Inspiring Motivation

There are millions of stories about what motivation can do. We love motivational stories because we are always trying to motivate someone to do something, including ourselves. This one is special and guaranteed to bring moisture to your eye otherwise called a “tear in the female world”.

This story is paraphrased from a Campbell Soup Retirement Newsletter capably edited by Don Collins of Charlotte, N.C.

The story concerns a high school football player who was, at best, on the third team and played seven or eight plays a game only because of the coach’s graciousness. And the kid really wasn’t very motivated, sometimes skipping practice or otherwise goofing off. Late in the season his team was playing for a high honor (not the state championship, that would be too dramatic) and the team had been racked by injuries and flu, which meant that marginal players had to be relied upon.

This particular player got in early in the game, mainly thru default, and began playing a super game. The coach couldn’t believe his eyes and left him in. First, he made some good tackles and then some blocks. He ran like a demon and, as you would suspect, scored the winning touchdown in the last minute to the roar of the crowd.

When the stadium had cleared and the coach had emerged from the locker room, he saw the hero sitting alone in the stands and the coach asked him why he was crying. He explained to the coach that his father had attended all the games even when the son was in for only four or five plays. He also explained that his father was legally blind and had died during the past week. “ This time, for the first time, I knew my Dad actually could see me play and I wanted him to be proud ”.

Why are you on this earth?

Puzzle for the Day, Month, Lifetime:

Why are you on this Earth?

When you strip off all the barnacles that grow around the many discussions about the “meaning of life”, you finally get down to one basic, unblemished pearl.

That pearl says that the real meaning of your life---or the purpose of individual living, is to help the world move in its haltingly slow walk toward “Perfect”.

If such were not true, why then do all people, animals, insects and even plants have at least two inborn, compulsive urges or defensive reflexes: (1) to survive (self-preservation) and (2) procreation so as to perpetrate their species on this earth for as long as their species fills a role, or a need or is not replaced by a better survivor.

Well, then, you can ask why does the earth have to improve? Who says so?

The answer is beyond all of us, except for two very apparent observations. The first observation is that somehow the creator of the earth had a specific purpose or otherwise we wouldn’t have seen all the progress that has taken place since prehistoric man, for example. The second observation is there is no example ever cited of something created on earth that was completely useless.

So what happens ‘WHEN THE WORLD REACHES PERFECTION?” Answer: It can’t reach perfection!!! Why??? Because as things get better, the standard for “Perfect” rises. The definition changes. It’s possible that the definition of “world” can expand. Even to “universe”.

Try on that idea for size! We are here to help the world move forward, if it’s nothing more than to provide a “need” for someone to fill or a face to feed.

And as the world moves toward “perfect”, it should, by definition, provide a better life for all the world’s inhabitants. Therefore, you are on this earth to help make all people have a better life now and in the future.

So, now, how does that make you feel? More important!?! More worthwhile?!!?

You are!! Hurray!!!

Sound Bite Society -- take a poll

Some say this is a “sound byte” society – that intellectually we exist on dehydrated bullion cubes – no hearty soups with real vegetables and meat.

And – these critics add that because we learn from dehydrated sound bites, our thinking (and conclusions) are equally dehydrated – lacking real heartiness.

Here is a little unscientific test of that criticism. What follows are two articles. The first is a dehydrated “sound bite” of the second – about 1/3 of the words.

Kindly read the first one. Then pause – and ask yourself if it has enough meat to be persuasive – to make you agree or at least be sympathetic to the premise of the article. Then read the second one. Did it do anymore to persuade you – or is it just a waste of words and time? Did the firs do the job as good as or better than the second article? If so, maybe a “sound bite” society is needed in this time-restricted world. If it took the second article to get your agreement, then maybe we can’t count on “sound bite intelligence” to provide the correct answers.

If neither version does anything for you, then same on the writer for lousy thinking or writing or both.

Time for Statesmen? Sound Bite Version

Looking for a job these days?

A tax supported enterprise needs to create abouit200 job vacancies. These would be filled by 200 people applying for jobs in the Congress as Statesman/Philosophers to replace career politicians.

Before you hasten to apply, please consider the job specs.

First, a true Statesman must somehow get elected without any contributions from advocacy groups such as unions, businesses, lobbyists or fundraising groups that have high sounding names, but lower ethics.

GOOD LUCK with even getting nominated.

Second, you have to agree in advance to serve only two terms so that politics can’t become a career.

Is anyone still a job applicant?

Third, you will have to agree that statesmen (as opposed to politicians) don’t expect to add to their personal wealth while in office or afterward. That obviously means no jobs as lobbyist, etc.

Any statesman/officeholder who violates The Statesman Code would and should expect double or triple fines and/or prison terms as should any outsider who seeks to tempt the statesman to violate his public trust.

Hello, anyone still here???

And would YOU, as a voter really recognize a Political Statesman if you actually ever saw one?

Time for Statesmen? Full Version

July 4th, Philadelphia Pa.

Looking for a job these days?

A tax supported enterprise needs to create abouit200 job vacancies. These vacancies in the congress would be then filled by 200 people applying for jobs as Statesman versus politicians.

Before you hasten to apply, please consider the job specifications. Here they are.

First, a true Statesman must somehow get elected without any contributions from advocacy groups such as unions, businesses, lobbyists or fundraising groups that have high sounding names, but lower ethics. All your campaign funds must come from individuals and may not exceed $ 1,000 per person, which would include you and your family – no doubling up.

GOOD LUCK with even getting nominated.

Second, you have to agree in advance to serve only two terms so that politics can’t become a career (although the terms may be longer).

Third, you must swear that your every vote will be solely in the national interest regardless of how it affects you personally or the district that sent you to Washington, your temporary address where all your claimed expenses are audited, published and exposed to the public light (So long to those cute little thing on your office payroll)

Is anyone still a job applicant?

Fourth, you will have to agree that statesmen (as opposed to politicians) don’t expect to add to their personal wealth while in office or AFTERWARDS. That obviously means no jobs as lobbyist, etc.

Any statesman/officeholder who violates The Statesman Code would and should expect double or triple fines and/or prison terms as should any outsider who seeks to tempt the statesman to violate his public trust.

Hello, anyone still here???

There needs to be (somehow) enough statesmen in the house and senate, to represent an effective swing vote or a balance wheel – always, always putting the country FIRST. Hopefully the statesmen group would/should attract the attention of the bewildered and disillusioned voters (particularly the young) and become role models for children who would not otherwise be considering elected public service in ADDITION to other more lucrative careers. There is also the chance that the statesmen group in the congress could become the ‘sheriff’ of the congress.

Finally, there is a possibility that this small group of statesmen could spearhead the next evolutionary step in the natural development and modernization of the whole democratic idea and take it to a higher level. And don’t forget that the basic idea has been modernized before – lots of times and at least half the voters (women) think the changes have been OK. Two hundred years ago the only legal voters were white MALES who owned land. This modernization, in a way, might preserve the revolutionary idea that had done so much already to improve the world, but which still has much, much more to do.

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P.S. Here is a post July 4^th thought. If enough people apply and get elected as Statesmen, their names eventually might be somehow grouped by future generations with people like Mr. Jefferson, Hamilton, Thomas Paine, etc. – that bunch that fed the basic democratic idea 235 years ago.

Sleepless in Seattle and Everywhere

Are you sleeping poorly these days because of worry about the national economy, its security and its economic longevity? 

 

Well, here is a harmless sleeping pill with no side effects or fear of addiction.  It promises to get you a coupla good nights sleep, maybe three or four, if you can accept three axioms which are:

 

Axiom 1:  The Islamic threat to U.S. Security would moderate, evaporate or least become less of a threat if world revenue for oil decreased dramatically.  (Or even threatened to decrease)  Who knows what just the threat of Reagan’s Star Wars had on the decline of Russia’s communism, for example?

 

Axiom 2:  The biggest threat to America’s continued economic dominance in the world appears to be (a.) inability to compete on high labor- intensive and low- tech items like clothes, shoes, parts and (b) a rise in the dollar’s value which hampers exports.

 

Axiom 3:  One of the principal reasons the country has not been able to curb its appetite for Arab oil is that we have been partially encumbered by Detroit’s existing infrastructure, culture and mindset and our government’s hesitation to upset that status quo.

 

Now if you buy, even partially, into these three axioms you can begin to sleep better because the virtual collapse of Detroit culture (and infrastructure) provides America with a clean sheet of paper from which to build an alternative to gasoline driven transportation.  It is an opportunity that has and will cost us deeply/ heavily, but it could also be THE opportunity to solve the problems of (a) Islam’s threat to economic security and (b) our economic malaise.

 

If America can invent an alternative engine (be it natural gas, hydrogen, battery, nuclear, whatever), ahead of the very clever world competitors, we can cash in on that advance handsomely for years.  And by decreasing the world’s need for oil, we, not only would be selling our technical skills, but we would be cutting off a big source of Islam’s income.

 

The improved U.S. economic outlook should make the dollar more desirable worldwide thereby reducing our need to raise interest rates domestically, which not only should stimulate our domestic economy but restore the dollar to its former standards.

So everybody wins except for the people who hate us the most and we are their best customers, if you can believe that.  (Also, we should be able to reduce military expenses---freeing up tax money for the social problems that also keep us awake at night)

  

Think about it and sleep peacefully, but don’t phone me at 4 in the morning because I’ll be thinking about how America’s political system went SO wrong to let us get into this situation in the first place.   But that’s another blog.

 

Three Questions

My name is Mark.  Question Mark.

 

I have three questions for you today.  I do not know the answers.  I will tell you what I suspect are the answers.   And I will be interested in whether you agree or don’t and why. Who knows where your opinions might count!!

 

Question one:  Are the established European nations in the early stages of decline a-la Greece, Rome, the Ottoman Empire, etc.?   If true, is it because the PERCENTAGE of increase in the standard of living of these countries is increasing less than the standard of living in the so called emerging countries such as India, China, South Korea, Taiwan, etc.?  Even Russia?   The argument has to acknowledges that the standard of living in the emerging countries is increasing from a much lower base therefore making it easier to show a higherpercentage of increase. 

 

Question two:  If the above is true, what is the base cause?  Is it, as some argue, that while productivity per person in Europe is increasing, it is increasing at a slower lower rate per person than the rate per person in the so-called emerging countries.   And again, is that productive decrease a result of (a) more government entitlements (b) higher personal taxes per capita or (c) government programs that undermine and dilute feelings of personal responsibility and personal pride?  Or, as some say, that government encourages more holidays, shorter work weeks, all of which sets the wrong example. 

 

Question three:  If the answers to questions one and two are YES, then question three is this:

   Are United States policies and actions leading us on the same downward curve some twenty to thirty or forty years behind Europe?  If the answer is yes, the final questions are?  (a) Is that what we really want?  (b) If not, how do we stop the deterioration before it goes too far?  And (c) Or has it already gone too far to stop?

 

The writer, honestly, does not know the answers but is concerned enough to ask.  The answers could be life changing for millions of Americans and also for those countries affected by America’s ability to consume and in some cases provide honest and enlightened leadership.