Ralph Waldo Emerson Challenge: Day 1

I have committed to a 30 day challenge via the Domino Project. Today's prompt: Write the story that must be written. I have 15 minutes. The timer is set and running.

My assumption is I only have 15 minutes to speak my piece. I would address my family and friends with these charges:

1. Love someone for who they are. Do not be angry with someone for who they are not.
      I have heard way to often, "So and so is great, if I could just change a few things..."  Newsflash: if you are talking about an adult those things aren't going to be changed. It is a take it or leave it proposition. If you plan on keeping the things you like and changing the things you don't, good luck. This is no way to love. Love it all or not at all.

2. Charge ahead, no regrets and don't look back.
     Hindsight is better than 20/20. When faced with a decision, mull over the options, evaluate the positive and negative. Then make your decision, charge full speed ahead and accept the consequences good, bad or in between. Forget "If I had known..." or "I should have..." In both cases you didn't so make your decision work.

3. When facing an opponent with a different viewpoint, view the situation thru your opponents eyes.
      This problem is all around. Two opposing viewpoints choose to air their differences by restating their own viewpoint in ever increasing volume and bombast. If you want to get somewhere, argue your opponents view and walk a mile in their shoes. That's the beginning of finding common ground.

4. Embrace all you have.
     There are those with more and those with less. Always, Cherish what you have. It may not be all that you'll have forever, but it's what you have today.

Would love feedback from all. What would you charge your loved ones? What did I miss or should have left out? Hey, if I ever only get 15 minutes, I want to get it right.  There's the timer.

Memorial Day: No Words

I felt it is important to post about Memorial Day but the words escape me. What do you say about those that were willing to lay down their lives to protect my freedom to flip burgers and buy large screen TV's?  I realize words are insufficient to pay tribute to soldiers (past, present and future) and their families for the sacrifice they have endured so I needn't sacrifice. In place of words, I can offer some numbers:

Total casualties (dead and wounded) from the Revolutionary War through current day:   2.5 million
Total population of Chicago, IL: almost 2.7 million

POW/MIA since WWII still unaccounted: over 83,000

Total McDonalds, Burger King and 7-11 worldwide: approx. 83,000

Countries arising from the Revolutionary War: 1

Without our veterans, there might not be an us and there wouldn't be a U.S.

Before I flip burgers (and holidays are for spending time with family) or buy a large screen TV (I've worked for it and I'm worth it) I'm going to dedicate some time to our soldiers killed in war. Why not join me? 

ROL: You Shouldn't Say No to H2O.

Return on Life (ROL) is an adaptation of the popular financial metric, Return on Investment (ROI). ROI measures the dollars generated as a function of the dollars spent on a project. ROL is about ways to make small changes or additions that can significantly improve quality of life. Here is this week's ROL.


I was justed solicited on LinkedIn to join a new MLM. This new organization sells just one product, a magic elixir. How much should I pay to join the MLM in order to sell a beverage with the following properties:

• Relieves fatigue thereby increasing energy.
• Helps cure headaches without the need for NSAIDS.
• Reduces occurance and duration of muscle cramps.
• Supresses appetite without any additives that require the FDA to pull it off the market.
• Flushes ingested toxins and simultaneously nourishes cells.
• Reduces wrinkles and keeps eyes bright.

As you know from the title of the post, the stuff about the MLM is fiction. The Magic Elixir is water.

Adding water to your daily fluid intake has multiple benefits and costs next to nothing. Nutritionists, physicians and trainers suggest drinking 8-10 8 oz. glasses of water daily (a little more than 1/2 gallon) to replace normal fluid loss. The amount you should drink increases in hot weather or with strenuous activity.