Perfection and Excellence...

It's been a few since I have wrote anything but, this morning heard something that I thought was brilliant and could not wait to share it with you all.

There's a great quote that's been attributed to Brian Tracy, Jim Rohn and others: "Ready, Fire, Aim!" At some point in life, we have to say it's "good enough" and take action.


At some point, we have to settle for "excellence" and go for it! I'm not talking about being sloppy or settling for mediocrity, but in most cases, excellence is good enough. Particularly if we are willing to fix our mistakes, learn from them and seek constant improvement, excellence is good enough.

Random thoughts in life's journey...

It's funny, I often times try to compare the state of my life as a 21-year old attending college and a 30-year old parent positioning my way through life... Each experience being accompanied by a certain degree of uncertainty about the future. At 21, I had hooked up with more than my fair share of girls, but I didn't know the first thing about dating, relationships, or real love (even though I thought I did). I had plenty of friends, but I didn't know anything about actually socializing. I'd never held down a job, and I didn't know squat about working. At 21, I knew absolutely jack-shit.

Well at 30, I still know jack-shit, but I know that I know jack-shit. Do you follow? In the 9 intervening years, I accrued experience and humility at approximately the same rate...

My Sphere of Influence...

Sometimes when I'm chatting with friends (like right now) I wonder about the sphere of influence that I have on them.  I'm not trying to say that I think I'm all amazing or full of awesomeness but, rather the crazy places life brought me to, and the actual affect I have had... the groups of friends, scattered across, whom I've had the privilege to meet.

On some level, a apart of me, the dreamer I suppose, feels that there is definitely a greater purpose to this... that perhaps, I may play some key role that allows me to connect with people from all over and influence them maybe just a little (maybe in the smallest way... just enough to gain thier curiosity), and not in a match making sense, although I hear there's a lot of money in online dating.

I suppose on one level, I might seem like a really confident and very forceful person in my opinions, but anyone who really knows me, knows that over the years I have really settled down and thats possibly because, believe it or not, I have seen myself screw up a lot, especially in the past few years here.

Slept Late, relaxed long...

As I woke up this morning around 4:55 am, I felt a bit guilty for wasting the little time I actually had in bed.  As I thought a little deeper into this though, I realized that I was going to change it up, lay in bed and reflect for as long as I needed. Typically I jump out of bed to start my long, tedious day...I would have went to the gym, showered, washed up quickly, and got to work, hopefully no later than 7:15 am.  

9/11 Remembered...

Has there ever been a time in your life when you remember exactly where you were, what you were doing, and what you were thinking?

September 11th will always be one of those days for me...I was away at school just leaving the house to get to class. Everything seemed normal, and up until that point everything was normal...cool, clear, autumn day, with blue skies.  I remember the exact minute I walked into the building that my class was in...silence.  Five teachers were gathered around talking..."What the hell is going on?" I heard one of them say...At that time I was clueless to what had just happened, but in only a matter of minutes I would find out.

Looking for Tyler Durden...

It’s 7am, I’m laying wide awake in my bed, I flip through the channels looking for something worth watching…Fight Club (perfect I thought).



Fight Club is still one my favorite movies of all time, for a number of reasons…  I remember being a freshman at FSU watching this for the first time.  I didn’t care about the underlying themes of this movie, all I cared about was the fighting scenes.  The idea of a “fight club” was amazing to me (isn’t that what most testosterone filled college freshman would think?).  The thing is, this movie is about so much more than just fighting, a “fraternity or club”, and even middle aged men who join simply to beat the shit out of one another.  For a younger person though, I can see how it may even be difficult to grasp the complexity and sub-themes of this movie.

TV equals Mediocrity... It's Sad

I am honestly tired of television...  I'm sick of hearing about the buzz around reality TV shows and the programs that the Main Stream Media puts out for us to watch.  For the most part I have stopped watching television (except for football games, lol) because most of the shows are honestly pointless, stupid, and are designed to keep Americans dumbed down.   America has taken the bait and run with it.

Hollywood and the media wants to keep Americans distracted from what is happening in this country and around the world (some people still actually think Obama is doing a great job).  The thing is, Hollywood is going to continue to make any kind of show that brings in sponsors and money.  If they think reality shows will make money for them, and they have the sponsors backing, they will continue producing the show.

Turning points in life, darkness and betrayal to complete enlightenment...

Reflection...

It was 2005, I was only 25 then, I remember this particular year for a vast number of reasons. My collegiate basketball career had ended (more quickly than I would have liked it to) and it was time to get a “real” job. Playing highly competitive spots growing up, the school year and summer was decided to working hard in sports from the time I was 8 or 9, there was simply no time for a job, only sports (I wouldn’t change if I could). I’m sure I don’t have to express how much I was not looking forward to the idea of actually working.

For several years leading up to that particular year I found myself loving the freedom that escapes you when you are living at home with your parents (not that it is their fault). I think being out of the house generally gives everyone a feeling of freedom and empowerment.

Love, trust, and loyalty were the three core values that defined me at that point in my life, slowly though through the trials and tribulations of life, those values were being over taken by patterns of fear, hurt, anger, unworthiness and isolation… Those all steamed from a web page that I was certainly not supposed to see. I never knew that one very small statement, meaningless to millions of other people, could have had such a profound effect on my life:

Inspire.... turning nothing into something

(Inspired by Jim Rohn Weekend Seminar-Excelling in the New Millennium)



in·spire verb \in-ˈspī(-ə)r\
in·spiredin·spir·ing
Definition of INSPIRE
transitive verb
1
a : to influence, move, or guide by divine or supernatural inspiration
b : to exert an animating, enlivening, or exalting influence on
c : to spur on : impel, motivate
d : affect


The idea, let me say that again... the “idea" of turning nothing into something, comes from just that, "ideas".

Ode To Chicago...

“Chicago, there is a resilience that rises from somewhere deep in your streets.

You can’t define it but, you can feel it.

You can feel it overflowing from the people who call you home.

The people who will always proudly declare,

"I'm from Chicago",

you took our country from infancy into industry

and your name still carries with it the idea of a nation built on steel, muscle, and sweat.

You became the city that carried a country, the city, like the sport, is built on dreams.

People who arrived here driven to excel, who know that nothing is accomplished without hard work and without sacrifice.

When you hurt we hurt

Your streets witness our struggle, your bricks show our rage, through the emptiness of each house shuttered, of each factory closed.

We've lived through the ups and the downs and we remain..... Chicago.

We can never turn our backs on you Chicago because we are you, my home, the home of Michigan Avenue ,The Bears, and Al Capone...

Through all this, we can not be defeated because we have never been defeated, you've built us, you've moved us, you've shaped us,

sometimes down but never out, take strength in us, your people...

Out... Cundiff