My Future and Islam - (An opinion that is drawing fire)

My Future and Islam (An Opinion)

 

The future belongs to those who take it and make the most of what it offers. Mahatma Gandhi said that “the future depends on what you do today” or in other words, how you create it in your world. This is a vague but important statement with all that is going around us today. Putting such quotes into content and context without sounding full of fear, it is difficult to predict what our future really is or will become.

Our president so eloquently stated something during his speech at the United Nations something I fear to be a calling of the wrong sorts. It is what I believe a strong message to so many who do not live here….yet and how they can change the future of our world. Our freely elected president said, “The future must not belong to those who slander the prophet of Islam. Yet to be credible, those who condemn that slander must also condemn the hate we see when the image of Jesus Christ is desecrated, churches are destroyed, or the Holocaust is denied.”

I don’t know what prompted President Obama to say this but I fear it might have been a subtle hint of things to come. He also said, “Intolerance is itself a form of violence and an obstacle to the growth of a true democratic spirit.” Together, we must work towards a world where we are strengthened by our differences, and not defined by them. That is what America embodies, and that is the vision we will support.”

Now, I am not a Muslim, a Jew or a re-born Christian. I am a simple man – a human being with a rational brain. In my time, I have seen racism come and go, extremism up and down and hate and anger sideways and vertical. I have always held on to the hope that I would never be biased or prejudiced in my heart or mind against anyone who I could call my friend or my fellow man.

I have fought a wrongful war and realize that between war and peace stands a thin line of justice and injustice, equality and inequality and good versus evil. I have witnessed apathy and radicalization. I have seen our nation’s leadership step up boldly to face the enemy or apologize to them for what we had done. In a sense, I have seen politics to be confusing and contradictory in nature and practice.

Although I am not here to preach or theorize to you the politics of our government, I am here to tell you I worry about our future. I am certain that I do not stand alone with this worry about our forthcoming fate as the world spirals downward towards hell in hurry and spinning out of control. I am certainly aware there are good and evil forces at work that either embrace or deny the religions around us with a special emphasis on those who are Muslim and practicing Islam for their beliefs.

I see no evidence they are not like us and should keep in mind where there are different cultures, there are different practices or customs to observe and to maintain.

But I cannot lie and see that part of me which has detected a large part of the Muslim populations that are not like the rest of us. Whatever I may express or show concern for is all moot if they agree that we can live in harmony and together face the daily strife with their synagogues, their mosques and their churches.

However, being in good mind and good spirit, I fear there will be more than plenty who will want to carve out their own domain, with the protection of our government and establish their own way of life that contradicts our values today. I can see we do not align with their values or their laws and am concerned that we submit our natural laws for Sharia Law that they prefer and preserve over any other law. I believe this will impact the average non-Muslim person in a bid to maintain their own personal values, their own personal beliefs and their own freedoms.

Specifically, I worry about losing our hard fought Bill of Rights as well as our Ten Commandments. I worry that the country will again be divided and become two separate entities like the North and the South did back in 1860’s. Most of all, I fear the “us versus them” ideology will create conflict and war amongst us and perish all of us forever.

When I think of Islam and their values, I can’t seem to engage in dialogue where we find common ground on such values other than the love for mankind and all men being created equal. Other than praying to a supreme god, we differ in many values and practices that divides us as a house would with family members at odds with each other. Even the word ‘equal’ distinguishes the rights between men and women and so often, the child.

How can we fix this paradigm this is soon upon us? How will the influx of 200,000 Syrian refugees [or more] impact our societal standards and statutory compliance as they clash with other regulations already written and followed by the newly welcomed refugees? It is with certainty they will all try to settle in a part of the lands where they be together – this is where they will carve out their will and create a third state of their own.

Using the very same constitutional rights to possess and be armed for self-defense or protection – they could establish their own regime, government or regulations to live there where the government has chosen them to live, just like they did when they re-located the Native Americans on their trail of tears but gave them empty and condemned waste land while I fear, these newcomers will acclaim lands fresh with green lush water-filled troughs and nothing like we gave our Native brothers and sisters.

Do we start by tagging them as liberal, moderate or progressive Muslims and what does that mean other than they are not extremists or radicalized? How does this impact on our society as it stands as the perception is our government’s efforts to accept them with open embraced arms and allow them to function spiritually and physically as if they were in their own land from where they fled from. I don’t expect them to apologize to us for our practices and I don’t expect to apologize to them for our beliefs or cultural upbringings.

Regardless, I see a potential clash and it will be our children who suffer the most as their sensitivities and vulnerabilities depends on the truth being spoken but the truth has been hidden so well for so long, it is now dangerously missing from our daily prayers and spiritual souls.

How will this impact our intellectual or individual capacities –as well as our economic and national security wellness or soundness? Although it sounds silly to say it out loud, it does play a part in our social lives how our technologies are fabricated and for what they are used for relies on the good versus the evil. This conflict in culture is anything but academic and much more complex than one can pretend it to be.

Today, we are dealing with conflict and extremism – something that won’t go away any time soon. We condemn those of 9 /11 and basically use terms like jihadist, an Islam fundamentalist or extremist etc. interchangeably and arguably those words can be wrong at any given time but the difficulties to identify those words with the past cannot be forgotten.

I know they do not mean the same thing but words can hurt when misspoken and the odds are you will offend someone or a group at that moment the tongue slips out the wrong words. Perhaps, we will start it off with a crawl before we can walk together. Perhaps we will end up with a brawl before we love each other.

Time will tell but for me to not worry is unreasonable and unacceptable. There are signs that our world wants to abandon the Constitutionality of our nation and conform to a new order or new world where the rules will change drastically and universally giving up all that we have today. I decline to participate in this new order – I decline to give away my rights for the birth of a new world that will never live in harmony, no matter how many dreams there are by our visionary leaders, there will always be conflict and war amongst us.

Even the crusades have taught us that lesson and we should avoid paying the price of freedom again for a cause that does not benefit our nation’s foundation and standards. According to the same Pew Hispanic Center study as of March 2005, the undocumented U.S. population had reached 11 million or more, including more than 6.5 million undocumented Mexicans, which is around 60% of all illegal or unauthorized immigrants. There are others but their numbers dwindle as they learn to blend in within society. I would prefer we settle their issues, concerns and residence before we take on more in our plans to shape the future.

One can argue that we are today a melting pot of more foreigners living within our borders and I say to you, these strangers and newcomers have adapted and obeyed to our laws, culture, practices and stand together on almost everything we value and choose to do so to escape oppression and condemnation because they wanted to be free like us and share what we can together.  If they [Muslim] come here, and they will, they should conform to our laws, our societal practices and our standards – they must pledge their allegiance to our nation and no other power that exists on this Earth.

Anything less is unacceptable and a refusal to conform any less than what is required by our laws is a potential conflict that will end up in annihilation of mankind and it begins with an offensive phrase of words before the swords are drawn and the bombs are released once again, only this time, it will be on our hallowed ground and not a foreign nation or soil like in the past – We are today standing on shifting sands of time and space and the survival of the human race.

My Mother in Law - & the Ancestral Altar in the living room

My Mother-in-Law and the Ancestral Altar

 

Living with my mother in law for months at a time has given me a new perspective on how the family mourns the death of our youngest sister and sister in law. We were saddened by her sudden departure at such a young age that we mourned what seemed to be an eternity plus then some.

On the other side, my mother in law is still in mourning and she has erected an ancestral alter to keep her connection spiritually with her daughter alive.

It may not seem real to many that do not practice such devotion to a deceased person but my mother in law is no ordinary person. Her heart is filled with 24 karat gold and her love for humanity, the family and close friends is unwavering and always strong as she is the type who carries her heart on her sleeve wherever she goes.

When Marissa passed away from a complicated surgery, we were all shocked it happened so quickly. Our hearts poured out pain for her children left behind and denied the love of their mother so early in their lives. It was cruel and harshness all rolled up in a ball that couldn’t be undone. The pain was so enormous, it showed on all our faces.

Passing the years, we have all recovered to some degree of our dire and dreadful loss of our little sister. All of us, except of course, my mother in law who still mourns her death daily. Every day, she walks up to her photograph and kisses her gently. Her eyes still tear and her voice trembles.

Her attempts to connect with her through the spiritual world has deepened yearly, as she not only connects with Marissa but with her mother and father as well as her devotion to her sisters.

When you walk into her home, she is very clear about her religion. There is the statue of the Virgin Mary, the crucifix on the wall and the abundance of scriptures hanging with the face of Jesus in the middle of the center wall. There should be no doubt about her faith, her devotion and her love for God.

Then as you walk into the middle of the room, you will instantly spot her blissful conception over there on the wooden desk converted into the ancestral alter stands her spiritual reality.

A small but practical alter made for the heavens to see for her beloved Marissa. It stands out like an antenna for all to see and hear her story of her cherished and precious daughter.

She made this alter with love, as every creation, every piece of energy was put into the reality that there is a connection between her and the spirits of the dead as well as the living as she still feels sad for the dead and spiritly loves those still around her, especially her grandchildren who come often to stay with her on the weekends.

My mother in law made this altar for all our ancestors, this altar has become an attraction for other spirits who will take notice that she still wants to worship and venerate with these spirits.

 

In her own words, she said that this alter and all its belongings “is a very important step in working with the spirits” and necessary if you want to continue to worship or venerate your ancestors. 

 

She makes it clear, whether they are dead or not, “they are still your family” who loved and cared for you in their life. Being that spirits of the dead were once alive like you and I, makes them the closest to us on this material but significant alter in the room.

 

Her arrangement is solemn and deliberately organized with various photographs of all our deceased relatives including aunts, uncles, parents and grandparents as well as nephews, nieces, cousins and other relations.

 

She also makes it very clear how she selected those photographs of relatives who may have been close to her and others and stipulates why she even included those who she had problems with for the forgiveness of their sins and troubles.

 

It appears my mother in law has reconciled the past with the present as she let go of all negativity of all of the dead in the family so she could cease her anger towards them and created a love-like relationship that shows they are not unwanted but rather accepted as her family forever.

 

A devout Catholic, she has placed a crucifix on the ancestor altar, or if they were other form of Christian she also placed a regular cross on this altar.  Other than her solo and solemn moment in from of this alter, she does not perform any rituals except to honor our ancestors. 

 

Her chore to maintain this alter is a weekly task. At first, in the creation of the alter, she thought the best place for its place or setting would be the living room as she wanted every family member who came to visit, see it. Then finding the ideal spot, she cleansed it with a purifying wash made of a mixture of water and white vinegar.

 

Then a white table cloth on the alter top laid there to place all the religious symbols and photographs around the sanctified alter. At times, she rubs blessing oils or sprinkles holy water on the cross and crucifix as this signifies her efforts to keep away any negative spirits posing as her ancestors.

 

She rubs blessing oil or sprinkles holy water on the cross or crucifix as she believes this will help keep away negative spirits posing as her ancestors. She talks to them for a while and tells them how she miss them, and how she hasn’t forgotten any of them.  Softly, she asks her ancestors for their blessing in her daily life ask them to help her gain good health, love, and prosperity. 

 

The photograph of Marissa sits center. There she is surrounded with pictures of other deceased relatives. Near the photograph, just slightly in front of it sit a clear glass with water. The candles are lit 24 / 7 and the water is changed weekly if not more often as it evaporates, signifying the thirst of life.

 

Although Mondays is the preferred day to change the water, I have seen her change it more often than weekly. This way she always pray to her ancestors no less than every Monday.  She approaches the altar, knock three times, and tell them who she is. 

 

Then, she offers them the fresh water and says a prayer to GOD on their behalf, asking Him to bless them and help them grow in spirit. Talking to them for a while, she passionately and emotionally tells them how she miss them, and how she has not forgotten them. In turn, she asks her ancestors for their blessing in her daily life ask them to help her have good health, love, and prosperity. 

 

The prayer is silent at times and out loud at other times. The mood dictates the prayer and the words. The time spent is a connection with the past that can only be rendered through the spiritual world created inside this house and alter.

 

On this beautiful hand-made shrine, you will also find a ceramic plate, a vase with fresh flowers and a very small bowl. She lights a white candle for them and leaves it there to burn for them, her valued and cherished ancestors, and offers them the glory of the light, heat, and energy of the candle. 

 

To close the ceremony she claps three times this is the signal to end the session. She believes that in time, we all develop a stronger connection with our ancestors and you can start to give them food offerings, such as bread fruits and candies. She tries to offer foods that she knew they favored in life, and says this offering will keep them happy.      

 

Thus my mother in law maintains a positive and loving relationship with her daughter and other relatives through this ancestral alter. Without saying it out loud, she has managed to find a constructive way to a certain level of tranquility and peace as she feels positively, this will help her in life to resolve those problems that concern the family.

I can't say I understand all of this that is done or said but I can say I certainly respect her love and devotion towards her daughter and her ancestors as she does this ritual more likely till the day she joins them on this ancestral alter in her house.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Escapism - Real or Imaginary, the borders are thin

Escapism – Real or Imagination?

It has been said so many times that prison guards [now called correctional officers] are the only people who hate the word ‘escapism. However, when you really think about it, more people engage in the act of escapism than you may realize. In fact, if you truly understand this word, you would say that correctional officer love escapism for the act itself is defined as a way to avoid life’s realities, withdraw from the social factors or pressures and delve into a fantasy world or make believe scenario you can cope in as your imagination guides your desires.

As a writer, expressionist and critic, I freelance most of my stories based on acts of people who escape responsibilities and duties designed by law and moral structures to keep us safe and protect us from harm or worse. Therefore, I often crossed lines already blurred and allow escapism to be created to step out of these traditional boxes of visions and corruption. Within those stories I used metaphors of fantasies such as dragons, haunted houses, Scorpios, spiders, zombie uprisings and other Armageddon or apocalyptic visions to stream the cultural visions.

Not trying to compete with an Xbox or other visual aid, I wrote stories, articles or books based on shifting knowledge from one mind to another and finding guilty pleasures in telling tales or stories with make believe at the core but always tying it to the reality we face daily. With the use of word processors, computers and visually creative software, we can change reality into a fantasy in a nanosecond and make it all seem to be truth and real in perspective or belief changing attitudes and judgment on how things ought to be done and how they are really to be seen.

Creating a digital fantasy is not only fun and exciting but it is a tool for expressions that create or provoke thinking of the mind other than mainstream ideas or thinking patterns. It is designed to keep us sharp and challenged with a little bit of entertainment and escape from the reality we are facing or living with around us. In other words, it creates a fantastical and escapable flight for a higher purposes and that purpose is learning.

Metaphors create their own reality complete with human perceptions and visions of what the words mean or represent. It encompasses individual knowledge of maps, languages, cultures, history and politics as it facilitates escaping the primary reality for as long as you are engaged in reading the materials presented and written. We all hunger for an escape so writers created those opportunities for others to enjoy and benefit from. In turn, this enables a smooth transition to a superimposed fantasy you can rely on to take you away from primary and secondary world realities that either stresses you, enrages you or burden you with more pressure.

Language is a powerful technology for escape, but it is only as powerful as the literacy of the reader. In other words, you the reader makes this transitional power a useful or effective tool if you engage into the fantasy with all the force and knowledge you possess. Your mind can do more than the words do as it creates an immersive force that makes on screen fantasy even deeper by morphing higher visions or expectations into the subversion or image provided. The possibilities are endless if you dive into a fantasy and read more and watch less on the tube or the computer created games.

In some stories, fantasy worlds are limited only by imaginations.  The transformation is individually designed for every individual mind. The more voracious the appetite to escape, the more creative the vision or fantasy becomes. There is an old saying that “the world is made of atoms” but in reality, the world is not made of atoms, it is made of stories about atoms and you can change those atoms inside your mind with creativity and escapism that allows you to see a collection of thoughts the way you want to see them.

Some stories are targeted for specific generations. Social immersion of various generations is tricky and takes talent to digitally generate the appropriate escapism with depth and complexity to match the generation’s expectations. As a writer, we give this talent away for the price of a good read or novel. Herein lies the fact nobody really talks about much these days for as the technology of escape continues to accelerate, we’ve begun to see an eruption of fantasy into reality. A risky disconnection is comparing the reality with the virtual reality in our own physically and artificially blended world.

Perhaps we need to tolerate our fantasy experiences and limit our creativity to maintain a solid pulse or connection to the real world’s reality. As technology advances so does intelligence and singularity as it grows exponentially and culturally around the world. And yet the digital technologies of today are just the latest in a long progression of tools for the expression of the imagination. We are escaping, not into other worlds, but into imagination.

Don’t confuse materialism and idealism. Materialist philosophies contend that reality is composed of matter and energy, and that all observable phenomena, including mind and consciousness, Idealism argues that reality is constructed by the mind. Consciousness does not arise from material interactions, it is universal; and from consciousness arise all of the material phenomena in the universe, including atoms. The world is not made of atoms. It is made of the stories we tell about atoms.

Therefore, in a material philosophy the act of escaping into our imagination is at best temporary based on the materials at hand; on the other side, the same act of imagination can reshape our reality.

 

My Shitty Day, a Plague of no End

My Shitty Days, a Plague of no End

Outside, it’s raining cats and dogs, the streets are flooded and I haven’t seen the sun for days. Now normally, that would be a good thing for me but the days have been shitty and my roof is leaking more than usual.
The weather forecasters have predicted the El Nino will arrive soon, but the rains has already arrived to make the hills slide in motion with cruddy mud as gravel tumbles down to block the almost empty roads so some people are trapped where they are, hoping that someone realizes the storm has cast a darkness on their lives from the inside out and find them.
Inside, my current state of affairs a fire is spreading like a famine, much like the plague did back when as it traveled through cats and dogs and rats making my life even shittier. Having a good life is hard enough without having shitty days. The rain usually cleanses the soul and brings the sunshine back after a few hours. But not today, not yesterday and maybe not tomorrow.
As the heavy rain pounds the rooftops of the red brick house, the roof is straining in weakness as the newly cracks formed, allowing the water to enter inside where the pain is even more than desired under circumstances such as this. Negativity dwells largely inside those hollows created by darkness and depression.
All these thoughts are like a plague, the way the water is eroding the soil is equivalent as my house, still standing but being tested like a house of cards dampened by rain, ready to fall. Inside my mind, my sanity is eating away. I know that in a case like this, it’s time to fall down on your knees and pray.
My ears hear the devil’s dance, I know he is laughing and shouting out with glee how he has penetrated my mind and slowly depressing me. It is hard to keep my heart dancing to a spiritedly tune for the darkness I cannot escape as the light remains hidden now for days.
I swear to God, my sanity never escaped, my mind is struggling to fight this oppression by nature’s wrath cast by shadows and walls of water. Not with my death, not with my age, will I succumb to the darkness; as God is my judge, I swear l will only allow the darkness to remain only as my guest and then cast it aside when the light returns to cover the heart, the doubts and pain endured. I know it will come.
There is not much to say about nothing, this time of solitaire will soon disappear. I am worth living, I ride life’s highway in the fast lane, the eternal journey lane and the passing lane just so I can see who believes me and who can see me. I fear nothing or no one – I love life.
Some days, I get ahead, some days I fall behind but it’s not about giving up or dying. I’m thinking of the moments ahead when the sunlight brightens up the skies once again and dries out my house, my heart and my mind of all this darkness. I know it will come.
So if you can hear me, now is the time I am suppose to leave but as I said before, this is not about dying, this is about life and trying to live better than ever before, I’m doing better, better than before and I wrote this poem to let you know, that whatever the rain may bring, it will never make me quit and say, “I don’t need you no more.”
I pray to God, these words will find another, so I left it on the floor for you to see or read. Cause I am doing better, better than ever before. What am I supposed to do about the famine, the hunger, the wars and mass shootings? Where has the sanity gone as the morality is stuck on the bottom of the deck of cards that deals us misery and doom, darkness and gloom.
I can’t deal with all these problems, I refuse to get involved anymore than praying for those who died or harmed by the senseless cowardly acts around us. I grabbed a bottle and popped some pills but the pain won’t go away so I won’t do that again. I pray for wisdom and hop that this madness will soon end.
What is the common factor? How come every time the world deals the Ace of Spades, the world chases after it while the rest of us turn and run backwards away from the fight. I feel emotions; I have seen words unspoken as I am tired of broken promises of the pursuit of happiness and seeing the light. Take a look at me now, take a look at me now, I am doing better – life is better, because I am doing better than ever before. I took the time to talk to Jesus, I took the time to have the faith I needed to know that it will always get better. I know it will come.

The 7 minute rule - Face to Face conversations -

Seven Minute Rule - Restoring Face to Face Conversations

Every conversation has a purpose and every moment you spent talking to someone has a cause and effect that is based on the human values of your own emotions and intended consequences of such face to face interactions. Hence, this is where a text, voicemail or any other digital message can ruin a good relationship or cause a misunderstanding.
Every change I have experienced since the invention of the telephone has had consequences on the effectiveness of the different types of communication between humans and if mishandled or abused, can cause serious consequences for you. Communication contains elements of a person’s willingness to be exposed to information that might make you vulnerable to some kind of harm even with unintended purposes.
Technology does not respect the human heart or mind and does not contain emotion like a voice or tone can. This makes a face to face moment a better tool to communicate than an Iphone or any other digital device you may use today. These days, our family and friends have chosen to use digital dynamics instead of verbal face to face conversations, makes texting a convenience and not always appropriate in some cases as the manner used facilitates the ability to escape personal responsibilities by using time and space as disengagement tools.
After all, we are creatures possessed with emotion and the digital age has taken some of those qualities away from us as we depend on technology to communicate our daily tasks and events with a little too much dependence on less emotion and less empathy in our relationships. It has been my experience that every change in technology facilities emotions and or frustrations. Regardless which way you look at this, our human values are always challenged. We can see how texting or the use of digital communications such as emails; can make face to face conversation less of a priority as it is easier to disconnect the conversation at will.
In my opinion, it is time to start reclaiming some of those face to face conversations today. The manner technology is used today focuses on distance and solitude that may harm relationships in the long run. Although I understand this change can’t happen overnight, one should begin to slow down on the use of these devices as their main tools to communicate and restore conversations as they used to be before the advent of the digital age. This would also require a change in how we do things as we have become creatures of multitasking while talking or texting a message to supposedly save time or money.
In every aspect of our lives, this change will increase performance and decrease stress. I realize that doing one thing at a time is hard, especially today; multitasking feels productive in the short term but does not always makes things faster done or better prepared. Our most modern technology has encouraged detachment and as humans, we have a basic need to be either wanted or needed by someone in our life. We have made our phones, computers and other digital device our main source of communication and not as mere accessories. They are beginning to represent who or what we are and that is often easily misunderstood.
We are using this technology to protect ourselves from psychological and physical harm. We construct a mental distance between others on purpose. However, it decreased vulnerabilities and gives you a false sense of confidence to speak your mind. In order to restore attachment, empathy and at the same time, avoid solitude, we have to commit ourselves to designing our products and our lives to take that vulnerability into account. We can choose not to use our phones or other devices all the time. We can choose to put them away for a while and restore our basic human values even with a severe addiction by doing it for the sacred purpose of re-establishing human values and virtues of a face to face conversation.
Unlike using a device, we can become more understanding by listening to others in person and avoid many misunderstandings. Sometimes it simply means hearing people out. It takes at least seven minutes to see how a conversation is going to unfold. The seven minute rule to follow is you can’t go to your phone before those seven minutes are up. If the conversation goes quiet, you have to let it be and let the seven minutes expire. Even digital exchanges have “dropped moments” and silence or a break as the other person thinks of a response. This is natural and should be part of any conversation – digital or face to face. It is during these pauses of our minds, we learn more about the other person.
Face to face conversation teaches you more about your own vulnerabilities, your time management skills and your level of patience. It is quite revealing if you let it happen. Being unlike a ready made app or device, you can respond at your own convenience and think about what you want to say; what a concept to use as a human value. Life is already quick and efficiently made by those devices around you. why not use your natural abilities to make it better and enjoying life at the same time.
In order to get pleasure from life, talk to someone for at least seven minutes and learn more about yourself and others. It is well worth the effort in the long run and is guaranteed to bring about new revelations about your relationships. Conversation can change behaviors and attitudes; it builds empathy and friendships and in many cases, a new level of trust. Reclaiming your time pushes for rebuilding your own existence and teaches you about the complexity, flexibility and contingency of your personality and life. Isn’t it time for you to change how you communicate in your world?

Software, Apps, Checklists or all of the above?

Software or Checklist or Both?

Nobody doubts the need for software today in the technoculture we live in where information needs to move quicker than the eye can see. The business world couldn’t function or keep up with performance or productivity needs without computers and associated artificial intelligence software to help gain an edge on the competitor. However, one this that trumps all software functions and critical steps to be taken to ensure the work is done on time and completely is the human brain – still.

There are two simple reasons why many businesses find it so hard to track or finish what they started – procrastination and distractions. Regardless of how much you depend in computers, you still need to make mental decisions which computer to use, when, why or what to input and how to schedule it so it gets done. All those technological devices available can help you attain proficiency but the brain has to make the first and final decision.

The truth is, without your brain, you wouldn’t get much done. Certainly, any sales rep will tell you that apps are helpful but even if you found the right programs or products to help you with your business, you still need your own intelligence or savvy to achieve the final product. Don't get me wrong. I'm a huge believer in the value of investing in software, training and more. But when it comes to productivity, I find that programs and products add complexity, and complexity works against what you're trying to achieve.

To get things done, simplicity is still the best approach. Working on the problem and finding the solution can be done in a reasonable time and effort if you can avoid your main reasons for not getting things done on time – distractions. Without going into the number or types of distraction you may experience, creating distractions happens quicker than the mind can resolve and resist. In fact, the amount of time wasted often escapes the reality that has always existed but hardly ever directly addressed or sometimes noticed.

Generally speaking, life has thousands of distractions on top of your business end. Social media alone consumes more time than you would like to admit and adding things like house chores, shopping, gym etc. your day is filled with scheduled events that encroach into your time and space. Truth be told, there are industries designed to create distractions and evolve faster than your brain could ever process or keep up with.

Even the smartest, the most intuitive and the best persons with excellent memory capabilities cannot keep up with distractions. These dynamics result in more time and efforts wasted than realized at any time of the process. Thus between distractions, procrastination, multi-tasking and other obstacles, you need some help getting your work done complete and on time. There is one solution that covers all these bases. The solution is a checklist. Getting back to basics has its advantages and should be done in order to get things done.

World-wide military and non-government agencies alike use checklists. Pilots, mechanics, astronauts use them. Military command posts, space exploration projects, manufacturers and sports outlets use checklists to complete their work assignments. When designed well to capture all your priorities and essential functions, they have been proven to be a good to know and do item for focusing the attention on the goal or outcome as desired or planned.

Checklists bring the focus sharply on the desired actions to be taken and when to do them. You don’t spend your time ‘spinning your wheels’ in a cause and effect that resembles a “whack-a-mole” concept. Start with a master checklist that contains a numerical list of between 10 and 30 items. These have to be achievable in a single day, every day breaking up timelines into daily, weekly, monthly etc. depending on the required needs.

The good thing about checklists is you can combine them with devices and apps that may facilitate tracking or setting alarms for things that need to be done. However, each function is based on the completion algorithm of the checklist and not a random or even pre-programmed database that does not involve the human mind as a safety precaution. Maintain a current copy at all times and created a backup of it in case you accidentally delete items.

Allow yourself to execute on checklist items in any order. Delay any items that can or should be handled later. These two tricks give you the flexibility to plow forward and make progress. The purpose of this approach is to develop daily habits that contribute to your bigger goals, but without the show-stopping barrier that goes up when goals are ambitious. The good thing about a checklist is the lack of a restriction or upper limit of your capabilities and expansion of your priorities. One can always add more to the list and keep the order in the sequence desired.

By now you must be wondering how checklists, some that can be so simple, get things done and end distractions. Certainly this all this sounds too easy, too good to be true, I'll tell you exactly why my checklist system works. Remember this – checklists keep you focused on the task to be done; it eliminates wasted time or space; it creates positive habits to rely on; it provides a tool of achievement that shows you are finishing what you started. Use a checklist system and get it done.
 

We should Learn from Wolves - not Sheep

We should Learn from Wolves, not Sheep

 

"If humans could react to controversy or conflict in the same way wolves did, we may see a higher incidence of co-operation and a lower incidence of poor productivity due to hurt feelings or feelings of resentment." Jess Edberg, International Wolf Center

As of late, we have become a nation of sheep that follow others blindly. No longer do we think for ourselves as a majority making the line blurred to some and very clear to others. Exploring this behavior of sheep draws inferences that will take us to the lessons learned from wild wolves who know how to survive under adverse conditions whether they are nature’s elements or man’s instinct to kill them.

From the very start, the biggest difference between sheep and wolves is the canine species ability to adapt and develop traits that are productive in leadership, teamwork cooperation and share or create clear communication as a pack rather than a flock of misfit unorganized and loitering in the fields. This concept of learning from wolves is not new for men. In fact, if you do a little bit of research you will find strong suggestions that humans learned much of their own vital skills to survive from wolf packs. Whether you want to admit it or not, wolves are not just predatory in nature, they are also social in nature. They know how to function as group better than most animals that live on this planet.

While sheep are without direction or cause, wolves have an attitude that is always based on the basic question that asks, “What is best for the pack?” similar to sheep, wolves have learned to live around people but know how to detect dangers and risks. Unlike sheep, they picked up human traits and adapted skills that allowed them a higher survival rate than most wild animals. Walking with wild wolves can teach us elements of leadership and team dynamics – fundamentally speaking wolves demonstrate behaviors which illustrate confidence, social independence [limited], assertiveness, team building and good at adapting and overcoming challenges or barriers created to make it more difficult for them to survive in the wild or whatever it is they need to do in order to create a situation that is best to their advantage.

Highly intelligent, these creatures are so adaptable, their dynamics are constantly changing to meet the need of the hunt or existence. One trait is the adaptability to change the course of action when their memory relates that it didn’t work out the last time so they avoid doing it the same way to see if this is how they can get away with the act rather than get caught.  Sheep, on the other hand, do the same routine over and over and get killed doing the same thing without adapting or changing their habits or survival skills. The similarities between wolves and human can be surprisingly close and more so than our relationship with sheep.

Sheep don’t re-learn things very well. They don’t work as a team and blindly follow wherever the lead takes them. Sheep don’t distribute the load or burdens like wolves do; they do things on their own and drift away from any herd responsibilities. Most sheep don’t have leaders, they just follow. Wolves don’t inspire to be a leader, they have a leader but share the burdens of the leader giving the lead pack wolf a break when needed.

Wolf packs rely on what’s best for the pack. Even at an early age, wolf pups learn their roles in their own social circle of the pack. Their flexibility of demands and roles provided to cope and function as a pack depends on every individual wolf to do its part of contributions made to benefit the entire pack and not just one.

Certainly, I am not suggestion we develop a pack mentality but what we should promote is the individual responsibilities needed to create success or survival. It is a matter of mutual benefit and respect that drives this attitude, not self-centered or lack of interest in the balance of the herd as sheep often demonstrate. Contrasting from sheep, every wolf has his own voice. Every wolf respects the voice of every other wolf.

Wolves thrive on the team spirit – they allow each member to participate and promote positive peer relationships that can lead to higher achievements and greater productivity within the pack. One can see how this bonds or creates a tighter relationship among the pack and in this respect, create a higher desire to work hard and play hard to boost their commitment to the pack.

Perseverance, focus and purpose thrive the pack’s will to live and survive. Hunting is best when done as a team. This is because as a pack, their use their collective talents and skills to overcome the prey as they collaboratively and methodically plan and stalk the hunt. Learning from their mistakes, they become more efficient with every outing. Every pack has a strategy and a goal – and all members of the pack know what this goal is before they go out on the hunt. There are rare cases of disorganization and failures are rare as their strategies are based on what they know what works and what doesn’t that makes the wolf strategy coherent and without controversy.

Lastly, wolf packs teach loyalty to the pack and constant training. Every pup is taught from the moment they are old enough to walk and are mentored by all in the pack who take their responsibility to train the pups voluntarily and instinctively. They know these pups are part of their future and their ability to survive the dangers. When the pack loses an elder pack member, their role is quickly filled because of the preparation put into sharing the knowledge.

Much like human organizations, “"giving people the opportunity and tools to improve themselves builds the type of loyalty that is an asset of inestimable worth.” If people would behave like wolves and use every means of communication at their disposal, they would improve their performance and knowledge by seeing and listening to everyone around them closely. The wolf’s power to observe is so finely honed in to be keen enough to detect subtle changes in each other’s behaviors as well as the pack's.