The Power of a Hug

Hugs are great and you should hug more people more often. Like homeless people. They need hugs just like the rest of us.

Get It

Sometimes it's hard. When you finally get done with a hard day at work, all you want to do is relax. Unwind. Do nothing.

Understandable.

But if you're like me, you don't wake up in the morning and say to yourself, "Yea I get to go to work for the next nine hours! WHEW!!!!"

I don't think anyone does that.

In my profession, you either patiently put your time in and hope someone in upper management takes notice, or you jump ship six months in and hope another company will hire you to do a different job (which you will undoubtedly become bored with in another six months).

So what do you do about it?

For me, this is the exact question I'm struggling with right now. I have no idea what I want to do, I just know that what I'm currently doing, isn't doing it for me. There are no tangible results, no sustainable relationships and no rewards for a job well done.

One thing I am doing is looking for part-time jobs in different fields. Anything I find that is even remotely interesting. Volunteering. Taking a class at a local community college.

I may not know exactly what I want to do for a career, but I'm damn sure that I know what I don't want to be doing.

The best piece of advice I've ever received came from my father. During a lunch break one day, deep in the middle of the winter grind, I was venting to my father all of the above complaints. Work so damn hard and nothing to show. Want to do this and that, but definitely don't want to be doing this. Blah blah yadda yadda. Finally, after rambling on for ten minutes or so, I told him I wanted to do something new. I told him I would be doing something different within six months. He looked me straight in the eyes and told me this: "Son, if you really want something, you gotta go out there and get it."

It took me a good long time to truly digest this advice, but it boils down to not complaining about it, but acting on it. He understood why I was upset and has undoubtedly been there before. Did he listen to every word of my grievance? Probably not. Did he need to? Absolutely not.

See my father is a mechanic. In his business, talking things out doesn't fix problems. Taking action is what fixes problems, makes customers happy and pays the bills. Sometimes the only way to make it happen is by trial and error. It can be frustrating. It can be tough, but at the end of the day action is what will produce results.

So the next time you're sitting in your cube hating life, don't air your frustrations over happy hour beers, forget about the work day and wake up to an alarm the next morning to do it all over again. Do something about it. Take action. Because if you really want it, you gotta go out there and get it.

A Crash of Rhinoceroses

Had you any idea that the collective noun for a group of rhinoceroses is called a crash?

I didn't even know that the plural of rhinoceros was rhinoceroses...

Guess it's just a simple example of how you learn something new everyday.

Whether it be something about yourself, a friend, current event, whatever...it's just good to learn. Learning improves your self worth. It upgrades your intellect. It humbles you. The only disadvantage you could argue about learning is something along the lines of, "Too much information," which is rarely appropriate and usually applies to social settings only. Even so, why would you rather be kept in the dark? Rhetorical question. I guess that's why the common phrase ignorance is bliss exists. Horribly accurate, disgustingly true.

HOWEVER, I'm okay with trading in my bliss for knowledge. I would much rather know the truth, than frolic through life thinking everyone and everything is hunky-dory. Although I'll never pursue a career in intelligence, I have always longed to know the national secrets to which an intelligence officer may be exposed. Area 51? The truth behind 9/11? JFK's assassination?

It would be fantastic to know the truth.

Realistically, I have to accept that I will never know and take pleasure in the simple discoveries of collective nouns.

I mean seriously...a CRASH of RHINOS!!!

YUP

Count your blessings, or whatever you're into, but do it from time to time.

I'm telling you, it'll make you smile.

Explore Your Hood

I'm declaring Tuesdays as the official Explore Your Hood day of the week. Think about it. Caught up to speed from the weekend, but already a little stir crazy? Take an adventure in your neighborhood. Wander down the street and catch a game at a new spot. Maybe they have free shuffle board. Maybe you strike up a conversation with a random. The activity is arbitrary, it's the idea that counts.

Accustomed to the Tuesday night special at your local burger joint? Scope a new spot.

Usually stay in and make your own meal? Stroll to the park and get some fresh air.

Obviously this is easier when you have just moved to a new city, but EYH Tuesday is the new campaign to get out there and switch it up. Routine is good, boring is not.

The track below came on my playlist randomly tonight. I don't know who to credit as the artist, but I'm making it the theme song of Explore Your Hood v9.3.10


Tuesday's Random Find by Otto Reed

Random

Skittles. Stretching. Aspens. IPA. Sunshine. Exercise. Bas Rutten. Baseball. Family. Music.

Sometimes you just gotta take a deep breath and think of some of your favorite things.