So many great minds throughout history and we have a small smattering of words of wisdom from them. We need to cherish and ponder the words of wisdom from the greatest thinkers of all time.
Lightening Up the Night
It’s all so temporary, our visit here
Raging storms of misery are so unnecessary
Grudges hold no value and Love is golden forever
A simple smile to all that pass your way
A good deed, a word of kindness
There are far too few of these arrows in flight
Stay the night, stay for the night
Stay with me all night, because I never let you go.
Joe Wooldridge
Tuesday, May 12th, 2015 at 12:06am.
Invariably I find myself seeing, interpreting and casting things in epic proportions. Chalk it up to growing up raiding the shelves of the Limestone Elementary School Library from ages 8-12.
The subject of choice?
Arthurian legends were by far the most fascinating subject for me – no doubt a natural progression from growing up on the classic fairy tales – you know the ones – where the 3 little pigs actually cooked the wolf and ate it and then danced around!
Sir Thomas Mallory’s tales had all of the good stuff – legends, chivalry, romance, good, evil, quests, good deeds, magic, treachery, drama, misdeeds, redemption, courage, honor, jousts – well you get the idea.
So being a longtime writer I am often surprised at what spills out onto the pages of the trusty journal. Rather than crafting and molding it – I often find it more interesting to just let it pour out.
Last night’s entry:
Etre
Of the many things we could be
In life we must choose paths,
We must learn how to live
And learn why we live
We must weigh wisdom and history
And live a life examined
In order to wring the most of our gifts
And avoid being consumed by our appetites
Each rise and fall –
If we’re lucky we learn
From the cavalier, from the
Heartbroken sot, the genius,
The fool, the fearless, the
Helpless, the hedonist, the
Sinner clinging to prayer,
The lover, the fighter
We must learn from the
Many facets of ourselves.
Of the many forms of success
That we attain – perhaps the
Most painful and most rewarding
Is that of personal growth –
To be more than we ever thought
We could be, to push ourselves
To new heights and be
Good enough to help others
Do the same. For nowhere
Would we be if not for the
Lovingkindness of others.
Helping others in our journeys
Is really also a gift of peace
That we give ourselves.
So light the light, forge ahead,
Shine the light, show the way,
Help the wayward, as we were
Helped ourselves. Be joyous,
Have peace, swing the sword
And slay the dragon.
Peace.
Joe Wooldridge
Saturday, June 7th, 2014 7:03am
Okay, so what does the featured image have to do with slaying dragons? Well, that’s Vanessa Redgrave as Guinevere and Franco Nero as Sir Lancelot du Lac in the movie “Camelot”. I mean, hey – a man’s got to have some inspiration!
You know them. You have them in your immediate circle. You know who I’m talking about.
Them.
Those with the crab mentality.
If you Google the term “crab mentality” you will find roughly 193,000 search results. So we can’t pretend that it is not a prevalent problem with our fellow human beings.
So what do we mean by the crab mentality? And what could you hope to gain by identifying its presence in the behavior of others around you?
A person with the “Crab Mentality” is someone who employs a selfish, short-sighted thinking/acting strategy that boils down to the attitude of “if I can’t have it, neither can you.” We’re talking about people who will work hard – even go out of their way – to hold others back, denigrate and pull even their own family, friends and associates down rather than have that person(s) get ahead or realize their dreams.
Know anyone like this?
I do, and chances are that you do as well.
Picture a pot of water that a cook puts on to boil in order to prepare the crabs for dinner. An interesting phenomenon occurs as the water is heating up. These live crabs (at least the smarter ones) will endeavor to get out of the pot. But when one of them starts to escape – the other crabs will pull it back down to prevent it from getting free and escaping. Even worse, it takes on a more malicious tone as they will wait until the freedom-minded crab has almost escaped the pot before they pounce and yank it back into the boiling water. Those crabs know that they’re screwed if they can’t escape – but they just can’t bear the idea of someone else daring to dream of escape – of ‘going for it’.
Not cool.
Not only is it a selfish, jealous and harmful mindset/behavior – but if the crabs in the boiling pot all worked toward the goal of escaping, then they could manage to help each other get free.
Does this mean you can’t get free?
Hopefully not. But if you’re planning on making good on your escape to a better life (I.e. getting ahead, striving to achieve goals, building a dream, etc.) then you will be wise to take an objective look around you and identify those around you that would do their best to keep you down and prevent you from attaining a better life.
You’ll be surprised by the people who will make efforts to keep you from your goals. It could be a co-worker(s), friend(s), and oftentimes a family member(s).
Shocking, you say?
They may not always be aware of the motivations behind their actions. As the crabs exhibit, it evidently comes from a primal place.
The best you can do is be aware of those that are the crabs in your midst. The ‘sneaky ones’ are those who will put on the ‘encouraging face’ for you and then work in a clandestine fashion to keep your from reaching your goals.
Know the people around you.
Not sure who fits in the category? Just ask them. Ask what they think of your goals and your chances of success. If at all possible, limit your contact with the crabbies (not always possible). Definitely make a point to limit the impact that they can have on you as you strive to reach your goals. They will work to distract you, argue with you, create unnecessary drama in your life, put additional stress on you and throw obstacles in your path.
If you really want to reach your goals and escape the ordinary, you must shake off the crabs in your midst. You may have to actually FIGHT them off. Oh well, no one said it would be easy.
Go for it.
If you weren’t aware of this mentality being present among people you know, then now you can be aware and start to identify, and mitigate the ‘haters’. Here’s to reaching your goals!
Onward and upward.
—
About the Author: Joe Wooldridge is the Founder of a Digital Marketing Coalition company in Kansas City and Austin, TX called MYJOECARD.COM. Naturally this article is connected to Joe’s Google+ profile. It also links to Twitter if you’re into that.
Happy Thanksgiving! 2013 was a year of growth. This year I am thankful for the following (in no certain order):
1. Health, wisdom, and good sleep when I need it,
2. The love of family and friends,
3. The best friends in the world that are like family (you really are),
4. People with dreams, vision, passion, and that like to build things,
5. A Guardian Angel that works overtime,
6. Anyone that believes in me – that means the world, and a great community that decided that my dream was worthy of becoming real,
7. Thinkers – for they help us consider our consciousness and reality in new ways,
8. Inventors, Innovators and Tinkerers – for they help us experience existence in new (and hopefully better) ways,
9. Artists, Entertainers and Storytellers – for they help us all to see, hear, smell, touch and taste the World from new and amazing points of view,
10. The Kansas City Chiefs, #amazingyear
11. The greatest Mom in the world,
12. The Love of a Benevolent God,
13. Thunderstorms,
14. People that stand up for what is right,
15. Forgiveness,
16. Passion and Inspiration,
17. Second chances (even ones that haven’t come yet),
18. The Internet and other cool technology (as long as we use it right),
19. Free Thinkers that ask questions,
20. The ability to learn from mistakes,
21. My dog (such unconditional love, loyalty and companionship),
22. Those strong enough to win their own battles and help others that struggle,
23. Being part of the World at important time where we are beginning to grow up.
So there is the short list. What are YOU thankful for this year? Please weigh in, I’d love to hear your thoughts!
And Happy Thanksgiving to you!
– Joe
Founding a business of any kind requires many things of the person ‘crazy’ enough to ‘go for it’. It takes a lot of guts to jump out there and say “Okay World, I’m starting a business named _(x)_, and we will be providing _(y)_ to the _(z)_ market”.
I’ve decided to start a series of blog posts devoted to exploring the many things that go into starting your own business. There’s a lot to it.
First, I admire anyone that has the guts to take the ‘Leap of Faith’ and start their own business – it is an exciting and scary proposition. In addition to starting my own business, I have had the pleasure of consulting scores of new entrepreneurs/business owners (and potential ones) in nearly every industry for over nine years.
There are many things that entrepreneurs have in common across all industries, the foremost being that for every business that you see – there is a person(s) with a dream behind it. Once you fully realize and appreciate what it takes to manifest a dream, you can’t help but appreciate the journey that someone has undertaken. I believe everyone should start their own business at some point in life – even a smaller business – just for the experience.
There is magic there when someone endeavors to make their dreams a reality.
I will explore some of the elements and milestones that come with starting and building a business. From Goethe quotes and interviews with local business owners – to ‘crazy energy’ and ‘war rooms’.
When I jumped in and started my company, I did not have all of the answers, I was not able to build a business plan for investors, it was impossible – as there were no other businesses like www.myjoecard.com with a business model to use for comparison.
What I did have was passion, drive and vision. I KNEW that the business was going to work. I was ABSOLUTELY sure. Once I took stock of my experiences, expertise and resources (I.e. the rest of my life), I knew I could make it happen – the idea was so compelling that there was no way that I could keep myself from ‘going for it’.
Everyone comes up with ideas at different times in their life for new products, services, types of business, etc., but it is the ideas that are tremendously compelling that ‘snare’ you.
One thought I wrote in my journal:
“You can’t start out with all of the answers. You have to go out and earn them.”
Infinite Light
what fools we are
little lamps of divinity
shining, outshining and dimming
blinking on for the first time
blinking out for the last
worried about the style of our shade
our placement
our function is to shine elegantly, exquisitely
and amplify our brightness unto the world
little fools that blink and worry
be glad for charge and connection
to The Almighty power-soul-source
our charge is given
our brightness to the world is our purpose
Joe Wooldridge
June 5th, 2013 @ 3:28am.