Live with Passion

Daily Quote

"Passion is energy. Feel the power that comes from focusing on what excites you."

-Oprah Winfrey-

"Some people die at 25 and aren't buried until 75."
-Benjamin Franklin-

"Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose."
-Steve Jobs-

Lesson of the Day

Live with passion. Living with passion means to live fully, to do the most you can each day, to not waste time, to get up and be excited to face the day. When you decide to live with passion, it doesn't mean having hobbies, or having free time, or doing everything you want. It means that no matter what you're doing, you give your all at everything you do. It means that when you go to get up, you don't hit the snooze button. It means that when things get tough during the day, you get tough right back and get it done. It means having a goal, long-term, and working each day to achieve it. To live with passion is to fully live life. I bring this up because I see so many people who sit idly by while their lives dwindle away. They sit and watch tv, not for the programming but simply to vegetate. They could be doing something they love, pursuing a passion, practicing a skill, interacting with others, anything, but yet they choose apathy. I see so many people who do drugs, or drink, or have other behavior patterns to escape their lives, when instead they could be changing them. They could be making a better budget to get out of debt, or implementing an exercise regimen to become healthier, or getting rid of negative things in their lives. I see so many people who pursue things that detract from their goals in life, simply because whatever it is is nice and they give in, or pressure from others, or what have you, when they need to be focusing what little resources they do have to their goals. You don't have time to be anyone but you. You don't have energy to do everything you could ever want to do. You certainly don't have any time to throw away. Live your life, fully and with passion, every moment you can.

Questions to Ponder

How fully do you live your life? Do you give your all in what you do, or are you giving less? Are you where you want to end up in life? Is there more you could be doing? Is there more you want out of life?

Gratitude

I'm thankful today for you all, my readers. I wouldn't have a point to write this if it weren't for you, and in doing so I am pursuing a deep passion and living my life more fully. Thank you all, for your comments, for your time, and for reading! Have an amazing day!

The Will

Daily Quote

"The training is nothing! The will is everything! The will to act."

-Ra's al Ghul-

Lesson of the Day

It doesn't matter how much knowledge or training you have, they both mean nothing without the will to act upon them. It doesn't matter how much you know, if you don't use it. I could have everything handed to me, such as money, connections, material possessions, but, without the will to use those things, I might as well have nothing. But with the will, everything becomes a resource. Let me tell you a story. There was this student I knew, and they had all of the resources to get a bachelor's degree, for free. They entered college and were doing fine, with no issues. Things started to get harder, as they always do. He started to get involved in a lot of clubs, to do more around campus. He was great, he had a nigh perfect GPA with high involvement in the college, and working on the side. He had this college thing down. Then, on his third semester, complications arose, but he still finished the semester with only a minor loss to his grades. On the fourth semester, he failed. You see, he didn't want it bad enough. He had this free ride, mountains of help, and he didn't take it. He didn't have the will to act on his resources to succeed, so he failed. He had to start working more, well above full time. He had to reevaluate his entire life, his system, who he was. Now, he faces his fifth semester of college, but something has changed. He'll be working sixty plus hours a week instead of the sixteen a week, with a nigh full time course load. But that's a minor change. No, you see the biggest change was in him, where he found his will. He knows exactly what it'll take to succeed, to make this possible future real, and now he has the will to use anything to make it happen. People have to lose, before they realize how much they really have. People have to be thrown into darkness and hardship before they find the will to get back out. Will is not something that is given, it's not something that is innately held, it is developed through pain and struggle. Without the will, the resources mean nothing.

Questions to Ponder

How much are you willing to take to make that one future a reality? How much do you really need? How much can you endure? How strong is your will? Do you even know?

Gratitude

I'm thankful today for my will, forged in failure and loss. I'm thankful for a second chance. Have a great day, everyone! I hope you all like the story!

Chains and Illusions

Daily Quote

"It is difficult to free fools from the chains they revere."

-Voltaire-

Lesson of the Day

Everyone has the complete freedom to choose, though circumstance and personal past restrict options. The fact is, we can do so much more than we think, if only we throw down our self-imposed chains. I used to say that I couldn't do something, in lieu of admitting that I didn't want to do it. I have been taught this from the start, that it's better to be polite and spare feelings in our society. But, since I have decided to just be myself, I came to the thought that I would rather be honest and rude, than a liar and nice. I would rather someone knows exactly where I stand with them, even if it hurts them. I would rather be mean and hurt someone, than be nice and lie. I bore the chain called "You have to Spare People's Feelings", but I bear it no more. I don't care what society says, or what those around me say, not any longer. If someone has rent my heart, they will know. If anger has been aroused in me, it shall spare no feelings. I am who I am, and I'd rather be honest than nice. If they coincide, that's great, if not, too bad. Social conventions are fine, so long as they don't compromise who I am. We all bear chains of some kind, things we think we must do, or things we think we can't do. Often, these are just lies, and once you free yourself from them, you'll find that you have more choice and power than you thought. For example, no one has to be a good parent, that is a choice, and yet everyone will tell you that they have to do this, or have to do that. The truth is that they don't have to, they choose to but deem it a forced action. I don't have to work everyday, or do a good job; I choose to and fully recognize that it's a choice. It's all a matter of clarity. See beyond the illusions of life, and see life for what it really is, then go live it as the person you really are.

Questions to Ponder

What chains bind you down? What illusions lie upon your heart that twist your reality? What do you think you cannot do? What do you think you must do? What happens if you do or don't do said things? Just how much in your life do you choose?

Gratitude

I'm thankful for my freedom, and for my clarity in life. I'm thankful for my logic. I'm thankful for all of you readers, and I hope each and every one of you have a great day!

The Whole Picture

Quote of the Day

"We all have darkness, mingled with the light. They are a false duality, not separate, but parts of a whole."

Lesson of the Day

Everything we are has good and bad aspects. Everything has good and bad to it, to varying degrees. So many people look at me, at my gifts, and wish they had them, but all of those gifts come with curses. So many people, they see how fast I learn, how I seem to just remember things. Every time people wish they had that. It's not that hard, basically I connect everything I learn with everything else I know, and then I remember it. But, the reality behind it is that my ability to learn quickly stems from an insatiable desire to learn, that's what developed the skill. It's like searching endlessly for answers. So, over time you develop ways to search faster, to find the answers you need sooner. My ability to learn faster is just a result of an insatiable desire to know everything there is to know. Part of an insatiable desire is that no matter how much you get of it, no matter how much I learn, it's never enough. So the fast learning, comes with never being satisfied with what you learn. My math is another great talent that people often wish they had. But, imagine if, when you looked out at the world, you didn't see human beings just bodies, that you didn't see emotions just data points, that you didn't see humanity, just objects and values and numbers and facts. Imagine life with emotion cut out of it. And you'll find it a little easier to understand the math. When you get to the point where you can cut emotion out of it, math and logic and science are easy. When you see the math in everything you do, everywhere you go, all the time, then of course it's going to be easy. That detachment is what makes me great at math and science, but people don't exactly view detachment as a good thing, more as a trait of a psychopath. I must stress that I'm not a psychopath, everyone who knows me knows I am not. Everything has good and bad, everything has pros and cons. My advice this day is to know that everything good comes with bad, every gift comes with a curse. Don't just look at someone's light, and love it, without knowing the darkness behind it. Understand the world around you, in its entirety, don't just settle for one half of the picture.

Questions to Ponder

What curses do you bear? What gifts stem from those? What has inspired you to do good? Do you see the whole picture, or just a portion? Do you want to see everything?

Gratitude

I'm thankful today for my gifts, and for the curses that make them. I'm thankful for the good and the bad in me, because it makes me who I am, and from what I hear, that's a good thing to be. Thank you all for reading, I hope you all have an amazing day!!

Facing Death

Daily Quote

"I learned that courage is not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it. The brave man is not he who does not feel afraid, but he who conquers that fear."

-Nelson Mandela-

Lesson of the Day

We all have things that we fear. They all go back to death and pain. I separate these, because people often don't fear death for pain, but rather because it's the end of the story, while people fear pain for the obvious reason, it hurts. We, as humans, don't like to contemplate pain, and especially not death. As I have contemplated my death, as I have realized and accepted my ending, I have realized a lot of other things. I realized that I don't have a lot of time. I don't waste time doing things that don't enrich and support my life. I don't waste time doing unnecessary things that I don't like. I don't waste my mind thinking about things I don't need to and that I don't want to. I don't waste my time worrying about things. I found that once I cut the crap and filler in life, take care of what I need to, and do what I love in the time left over, that my life is a hell of a lot better. I don't hide who I am, I'm up front and unabashedly me. That way I'm me, everyone knows me, and those that stay like me for who I am, not for someone I'm pretending to be. I found that I'm happier being exactly who I am, even if I lose people, even if I piss people off. I'm happier being myself, than being anyone else. I plan my life out, what I want in life, and then I go do it. I don't worry about the odds, or about how hard it's going to be, or who will approve. I decide what I want, what risks I'm taking, and I go do it, I make it real. People keep asking me if I like the life I'm living, since I work so much. And my answer is yes, I do, because each day I'm working towards making a better life, I'm doing what I love, I'm making people happy. I love my life. Facing my end has made me more driven, more enduring, more successful, more grateful, more happy and content. It's shown me who I am, in all of my flaws and strengths. It's made me prioritize what matters to me, not what matters to others or to society. Face death, find out who you are, find out what matters to you, and live.

Questions to Ponder

If this was your last day, would you spend it differently? If you weren't going to wake up tomorrow, would you go to sleep knowing you lived a life you are proud of? If you were out of time, what would really matter to you? Why do people go through life with an assumption that the story won't end?

Gratitude

Today, I'm just thankful to be alive, and to be living it each day. Thank you all for reading, I hope you all take something from this, and that you all have fantastic days!

To be the Best

Daily Quote

"In every aspect, have a game plan, and then do your best to achieve it."

-Alan Kulwicki-

Lesson of the Day

When I was in junior high, I was big. Six foot and two hundred pounds to be precise. I didn't have to try hard at football to be great, considering I was significantly bigger than everyone else. Now, the tune changed once I hit high school. People caught up to me, and I was forced to work harder to be good, let alone great. For awhile, I worked harder at practice, at lifting and during conditioning, and it payed off. I became a great football player. But, it doesn't end there, there's no conflict there. No, I wanted to be the best on the team, and to do that, I would have to sacrifice a lot. I constantly pushed myself harder than those around me, and put in more time, often around six hours a day, not including a two to three hour practice. I became one of the strongest, the fastest off the line, the most enduring, a monster on the field. I worked my form constantly, hours a day, to nigh perfection. I played all of every game, minus maybe five minutes. I could take an opponent out within a second of the snap. I would often take out two to four players each play. I became the best. But it cost me sixty hours a week, for two years. It cost me time with friends and family. It cost me my health, as now I have a lot of joint issues and a heat intolerance. I gave up a lot, to be the best. I don't regret the prices I paid, the things I gave up, and the costs I continue to pay. Rather, I want you to understand that, just like everything you do, the better you want to become, the higher the price you pay. Everyone remarks at how good I am at math, or at writing, and they say that they can't write like that, that they can't do math that well. The fact is that, while they are talents, I would not be as good as I am without hours and hours and hours of practice and reflective thought. I constantly reflect on my writing, from how to make it more interesting to how to structure it better. I constantly reflect on my math, to find easier ways to do things, to find alternate ways to think about problems, to find ways that formulas and ideas connect. The math that I help people with today, I have practiced and used and toyed with daily for over a decade now. The only path to greatness and skill is through exhaustive effort, through countless hours, through failure, through exploration and creativity, and through a will that won't quit. Ask yourself how much you're willing to pay to be great, how much you're willing to hurt and lose and fail, to become the best. Are you willing to give up sleep? Free time? Or time with family and friends? Raising a family? Love? Community with those around you? If you aren't willing to sacrifice, you will never do your best.

Questions to Ponder

How much are you willing to pay to be great? Are you willing to give up comfort and fun to succeed? Do you put time in daily on what you're doing? Do you push yourself to your limit? How badly do you really want it?

Gratitude

I'm thankful for my talents, and for the skills I have built. I'm thankful for knowing what matters to me, and for having the drive to pursue it, even when it hurts most. Thank you all for reading! I hope you all have a great day!

Lights in the Dark

Daily Quote

"No matter what people tell you, words and ideas can change the world."

-Robin Williams-

Lesson of the Day

Words can change everything. You could be going about your life, and you say maybe just one sentence to someone, and they're gone. Years later, say you find that they're happy and productive humans, perhaps they killed themselves, perhaps they live a life that they hate, perhaps they've given up. You can shrug it off, and say they made their choices, it was their responsibility. And it's true, it was all their responsibility to choose correctly. But, your words, your actions, regardless of what you wish to hear, had an impact. There is one time, in my life, that sticks out past all others. It was one of my darkest, and yet also where I found the smallest of embers, which grew into the great inferno that is my heart. Her name was Ori, and her gift one word. I was on the stage of life, my garb a mask so complex that I forgot I was wearing it.

I was an above average teen. I had nigh perfect grades, I excelled at both football and track, I made everyone around me laugh and smile and feel loved. I had many friends, and a lot of love from them and my family. Now, there's always a 'but', otherwise there wouldn't be a story, now would there? But, as happy and content as I seemed, I was hurt. I was like a car, on its last tank of gas, with parts falling off as it goes. Blind to myself, I kept walking towards the cliff. Right about now, maybe you're expecting that girl to swoop in and turn me around, but no. I'm a great actor, and, until the end there, no one knew. I walked off of the cliff, willingly, because I didn't want to see. I broke. The person I had been, he died. I kept falling farther still, alienating people, hurting people, quitting football, dropping my grades, and worse. In my fall, Ori said one sentence to me. She said I was beautiful. I gave her a weird look, unable to even comprehend that she might be right. I kept falling, until I crashed completely. When I found myself in the dark, alone, one thing kept coming back to me, stronger and stronger. I was beautiful. I scoffed at it, endlessly. Until one day, it clicked. That beauty doesn't mean perfection. That broken things were beautiful, too. That even in all of the pain and darkness inside of me, there was good and light and beauty. That was the foundation for my change, the foundation for everything I do and everything I am now. The light in the dark.

Questions to Ponder

What has changed your life? What scars do you bear on your soul? What lights up your darkness?

Gratitude

Tonight, I'm thankful for Ori, and for the lights in the darkness.