1 Comment

OK, the word is officially in.  The world did not end today.  I have this from a reliable source.  He tells me not to worry if you didn’t rapture; it’s not the end of the world.

You will hear many other prophecies, and many of them will even come true.  In fact, the world will end some day, whether there are any humans around to witness it or not.  But I suggest you don’t worry too much about specific dates, because it is unlikely that any of us can predict with that kind of precision.  If we could, imagine how much more useful weather forecasts would be.  When we carry an umbrella, it might even rain.  And when we leave our umbrella behind, it might not.

There are plenty of things you can worry about, things you can actually change, things where you can make a difference.  Worry about those instead — but don’t just sit around worrying.  Do.  Something.  Make a difference.  Change the bad that might have been into the good that can be.

And now that the end of the world failed to make its scheduled appearance, that might just be what this guy will have to do…

 

Reader question: would you paint your car up like that if you knew it was the end of the world anyway?

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Resentment is Poison

May 16, 2011 by 8 Comments

When we hold onto resentment, the only person we are hurting is ourselves. Let go. Let go. Free yourself!

I love this quote by Carrie Fisher: “Resentment is like drinking poison and waiting for the other person to die.”

She talks about resentment, but I have pretty much said the same thing about anger and blame and hate.  In fact, any negative feelings you hold toward someone else fits this quote well.

Why?

Because negative feelings hurt the feeler.  In very few cases does the other person even know – and if she knows, doesn’t even care – that you hate her or resent her or blame her.  But as long as you feel these things, you are burning up inside.  These feelings are poison, and they will eat away at you – all the more so out of frustration that the other person isn’t dying from the poison you swallow.

Is there an answer to this problem?  There is, but … you might not want to hear it.

Forgive.

You might not be able to forget, but you can forgive.  Yes, pretty much everything can be forgiven, no matter how odious the crime.  Forgiveness does not make anybody more or less guilty.  Nor does it undo anything that has been done.  But it does let you come to terms with what has happened and move on to live the rest of your life without a huge weight around your neck.

I am not saying that despicable criminals should not be brought to justice.  I am saying that hating and resenting and blaming them won’t bring them to justice – but it will unjustly corrode your own self.

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Opportunity Knocks

May 9, 2011 by Leave a Comment

Have you heard this one before?

“Knock, knock.”

“Who’s there?”

“Opportunity”

“Opportunity who?”

*silence*

Yes, silence.  When opportunity knocks, so often we respond with silence.  Perhaps it is the silence of fear.  Or perhaps it is the silence of inertia.  Or perhaps it is the silence of uncertainty – what to do next.

When opportunity knocks, you have to answer it.  If you wait around asking questions, opportunity will wander off somewhere else, knocking on someone else’s door by the time you answer.

Worse than hesitating and questioning opportunity, is ignoring it altogether.  Perhaps we don’t want to hear the knocking.  Perhaps we are too busy or careless or introspective or afraid to pay attention.

I am convinced that the biggest difference between people who are successful in life – however you choose to define “success” – and those who are not, is how they respond when opportunity knocks.  Successful people…

  • Remain constantly alert, so they hear the knocking.
  • Answer right away. with open arms.
  • Welcome opportunity in with open arms.

What do you do when opportunity knocks?  Do you answer?  Do you stand near the door and hesitate? Do you even hear the knocking?

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I Am A Good Luck Charm

May 3, 2011 by Leave a Comment

I’ll bet you think this is a motivational post where I tell you that each of us is a good luck charm if we just have the right attitude.

Well, it’s not.  This is about how I, David Leonhardt, am a good luck charm, and how a recent experiment involving the entire population of Canada scientifically proves it.

The experiment was called the “Federal Election”.  Of the five parties in contention, three are in rapture this morning and two have been decimated due to one simple trait that the three winning’ party leaders share and the two losing party leaders do not.

Did they all brush their teeth yesterday morning?  No, that’s not it.

Do they all have tattoos on their left ear lobes.  That’s not it either.

Are they all three Capricorns.  Nope.

I know all three.  Personally.  Sort of.

Steven Harper.

Congratulations to Steven Harper, he is now a full Prime Minister.  The people of Canada have elevated him to majority status…and all because he and I used to work on either side of the same wall.  Yes, I could tap messages in Morse Code on the wall to communicate with him.  I could…but I didn’t.  We did chat in the hallway.  We did do lunch sometimes.  We did meet later on when he was the Reform Party and I was a CAA lobbyist.

And seeing this, the people of Canada have given him a majority in the House of Commons.  (No, he was never a “warm” person, but he was always friendly, intelligent and idealistic.)

Jack Layton

Congratulations to Jack Layton, the new Leader of the Opposition.  The previous record for NDP seats was 43; the people of Canada chose to give the NDP a stunning boost to over 100 seats yesterday.  Not only that, but the party had never held a seat in Quebec until four years ago; today they command 59 seats of the province’s 75 seats.  Wow!

How did Jack Layton accomplish this historic feat?  By knowing me, of course.  Oh, he might not remember me, but I was the guy he nearly ran down with his bicycle when I made a false start at crossing the street without looking carefully and kept his nose stuck up in the air with that this-is-my-space-you-doofus-who-doesn’t-look-where-he-is-going look.  Yeah, not quite the guy you see on TV. You don’t have to be nice to me for the good luck charm to work, you just have to know me.

Elizabeth May

Congratulations to Elizabeth May, the Green Party’s first ever Member of Parliament.  How did the Green Party manage this historic breakthrough? You guess it – by knowing me.  Back when I was a CAA lobbyist and she was the head of the Sierra Club of Canada, we found ourselves working briefly together to have MMT removed from gasoline in Canada (That’s methylcyclopentadienyl manganese tricarbonyl for all you tongue twister fans).  She was not very familiar with the chemical, and I was able to explain her a few things.

If Elizabeth May appears energetic, rough-cut, friendly and authentic on TV, that’s because she is exactly as she appears in real life.  (Imagine that – a politician who actually is whom she appears to be!)

Michael Ignatieff

My condolences to Iggy.  Michael Ignatieff led his Liberal Party (formerly referred to as Canada’s “natural governing party” by many) to a historic and stunning defeat, just 35 seats – its worst showing ever.  Why?  Because Iggy didn’t take the time to know me.

Gilles Duceppe

And my condolences to Gilles Duceppe, who’s separatist Bloc Quebecois cleaned up in Quebec for six straight election, but last night was reduced to a four-seat rump.  And all because he did not know me.  Well, at least nobody will miss them.

As you see, this experiment was carried out with a fairly large sample size, and the results are conclusive: I am a good luck charm.  To know me might not be to love me, but to know me is to be a winner.

Filed Under: Fun

Knowledge versus Understanding versus Wisdom

April 30, 2011 by 4 Comments

Knowledge.  Understanding.  Wisdom.

Which is best to have?  What is the difference between them, anyway?

Knowledge is simple.  It is about facts and information, just observing what they are.

Understanding is a little deeper – it is about realizing what the information (the knowledge) means.

Wisdom is deeper still.  It is like understanding the understanding – how you should react to or feel about the information, now that you understand it.

EXAMPLE:

Knowledge: The government is creating seven new programs this year.

Understanding: Either the government will dip into my pockets now to pay for these new programs, or it will add to the national debt so that many years from now it won’t bother dipping into my pockets – it will just take my pants away.

Wisdom: I should fight the new government programs.  Or, I should live it up while I can, while I still have my pants. Or, I should seek how I can milk these programs to get my money back and earn interest so that one day (when my pants are taken away) I can buy them back.

Which brings me to what inspired this blog post…a quote from Malcolm Gladwell.

Since my brain really only works in the morning, I try to keep that time free for writing and thinking and don’t read any media at all until lunchtime, when I treat myself to The New York Times–the paper edition. At this point, I realize, I am almost a full 24 hours behind the news cycle. Is this is a problem? I have no idea. My brother, who is a teacher, always says that we place too much emphasis on the speed of knowledge acquistion, and not the quality of knowledge acquistion: I guess that means that the fact that I am still on Monday, when everyone else is on Tuesday, is okay.

These days, people rush to get the latest information.  They grab the knowledge.  But do they take the time to understand?  Or even more time to gain wisdom from it?  No, they are on to the next piece of information.

Once upon a time we revered our elders for their wisdom.  Now we tend to mock them for being behind the times.  My parents can’t use computers or any of the new-fangled gadgets.  They don’t have the information-overload that so impresses us in today’s “whiz kids”.

But is knowledge alone worth very much?  I think most people will agree that there is a hierarchy where wisdom is at the top, then understanding and finally knowledge (OK, finally would be ignorance).  But how important is it to seek wisdom, or is knowledge “good enough”?

What do you think?

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European Fraggles and American Doozers

April 28, 2011 by 1 Comment

Happiness Is Hard Work…at least in America.

A new study published in the April issue of the Journal Of Happiness Studies reveals that Americans who work harder tend to be happier. The “Protestant work ethic” is alive and well – and making people happy – in America.

Americans tend to be like Doozers:

Work you cares away,
Dancing’s for another day.
Let the Fraggles play,
Down at Fraggle Rock.

In Europe, the story is completely different. Europeans are happiest working shorter hours.

Europeans tend to be like faggles:

Dance your cares away,
Worry’s for another day.
Let the music play,
Down at Fraggle Rock.

“Those who work longer hours in Europe are less happy than those who work shorter hours, but in the U.S. it’s the other way around,” study author Adam Okulicz-Kozaryn says. It seems that Americans are happiest working and building

The researchers speculate that happiness has less to do with actual hours spent working on each continent than about how people on either side of the ocean view success. The “American Dream” is about how anybody can make it big if they just work hard enough. Europeans seem to focus more on “quality of life”.

Not surprisingly, Europeans are surprised by the results of this study. The UK’s Daily Mail says it all in it’s headline: “America’s bizarre secret to happiness: More work”.

So what contributes to your happiness more – work or off-time?

This post was featured in the Working at Home Blog Carnival.

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Do What You Are Good At

April 26, 2011 by 3 Comments

Here is some good advice for young Aspergians (people with the Asperger’s syndrome) that really is just as good for any of us.  Related to Autism, Aspergians find social interaction difficult and might also have motor difficulties and tend to get lost in themselves sometimes.  That often makes it tough for an Asbergian to fit into society; but it doesn’t mean he can’t.

In his book Be Different: The Adventures of a Free-Range Aspergian, John Elder Robison says:

“Find out what you’re good at and stick with it. In school, a lot of emphasis is put on identifying your weaknesses and then improving them. That’s important if your weaknesses are holding you back, but it’s not the path to greatness.Greatness happens when you find your unique strengths and build upon them. Building up a weakness just makes you less disabled. Building a strength can take you to the top of the world.”

Not everything requires ideal social interaction to be successful. Not everyone has those skills. But everyone has some skills, and those skills can be honed for success.. Find out what you are good at, train yourself to be even better, find ways to optimize your opportunities with those skills, and just keep riding forward.

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