The Pull Back

*Progress! noun (accomplishment; deed done)

*Progress! verb (moving forward to attain a desired goal)

…my definitions…

But wait! It seems there are always things (forces) or thoughts trying to pull us back…not letting us progress towards our progress!

*Letting. Gerund (allowing something, someone to prevent us from moving forward out of our rut)

Again the 80/20 principle takes effect. Most are fearful of change, the unknown, the ‘what-ifs?’ so they hold back and want to hold you back too. The braver ones push on ahead seeing the end result of their progress in the minds eye…resulting in the bridges, skyscrapers, planes, computers, telephones, software…just about all the things we enjoy today. They crossed the line of fear and doubt.

Why not go all in with your thinking and making and doing. Go all out! Make the best craziest good thing or way of doing things anybody’s ever seen! Why not! Get those ideas out in public where they can be acted on. Why settle for mere status quo, only going so far, not wanting to draw too much attention to yourself so you pull back and settle in with the rest of the 80%. This is where inferior productivity arises.

On the road to nowhere…There was a good song with this title decades ago…happens alot! Might want to listen to it.

Do not, I repeat, do not settle your life into the 80% bracket of comfort, ease, no challenges, boring, nothing to look forward to [but at least I’m safe (more about this subject later)].

Climb yourself out of the ‘can’t do rut’ and get in the ‘can do lane’ and speed on ahead with the other 20% who are going somewhere doing important work.

Don’t let yourself get pulled back. Don’t even pull yourself back.

Keep progressing v. with your progress n. and see what good might happen!

Many Things

Many things happening in the world. Many things demanding our attention.

Do they deserve our valuable time?

Often when the noises get so loud – we must stop and rest. Be at peace in ourselves and let the world go by – because it will anyway.

Redirect your thoughts to your life, your family, your neighborhood.  Keep in focus the smaller picture where you can help. You will feel better. Life will suddenly become more manageable. You will have hope, feel peace and be moving forward.

Just for today, this moment – focus on what’s doable in my grasp and not give thought to the many things going on around.

A Citizen’s Response -ability

I am a citizen of the United States of America. I was born here. I am granted full rights and responsibilities being an American citizen according to the US constitution.

We are governed by law through elected officials who are to have our best interests at heart, because they are one of us.

This places responsibility upon me to be watchful of my country, to live by its principles and to help my officials and representatives follow what we elected them for. We pay our taxes to have this done, and we want to make sure our hard-earned money is going to a profitable return.

I realize this comment may open a big can of worms, and I’m not going fishing!

Let me give a local example fresh from today. We’ve had multiple inches of rain where I live. One of the central parking lot drains at a nearby apartment complex doesn’t drain right. Many times water stands in the lot and comes halfway up car’s tires when they drive through. The mailbox unit was engulfed so the mailman didn’t stop -he couldn’t get to the boxes for all the water. It’s been over 6 hours and water is still there. Residents have literally waded in ankle deep water to reach their cars.

I felt it my responsibility to call the city and inquire about the drain since this has been repetitive. After several calls I reached the right person. They were unaware of the situation. The helpful official said he’d check out whose responsibility it was – the city or the apartment complex. I told him I felt bad for the residents living there, (including a man with a limp who had to walk all the way around the big ‘puddle’ to get to his car.) There was no other interest of my own…just noticing other’s wading through their difficulty.

How simple it was for me to call. Yes, it took time and effort, but I thought this is why we pay taxes – to have things run smoothly for the citizenry. I spoke with the city official as person to person, citizen to citizen – both working towards a common good.

What if every time something needed attention, we citizens did our responsible part and contacted whoever we needed to and didn’t think, ‘someone else will take care of it’. We are the someone else and we need to take care of it. How will our officials know what we need if we don’t tell them? This is how America works and how we keep a big country small and approachable.

I’m glad we live here and can help make things better!

What do you think?