I had answers I knew were right and yet was afraid to say them.

Every time I spoke with a person, they would always speak to me in a convincing way. They had confidence in their thoughts.

My own thoughts, reasonings, readings and research always felt inadequate.

It was as if all the thoughts in my head were meant to be challenged and squashed. I just accepted that every person I spoke with was much smarter than I was.

Then I met with highly intelligent people…

And realized most of the people I’ve spoken with in my life are full of crap.

I’m no longer afraid to speak up, to challenge and to provoke.

And if I’m wrong, which happens often,
I’m not afraid to change my way of thinking.

I won’t ever get it all
or get it right.
But I’m getting closer every day.

There’s a rule in writing for when you get stuck:

Just write the next sentence.

That’s all you have to do. Just write the next one.

After that sentence is complete, you write the one after that and you keep doing it until you’ve found your momentum again.

It’s easy to draw a blank or end up in despair about what to do, but if you’re willing to just worry about what to write in the very next sentence, you’ll make it.

If you’re stuck right now in life and lost your momentum, ask yourself: What is the next sentence?

That’s all you need to do next.

Just for today, I’m going to make it work.

I’m only focused on this one particular day and nothing else.

I will resist temptation,
find the willpower,
move forward,
and do that one thing.

I’m not worried about yesterday, tomorrow, next week or years from now.

My concern is not the decisions of the past or the schedule for the future.

I just need to focus on today.

And when I wake up tomorrow, I’ll focus on that day as well.

Now, more than ever, this is difficult.

We tend to envision our enemy as some kind of faceless person who is out there, somewhere, vehemently against everything we stand for in life.

It’s easy to say we can love them and let them be because they don’t have a face or name… or they might have a name, but they are so distanced from us we don’t feel the connection.

However, your enemy could be someone close to you. The definition of enemy isn’t restricted to military combatant or oppressor, but someone you know and love who you feel stands against you—even unknowingly.

How hard is it to love that person?

To love someone that you want nothing to do with, that has wronged you, estranged themselves from you or harmed you in a very personal way almost seems impossible.

Yet, we can still choose to love that person.

Not approve of their choices, or accept their thoughts, actions or behaviours, but love them.

To do so would still be one of the most radical things you can do in the world right now.

The story of Moses is commonplace among any Judeo-Christian society. Even if you’ve never opened a Bible, or caught a few minutes of Charlton Heston demanding Pharaoh to let his people go, the Exodus story is familiar.

While we can argue the archeological and historical evidence if such a story ever happened, there’s two very valuable lessons we can learn from it.

Quick summary—the Israelites are enslaved by Egypt, they cry for freedom, God hears their cry, appears to Moses in a burning bush, asks him to act as his messenger, Moses refuses then accepts, unleashes ten plagues on Egypt, frees the Israelites, parts the water, wanders the desert, receives the Commandments and dies before going into the promised land.

The first lesson is God didn’t enhance or equip Moses to accomplish this work. Moses was a poor speaker, had minimal leadership training and possessed basic shepherding tools.

Thus, he could not use what he did not have. His brother Aaron spoke for him and he used his shepherd staff as the conduit for God’s power.

Lesson 1: Use what you have and trust it’ll be enough.

The second lesson is what happens after the Israelites got their freedom. For so long, they cried for a release from their slavery and when it finally happened, you’d think it would be happily ever after.

Instead, at the first sign of trouble, they wanted to go back to Egypt. Being free and having to figure it out for themselves was too much for them to handle.

Lesson 2: How often do we run back to the our own familiar ways at the first sign of trouble?

The commitment to freedom, or a new way of life, means you’ll need to use the tools at your disposal and be willing to wander the desert for a long period of time before you finally get there.

Sometimes, we make this journey multiple times in our lives. But the trouble is always there and the signposts aren’t always clear.

However, the lessons have lasted for thousands of years because nothing about it has changed.

Resentment towards other people is a taxing enterprise on the mind. It festers in there, growing, until it occupies your complete mental space.

Your mind races to create every negative memory and scenario. This in turns triggers an emotional loop that sours your mood, causing further resentment.

Letting it go completely, although ideal, is not only difficult, but may not be possible.

So what can be done?

Consider that most things in the universe are outside of your control… especially other people. Some do their best to influence or manipulate others (which is where some resentment comes from in the first place), but each day can yield something drastically different.

Then consider what is within your locus of control.

And take it a step further by asking what are actionable items that are within that control.

Now comes the hardest part—take action.

Know the other you have resentment towards may never change, but you will.

Eventually, given the efforts, the resentment turns into a lesson. It may be a difficult one, a life altering one or a painful one, but it’s better than carrying the burden with you every day.

We are attracted to the bloom of the flowers—their colours, shapes and scents.

We arrange bouquets based around these parameters and give preferences based upon them. Yet, we overlook the key elements that make them possible:

The stems, the roots, the soil it grew in and the water that gave it life. Of course, let’s not forget the bees.

Without all of those foundational elements in place, a flower cannot bloom.

While a carefully prepared flower bed is the most ideal for flowers to receive this foundation, they can still receive it in the most unlikely of places.

Wherever you are, get your foundation in order and then get ready to bloom.

We are well aware healthy food, exercise and a good night’s sleep is necessary to physically feed you. This is probably the easiest to look upon and likewise, the easiest to prey upon by crafty marketers.

However, we are more than just our physical makeup.

How often do we ask what feeds us in other parts of our life?

What feeds us mentally?
Emotionally?
Spiritually?

I would be dumbfounded if somebody came out of this pandemic and said that endlessly scrolling Facebook or picking fights on Twitter was what kept them going.

Something people are also learning is you cannot demand another person fill those gaps either. For one, they simply can’t.

The best they can do is nudge you, intentionally or not.

Just as the desire and willpower to physically take care of yourself must come from within, so to must the other forms of sustenance.

Without them, you are starving yourself without even knowing it.

If you ever try talking with me in person, it’s a difficult task.

I’m a weird person that is socially awkward and always have at least ten things occupying my mind. This is exasperated by the fact I am hyper-aware of it, self-conscious of how I come across and yet, take ownership of it.

I try to say too much with little filter on what I’m saying and often forget where I am. And yet, I enjoy people and find speaking in front a crowd very comfortable.

I’m sure there’s a psychological term for people like me and would appreciate any sort of clarity from those in the field.

As my old spiritual/academic/life mentor once told me, “You’re an incredible thinker who tries too hard to control the chaos of your own mind. Also, you spilt coffee on your shirt.”
(He would also go on to tell me I have a natural disdain for authority, which probably explains my lack of filter)

This is why I appreciate writing.

The primary purpose of my writing is to organize my own thoughts as they coalesce in the torrent of my mind. It’s an opportunity to capture one point of clarity amidst the endless sparks that keep me occupied.

It also helps keep me focused in the same way a book can keep me occupied for hours. It’s a strange conundrum to keep up—an incredible laser focus on any one thing in front of me, but no control when I try communicating verbally… unless it’s carefully penned and planned.

Which is also why the classroom is a good fit for my skillset. It’s a place where you can be appreciated for being wonderfully weird, quirky and rebellious.

However, this mighty combination puts me at a severe hindrance for prominent leadership positions. To be blunt, I’d be a disaster.

But, knowing that about myself doesn’t put me in a well of despair, or kickstart a drive to overcome what I am. It gives me the freedom to focus on my microcosm of the universe and nudge people in other ways.

It generates desire to pursue areas that require the flexibility some leadership roles simply don’t have. It’s less responsibility in areas I don’t need and more responsibility in areas I do.

Could this change?

Absolutely because I need to know what to work on.

Do I want it to change?

Not right now.

The Greeks had it right: “Know Thyself“

Trailblazers start followings, which in turn create communities.

While the common narrative is for every individual to be a trailblazer (who doesn’t want that notoriety?), community remains the strongest asset for an individual.

Looking to eat healthy?
There are plenty of communities to welcome you into their ranks.

Looking to get into shape?
You just have to tilt your neck slightly and you’ll encounter a community ready to welcome you.

And of course within those communities are sub communities to accept you among their ranks (e.g. even the Dungeons & Dragons community is divided based upon which version of the game is played).

Any community will fit the niche of what you’re seeking.

However, where people get caught up is in the analysis part because with the good, there’s always a negative. On top of which, there will always be a cynic in the community.

It’s the cynic’s job to criticize and point out some flaw. And yet, even though you find a cynic in every community, that’s the voice that gets amplified.

Sure, there’s some trade offs when you choose to join one community out of the multitude, but if you spend all your time listening to the cynic, you’ll never join any.

Join one, commit to it and, over time, if you become the cynic, it might be time to join another.