A very unique and special term.

Unique: Being without a like or equal; unmatched; unequaled; unparalleled; single in kind or excellence; sole.

Special: Surpassing what is common or usual; exceptional.

Unique is an interesting term, one I think is most appropriate adjective to identify “American”. There have been a number of societies that were melting pots but none as unusual as America. The notion that a people could govern themselves freely was unconscionable at the time. That one person would respect another enough to let them live freely was unheard of. Time immemorial the leaders have most always taken advantage of the populace in one for or another. Socially with castes, slaveries or titles and economically by exclusion or inclusion. America’s timing was perfect! America’s visionaries were epic! America’s experiment was crazy, few understood what was at hand. The few men who organized and initiated the last 250 years were unique in and of themselves. Free men, free to live and die free. Freedom has a cost and that cost if life. Many have to give their lives for each man to remain free. Freedom is requires the death of those who would give of themselves to preserve it. Like so many military men have done. Freedom requires the understanding that the stupid will kill themselves and likely their children and these deaths are an acceptable part of being free. I believe for me to be free, I must not be controlled by another for their fears, comforts or sensibilities. I can only be free if I am able to do myself in by any number of means. I therefore am free to do myself well by any number of means.

Special is a profoundly ruined term. You’ve heard it said I’m sure, “If everyone is special then no one is special”. We do know that there have never existed two persons identical. Each and every person is unique, I propose therefore special. Each person has a special role to fill at a given place in time with all of those of whom they associate. I believe we are made for a special place and time; and that time is the space of our lives and how we live it out with the other people of our time. It wasn’t amazing how Thomas Jefferson wrote the Declaration of Independence. It was amazing that he wrote it and along with fifty-five other men went and pledged their Lives, Fortunes and sacred Honor upon it. Understand this was an outright offense to King George. It meant summary executions for all. Each man committed to the other that first his fame may die with this revolt and he be no more known or viable than John Doe. Second that he would commit his fortune to the effort, whatever that was. Remembering Robert Morris who spent time in debtor’s prison afterward because he defaulted on loans he borrowed to fund the Continental Army. Imagine going to jail after the fact and being visited by George Washington and what the conversation might have been at that meeting. These men were truly special because of the giving of themselves for the others. The costs for George were high as well although beforehand. I hear some people remark that he went back to his estate with his slaves and picked up where he left off. This is absurd, one has to realize that all he had was a liability. The “estate” was just land with a house. There was land galore, so no one cared for that really, not like today. Once they got more than they could handle they were done. Slaves needed food, shelter and clothing. this was all expensive. Most folks ate what they caught or made that day. More mouths to feed meant more planting, more responsibility and more money. Afterward he made it into what we see today but even that has been embellished over the years. These men gave just short of all.

These men made examples of what believe should mean for us all. Not enough of America is taught to our young people so that they can understand what belief made us what we are today. America is a belief system! It is believing that each person is made free and free to live by the Golden Rule. Many of us have gotten so accustomed and brainwashed by the nanny state that we can’t even begin to understand the meaning of being free and more importantly being American! “We need ID to vote.” “We need policemen to protect.” “We need a standing military to be secure.” “We need the government to …..”

Man! Be American! Be responsible for your neighbor and build a community of believers who live out their lives together understanding the value of struggling together and accepting the costs of it. Robert went to prison, George could have been king but each chose each other just like so many have done. When I hear the stories of the battles and the patriotism from WWII it brings me to tears what one has done for another. American stories; bred by the pedigree of a melting pot, born out of belief in one another and codified by the actions that prove it.

We have this opportunity even today with out going into battle, even though anymore each day is a battle just surviving. There are those who seek to destroy all that you work for! I implore you, don’t help them. Stop helping them! Become wise and recognize that your government and big business by and large are you demise. It is the same problem the colonies had. The government using big business to control the lives of the people along with the Tories who benefited from such an arrangement. Tories, people who wanted that system because it was beneficial to them.

A few years back I began to look into all of the companies with whom I did business. I’ve most always was a ‘be local shop local’ guy because I liked knowing the people. I love people and knowing more people of quality is my goal. One day I began to consider Costco. In the beginning you may remember it was a club for business owners. You had to prove you were in business to become a member. When the learned that the membership thing was going to bring in millions they allowed anyone in and for a time the membership fees carried them along. They sold out to us for the opportunity to be a mega corp. Eh, good for them, free market and all. Not getting down on them per se. More over I don’t have to shop there. If they want to manipulate me, I don’t have to shop there. I shop at regional or local supermarkets. I shop at the family hardware store. I shop at the one off bakery/coffee shop. I seek out small businesses to specifically do my business. I believe you should too. Our survival depends upon it. The more big business takes more shares of the market the more you become a slave of your government. Your government gets bigger and more powerful. You get smaller and less powerful.

Be American. Be free. Be unique. Be special and be powerful together!

Greg

I was today years old when I learned that my passions lie with the realm of others. Interestingly enough, it is something I’ve always know just not with such clarity. Looking back on my experiences and looking at my perspective about those experiences I see now as if before it was through a dirty window where you can make out most of it, get a good understanding of it, work with it and deal with it but never really realizing that your working through this dirty window. Today on the other hand it is as if I have nothing between me and this life, it is as if I am on a Rocky Mountain high. Some of you may know what I mean, a clear sunny day unlike anything you can remember! The atmosphere is sparkling! The sky is a shade of blue that can not be described it is so mesmerizing! The air is clear and clean, so much so that you wish you could bathe in it! The light is so intense where you stand that the smallest of details fill your senses! Life as a quality is as full as it can get!

If you’ve not had an experience like this you should go look for it. It’s out there just waiting for you to arrive. Life is good! Why? Because I say so, not only do I say so; everything I do is intended to make it so! Life is good because I do things to make it that way, intentionally. Some of us think having nice things or nice times or fun experiences is what makes life good. I won’t argue that those things do make improvements, but why I know my life is good is because of the people I’ve manage not to offend so badly that they would run away after getting to know me, who are still around and the experiences I’ve had with them when we had none of those nice things involved. Things that I remember have made such an impression on me that I just realized how important those times are. I remember after working out, driving out to the lake with Pete and chugging a six pack and just “shooting the shit” as we called it. Yeah we had a car, a gym and beer at a lake but we didn’t go buy a membership, a car and beer to organize and arrange things. It was just life happening together. Enjoying each others person, values, perspectives and beer :). Organic: I believe is the term used to describe it today. I remember some of my best times are down at the river just screwing around with trees, rocks and water with Bill, Matt, Jan, Rachel, Johnny, Jake and many others on a picnic. Glorious times just being people together. I remember doing the most terrible job and working next to John, who made it all worth the grind. As all things go jobs only last so long and you move on, but John and the time we spent is immortal. He still calls today! Great times!!

Today as the glass has been removed what clarity brings now is the absolute joy I have had helping those that appreciate the help. Know the value of it and reciprocate. The bond of someone who you help just to be decent to others, who appreciates it so much that he tells you again thirty years later is what I’m talking about. The value that communicates about who you can be in the world is phenomenal. I didn’t buy him a car or go with him on a extravagant vacation or plan some big event that we hold onto. Not at all, I just helped him along and he valued the help and me for doing it. He realized that he couldn’t have gotten where he is now with out the help from someone, it was just me who saw he needed it. I really didn’t do it, he did. My help could have been wasted like so many times before. I realized that I couldn’t have gotten to where I am now without his character that appreciated the help. It is all a silver lining for both of us but I got the better deal I’m sad to say. What I got out of it was a high quality character for a friend and what he got was me. He would say and has said such, “you were a hard and difficult person”. Yeah, ’tis true. Hard times wrought hard people.

What I understand about this premise is that ‘birds of a feather’ is warranted, valid and true. I was hard, true. John was hard enough to stick it out and find value. John and I don’t fly in the same flock, but when we meet up the old times, the bad times and the good times are the magnets that draw us closer and make the world go around better. And most importantly it had nothing to do with stuff, planned events or money just the regular battle of life won together!

My passion has reward as does yours. My passion is why I do this here. My passion is specifically helping others however it may be. Your passion may involve a thing (trucks, paint, teeth, numbers) or an activity (fitness, art, singing) whatever it is, give up what you are doing go and pursue your passion and most importantly look for and find the John’s that you will meet, who will make your life rich in spite of all of the other things being what they are, a distraction from greatness!

Lift another, all boats rise with the tide.

Greg

Literally. Looking around at our country and what things seem to be going around are doing it. The widespread corruption, the graft, the disharmony, the absolute wrecking of the greatest place ever. Too many don’t seem to care. Too many care about things that don’t make one bit of difference. Especially in government; hired or elected. I heard one observation that our government employees are doing things from a position of stupidity. The answers we get are not well thought out or even reasonable. Mostly because they are used to doing whatever, and not having it questioned. Comfortable immunity. There are no repercussions, only inconveniences until the next administration comes along.

I listened to John Kennedy (a fellow I think is somewhat reasonable?) from Louisiana questioning the Director of SSA about his departments assertion that there are poor people in our country. He lists off a series of financial aspects of a theoretical single mother of two’s budget for any given year. In the end he concludes that she receives a financial gain of some Sixty-four thousand dollars a year, seemingly only Eleven thousand of it has she earned. He makes the comment, ‘..not proposing that we curb benefits…..’ (paraphrased). Of course not then she would become an average American income. No one is talking about the elephant in the room and this is what pisses me off. I don’t mean that he is protecting his votes with his comment but that most all of what was laid out in his recap of SSA’s view of this mother of two. Not only does a government idiot put it out but the government ‘idiot’ questioning isn’t questioning the SSA’s example, he’s questioning whether or not they are poor.

Many years ago I ventured into the realm of the homeless. I took their plight as misfortune or as caught in a rough patch. Approaching it with the idea that each would extract themselves from their predicament if they had the chance. Boy was I in for an eye opening. After several years of being involved and doing what I could the help I came to the conclusion that there are no poor here, only those who refuse to work. Before you start the argument that there are those disadvantaged who …., not arguing that. There are always those among us, they are the few. In those years, only one person did we help who made the most of his situation and moved on to a different life. I don’t even know if he kept it up. But by and large all we got involved with had a manipulation to run on us to continue with their lifestyle. These people clearly were making a choice to live thuswise. There are no poor only those who choose to live that way.

Someone who receives Sixty-four thousand dollars if far from poor, I agree with Mr Kennedy. Let’s talk about the elephant? He comes in parts: Stupid parts. Stupid part One: anyone who asserts that a person who has two children and cares about their welfare and sets her mind to earn a buck surely will do better than Ten dollars per hour at Twenty hours part time. If not she’s not trying very hard. Don’t start telling me about single mothers. I am intimately familiar with how a single mother of three does things. Stupid part Two: he mentioned that she would receive about Sixteen thousand in Medicaid ? benefits. I look back over the last several years and what I have spent on medical treatment and outside of a dentist next to none. If I include the dentist we’re looking at let’s call it a thousand bucks. What I see here is not only am I the epitome of health but that my tax dollars go to a person who is able to run to the doctor for any reason whatsoever, running up the bill to the tune of Sixteen Gs! Whether she needs it or not. Why not, she’s not at work, might as well go use some benefits???? Stupid part Three: other than her ridiculous Eleven thousand dollar earnings the rest is government given. No mention of child support, state aid programs, etc. I know that when a father dies his children will receive his social security benefits until they reach the age of 18. Not much but per child it works. I think since he’s not going to get it, we’re talking a wash of sorts. The wife gets some for a time too if not working. No one is questioning the reality of anything. No one is looking at what is actually happening, only what they want to see. I know there are places where people aren’t making Ten dollars per hour but that they are also tip driven jobs that see them do much more than that. I don’t know about every state situation but I am familiar with the entire west this side of the Rockies and Pennsylvania, New York, New Jersey and Maryland; it is a ridiculous notion to believe that Eleven thousand a year is reasonable. This person is not even trying!

It’s everywhere! All the time! I can’t get into the news without finding some idiotic episode going down somewhere. It all stanks of corruption! Everywhere you look is profiteering. Federal, state and local. Our very own Lincoln county is rife with it. The last five years we have seen a major increase in property values. The county position is it’s the law, our taxes doubled. Do we see a move to reduce millage rates or rearrange calculations? Not in the slightest, we see more aggressive assessments, bad attitudes at the county with personell, and more spending. Wow finally we can get that new government center that every one has been asking about for Fifty years! Our services are not going up just the government machine (Matrix) to abuse, persecute and take advantage of the people. The new building we are getting is called the Justice Center. Read this way: more court rooms, more deputy sheriffs, more prosecutors. Is there more crime, no, just more opportunity to prosecute that they are missing out on. More deputies, more tickets, citations, more revenue. More permits, more citations, more revenue. All for the sake of more government. The government union is out of control!

The elephant!

I know you’re pissed off too. Keep your head cool, plow ahead and hold your values. Who can be against us? We win in the end!

Greg

My son is into American football. We had them over for some supper and to watch the game. I on the other hand am not in the slightest way interested in the enormous waste of time called “professional sports”. There was a time when I had my share of viewing. Times were different back then I think. It was entertainment at its core, same as tv or movies. I see it today as an intricate part of the Matrix and part of the subjugation/propaganda machine. Take Sunday’s game as an example.

I follow a guy on IG, name of Mr. Scott Lo Baido. (scottlobaido) The reason I follow is that I see him as an interesting person. He is inately American. He is a Patriot. He talks sense most of the time. Let’s not forget he’s a New Yorker. Attitude and language compulsory. I believe he made a good point about the half time show, perhaps you disagree. He pointed out that the NFL and they’re decision for such a spectacle in the 250th year celebration of America goes to show you where the loyalty of the NFL lies. Now these are not his exact words, but the gist of what I heard.

We watched a show in Spanish with a boy singing and gyrating at the center of it all parading all the flags of he world as if to say, “we’re about love and including everyone”. As my IG friend pointed out, not one of those flags is about love or inclusion. The only flag in the world that has ever existed that is about inclusion has been Glory herself! As a matter of fact not one flag welcomed the world to be a part of such an “experiment”. Not only that but every flag out there has persecuted its own people from time to time. America is the only “melting pot” of all time known. It did not matter where you came from on the planet; Russia, Japan, China, Iran, Brazil, Australia, you name it; you came from there to be here and call yourself an American. Being American meant something special. We all were once proud to be Americans!

Maybe would had a hard time communicating because we spoke different languages, but we got by. Was there conflict? You bet, when is there not? Still, regardless if you were a Polock cooking haluski on Polish Hill looking down on the Dagos and their pasta in Bloomfield or the Mc donning a blue suit to gain some respect on the Hill or Kraut on the other side of the river known for your sauer or like me a Hunky from a mill town just trying to get by. All ethnic slurs of a sort, back then most people recognized that these terms came about because enough of each people group were not decent people. A Mc didn’t mind being called a Mc by his Dago friends. The call to be American rose above the offense of association. Americans recognized each other and there was a bond that superseded all. It is extremely evident in the victory of WWII; unity regardless. Kinda like nigga today, no foul, just affinity.

Now a days, seems that people only come here to get what they can from our system and not to be Americans. The boy from the half time show is Puerto Rican; part of America sort of; buy they’ve always voted no to join the Union. They are not interested in being American, just PR. That’s ok. Most of you don’t know that it is a backwater place, there’s better parts of Mexico than the whole island. Their choice. No foul, just separated. No red, white and blue spirit and it shows. As Americans I believe we want more Americans. We want people who will bring their differences here and be different, BUT be American first. Being true blue is more important than where you came from. Being considered a fellow patriot by Kraut when you’re a Jew is key. Vice Versa.

What has made this country great is the belief in the mystery of this Spirit. America the beautiful, land of the free and home of the brave. All for one and one for all. Semper Fidelis. My country tis of thee, sweet land of liberty of thee I sing.

I know there are some of you out there who sing like Scott and me. Who look through the Matrix and wonder what the hell happened. I encourage you to stand strong, believe big and decide to make conscience decisions to support other Americans wherever they may be. Unplug from the Matrix, stop entertaining your self with children who dress up and run around on your tv screen pretending to be something other than a pawn for the system. Make choices today to be local, shop local and support Americans where they work and live.

Be a Hoopie and hug a Hunky today, show the love to your fellow American brothers and sisters.

Greg

The running joke is, “How do you know a lawyer is lying?” I don’t know, how? “His lips are moving.” By and large a slam to lawyers but probably not unwarranted as birds of a feather are found to have common traits. Far be it associated with say, … doctors. I am not looking to start a row with all of those lined up with our judicial system. It was an ice breaker to slip into the deep and dark pool of lies.

We all live lies everyday. Undoubtedly we don’t know what lies we live. Quite often we don’t care what they are. We hold fast to our bias and often defend it to our deaths. We go around having a lie buried deep in the foundation our lives, so familiar are with it that we don’t even recognize the grief, discord or conflict it creates every day. It is so familiar we don’t even relate the consequence with it but each new circumstance we come into.

A very famous person once said, ” Seek the truth and the truth will set you free.” I believe this! I believe that most all of the troubles we encounter in our day is due to our adoption of falsehoods. I choose to believe things that are not founded. They are moving targets that set me up to fail every time I try to go forward.

I hear people say, “truth is relative” or “that is your truth or my truth”. I think anyone who truly cares to look at it with sincere interest will come to the conclusion that truth is definitely not relative and it rings the same each and everyone of us. Otherwise things like two people conversating, one in English and one is Russian would take place everyday with complete understanding. The fact that this does not happen ever, is because it is a completely false idea. It will never happen, to say that it does is not true. The same as if you took me up on a roof and threw me off. I would begin falling until I impacted whatever was below, most likely the ground. The observable reality of gravity is there, omnipresent and undeniable to reason. If I were to toss you over the edge, although you might have a different result, gravity will have its effect on you and you to will impact something below. Maybe I died from my sudden stop with the ground but you survived because you landed on the porch roof so much closer. Even the reverse outcome of my example does not undo the truth of gravity and its impact on us and repeatable reality of its existence.

Often time we want to believe things that are not true and call it dreaming. The little girl grows up timid and disadvantaged then along comes Prince Charming to rescue her from the previous life into a life with the beautiful aromas of roses, silk sheets, fine linen garments and the vision of a day with no strife, toil or effort ever needs be expended. Cute story we see just about everywhere we go. Especially children’s stories. Let me count the lies so easily believed.

1. That genies are real and Prince Charming has one. That is how he has all of this crap the give the Princess and save her from the life she had.
2. The idea that a life of luxury and laziness is a good and fulfilling life. Most of the unhappiest people I know are wealthy. They are bored and live unfulfilling lives. In my observations mostly because they can get whatever they want at any time and it doesn’t satisfy the mind but for a minute.
3. That anyone is deserving of such a windfall just for the sake of being born. Who is it that you are going to drop such a life on from your situation? No one of course! Just as no one is doing it for you. You want it go make it or get it.

This could become an thome quite easily. I’ll sum it up this way. In my experience I believe that the truth does set us free if we care to give up on the false ideals we hold for ourselves. “I deserve it”, “I can get something for free”, “There are easy ways to wealth”. These are all false and will lead me into misery. Seeking truth though is exceedingly difficult because of my affinity for lies or falsehoods. “I like my beliefs, no matter how absurd they might seem to another”. Boys can never be girls. Therefore I give you this tip that has had tremendous results in my life. Seek out the falsehood or lies in you life. These are easy to find. You know them intimately. Take every belief you have and test it for evidence of repeatability. Just like gravity, you will find, the truth is linear. One leaves the roof and straight to the ground. Doesn’t matter who, where or when the result is the same. On the other hand lies are circular. If you find yourself going in circles then you’ve realized a lie. Somewhere in your process a falsehood has brought you back to a place you were before so that you do not move forward.

As I have said, I believe that truth is linear and it will move us forward. If we are not finding the progress we want or progress in general we are living a lie. If you find that you are regularly experiencing the same problems or troubles then you have a lie in you process. Seek it out and it will crumble and leave you with the truth you don’t want to hear. That you had a moment of stupidity and let a lie ruin every day until now. But know this once you swallow the hard part of knowing how dumb you are and get to the place were you find the value of being the “Slayer of Lies”; your life becomes a force with which to be recconed! You become a person of confidence, understanding, strength and determination. Especially when you see how easily they die. They almost kill themselves!

Go be murderous today. Kill all the lies you can find and live large.

Greg

Last week I came at you with Momentum and how it might work for you, this week I want to touch on discipline as its cohort. Maybe even predecessor! Mainly because if you can not maintain the minimum amount of self discipline to do the minimum necessary to achieve the least bit of momentum you will not go far at all.

I am not referring to discipline in the direction that some might go, that of punishment or consequence. What I am speaking of is one’s ability to understand that the mind of the human is ultimately LAZY. If left alone will absolutely develop the attitude, “why if I don’t have to”. The most unsuccessful people have this mantra. I understand this completely, life is far to easy now a days. It does not take much effort to have a house, be clothed and eat. For some their parents are still doing it, but I not writing them, I am writing you.

Make great efforts to understand that you have an industrious brain and a lazy brain. As a species we are not different this way. Realize that not seeing, doing and having is all a process of the lazy brain. Remarkably, if someone has done it you can too! ?Even more remarkably, if it hasn’t been done and you can dream it you can do it! These are the greatest gifts bestowed upon us, imagination, creativity, ability and insight. All unique to the human being. Only you can build what you dream. Take that dream and apply your gifts and watch things unfold.

Starting with insight take a good look at your self and ask, “Does my life run me or do I run my life?” If life is dealing you cards you don’t like you need to become the dealer. If life is delivering peanuts you need to become the peanut magnate. You have the ability to use your insight to scrutinize the outcomes in your day and determine if it was the result of a conscience act on your part or an haphazard event that just came you way.

Discipline is therefore conducting yourself in such a way that haphazard events are the least part of your life and what you see instead is well designed, well thought out and poorly executed ideas about your dreams manifesting real tangible results that you can manipulate, manage and improve. Discipline is believing that there is value in applying your gifts to an effort inside of you industrious mind that will improve your everyday life and cause you to want more.

Discipline starts with losing the victim mentality and realizing, “I can change this situation in which I find myself “. You do have to accept where you are at this very moment but you do not have to accept it again tomorrow. Where you find yourself right now is the result of all of the choices you have made to date. If you are not wise, you chose not to be. If you are not skilled, you chose not to be. If you are not confident, you chose not to be. If you are lazy, you chose to be. If you are capable, you chose to be. If you are going to ……, you are choosing to be!

Discipline works by practicing, training and failure. Like riding the momentum bike, it’s not about crashing; it’s about getting up and back on. This is discipline, understanding the value of continuing. Value is the core of your belief system, if you do not value it enough it will fade. Believe in yourself, make choices that create different outcomes tomorrow. In a nut shell discipline is the act of choosing different ways of doing life that produce different outcomes. Thereby learning the cause and effect of actions and how to better apply the effort next time. Once you see that life is a choice and currently it is the choices you make and making different choices gives you different outcomes. Keep doing this until you get the outcome you seek! Simple as that.

Go and be great,

Greg

It’s another Tuesday where I “get” to write you again! There’s nothing like be able to engage in the things that bring your passion, joy and interests together! Last week we lamented ‘starting again’, rarely if ever does one have momentum from the beginning. It is rather something that builds as you build. Like the bicycle analogy, at first when you get going that little bit of momentum propels you forward; that is until you crash. If you pick yourself back up and go again you begin to realize, that the scary speed of momentum is actually your friend. It is good for you and you need it to succeed. Once you grasp the least bit of the dynamics of balance you realize you can direct a whole lot of the power of momentum. I believe so it goes with life.

In my time here on this planet I have observed so many of us that get going on that bike and crash what seems like every time they try to go somewhere. For some this becomes normal and they crash regularly for the rest of their lives. Every time they get something decent they ruin it or waste it. Others who crash regularly at the beginning just give up and walk everywhere. The momentum of the bike is not worth getting beyond the crash phase, even though they can see others whizzing around ‘killing it’ in life. They come up with excused why they are not doing it. I don’t want to make today’s rambling about choices, but please go off and consider the choices you make everyday that limit, ruin, waste or stop your momentum. Make new ones, you’ve got it in you and there are people out there who believe in you! I’m one of them.

This is about momentum, realizing it, understanding it and using it. It is a pretty big deal. Most people don’t realize what it takes to get something started or for that matter keep it going. Being a ‘car guy’, I’m going to use this analogy as metaphor and vice versa. Perhaps you’ve noticed those large trucks barreling down the highway next to you as you pass them by. I know some of you are oblivious to everything except where you’re going but for those who have taken note, did you notice that when they start out you can run walk faster than it moves in first gear? Have you noticed how when you come to a hill that they slow down tremendously given the incline of that hill? What most of you probably don’t know is that those truck engines have about three time the power of an average car. On the other hand they move approximately twenty time the weight! The one principal that makes these ratios work is momentum. An object set in motion tends to stay in motion, thank Mr Newton! It’s not really important to understand engine, gearing of transmissions or the like to understand the principal of motion in your life and how to gain more of it. Look around if another is doing it or has done it you can too!

Back to the truck. If that truck was allowed to reach a speed of say one hundred miles per hour it would produce enough momentum to make it’s way much farther up that hill before it slowed down to the “crawl” speeds with which we are familiar. It takes a lot less energy to get that truck from seventy mph to one hundred mph than it does to “crawl” the distance differential of the two speeds. Meaning getting to one hundred to climb a hill is better than staying at seventy. Why don’t we do things that way? We should every chance we get! What’s the problem? In some cases like the truck example it would be those who like to control everything applying their might to keep themselves ‘safe’ (an argument for another day). Suffice it to say: government regulations or over reach. Another limitation is the environments in which we find ourselves. On a curvy road through the mountains is not the place to take eighty thousand pounds into pell mell lest we want to crash the whole enchilada. Another reason might be education or brainwashing. Depending upon your experience in school you can pick your term. Point being that you are limited to what you believe. Some of us are limited to what we were taught and others are limited to what we can learn. I’m thinking your getting the idea, momentum is useful and dangerous at the same time. I am pretty sure that all of us know the experience on a bike or skate board where we got going so fast that we thought the wheels were going to come off and we ‘chickened out’ and went for the brakes. There are various reasons for not building momentum, figure out what your reasons are and make an adjustment, you need one hundred when you can get it.

I coach many a young person to look at their business endeavor along these lines. A skateboard, a bicycle, a car, a pick up, a commercial truck, an airplane or a ship. Each is capable of only a certain amount of momentum. If you’re in a business analogous to a skateboard, say a paper route, cashier at food chain, any thing at Wally world, you will not gain enough momentum to stay ahead of inflation. These types of jobs are for children learning what it means to work. It’s a place to get pocket money for time with friends and maybe save up for something like a car. The nicer things in life are higher up. Most jobs equate to a car, where most people are comfortable. As I say, most people are trying to get the most out of doing the least. A car suits that example, you can imagine a guy with a 2000 Honda Accord vs a guy with a 2025 Mercedes. Regardless of the man it’s still a car with its limited momentum ability. I am certain you will find that if you can get yourself to the pickup truck analogy you will learn that it is far easier to use momentum. I believe that is why more Americans drive them than anything else. Just another reason we are the wealthiest. For those of you who go beyond this you understand the power of numbers, moving eighty thousand pounds vs four is why you want it. In the same distance you accomplish twenty times the work. And so on it goes all the up to the ship example.

The question isn’t can I do it? The question isn’t can I launch a space ship? The question you want to always put to yourself is, “how can I get from where I am to a better place”. Then do whatever it is you think it will take regardless. Go fail miserably in your attempt, you will learn and the next time you probably won’t crash your bike! You are looking to gain momentum in, experience, knowledge, understanding, effort and skill. You will crash them all if you are doing it well! No crashes means you are doing nothing! Let me say that again, crashes are evidence that you are going and growing. The goal is to get so skilled at crashing that you can do it with minimal loss of momentum. What you don’t know is holding you back, go get experience and learn what it is today and make momentum you best friend!

Glory to all of you in this great republic,

Greg

It’s been sometime since my last post here, I’m trying to regain my mind’s eye of my mission and what it is that I’m doing here. The passions from the initial vision and quickening have faded, I find myself old and tired. Not convinced of the value at times. I am however convinced that there are those of you out there that need what I have to share and offer! My resolve to see this through is growing each and every day. My strength in my belief of what this could mean is developing. I know not what comes but here I go!

Sometimes getting started is simple, you have nothing else in your way you have nothing else on your plate and you have nothing to do except what’s in front of you, but then there are those times when you really want to do something, your vision is clear, your passion is high and you really have the idea that it’s the thing to do. But! There’s so much in your way, so much taking your time, so much distracting you, that getting started is a stumbling, lumbering, broken, jumbled and just the most difficult effort to continue. Such has been my life for the last four years since I started this; I’ve been busy with my multiple businesses, family and life in general. Just when I think I can pick it up and go, a deluge of other responsibilities storms and rains upon me to where I’m completely soaked with things that take me away. I painted this vision first in January of 2021 on the heels of the riots in Portland which to my amazement were still going on at that time . I could see plainly the need to develop some sort of help for business people that were being overrun and surreptitiously undermined by their own government. I thought I could pick up this side hustle, working in my free time, building into some things of value. Couple of problems though; I didn’t understand the time commitment was specific, how much my current responsibilities were going to drag me through the ringer and give me less time to even think about what was going on here .

Now of course to the most casual observer of you, will recognize these as excuses. I do too. The reality is, as much as you’d really like to do something, your previous obligations have everything to do with your ability to move forward. Kind of the idea that you can’t get there from here. You’ve got to go by way of some other place before you can get there. I’ve known these things for a long time but for a dreamer who has nothing but the highest hopes for tomorrow; all things seem possible. Which brings us here to today and getting starting again.

Since my last post back in May, I’ve had the busiest, most stressful work filled days of my life. Quite possibly, I’m older now and my perspective is cloudy, perhaps I’ve had more stressful days when I was younger and able to handle them better. In any case, it’s a new year, the old years laid to rest and with it a lot of my previous responsibilities. I’ve sold a few businesses, bought out a few partners and relieve myself of almost all of my obligations and now I’m faced with the reality of having very little to do. Which gives me no excuse not to dive into this head long and began to plow forward as I’ve done with so many things.

I suspect most of you know the feeling of building the interest, the courage, the vision, and the will to get started on something that is much bigger than yourself or even just something you’ve never done before. Here I am again trying to build up all of those emotions that motivate people to accomplish great things when I’m tired, rundown and not too certain of the value proposition. Although I have great confirmation throughout other parts of my life that this endeavor is not only greatly needed by our community and others as well; I too shall perish without a significant mission. Therefore it must be! So here it is, I’m getting started again. This shall be a new first post and should become a continuous line of posting every Tuesday for years to come. I know even before this hour that it should have been fairly easy for me to make 52 posts a year. It dismays me greatly to look back and see that in these years I struggled to be able to do that. A person only has so much time and energy to dedicated to the work effort, passion or not, and other things need to maintain precedent. So I’ll not beat myself up with what I could have done or should have done or didn’t do and focus on what I can do and the opportunities that lie ahead of me.

For those of you who are faced with similar situations I encourage you to do the same. Look ahead, opportunities are available in abundance! I taught my children when they were younger to look at their life from three perspectives. Past present and future (Obligations Responsibilities Dreams). Obligations being commitments from our past. Being people which with we have previously engaged on a level of personal involvement. The need for the human spirit to be faithful to the persons with which we’ve made profound connections and what it takes to maintain those connections. Marriage, child bearing, friendships and community. Responsibilities represent things in the present, more current things. As an example each day you have the responsibility to go to work whether it’s to support yourself or your family; you have the responsibility to go to work. Other examples of responsibilities would be make your bed, clean the house you live in, eat breakfast, pack of lunch to go, put gas in your car or answer a phone call or reply to a text. Dreams on the other hand are future oriented. “I’d like to go to Africa on vacation. I’d like to go camping this weekend. One day I’d like to own…” All of the things that cause you to muster the gumption to go to work and earn.

What I intended to illustrated for them in this previous description is a priority structure as well as a mental organizational structure for how decide how to handle the affairs of their lives. If we started off today at zero, with no obligations, responsibilities or dreams. One would only have dreams of the future. If you moved off and act in a manner to make that dream come to fruition you will have created and obligation. Once you made that decision and acted upon it, you’ve just created your first obligation that will have responsibilities.

Obligations. Let’ say that you started a business as the venue that you will use to fulfill your dreams. A business at the very least is an obligation to oneself. No one makes the decision to start a business to fulfill one’s dreams with a light hearted commitment. Hard work should never be haphazardly wasted. This new commitment to oneself is an historical precedent that should by and large rule over your life. Few exceptions applied. Perhaps a family member is ill and requires your attention. Although you take time to attend that member when necessary all other times are dedicated to the obligation to yourself. We all must work to support ourselves regardless of our circumstances. An obligation is the requirement to do what’s necessary, when it is necessary realizing that these obligations are the building blocks of our foundation and the support structure of all we build into our life going forward. If you choose not fully invest in these, then too all that you build from here will be sketchy and unsuitable for the work that you lay upon it. I have found in all of my experiences throughout all of my life that I am much more satisfied with the outcome of what I have chosen to do when I do what I said I would do in all of my relationships.

Responsibilities. I really like this methodology as it makes decision making extremely simple in my everyday life. Largely a part of the reason why this project hasn’t been more than it is; is because it hasn’t been the best time for me and my decision making revolving around my obligations and responsibilities up to this point have got me to where I am today. I am a sum total of my choices wherever I find myself. Therefore, today I find myself set up somewhat perfectly to be involved here again. As I look over my responsibilities each day I first consider which ones relate to obligations. These are priority number one items. This means they come before other things within reason. Getting grandma to the grocery store is paramount unless the neighbor needs a ride to the emergency room and I’m the only person at hand. Questions that arise to help me plan my day; what things are imminent, do I need to do it at a particular time, are others involved and require coordination, can it wait until tomorrow or another day where it can be scheduled. These responsibilities I handle organize and schedule first; one thing I’d like to comment here is that if you develop a process in your life similar to mine you will find that these obligations are generally easier to do and more rewarding when you haven’t ignored them. Next, I assess immediate responsibilities like work, does my vehicle need fuel, do children need to go to school, do I need to go pick something up for the day’s work or what is the first thing on my To Do list. Another comment I’d like to make here is that no matter how you do it you should keep a To Do list. It’s a plan for responsibilities you’ve identified that don’t necessarily have a timeline but at the very least have a priority structure. Example: You must put fuel in the car before you can take the children to school lest you find yourself on the side of the road. Mostly, the thing to remember is that decisions involving responsibilities is that responsibilities associated with obligations come first in your consideration and almost always first on your priority list. Never trump an obligation, it will certainly come back to haunt you if neglected. If an obligation rears its head the responsibility is clear and goes to the top of the priority list of things to do. Once you’ve handled all of your current responsibilities and you have time left you dream

Dreams . Dreams are not only fundamental, they are instrumental! Without dreams you will have no vision, no hope and no desire for a better future. You must dream , you must dream often and you must dream big! You must find a way to share your dreams with like minded people so that your dreams will never die. Their encouragement will breath life into your dreams. I encourage you immensely to learn to ENTERTAIN yourself with your dreaming. Give up the social media, the idiot box and even reading unless you have developed the skill of dreaming. Take your free time and teach your brain to seek out the things that thrill you, that provoke your imagination , and cause you to wonder carelessly! One of the reasons that this project has been placed where it has, is that I live my dream. Does that mean that my life is perfect, the best it could be or even desirable from the outside looking? No, on the contrary what it means is that from the inside looking out; I don’t know how I could have done better. All of my days I wake up to toil and have turned everything into what I could have possibly made them! Have I made mistakes and have those mistakes hampered the outcome or diminished the possibilities? Absolutely! But here I am the better person for it; I have learned and grown along the way, which makes me a better person for it today. We all experience life this way. The question isn’t, “Did you hit the target?” It’s, “Did you aim high enough?” Every success is marked by a series of failures. No one rides a bike without first crashing, so it goes . The better you get at failing the better you get at succeeding until one day you realize that whether a failure or a success; it’s brought you to this day . If you’re good at dreaming, you’ll see that your failures are attempts at riding a bike. The bike which you now ride with considerable skill. I spend a copious amounts of time each day, building my dreams, envisioning in my mind the glorious outcome of these machinations. These glorious outcomes amazingly overcome the insignificant discouragements of my failures! Teach yourself to dream, dream often, dream big!!! It’s the most powerful tool of hope you can develop!

Getting started again is recognizing your past failures don’t need to be your future. That the good reasons for the failures of your past were lessons developing the current skills that will produce your glorious future! Pick yourself up, dust yourself off, sit down and make a great investment in your dream building! Reassess your obligations, prioritize your responsibilities and go kick some ass! This world is here for you to rule!

Peace and prosperity to you all!

Greg

In today’s day and age, this concept is lost. Power couples now refer more to the criminal element. John and Abigail, Jahan and Mumtaz, George and Martha, Johnny and June or Paul and Joanne come to mind as couples who killed it in life! If you look at each of these couples story you will see the pattern of how him making her special, her realizing the value of being special and feeding his frenzy made him the most powerful man in his world and her the most powerful woman. You see a man’s reach only goes so far, if he’s doing it for himself it becomes pointless and mundane. Eventually he lays himself to waste like Kobain or so many others. When a couple shares the majesty of reciprocity in a relationship the world is their oyster. You may say that, “I understand you opinion, but it’s still just your opinion.” Fair enough but give it a look before I label you pinhead. The reason these couples are famous and popular isn’t because they all left behind a Taj Mahal. It’s because their stories are inspiring, motivating, encouraging; they speak to each of us human beings at a spiritual level if not cellular base. It is who the living desire and choose to become.

The couples mentioned above dedicated their entire lives to each other and their battle. Together they made their mark on the world and we hold them in high esteem for who they chose to be. George Washington the greatest American hero who ever lived could not possibly be the man he was without the love and support of Martha. We know this because he always went home, wrote excessively about home and his dreams for his home. He gave Martha a house and she made it home. Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward have perhaps the most succinct quote about the perspective. He is quoted as saying, “Why would I settle for hamburger when I have steak at home.” Again recognition of home, a place where the two are one. Perhaps one of the greatest sentiments of losing this connection is Taj Jahan and Mumtaz Mahal. He was so blessed by her life with him at her passing upon giving birth to their 14th child, he built one of the Seven Wonders of the World as her final resting place, I mean the man carried on for a dozen years after her passing with this testament. Research the name he gave her.

If a girl allows a boy to make her special she will share the greatest gift! If a boy brings his thunder before a girl and makes her special and she encourages the noise and adds to it before long he is a storm to be reconned with. His thunder will become accurate lighting and everything in his path will be theirs. For boys who choose to go it alone there is little but boredom, despair and apathy. For girls who choose to go it alone there is little but loneliness and bitterness. For girls and boys who do not understand this they will remain another POP (pinhead on the planet), really not contributing much for the sake of humanity. The greatest contributors are those who choose to be as great as they can be together and feed each other what they each were made to have. He was made for her and she was made for him, it is natural and powerful. Be THAT couple.

Let’s face it her and him with this understanding and mindset are unstoppable. Don’t delude yourselves, her and her are only a thing until him and him are sick of them and want their babies. History repeats itself because of who we are as people. The human beings prosper for a time until men desire each other, then debauchery prevails, then pedophilia gains traction, then reigns until a few good men lay waste to the whole thing and it starts all over again. They always consume themselves whereas power couples build each other and those around them.

Go become a power couple today and do the world around you a favor, do yourselves a favor, Be Great!

Dedicated to Jon and Mel

Greg

If you’re like me, the time being an entrepreneur is mostly exciting and hope filled, anticipating all of the things that might be to come of your efforts. The freedom, the glory and of course the satisfaction of “look what I did” but if you’ve been doing it for any amount of time you have those days. You know, the one when you meet that dirty rat.

Today I’m going to tell you a story about my friend Jon. Jon has been my friend for a lot of years. In the beginning we believed, like any true adult that friends are people who want to be close to others for what the others allow them to be and give. Our friendship started off very, shall I say ‘antagonistic’, to be dramatic. You see, Jon was a modern progressive thinker. The old school laws, rules and ways are antiquated and that there is a better way of doing things. Maybe you are too, deep deep left. The new blue. Not in any way dipping into communism like some we see today. More sex, drugs and rock n roll, hippie type. After all he has lived in both People’s Republics, The Borough and California.

To succinctly illustrate our divergence, in times past one might have heard me say something stupid like, I’m so conservative you need to turn right at George Washington. I was very confident that the Republican party was saving America with it’s status quo agenda and the Democrats were wrecking the country.

When I met Jon he was sold out, deeply embedded. I on the other hand had a “reconning” and was flying at mach away from it all. So much so he asked me one evening after the Obama-McCain debate, “what are you an anarchist?”. You see, 911 did me in. I had believed in our system and the people in it were like me. Honest, interested hard working “Americans”. The lies, the treachery and death did me in. Being an architectural student and contractor was all it took to see the ilk.

After that DC became more of a fixation. At the time I was rearing children, like most of you WORKING for a living. Too busy to do much anything else. Over those years since the anger has been brewing and the desire to do something about it growing.

Covid is where I saw the change in Jon, but his direction chosen was markedly different than mine. He immediately abstained. He was done with his people and didn’t even want to talk about it anymore. Couldn’t get a word out of him. But these five year since, we now talk about what might come of what is going on out there.

All of this to give you back story on my good friend, actually one of my best friends. A real adult! Jon is an entrepreneur like most of us, he’s in the services side of the economy. Like all of you reliant upon the production side. Thank you for your services!! In any case from time to time he is in need of a plumber and when he is it is not a cheerful moment. Especially when the reason you need a plumber cuts into your revenue stream. Think, “the smell is from toilet water running through your building not the pipe intended.”

Down stream complaining upstream about odors is cause for immediate action. He’s been here before, he’s got hours not days to find the problem, get the plumber (hopefully not tomorrow), have the repairs done and be ready for the next customer. It is definitely a tense and dismal time. You know you’re going to pay the question is how much and how long will it last.

Focused and intent he sets about the mission to make remedy no matter what. Enter the dirty rat. Usually a customer who left some despicable thing somewhere it shouldn’t be, that was near impossible to see, festering in the damp, growing all sorts of evil, wafting such fragrant aromas. But to his elation, and I do literal elation, he found a dirty rat. A dead one. A bloated and a stinkin’. The joy of such a find! If you’ve been looking down the barrel of that gun just to find a bang flag pop out, you know what we’re talking about. The relief over whelms the disgusting things by leaps and bounds. A free plastic bag from the grocery store and some deodorant and we’re off an running.

To all of my entrepreneur family out there here’s hoping your next foray into detraction from you business fit into a free plastic bag and a little deodorant will save the day!

Go, be good, and know. We producers appreciate you servicers, we need you. Servicers please realize producing here keeps your businesses viable. Be local, buy local as much as you can. Wealth comes from production, we all serve production in some way.

Greg